Keats Reunion

So last night I had the pleasure of revisiting my youth and young adult days at the Keats Camps Reunion / Fundraiser. My friend Kim and I were going to do one of her old classic skits. I say "her" because she is the star character, the others in the skit could easily be replaced, but there is only one Bag Lady- and that is Kim! Anyways, I say "were" because upon arrival with my 2 month old, I realized that it really wasn't all that easy any more, to jump up in front of a large crowd (this time of adults) and look silly- at least not for me. I'd rather look silly in front of kids and I'd rather not have to be worrying about whether Martha was going to let everyone know she existed with amazingly LOUD vocal chords! So Lauren stepped up to the plate and she and Kim took us back to the good old days. We laughed as Kim used glue for lipstick and a toilet brush for mascra brush etc. to make her self look as beautiful as the girl next to her.

So we mixed, we mingled, we tasted lovely food provided by the Banqueting Table . We caught up with people whom we shared life changing experiences with. Some people had more to love, some had less, some had children in tote, some had left theirs at home. All had a smile on their face; because we all love Keats Camp and the encounters we had on the beautiful island that God created for His glory!

To kick off the night we watched a slide show of staff and campers past. For some strange morbid reason, as I was watching the slide show, and thought to myself, "Thankfully no one in these photos (at least that I am aware of) had passed away." Except of course for Salty Ken. He was a dear old man who used to take a cabin of campers (along with the Skipper) for a night of camping in the woods. Anyways, I just had a moment of gratefulness, that these lives were still living and hopefully sharing the Good News that we learned about and celebrated so easily at camp.

Then came the real energy! Russ, Sandy, Mike and Kim (along with other very important musical people such as Matt, Gregg, and Kenton) took the stage to sing some oldies. We sang all original "Keats / Rise up" songs such as: You pick me up, Jesus is the man, Wind of the spirit, Healing Hands. There were others, but I am getting old and can't remember. We prayed and worshipped together Old School style. It felt amazing. We all had this special bond, we have all been touched by God, and the His people in very special ways on the island of Keats. And if felt so great to celebrate that.

Sadly, there was a desperate undertone of need to the evening. Keats needs us now. There have been a few rough years in the recent past; Norwalk, the fallen bell tower, and moldy cabins to name a few things. I hope that last night people were inspired to give: time, money, energy and prayers. As Darrin mentioned, we want Keats to carry on, so that we can send our kids there!