PIlgrimage

"It'll be hard to leave Jacob's Well when we move to Colorado."  

I said this to Brad on our way home from The Pilgrimage on Sunday evening.  Jacob's Well (our church home since we moved to Liberty) has for the past three years gathered at the YouthFront south campgrounds for a weekend of being together as a church family.  It's called The Pilgrimage.  We joined them this year and created great moments of fun for our family, and strengthened the connections with our small group members.  

We are drawn to Jacob's Well for many reasons.  I am impressed and, more importantly, educated, by the teachings.  Brad appreciates the worship style.  The church is interested in educating children in all styles of learning.  I once walked up to pick Rory up from her classroom and the kids were all dancing around with ribbons....our kids like church.  

Something we've taken efforts to create for ourselves among a church of this size is connection.  We desperately missed the community we left in Harrisonville and were eager to begin building relationships within our new church.  I began volunteering in the nursery, and we've been a part of a small group for a few months.  Attending this year's Pilgrimage seemed like a giant step in the right direction for us.  So we paid the price to stay in an air conditioned cabin (anticipating a hot August weekend) and packed up the wagon.  

Brad and I looked at each other halfway through the day on Saturday and said, "It's really fun being at camp together."  If you know us well that may seem like a silly sentence, because for years we've gone to YL camp together.  But as leaders...focusing on the kids in our cabin, and squeezing in just a few minutes here and there to remind ourselves the other still existed.  

As we walked to the Snack Shack, after a trip to the pool, with our girls between us, I think we both were very aware of how much we loved our family.  How happy we were in that moment to be "Team Anderson".  

The four of us shared a room with two bunk beds, a shelf, a sink and a mirror.  We shared the bathrooms with the rest of the cabin (three other families).  The walls were paper thin so I'm sure the room next door heard me reprimanding Rory, and the screams from Emme when she didn't get her way.  The mattress was ancient, and stiff, and I had to snuggle with Rory both nights to warm me up.  It was camp. 

However, only three days removed from the trip and I'm already only able to vividly remember the fun we had.  Here are some photos from our Pilgrimage adventures...

Brad and his first attempt at walking on a slack line.

Rory had Daddy and Chet (one of our small group members) to help her along.

One of the optional activities was to walk around the grounds creating art from nature.  These girls helped a dad create a "birdcage" in a hanging limb, with a rock "river" flowing to the tree trunk below.  Rory was very excited to hang out with the big girls.

Emme and Avery (fellow small group kiddo) sharing a stroll.

Rory spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the lake.

I did most of the work on the paddleboat.

Rory managed to hold on to her oar even though the "water was so heavy!"

I asked Brad what Rory was doing when I took this picture.  He said she was trying to turn the pedals by standing on top of them.

James (another small group friend) and Emme.

Rory was so tired on our way home that she fell asleep before we had left the gravel road on our way out of the campgrounds.  She was still eating a skittle from her last visit to the Snack Shack.  We had to wake her up to tell her to finish chewing.  She then promptly fell back asleep.

P.S. If you've barely read this post because you're confused by my "move to Colorado" sentence at the beginning...don't worry.  We're not packing.  Our dream of moving to CO will remain a dream for a few more years.