Xtend
This week I have been extended by a camp called Xtend. I really love camps and I felt like I was really streched and challenged at this camp. One of the things about this camp was springs. We had to build our faith on springs rather than bricks. Walls are broken and destroyed when one or two is shattered. Springs are streched, extended and challenged in order to grow and create bigger and better things. You take one spring from a trampoline and the trampoline still works fine. Each spring is seen as a truth that we as Christians know.
I'll write some truths at the end of this post.
Each night was so different for me and streched me in different ways.
What was so different about this camp was also that I made an effort to get to know almost everyone on camp and by the end I felt I had developed friendships I hope to extend further into my future.
I'm not the kind of person who goes out and does, I wait for people to come to me. And that is said in almost everything I do. I don't offer to do a job, I wait to be asked. I don't ask for phone numbers, I wait to be asked. I don't request hugs, I wait to be asked.
Even today, I heard a girl asking people if they had 70c or something that she could have, and I said I do, but I was far enough away that she couldn't hear me. It made me realise my thoughts, I wasn't going to tell her I could give it to her, if she wanted it badly enough she would keep asking until she asked me personally and i would be more than happy to give it to her.
I realised I think like that in everything.
Hugging came up a lot at camp, as it is a controversial christian issue. Is it OK to hug someone of the opposite sex front on? Because could it not give the wrong implications?
I personally struggle with hugging because one of my love languages is physical touch yet because of my approach to life I don't offer hugs, I only get them when others want them from me. I figure if someone wants me to hug them they will ask, I'm always gonna want a hug so ofcourse I will say yes, but if they don't want a hug then I don't want to have to hug them.
I thought at camp I should give people hugs just because I wanted them. I wanted to do something for myself and hugs are extremely important to me. I feel I never get enough.
So I went around asking people for hugs today, and I did it whilst asking if they wanted a sidehug or a fronthug, or no hug, so that if they did feel awkward about me hugging them front on...or at all, then there would be no awkward feelings in the hug.
It made me think that maybe I should come out of my "shell" in life and do things more for me. Not that living for other's feelings is a bad thing but I just think that if I neglect my own feelings too much then eventually my little "Love-pool" will dry up and I'll have no love to give to others.
So that was just one thing about camp at Xtend this year
I'll do truths on a new post.
I'll write some truths at the end of this post.
Each night was so different for me and streched me in different ways.
What was so different about this camp was also that I made an effort to get to know almost everyone on camp and by the end I felt I had developed friendships I hope to extend further into my future.
I'm not the kind of person who goes out and does, I wait for people to come to me. And that is said in almost everything I do. I don't offer to do a job, I wait to be asked. I don't ask for phone numbers, I wait to be asked. I don't request hugs, I wait to be asked.
Even today, I heard a girl asking people if they had 70c or something that she could have, and I said I do, but I was far enough away that she couldn't hear me. It made me realise my thoughts, I wasn't going to tell her I could give it to her, if she wanted it badly enough she would keep asking until she asked me personally and i would be more than happy to give it to her.
I realised I think like that in everything.
Hugging came up a lot at camp, as it is a controversial christian issue. Is it OK to hug someone of the opposite sex front on? Because could it not give the wrong implications?
I personally struggle with hugging because one of my love languages is physical touch yet because of my approach to life I don't offer hugs, I only get them when others want them from me. I figure if someone wants me to hug them they will ask, I'm always gonna want a hug so ofcourse I will say yes, but if they don't want a hug then I don't want to have to hug them.
I thought at camp I should give people hugs just because I wanted them. I wanted to do something for myself and hugs are extremely important to me. I feel I never get enough.
So I went around asking people for hugs today, and I did it whilst asking if they wanted a sidehug or a fronthug, or no hug, so that if they did feel awkward about me hugging them front on...or at all, then there would be no awkward feelings in the hug.
It made me think that maybe I should come out of my "shell" in life and do things more for me. Not that living for other's feelings is a bad thing but I just think that if I neglect my own feelings too much then eventually my little "Love-pool" will dry up and I'll have no love to give to others.
So that was just one thing about camp at Xtend this year
I'll do truths on a new post.
6 Comments:
Hey. here's a verbal hug. i wanted to say i was TOTALLY impressed with your response to the data projector thing last sunday morning. thanks for coming and explaining and checking if there was anything that needed to be done to make it right. it would have been easy for you to skulk around and feel bad (or not!) or justify yourself (not my fault therefore i don't need to do anything), but you took good (best) steps to make sure it was all alright. so thanks. i was totally impressed (but then i wasn't surprised, as you are undoubtedly "a goodie"!)
Blessings (here's a hug!0) Lynne
"Hugging came up a lot at camp, as it is a controversial christian issue. Is it OK to hug someone of the opposite sex front on? Because could it not give the wrong implications?"
I think it's perfectly fine. I can't off the top of my head think of any scriptures that would say hugging was bad or wrong? The reason people think hugs are bad is because people think hugs are bad.
Thanks Lynne!
Andrew, in this case I totally agree with you. Hugs are only bad because of the thoughts that some people can associate with them, I don;t think the physical act itself is bad at all. But nevertheless, there are situations where people have hugged and the wrong idea has gotten into someone's head about what that hug meant. People can get really hurt from what starts off as just a hug.
Though I don't think it's fair to take hugging away because hugging makes you feel loved (and I don't mean this term sexually) and wanted. I think it's also a guy thing to want to hug a female when she looks sad or hurt or lonely.
But the question is, if you saw your wife going around hugging other guys would you or would you not feel jealous? And the same goes for boyfriends, girlfriends and husbands.
(please note, on this post I have said I will post some truths, I have purposely not yet posted these yet because I am aware that if I post them those of you who use internet explorer will no longer be able to read this post. Therefore I have decided to solve the problem, to a degree, by sitting a few days between posts.)
If I saw my wife hugging other guys, well, I wouldn't care, but that's me, I'm not the jealous type, I like it that she shows people love. Maybe it's because I'm so confident in her love and devotion to me I don't worry one bit. :)
I personally think that if someone gets the wrong idea from a hug, then it's that person's problem and they need to deal with it in whatever way they need to. I think by making church/youthgroup more politically correct in these kinds of ways you move the focus from the gospel to ultimately irrelevant things, and you widen the gap between the world and church/youthgroup (more so than it needs to be) and consequently, make it harder for people to join the youthgroup, and also when people miss these experiences, the world seems so much more appealing.
Great to hear you had a great camp, once again & learnt heaps & met lots of people.
I also don't think hugs are bad. They can be... if inappropriate. I liked how you asked everyone what type of hug they preferred! Good one.
ps - I was also impressed at how you handled the data projtr thing. It was a series of mishaps, not your fault. You have an amazing heart.
Thanks for comments!
Andrew, again, I agree with you. Taking away hugging from youthgroup would really create a gap between the sacred and the secular, a gap that doesn't need to be there.
I don't hug a lot of people at Opawa, and that just comes down to my approach to life that I meantioned above, but still those I do hug give me that kind of support that makes me feel like I'm loved and it's that feeling that gets me through the weeks. Or atleast that is a big part of it.
I don't think it's fair to play the blame game though, people do get hurt from misreading hugs and they don't need to be told that their troubles are their own doing, they need to be told they are loved.
That's what I believe anyway
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