hey all. i'm back, another emotionally moving weekend at confi camp.

but from different eyes.

its not as easy as it looked last year. things screwed up, equipment refused to co-operate and it just seemed for some reason that the confirmants weren't as open and responsive as last years batch.

prayer was needed, and much of it at that. 10 mysteries of the rosary, countless spontaneous prayer, singing and silent prayer sessions later it worked. they opened up and were genuinely touched by God.

whether it was as powerful as what we experienced last year we'll never know but the effect was the same. not a dry eye in the house. God was truly in our midst again. and we all felt so special and blessed to be there at that time sharing that moment together again.

we bonded a great deal over the weekend. like long lost brothers and sisters drawn together by the love of God and the fervent desire to spread that love as others had done for us the year before.

thank you Linus, Bertrand, Sean, Leon, Elaine, Venitia, Rainer, Natasha, Clarice, Randee, Joel, Julian, Sonia, Crystal and Louis for re-kindling the love of God within me and the love for each other we haven't experienced since last june. it was truly a special weekend fellas, dont ever forget it and we'll do it next year for sure.

but still, its been a long long day. i just got back from a ridiculously 7 hour long tech run as CJC for "the perfect way" musical. opening next week and we're still lagging way behind. but we know God will lead us through.

i'll leave you with one of the 2 most endeering memories I'll treasure from this years camp.

as the youth went through the washing in the room as we had done a year ago i was asked by eric not to help in the washing as i was originally instructed to do. Instead he asked me to pray, to sit behind the rock feature and pray for the confirmants. I swallowed my mispleasure and moved to pray, sensing there was a purpose to everything i sat there and asked God for grace and wisdom to help in whatever way i could.

i prayed passionately and deeply, trembling at times, crying all the way. touched by God's love yet again. truly feeling his love once again flooding my being and returning to my soul as it did last year. the peace and calm i needed engulfed me as i continued to cry and pray for continuous love and strength for the confirmants.

then venitia, one of my old confi-mates found me sobbing like a little girl in the corner of the room praying my butt off. she sat down next to me, tapped me on the shoulder and hugged me tightly. her eyes too moist and running over with tears from prayer and Gods love again.

i dont know how long we held each other. venitia, a girl i had only come to know relatively well during the weekend was embracing me and holding me as if we were family. i believe we are.

we just held each other and cried and cried and cried. it seemed like forever and the love from each of us and God just ran on and on through our bodies, it must have been at least 5 mins before we let go and she offered me a tissue. i smiled as i wiped the tears that ran down my cheeks.

linus and sean then came in and we hugged each other as we had done last year and throughout the weekend. it was special. a deep special feeling that no one can ever take away.

i can only hope and pray that you my dear reader will get to feel that kind of love sometime in your life before it is through

God Bless you All

spread the lovin'

Rob Valentine