Musings by Mo-T

By: Mo-Theresa
Weekend Retreat Coordinator

Today seems to be the first real Autumn day here at camp. Some might even call it a blustery day. Feel free to count me among the “some”. It’s a touch chilly, and very windy. Leaves are blowing, layers are being worn, and hot chocolate is being warmed. Mmmm…Soon we will have fires going in the fireplace, I will be skiing everywhere…and oh, sorry, I think I got lost in a daydream.

Being the weekend retreat coordinator this year, I have a bit of spare time during the week. (But only a bit – it takes a lot of work to plan those retreats, and help out all over camp!) I use this time to cause mischief, daydream (as you just witnessed) and… and… well I’ve got nothing. That’s why I decided I would write on the blog every other week.

This led me to trying to figure out exactly what kind of poster (as in a person who posts on the blog, not hangs on the wall) I would be: would it be biweekly, bimonthly, semiweekly, or semimonthly? After a raging debate in the office, I turned to the more reliable source of http://www.dictionary.com/ for some help.

Here are the definitions I found:

Bi weekly-Occurring every two weeks,
Occurring twice a week; semiweekly
Bimonthly- Occurring every two months,
Occurring twice a month, semimonthly
Semi weekly –Occurring, done, appearing or published twice a week
Semimonthly - Made, occurring, done, or published twice a month

Okay, so let’s talk this out. It could be biweekly, because it occurs every two weeks. It seems as though it could also be bimonthly, occurring twice a month. This however says it is the same as semimonthly. This makes sense, according to the definition of semimonthly, but begs the question, “How can bimonthly and semimonthly mean the same thing?”
So I decided to look up semi – nothing. Only one thing left to do, look up the prefix “bi”. This is what I found:

All words except biennial referring to periods of time and prefixed by bi- are potentially ambiguous. Since bi- can be taken to mean either “twice each” or “every two,” a word like biweekly can be understood as “twice each week” or “every two weeks.” To avoid confusion, it is better to use the prefix semi- to mean “twice each” (semiannual; semimonthly; semiweekly) or the phrase 'twice a' or 'twice each' (twice a month; twice a week; twice each year), and for the other sense to use the phrase every two (every two months; every two weeks; every two years).

So there you have it, bi can mean either, but semi only has one meaning. Still, the debate continues. Is this a biweekly/bimonthly post? Is it a semimonthly post? Or, should it be a biweekly/semimonthly/semiweekly post? I guess I have 2 weeks to figure it out…

Weekly Devotion for Sunday, September 27th

EDITORS NOTE:
Every week during the school year at Camp Gray, a staff member or volunteer writes a devotion for the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading. Sara, our Program Manager, then emails this devotion to a list of campers, staffers, and retreatants that numbers nearly a thousand. Sean, a long time volunteer at camp, has written this weeks devotion, and we're excited to share it on "Misplaced & Found" - The Blog of Camp Gray 53959. If you like what you see (which no doubt you will), and would like to be added to the weekly devotion email list, contact Sara at sara@campgray.com.


Hey everybody, this is Sean writing to you from the beautiful grounds of Camp Gray. We are enjoying the great weather here at camp, even the rain we had Tuesday, as we continue to work and play with many groups who are visiting us. Anyways, let’s move on to this week’s Gospel reading, which comes from Mark...

Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"


All right, so I know that this reading may seem kind of deep or scary when you first read it, but if you take a little while to think about it, it starts to make sense.
The reading starts out talking about doing things for Jesus. In the story a man is driving out demons in Jesus’ name. John doesn’t like that because this man doesn’t specifically follow Jesus. Right away, Jesus answers, saying that when we do things for Jesus, we can’t dishonor him in any way. When we serve others because we know it is what God wants, or when we pray to God, we are actually honoring and worshiping Him. At those times there is nothing we can do to wrong God.

When we sin, on the other hand, it is like we are hurting God rather than honoring Him. Now when we sin, we do not need to cut off a hand or foot to be forgiven. Actually, all we need to do is go to confession. But if something in our lives is causing us to sin over and over, Jesus wants us to get away from that thing so we can focus on God.
So just remember to keep serving others and keep praying, so that you can keep honoring God and loving Him just like He loves all of us.

God Bless,
Sean

Kick Off to an Incredible Year

By: Emily McHugh
Outdoor Ministry Team Member

Here at Camp Gray, we just finished our first retreat of the season! Northwest Catholic school of Milwaukee blessed us with the presence of their fifth and seventh graders last Wednesday through Friday.


As I write this from a near empty camp, it is difficult to believe that just a couple days ago over eighty students filled the basketball courts, the trails and the Pav. Fifth graders were able to take a departure from their classroom setting via the Environmental Stewardship program during which they learned about marshes, cranes, invasive species, streams, and forests from volunteers Kevin, Amanda, Meghan, and myself. They (as well as the excited staff) had the added bonus of visiting the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, witnessing the endangered Whooping Cranes in all their glory!

Meanwhile, the seventh graders were in good hands and had a great time with volunteers Chris, Mo-T, Renata, and Pat as they underwent several teambuilding activities.


The two groups merged for the entertaining bonfire which satisfied everyone’s funny bone, as well as sweet tooth with the favorite bonfire snack of smores.

This week, we’re welcoming Sacred Hearts School for a teambuilding and spiritual retreat – we can’t wait! Camp Gray wishes you all a blessed week!

Camp Gray Summer Camp Session 10

By: Chris Aderhold
Assistant Director

Because of our unfortunate mid-summer battle with Swine Flu, and subsequent 10-day closing, we were excited to offer the first ever summer camp session 10 to give campers that had their session cancelled, an opportunity to experience all the faith, friends, and fun we offer here at Camp Gray. Many of our summer staff were unable to stick around for session 10 because of early starts at their respective University's, but there were enough for us to host 45 campers, which is exactly how many were able to experience the excitement of the first ever session 10!

With an unprecedented 10th session of summer camp, many have been asking, "Well, how did it go?"

Answer: After having a couple weeks to process this experience, only one word comes to mind: Exceptional!

With 45 campers (a typical session has well over 120), and a staff of less than 20 (typical: 50), things were personable and intimate with the same enormously high level of Camp Gray fun!

As you can probably imagine, 45 campers don't quite fill the "Pav" for meals, so we transformed one half of the pavilion into a circle of 6 picnic tables. The delicious and nutritious salad bar and cereal bar was then rolled right into the middle by our humble kitchen crew!

Also, with only 3 Survivor teams, all of camp traveled to the three different game sites together, with facilitation done by the same crew at each stop! To mix things up, we invented an exciting new game that involved transport of water, followed by each team attempting to be first to extinguish their respective fire with water canons. Talk about excitement!

On top of all of this fun, there was a pre-Capture the Flag pond party, which ranked #1 on the end of week Top 5 Board. Lastly, the brand new session 10 ritual saw the return of Pokagon, which had one camper so excited, he exclaimed, "Pokagon is back?! This week couldn't get any better!"

Thanks campers and staff of session 10! Years from now, scholars and historians will still be talking about the amazingness of Camp Gray's first every session 10!


Thanks for tuning in, friends! May your current/future adventures find you happy and with many blessings!

Peace,

Topher

2nd Annual Camp Gray Community Picnic

By: Chris Aderhold
Assistant Director

In an effort to welcome our summer and year-round camp families and staff back to Camp Gray, and to give others in the community an opportunity to see camp and to experience the energy and fun of this holy ground, we're excited to invite you to the 2nd Annual Camp Gray Community Picnic on Saturday, September 19th!

Come on out to meet our full time staff and volunteers, walk the trails of camp, join in the celebration of Mass celebrated by Fr. Eric Neilson, and finally, take part in a delicious dinner! Yup, sounds like a pretty amazing Saturday evening to me, too! Oh, and did I mention that this entire evening of fun for the whole family is absolutely free of cost?

Please click here for more details.

Please RSVP to (608) 356-8200


Peace!
Chris

Session 10 Picture of the Week!!

By: Chris Aderhold
Assistant Director

Greetings friends! After an exceptional summer at Camp Gray, it's always sad to say goodbye to our wonderful staff and to our last group of campers. Alas, that time has come and gone, and we're already getting our hands dirty with preparations for Camp Gray Summer Camp 2010! That being said, we'd like to sincerely thank everyone who joined us on this holy ground this summer. We're already looking forward to your return next summer! We'll keep you posted on upcoming dates for our year-round fun, and we'll let you know when you can start checking your mail for our Summer Camp 2010 Registration Packet!

And now, the final photo in the Summer Camp Picture of the Week Series:

These three gentlemen showed us that when it comes to paddling for speed on the expansive waters of Lake Jake, three is better than two.

Session 9 Picture of the Week!!

By: Chris Aderhold

Assistant Director

After Joey's bobber disappeared into the depths of Lake Jake, his heart began to race in the hopes that he had caught Walter (Camp Gray's resident, mythically large fish). Imagine his surprise when after reeling for several minutes, he instead found a sizable turtle on the end of his line! (Don't fret, no turtle was harmed during this program area, nor during this photo op.)


Thanks Session 9 Campers for a thrilling week at Camp Gray! (And nice catch Joey!)

Session 8 Picture of the Week!!

By: Chris Aderhold

Assistant Director

With yet another solid crew of Leader's in Training finishing their three week tour at Camp Gray, we can confidently say the future of Camp is bright! Thanks to Emmy, Emily, Brittany, Claire, Paul, Megan, Sara, Taylor & LIT Coordinator Lindsay Becher, for an incredible three weeks!