Newday!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

"Mummy!!! How many sleeps 'til Newday?"
"Only four!! Woooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooo!!"

There are somethings that I find even more exciting than my kids do. Newday is one of them. Preparation for Newday is just as exciting as being there. Writing lists. Ticking things off that list. Shopping for shampoo, shower gel and packets of tissues. Making sure that I have a full First Aid kit (even though one will be fully available.) Packing my Bible, notebook and pen. ensuring that I have the right clothes - clothes for sun and clothes for rain. Wellies. Flip flops. Pieces of carpet for wiping feet on. Tent. Tent pegs. Ground sheet. Battery operated lantern. cash for milkshakes, coffee, chips and the bookshop.

What is Newday? Sorry, I got a bit carried away. You see, when it comes to Newday, I do get carried away. Well, Newday is the new Stoneleigh, and Stoneleigh was the new New Generation, and New Generation was the new More Than Conquerors, and More Than Conquerors was the new Downs. I think the Downs was preceded by something, but that was before my time.

All these are (and this is the bit I hate, as no words can describe how amazing they are/were, and the following words definitely do not do them justice) Christian Summer Camps, Gatherings, Festivals, Events. The Downs and Stoneleigh were for all ages, whereas the others, including Newday, are for young people only (obviously with Youth Leaders also...and their kids.)

Basically, we pack up a coach with young people, our kid, bags of unnecessary clothing and equipment, sweets, drinks (non-alcoholic, of course) and excitement. We head up to the Norfolk Showground, where we meet our catering team - a brave bunch from our lovely church, who arrive a day early, pitch our tents for us and prepare for a hard-slog week of cooking for about a million of us, making it feel like home. We pour off the coach, thanking our driving with hip-hip-hoorays and dive into our tents to blow up our airbeds and set ourselves up. At this point, I become rather nostalgic, so please excuse me....

...I remember when, as a teenager, my mum, dad, little brother and I made our way up to Stoneleigh - such exciting times. Ben and I LOVED the journey. We knew it fairly well, and we never tired of it. We didn't even mind that it took a while to drive up there - it was all part of the experience. As we approached the gate, squeals of excitement emitted from the backseat of my dad's car. Upon being welcomed by the registration team, we handed them our forms in exchange for badges, handbooks and a black bin liner...ahh I can smell the campsite now!!! Stoneleigh agricultural ground had a special, unique smell of its own... We'd drive around to our church's allocated site and wave as we saw our friends. Mum and Dad would put the tent up - one year they didn't realise that it had been put up inside out until three days into the week!!!

I'd find my friends, Lucy, Lyndsey, Ilona, Jo, Jayne and Amy and we'd go off, "scouting for boys". Obviously it wasn't all about boys....not that I didn't do fairly well on that front...We'd also find our venue for meetings and then check out the bookshop and food stalls - it was a sign of a good year if we found a Hog Roast van!!

Stoneleigh meant late nights and early rises, to get a hot shower. It meant time with my friends, without my parents worrying where I was. It meant dinners made by my mum on a camping stove of tinned chilli, boil-in-the-bag rice and the occasional cooked brekkie. Tinned potatoes and chicken in white wine sauce from a tin. Stoneleigh meant new books, maybe a new Bible and a new hoodie. Long walks and lazy afternoons by the river. It also meant new developments in my relationship with God, empowering talks where I learnt how to worship God with abandon, and hilariously clear instruction on dating and sex - we ALWAYS went to that talk!!!

As Stoneleigh came to an end, we all really grieved our precious time with each other and with God. We returned to school feeling focused and strong, ready to face the world and the though of not having Stoneleigh felt so scary.

Newday followed, inviting young people to enjoy a week away with out their parents - they'd gone one better!!! By the time it stared, I was too old to go to Newday. Even if I had been the right age, I had gone in my own direction, away from church and away from Jesus.

And so, when the opportunity came for Dave and I and our kids to join the youth at Newday last year, I was hugely excited. You see, I am (thankfully) no longer scouting for boys, or worrying about cool clothes. Neither am I enjoying the easy, run-around-and-do-my-own-thing element of Newday. But I do get to see others doing it. I enjoy great times with the youth - milkshakes with the girls, laying around on sleeping bags chatting to people, eating together in a big marquee, late night hot chocolate and cake, queuing for showers, listening-in to hilarious conversations during our patrol after lights-out and most of all, seeing these cheeky, normal, hormonal, sometimes stroppy kids sold out in worship to Jesus. Last year, I watched tears fall silently down one big brother's face, as his younger brother stepped forward to move into a deeper relationship with God. I saw a quiet and shy young man receive baptism in the Holy Spirit. I witnessed boys praying for their friends, as they became young men together. I heard girls prophesy over one another, and pray for healing. I saw lives changed, hearts broken and the re-building process beginning. I am looking forward to seeing what God will do in the young people this year.

So, as I pack my big stacka-box with raincoats (just in case), plasters and air fresheners - have you ever smelt inside a tent where five 14 year-olds are staying? - I am so excited. I am counting down the hours...

Have a look at the website...are you coming next year?