Young Life, Washington Family Camp

Me and my handsome husband David on our vacation together at Washington Family Ranch.

If you love a big drop from the sky, a real free fall this swing will get your thrill on. It sure did mine. In reality I did not realize how much I would fear that drop and cried like a baby when it was over.

Communication Hill.  As in walk at your own pace and speed because if you think you will just run up and down think again. I looked up from the bottom and thought a quick jaunt up and down.

My husband and I had what is our first vacation just the two of us since we have been married. Six whole days of just the two of us.  Well the two of us and about six hundred campers.  Since we have never done this before I learned something new about my husband. He has the enthusiasm, energy, and ability to climb every mountain. Each morning he truly had to drag me out of bed to get me on the beautiful hikes that we took around Washington Family Ranch run by Young Life. It seems silly to say "drag" me out of bed, but I run around all week chasing boys around so my idea of vacation, so I thought, was to lounge by the pool, read and well as fun grabbed my heart I looked forward to every morning hiking alongside my husband.

We started in Hood River and the first  picture is of David standing in a park with the little community and then the Columbia River in the background just captures the beauty of our time. We stayed there one night and then took the beautiful high dessert roads into Young Life's Washington Family Ranch where we were adult guests. There was a junior high camp going on called Wyld Life, so we got to experience camp just like the campers. Except our accommodations were that of a five star hotel.

We climbed Communication Hill, which felt more like a mountain. The view from the top shows the camp. I was dying after five minutes into this very steep climb. I was realized about 30 feet from the top that I could go no more, until my dad passed me saying "I better get to the top before Elizabeth." Well having a 76 year old get to the top fuled what energy I had and I made it. The big swings, zip lines, food, and programs were marvelous. 

What a wonderful place to go as guests. Experience a Young Life camp as the kids would experience it. I often wondered if the kids thought..."who are are those old people over there?" But they did not.  We sat in on the energy of hundreds of kids eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner being served by high school kids who come to serve for a month.  Imagine giving up a month of your summer just to work harder than you have ever worked. Yet these kids work, serve, and do all this with a smile. Eating every meal with all these kids. I felt like a kid myself. I felt like I was experiencing camp all over again. David, never as a kid, went to an overnight camp. So in his 50's he was experiencing camp for the very first time. A smile on his face that never faded.

What touched my heart was the experience of sharing an amazing time with my husband and my parents. God is working and coming alongside to renew and restore our hearts. What a special place for this to take place and what an honor to sit back and watch kids hearts transform as they learned about God's purpose for their life. To deepen our own walk with Jesus as we experience the message of His love.  A message that kids heard each night during club.  Yep we grown ups got to be part of that too. All the singing and sillies. Never to old for any of that.  I can not think of a better place to hang out with my husband and my parents and meet so many wonderful people. God is so good and our hearts are refreshed, our bodies are much healthier than when we left and now we get to see that our kids were just fine without us for a week. Big sister took care of them and they have their own fun stories to tell.

What a terrific week!!! Thanks God!!!