My Key to Preparing for Camp

A week from today our students will be at summer camp at UTA. This will be my 13th consecutive summer camp dating back to my 7th grade year. In these 13 years I feel I have gotten a good rhythm down for how to prepare for the daily activities at camp. The key to camp, for me, is the backpack. If you don't have a backpack you're almost guaranteed to lose something. I know when I was a kid, at pre-teen camps and at camp 7th and 8th grade, I was the one who would either leave his bible in the auditorium or forget something at the dorm.

For me the backpack is the anchor. If you have that feeling of a bag on your back all week then when you are getting ready to leave someplace and don't feel that bag, you know something is missing! And if you do happen to leave it somewhere, someone is a lot less likely to pick it up thinking it is theirs, and it is a lot easier to explain what you're missing when you can say, "Yeah, I lost a black and red back pack. It is a messenger bag style bag. Swiss Army brand." Rather than saying, "Um...I lost a black leather bible...it has gold trimmed pages...all the words that Jesus says are in red...you seen it?"

So my backpack is always with me! But what all do I keep in it? The following is a list of things I always have in my bag (some of these things are for a youth pastor only, but you can see where I'm going).

1. Bible
2. Journal/Notebook (usually a composition notebook or spiral notebook because they are so cheap)
3. Camp booklet (Always handed out at the beginning of camp)
4. Camera (I will have a small camcorder too, but it is good to have something to capture the crazy moments)
5. Medical Release Notebook (So at any time I can be ready with medical information for any of our students).
6. Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen (Advil or Tylenol. I get heat headaches from time to time.)
7. Waterbottle (I like the water bottles that have a clip so they can hook on to any bag I have)
8. Sunglasses (That is if they are not on my face)
9. Gum (Because my breath stinks after camp food)
10. Pens (How else can I write in my notebook?)
11. Small First Aid Kit (Band-aids, alcohol wipes, a little bit of gauze. Anything to take care of the bumps and scrapes.)

That's my bag. Of course your son or daughter would not need that much stuff. When I was in high school the "Draw String" backpack was great. It is light weight, and carries everything you would need: a bible, notebook, couple pens, camp book, camera and a water bottle.

If you want to go pick up one of those backpacks, know that I have some EVC Drawstring Backpacks here at the church for sale. Let me know if you want one!