wait a minute, it stopped hailing

I'm tired. Got up at 7 to make it to the airport by 9, only to discover at 10 that my flight in fact left at 11. Oops. I hate airports. Do everything possible to avoid being in airports any longer than absolutely necessary. On top of that the flight was full of sunburned tourists. The ones in my row (and the three adjoining rows. They were a group. Yeah.) all had matching "You Don't Know Me: Federal Witness Protection Program" backpacks. They took a lot of pictures from the airplane window. It was a long flight.

Finally made it through the three hours of that to arrive in ... Houston. Ugh. But that flight left early, and I was seated next to two guys who were reading "Brokeback Mountain" and wearing matching wedding rings, so I knew I was headed to Austin and it was all good. Got here, Suzii picked me up, we went to Target, and it's just been hanging out ever since. Which is good, because it was a long day.

The reason for this cross-country trek is that this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It's time for Camp CLC. Except we're not allowed to call it a camp anymore because of some legal issues. "The Institute" just doesn't have the same ring; I'm lobbying to call it "Instacamp" but whatever. The point is, we pulled it off last year and now we get to do it again.

Maybe I should explain. Last spring, Suzii and I were talking about some research for the special session and she said, "what are you doing this summer?" Phil had an idea about getting Texas Baptist high school students interested in ethics, Suzii wanted to do something on public life, and we started dreaming, plotting, and planning. Four very short months later, nine teenagers came to Austin for a week to talk about the relationship between faith, public policy, campaigns, school finance, immigration, religious liberty, poverty, and prison reform. All in a non-partisan context, recognizing that faith has something to say to the political world, but that authentic faith isn't defined by, or in allegiance to, a political party or regime.

It was so cool. Amazing kids with diverse perspectives. A staff with varied and linked backgrounds in youth ministry and the policy world. Speakers who got what we were trying to do (and a few who didn't). Tours of facilities that do great work to help our state's most vulnerable. Fun hanging out in Austin, at the lake, and at the pool. Laughs about the somewhat, um, limited facilities at our camp site.

So here we are again. Starting tomorrow afternoon, we'll start over with a different group of students and the same goals in mind. We have a few more kids this year, our staff has changed some, and we have a much better location. We also had a whole year to plan, so we could keep what worked and cut out what didn't. I know it won't be the same, but I also believe that it won't be so different that we won't want to do it again next year. Whatever happens, it will definitely be worth 7 hours of flights, airports, and tourists. I can't wait.