Vertical Impact Blogs: Alex Sneider

ELEVATION

2008-06-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Elevation could easily be described as THE best thing ever. And that would be a huge understatement. So due to the fact that I got back 10 minutes ago and I miss Dalohnega (hehe), and all of your wonderful smiling faces already, I am going to give you all a full fledged description and summary of EVERYTHING on Elevation. It helps me cope with my Elevation Withdrawl.

So going into it, I was more pumped for this past week than I probably had ever been for anything in my life. We had some pretty sweet family members, and I was really looking forward to al of the events and names and skits and songs that everyone had worked SO hard to prepare. There were new leaders new students, and just amazing people to get to know and expand companionships with, which made me really excited. Some AWESOME new people I become good friends with included; Alli Bertke, Mark Bezney, JOHN BEZNEY, Jonah Douglas, NICOLE MACKEY, JON WHITE, and Noah Dzeidzic. I'm so unbelievably happy I got to know all of you guys and I really hope you all stop by at Vertical Impact on Wednesday nights. I am especially proud of my main man John Bezney for winning the Up and Comer Award, basically pronouncing him as the coolest new VI-er. The busride there certainly was long, and I got just about a wink of sleep.

DAY ONE- OPENING CEREMONIES

This day was basically a mass chill day, we really didn't do much apart from meeting and hanging with our fellow worshipers. We has our big photo and our funny headshots, followed by even more free time, which for me was an opportunity to practice our family skit. We had that weird spoon national follie, followed by the first Elevation worship, which was amazing to say the least. Aimee also gave a fantastic lesson.

DAY TWO- AQUATIC EVENTS

For this fun filled day, I was on "The Boat of Champions" which infact, consisted of 8 champions. Meredtih and Caroline Jackson, Me, Dan, Paley, Elliot, Spencer, and Dave. We had great big balls of Dahlonega fun. We had a shopping cart race at lunch, which was fun, dangerous, and painful. After lunch, Dan and I switched boats to Zach and Vicki's, who has Bryan Gorgeous, Jon Doran, and Mark Bezney. I tried water skiing, and got up first try, and has a blast doing that. Worship, again, was amazing, and Sara's lesson was truly empowering.

DAY THREE- SHARING THE SPIRIT OF THE GAMES

So day three was all about giving back, and each of the seven families had a service project. Ours personally was to go to a nursing home and help out, but others included renovating houses, building fences, and clean up condemned houses! Every single VI-er had to experience some kind of joy/happiness in working on these amazing projects, and all of us at he end of the day felt proud of a day of hard work. That night we had worship in the Gazebo, which was something I had looked forward to all week. We all took the 5 minute "hike" out to the Gazebo, and essentially had an acoustic worship up there. This night also was the first Elevation night where Stephanie and I sung without Dustin, which was nerveracking but fun. Kyle gave a lesson that night, and the amazing invitationals surely brought everyone to tears.

DAY FOUR- LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Ok, so today was the big basketball and cornhole day, which I was SUPER pumped about. To begin the day, were started out with about an hour of quiet time, which normally is enjoyable. I went on a walk with my "parents", Elliot and Paley, which was one of the things I really looked forward to going into Elevation. Last year I did it as well, and things like those just make me realize howmany people I have met in VI and how unbelievably important it is in my life. I love those 2 people. You can ask anyone in my family, I was PUMPED for basketball. I carbed up massivly at breakfast. Going into the day I had felt so positive about our future success in the basketball tournament, but those dreams were crushed in the first 2 rounds. 2 big losses. But, nevertheless, to the 1st and 2nd place teams...So was got 6th place in basketball, and 4th place in cornhole. Not too impressive. However our strife was soon cured with the hilarious skits that were taking place during worship that night.

1. AGO- David passing out for drinking too much red bull and Jon's nieghing when David was riding him was priceless.

2. ByGod'istan- Clearly the best skit, we had baby Jesus, Borat, AND Tiny Tim...c'mon please.

3. G-Unit- I very well conveyed play off of the last supper with Stefan as Jesus won over the people's hearts.

4. HOE- A very funny skit; included people like; Cletus and Vonda Lynn, The Whites, Doc and Jamaal, and Bubbles and Glittah. Hilarious

5. Kenya Dig Him- My personal favorite skit, Elliot truly surprised all people with his superb acting ability. This skit never ceased to make me laugh and was well written

6. (The) Master(s) Nation- The funny spin off of The Office, with perfectly matched characters- Chris as Dwight, Angie as Angela, Grant as Stanley, and Dan as Jim. Very funny.

7. USSR- They had a funny play off of Sex in the City, and Molly did a humerous job of narrating

Dustin delivered my favorite lesson of the retreat that night, and Trey and I sung Out Loud, and Drew and I sung Halelujah for invitationals, which was a first for me. After worship, I went with a group of people; Dan, Nicole, Karyn, Sarah, and Jon Bezney out to the Gazebo, and we just kindof layed in the grass and looked at the stars. This just amazed me in 2 ways; 1, I never have time at home to just slow down, and look at the stars, which is the beauty of Elevation, it takes you away from all of that. And 2, just all of the friends I have at VI, who are so very important to me. That moment was one I will always remember and cherish.

DAY FIVE- EQUESTRIAN, ROWING, AND CYCLING EVENTS

So I went whitewater rafting, which was pretty freaking awesome, excepting that we had to wake up at 6:15 to make the 6:45 bus, which Dan Angus (my supposed rafting buddy) didn't make. SO we arrived at rafting place, and everyone was frantically trying to find 4 people to have a boat with. My boat, which just happened to be the coolest boat, was with Caroline Jackson, Zach Rochon, and Kate Donovan. I had so much fun with this group of people, we had a leader named Richard, and the 5 of us were constantly cracking jokes and we seemed to be laughing the whole time. On top of that, no one fell off of the boat either, except Caroline, one time, which consequently was the time we ran her over with the rafting boat. Annie Gaburo also fell out of her raft one time and has to go down the rapids, without a boat. That night was my night off on Worship, so I really got to have to "worship experience" that I fell in love with in my first elevation, last year's "Hollywood". I really am glad I got this opportunity because it was amazing to feel the Elevation worship again. Lee gave an enthusiastic lesson that night, and everyone started realizing there was only one day left.

DAY SIX- THE GAMES

This was the last "real" day of Elevation, so everyone was bracing themselves to have a great day, to cherish every moment, and to make the best of it. We woke up, had a carb-filled breakfast for the big day, and made our way up to quiet time. We watched a short video, and made our way to our "quiet" spots to think and talk with God. I used this time to just think about my whole VI experience as a whole, which I will explain at the end of this blog. After this, I got my gloves from my room, and went down to the basketball courts for tug o' war. Zach pep-talked us telling us to always "lean back, and look at the sky". We ended up coming in 3rd in tug o' war, and consequently lost to the first and second place teams; HOE, and G-Unit. Our follie for that day was to build a newspaper towers, which did not work out very well for ByGod'istan. After lunch, we walked through the ever famous DECATHALON, and then strategized with our teams. We started with Lee's station, a zipped through that, excepting a not so graceful fall by yours truly on the final stretch of the relay. Keller's shoes that he lent me had absolutely no traction at all. We then had to wait for (The) Master(s) Nation to finish their hour + long affair at Peggy's station until we could go. We creativly got 22 nails on the head, to take 22 minutes off of our time. Even with that huge subtraction, we only got 3rd in the obstacle course, however it was better than last by "3" last year. After everyone finished the obstacle course, we had the "One World One Dream" banquet, a nice dinner served to you by the leaders. My table consisted of, Meredith, Caroline, Dan, Elizabeth, Stephanie, Michael, and Angie; sorry if I left anyone out! And our enthusiastic waiter was Kate; always eager to get us more food. Always laughing, and taking pictures were probably the main 2 things of this dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and then we headed off to the final worship for Elevation. Everyone practically was in it, except it was Drew's night off. He gave the lesson for that night, which was amazing, and great. To finish off Elevation, me, Drew, and Dustin sung Psalm 118 as an invitational, and then Sam and I played/sung Love Song for a Savior, as the very last song on Elevation. This just showed me how much I had grown since Elevation last year. Everyone was sad and gloomy because Elevation was over, but the night was still young. I practically pulled an all nighter that last night as I realized how soft Nicole's hair was (haha nicole), and just had a great time to finish off Elevation.

DAY SEVEN- CLOSING CEREMONIES

I woke up after my 2ish hours of sleep, cleaned my room/guys lounge, and headed up to the medal ceremony. Lots of medals were awarded, I won won "Family Man" and was part of the "All-Star Family". I was really proud of Jon Bezney for winning "Up and Comer" award for it was his first experience with VI, and he already is a huge asset to this amazing ministry. After closing remarks, we hopped onto the bus and made our way home. I ate steak and shake for lunch with Elliot, Paley, LFD, and Kyle, and sat on the bus with Nicole and Elizabeth. We arrived back at the church, greeted our parents, and Elevation was over.

So guys, this Elevation marked my one year mark at Vertical Impact, and it has been one unbelievably amazing year. At all started with last Elevation , which Dan pretty much had to pull teeth to get me to go on. I thought it would be a weird camp with a bunch of creepy Christians. It was the exact opposite. I fell in love with the Worship, I had an unbelievable time, and met some pretty freaking amazing people. I started to come to VI for the rest of the summer, and basically started to rely on it as part of my regular schedule. If there were weeks I couldn't go, I would get sad and just not feel right. It completely grew on me, and you guys became my family away from my family. Phil during this time was constantly trying to get me to sing, but I was always to nervous of judgement from you guys and never wanted to do it. Then sometime in novemberish, Sam approached me and said that he was going to play one night, and it wouldn't feel right if I wasn't up there with him. I said yes, and if it wasnt for Sam, I may not be where I am at singing for the band. Singing for the band kindof "renewed" my faith and interest in VI to the Elevation level, and I really looked forward to it week by week. It was just so awesome being part of the band and really helping the worship aspect of VI. Its kindof like the saying "you never really know something until you have to teach it". Well i never really experienced worship until I had to give it. It was amazing, and I loved it so much. Ski retreat rolled around, my second retreat with VI. I loved that, and singing in it. Almost Elevation caliber.
Then, I kindof stopped going to VI on a weekly basis. I had the school Musical from December to February, and then club soccer from February to May. I went about 8 weeks without going to VI, and even after that I just came in spurts. After having VI as a part of my life and family and then not going on a regular basis, I felt like there was a huge hole in my life. Then, I came back, went to family meetings, got pumped for Elevation, and went on Elevation! I have absolutely no idea where I would be at in my life without Vertical Impact. It has brought so much to my life, and I have really changed as a person from it. Before VI, I really had no relationship at all with God, and now I am closer to him than ever. Before VI, I just had friends from Indian Hill, now, I have tons of friends from Mariemont, Madiera, X, and even colleges all over the US; i love you guys. Again, I don't know what I would do without VI, or where I would be or how I would be right now. It has brought sooo much into my life, and I love you guys a ton. Thanks Dan for bringing this amzing ministry into my life, and thank you Sam for having me start to sing. I might even try for an SL position this year.

I love you guys, and I miss you guys.
See you hopefully every wednesday this year!

-Alex

Elevation

2008-05-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

So hey guys, I know it has been WAY to long since my last post. I've just been really busy, but I am going to do my best for a monthly update. Everything is going well in my life, and school is almost over! Exams are next week for Indian Hill, and I am pumped for the summertime.

The main reason I'm posting is to express how elated I am for this year's Elevation in Dahlonega, Georgia. It will be my second elevation, and I am unbelievably excited for a multitude of reasons.

1. This will be my second Elevation, and instead of spending the first day or two learning, i can go right into the action! This should be better than ever; we have an unbelievable group of people going, and for those who don't know many people, take this time to make friends! Elevation is such a wonderful time to get to know all of these amazing people at Vertical Impact, and you can make some great long lasting friends

2. Awesome stuff to do. Whether it is hanging out on the lake, whitewater rafting, or serving others, fun is always there to be had. I cannot wait for tubing on Lake Lanier, which is really fun, and whitewater rafting as well, which is the best thing ever. Also the service day which is awesome. Last year I went to a camp for mentally, physically, and emotionally disabled children, and it was the greatest experience of my life.

3. The best of all, the Elevation "specialty" the worship. I garuntee you, this will be the best, most fun, most meaningful, and most powerful worship experience anyone has ever experienced. This year I will be singing in the band, so I am extremely pumped to be a part of such an amazing thing

So basically, I'm pumped for elevation :) and I wanna hear how pumped you all are; leave a comment about how EXCITED YOU ARE!

Ski Retreat

2008-01-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Ski Retreat. I'm going to use the way over-used word to describe retreats. AMAZING. I guess I could even go so far and call it undescribeable. So this was my first ski retreat, in my first year at Vertical Impact. For those of you who don't know about ski retreat and didn't go on it; we basically wake up, ski, hang out, worship, sleep, wake up, ski, hang out, and worship. And yes, the worship on ski retreat is very powerful. Someone pointed out in a lesson that the reason the worship is so powerful is because we are away from home, and we have no worries. This is exactly why worship is so amazing during retreat. Drew delivered an awesome lesson the last night, and the band rocked the house. This was my first time singing on a retreat, as well as stephanie, and sam playing. We sounded great. I loved going down the double black diamond "powerline glade" and going off ramps :) (Good times Karyn and James). Whether it be rocking out it fast worship, connecting with God during slow, eating gelato at the ski lodge, jumping off ski ramps or riding ski lifts, everyone; veterans or new kids, all seemed to be having fun. Thats the beauty of VI; everyone accepts everyone, and new kids aren't so new by the end of the two days. And everyone knows from the last lesson, it's never too late for a fresh start. And remember no mastter what you've done, God's there to forgive you.Ski Retreat was the perfect time to start over, get away from everything, and reflect on everything. I could see God in everything and everyone; from the slow worship, the amazing lessons, the amazing mountain views, just everything. I even felt God come inside of me this trip. Upon coming home I just wanted to take time and reflect on everything. What would I do without VI. Seriously, it's beyond me how I spent 14 years of my life without this amazing group of peopleexpending their relationships with God, and I have no idea what I would do without you guys. I can't wait till next year! And MOST IMPORTANTLY... no one got hurt. From what I've heard, someone gets hurt each year, but this year, God graced us with no injuries. And I am feeling the "post- ski retreat depression that everyone gets. :(

Love you guys and see you this and every wednesday,
-Alex

Feel free to comment :)

Clique 6 :)

2007-12-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I copied your title Drew, I liked it :) Well at last week's VI there were two new additions to the Vertical Impact boy band. Sam Franer and myself. For being new, both of us seemed pretty comfortable up their and we rocked the house :). I loved the practice, and being up there was such an AMAZING experience that I will neveer forget. Hopefully I can keep making appearances for the boy band, same with Sam. And as Drew said in his post, we are looking for more people to join the band, so if you or a friend have talent for and instrument, talk to a band memer!!!

Love you guys,

-Alex

Vertical Impact

2007-11-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

So the other day I got thinking about Vertical Impact and everything about it. Had Dan not invited me to Elevation, I wouldn't be a part of this amazing youth group. I have no idea what I would do with out you guys. I can't imagine. I don't even know how I lived 14 years of my life without this. And I realized something...You guys are like my family away from home, and sometimes I even feel closer to you guys than my regular family. You're there for anything I need, whether it's homework help, to help with my family, to religious help. Im so glad to be a part of a group with such amazing people, and I love you guys like no other.

I love you guys.

-Alex

P.S. I'm singing next week!!!!

Turkey Day

2007-11-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been caught up and school and soccer and this has just slipped my mind. Well first of all, Happy Turkey DAY!!! I don't know about you guys, but I'm psyched for all of the food. And to give thanks, but mostly for the food haha. Turkey, Pumpkin pie, and MASHED POTATOES. Ahh it's going to be a-m-a-z-i-n-g. So what else is new... Well I'm gonna be singing for VI sometime soon, and Sam will play the guitar. So I'm pretty psyched about that. Well that's pretty much it for today.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

-Alex

Jeez.

2007-09-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well I just now realized I haven't post in forever. Well, VI yesterday was pretty much awesome, as always. The soccer season is going great for me, and we go up to Tippacanoe on Saturday. School is also good, but my mom is mad that I have 2 B's. Weird. I know. And if I don't bring them up by next Wednesday no VI =(.

Hmm. Well I'm bored, so I guess i'll show you all a video me and my friends made over the summer, and I edited it to put some into slow-mo. Check it outtttttt >>>>>>>>

Sorry.

2007-08-28T12:04:00.001-07:00

I did mean to use overrated to describe highschool. I meant something along the lines of "way too worried about". if that makes sence. Its fun, and the is nothing to worry about, i like it!
Thanks for pointing that out indirectly drew hahaha.

-Alex

Wow.

2007-08-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

This may or may not have been my last post's title, but if it was, this post is more "wow" than the last one. Also, my apologies for not posting for a while, i've been pretty busy. So to start things off, the Elevation reunion. In one word, I would probably say, "emotional". It was just so emotional to see the video and practically "relive" elevation all over again, and I was on the verge of tears. Also, Chris was was leaving that night, or which we all thought, because we would see him again tomorow. The next day was Annie's surprise party. Pretty much awesome. It was so much fun and it was pretty much my first time getting together with you guys outside of VI. So that was awesome, even though I missed the surprise because of soccer. Which brings me to my my constant topic of soccer. We have had 2 real games so far, Milford and Loveland. Both D1 schools, and Indian Hill is D2. We were up 1-0 in both games until like the last 3 minutes, when both Milford and Loveland seemed to score 3 GOALS! I have no idea what happened, but the good thing is, we were expected to lose those 2 games. We play Madiera at home on tuesday at 5, if any of you guys want to come. Madiera, for all of you who don't know is kindof Indian Hill's rival, so it should be a good game. AND! Joe Get is the assistant coach of Madiera so i'll be hassling him the whole game.

And the main "wow" is that school started. Summer is over. The summer of my first elevation/experience, the summer where I really felt like my faith was "born", is over :(. As I've stated numerous times before, I feel like I am a completely new person, and I hope I can carry that on trhough the new school/VI year. So highschool is here, and it is definately overrated. My classes are all right, I'm taking all of the regualr ones plus PE and Mens Chorus. But yeah, way over rated, not much different than middle school, or at least so far...

So thats pretty much been the past couple weeks summed up, and I can't wait for VI this week!

Umm. Everthing

2007-08-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this will kindof be a multi-purpose blog, covering a whole bunch of stuff.

So....

Can you guys believe...just over a week of summer left... I still have 150 pages left to go in my book, and I don't understand it. AND! This week, I have more 2 adays, and my mom is making me do some "welcome to highschool" program all this week. I know, it STINKS!

Also, I can't tell you guys how PSYCHED I am for the Elevation Reunion! Phils video is going to be amazing :). I can't wait to see the skits, and everything else. Ahhhh I can't WAIT!

hmmm what else....

I made JV soccer! I scored in our last game! haha. UH and im also nervous for highschool to start :(.

Alright
Peace out
*Alex

Yes, 2adays do stink

2007-08-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

For all of you who were at VI last night, you know I came directly from 2adays, all smelly and gross, with a little deodorant on. But the 2adays have most definately lived up to their reputation. This year, as quoted by almost all of the seniors, "Is the worst conditioning in all 4 years". Of course, it just had to be the hardest one every this year. To be particualar, last nights session, the day of VI, was the hardest session, ever. So, I only have 3 more sessions left, one of them is running 7 miles, so wish me luck!

Also, any1 ever read the book tale of two cities and understand it? IF so, I NEED HELP

Cya Cya,
Alexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"2-adays"

2007-07-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this week, is probably going to be the exact opposite of Elevation. For all of you who dont understand...if Elevation was the best week every this week is going to be...exactly...the worst week ever. So basically, for all of you who didn't know this or didn't read my last blog, I am trying out for the high school soccer team, and this week, is 2-adays. So from what I've heard, this is going to be terrible, and the players call this week "hell week". SO to start it off, I have to get up at 6, then get picked up at 6:35, then start running at 7. So from 7-8 AM were running about 5-9 miles, depending upon the day. Then I have all day, to try and conserve my energy, sleep, and pray to God I have enough will power to do this. Then, I go back, from 6-8, and get my tush whipped some more. Just so you know, I'm just going by what I've heard from the players. I will definately be posting my experience later as well as my will. In the night session, we do constant sprints, pushups, situps, up and unders, interval runs (jog one, sprint one, jog 1, sprint 2, jog 1, sprint 3 etc), and plyometrics (speed ladders, in and out of cones, jumping over cones, frog jumps, etc). So after all of this, I'll probably go home, eat a nice juicy steak and then pass out until I have to do all of this the next day, and by the end of the week, my legs will be jello.

Alright, so i hope you guys have sympathy for me,
Much love,
Alexxxxxxxxxxxxx

New Haircut

2007-07-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Alright. So today, I got my haircut. Not just a little trim, but so short, it was just short of being a buzz. It wasn't my choice. I am a soccer player, and I am going to play for my school team next year. However, in order to try out, the rule is your hair has to be above your ears and collar and out of your eyes. So I got it cut, very short. I think it looks alright, but I guess you'll just have to see for yourselves at VI!!!!

Elevation '07: Hollywood

2007-07-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Alex's First Elevation:

ELEVATION '07: HOLLYWOOD

So what can I say about Elevation ‘07. Well right now I am driving to Chicago, so I have a lot of time to write this, which means this will be a lengthy, but good blog. Well as most of you know, this was my very first elevation, let alone my very first experience with VI. Before elevation, I had no idea what to expect. The only reason I went on this was because Dan invited me. So the first few meetings for elevation I got through them, knowing no one except Dan and my cast (family). My family was an amazing family. The people in it were Joe Get, Molly Sullivan, Olivia, Julia, Stephanie, Emily, LFD, Andrew, Dan, and I. Our name was 3, and we were quite the creative bunch of people, which led to us winning best name, song, skit, and flag. But going into it, I wasn’t excited at all, but that soon changed, and I am so glad I went on elevation.

Day 1- “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
So anyways, the beginning of the first day of elevation kindof sucked. I knew no one, and I just followed Dan around for the beginning of the day. Later that day we presented our amazing song and flag, and had the handbook quiz bowl (which we also got 2nd in). But nothing that happened up to that point in elevation could even compare to what I was about to experience during worship. I had no idea what was coming and everyone said I was in for a great surprise. We started off with fast worship, which just wasn’t my thing. But then slow worship came along, and it was a very powerful experience. Between the slow songs, the sermon, and the prayer circle, the experience was very, very powerful, and it gave me a great time to get closer to god and reflect on my life. I spent a lot of time at the prayer circle, and I was really glad we were given the opportunity to do that. So by the end of the day, I felt reasonably comfortable with all of the people, and I had made a lot more friends than I came with.

Day 2- Lake Lanier- “Pirates of The Caribbean”
The second day of elevation was the day at Lake Lanier. It was so much fun. My boat was Molly, Andrew, Me, Dan, Stephanie, and Aimee. Now let me tell you, Aimee is one crazy boat driver, and Molly is just in her own league. When Aimee gave Molly control of the wheel, no one could stay on their tube. However we didn’t just tube, we occasionally anchored the boat and took a dip/leak in the lake, ahaha. We ate lunch at Van Pugh North Park, and did quite the interesting Folley involving chocolate syrup and cups…. Then we came back on a long bus ride, in which I could have sworn I could have heard people saying my name, but it turned out it was just Coleman and Gaburo whispering my name over and over to make me paranoid.

Day 3- Service Day- “Mission Impossible”
So today was the service day, and I have to say I wasn’t looking forward to that, but coming out of the day, it was a very moving and powerful experience. For my cast/family’s service, we went to name of place. This place is a fun camp for kids with mental/physical/emotional disabilities. I cannot express how moving this experience was in words. The not so moving part was in the first half, which was dirty work, although it felt good to know that you were helping. I removed a bush, pulled weeds, and cleaned out a barn with a power washer. A message to everyone, don’t give me or Andrew a power washer. After we were done cleaning, we sprayed a wasps nest and Andrew ran, then slipped and fell on his badonkadonk. It was hilarious. The second half was the powerful part. I got to hang out and play with some of the kids. Joe and I were playing “fight” with some of these little kids where we were the bad guys and they were Spiderman and Hulk. I think one of the boys had a bit of a thing for me. When he first came up to me, he drooled all over me and then buried his head in my crotch. It was really awkward but funny nonetheless and everyone in my family was cracking up. He also “had to tell me a secret” but he licked my ear instead. The part that really moved me was when I met a girl names Kayla with a mental disability, and she asked me to play piano for her. I played “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, and she sung along, and then when we were done, she drew a picture of me and her. This really touched me, and by the end of the day, I felt like even though the kids may not have noticed it, I think we gave them a good time and I think we helped them and the leaders of the camp a lot. That night we had yet another extraordinary worship, but it was outside in the gazebo. We got our care packages, it stormed, and Phil gave a great sermon about life as a horror flick. Also, the FH staff told ghost stories which sprung millions of other “true” stories.

Day 4- “Choice Day”- “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny”
I hope I’m not losing you’re interest here, I’m just so elated from this experience I want to express everything that happened during elevation. So today was our choice day and I chose white water rafting. This was an extraordinary day, because it was a new experience to me. We had to wake up early and within 5 minutes of rafting, we hit a class 5 rapid, a 7 foot drop. For me, I was a little worried, but I had trust in my raft mates. We went through that rapid not like a hot knife through butter, but a hot knife through hot butter (yeah, that fast and smooth. Lol) . Amidst rafting through calm currents, we noticed water coming down on us. This was not rain, but it was the raft consisting of Keiser, Gaburo, and Stephanie, The next thing we knew, their raft leader jumped on our boat, and pushed 3 of us, including me, off the boat. It was so funny. So we had to get them back, so later, we caught up with them, and we got Katie and Annie off the boat, and Dan just jumped on their boat and stayed on. Hahahaha. Not only did we raft, but we also went cliff diving and swam on a “natural water treadmill”, which were both really fun. Also on this trip it was pointed out by some observant people (Annie and Katie) that I have bigger biceps than Coleman. Hahahaha idk why Katie and Annie were look at my HUGE biceps but they are BIGGER than Coleman’s. Jk David. That night, we again had my favorite part of camp, the awesome worship services, and Aimee gave a great sermon about life as a comedy. There were only 2 days left now.

Day 5- Tournaments- “Love & Basketball”
So today, was one of those days where we were at Forrest Hills. We started off the day with a seminar by LFD (and it was a great seminar!) about life as a silent movie, and then we had quiet time. This again was a great time for me to expand my relationship with god, and for this quiet time, I sat on a tree stump, and just though about life. Later that day, we had the basketball/cornhole tournaments! My team, was by far the biggest underdog team. The tallest/oldest guy on our team was Dan, a 5’8 freshman, while other teams had 6’1 Freshman in college Elliot and Coleman. Anyways, Dan basically carried our team to the winners bracket finals with his sharp shooting and we ended up coming in third, which is pretty good considering our team (By the way, our team was me, Dan, Andrew, LFD, and Emily). So 3 came in 3rd in basketball and in cornhole Julia and Olivia played their hearts out and we got 6th in that. Our family was more of the “artsy” family than the “sporty” family. That night, we had the SKITS! I figured I would give a short summary of the skits.

3-Monty Python- The nights of 3, versus the nights of NI! Silly string sprayed everywhere but finally the nights of three came up on top with Sir Robin of Loxley leading the way!

X-rated- Desperate Housewives- Annie’s slutty character and Dustin’s cross-dressing caused some drama. John’s unscripted line, “Let’s get out of here BABY” was by far the funniest moment.

Epic- Epic’s multiple movie character skit was hilarious with Nick as superman, David as Harry Potter, and Chris Acheson and a very odd version of god…or at least that’s what I thought he was trying to be.

Sinbusters- Austin Powers- The different Austin Powers represents the different sins. Between Zach as “the fat bastard” and Trey as Austin Powers their skit was hilarious.

VIP- The VIP room- Who can get into the VIP room? Drew…I mean, Paris couldn’t seem to make it in, but Jesus did! This was one of my favorite skits.

Oceans 10- The second best skit. Behind the ever powerful 3 of course! Their skit was all about freeing the famous film figures from their failure to find faith. D-Frost’s part from Castaway and Elliot’s Jack Sparrow were both hilarious.

That night, a group of us went “ghost hunting”, it was good to get some people scared, but we came back dry.

Day 6- Obstacle Course- “Star Wars”
Today was the last full day that we had of elevation. In the morning we had quiet time again, with a beginning speech by Zach and Vicki. For this quiet time, I started on a walk with Trey and Rachel and then when we finished I walked with Paley and Elliot. It was a great time just to talk with them about different things in life that were important to us. After quiet time, we had Tug O’ War. Again, as I stated before, the physical tasks weren’t exactly our family’s “specialty”. We got 6th place. After that we had the obstacle course. Me, being one of the smallest on my team, I was harnessed in for the mission impossible test. Of course, the harness was on backwards, so I got flipped upside down, which made doing the task extra hard, but it was funny nonetheless to see me flipped upside down. We came in 6th in the obstacle course. Then we had “The Monster’s Ball”. We were able to sit with who we wanted that night, and we were served a great dinner and I had a great time. My table was Nick, Angie, Elizabeth, Dan, Me, Maddie, Katie, and Annie. For the final worship service, Drew spoke about life as A drama, and we had communion. That night’s prayer circle was really emotional for me, due to the fact that it was my last night at my first elevation. I put my head down, and Coleman came over and put his arm around me. This put me to tears because it just made me think about all of the friends I made here, and it made me felt like I belonged, and I was part of the elevation family. That final night, me, Katie, Annie, Coleman, Maddie, James, and Slon all went on a walk. We layed down, looked at the stars, and just talked about how great elevation was. Katie called it a “Notebook Moment” whatever the heck that is. Hahahaha. So that was my very last night at elevation.

Day 7- “The Oscars”
This day, was just like a half day, and our last moments on elevation. We had the Oscars, and I was really hoping I would get an award. I got the Up and Comer Award, and the All Star award. These two awards really meant a lot to me, and it really made me feel like I was part of the VI family.

So elevation was probably the best week of my life. I went into it knowing no one, and left with 60 new friends. This was such an amazing experience. The worship truly expanded my relationship with God, and now I feel a lot closer to him. So between the fun activities, the amazing people, and the extraordinary worship, I am sooooo glad I went on elevation this year, and I can’t wait to see you all at VI

Much Love,
Your Friend,
Alex