Impact 2014: RPG
Impact 2014: RPG
The reality that Impact was over came thundering down around 1:30 pm on Saturday. I rolled down Granny White Pike and actually teared up, seriously I was a tad bit upset. I guess the fact that I was so tired, mixed with the realization that one solid year had flown by got the best of me. I can count on one hand the number of times I have teared up in the last decade, but last Saturday, well that was one of them. Just like that, 350 days of planning, dreaming, praying, and writing came to a close. But it was not just that. It was that, well honestly I miss you guys. I miss the 3,000 campers who worship with no restraint, I miss the counselors, who did a great job, I miss the adult chaperons including the youth ministers. I miss the roadies a whole bunch. I especially loved this group. You guys and gals were the best group ever...fact! And most of all I miss my fellow board members, my best friends in the world. So there's this ten day period where your surrounded by God's people, and then you walk into an empty house. That's a rough transition. So I got home and in spite of my exhaustion I mowed the lawn, did laundry, cleaned house, ran 5 miles and them settled down to watch one of my former teems pitch Vanderbilt into the national championship baseball game. It was more than ironic that I needed these distractions to keep my mind off of how much I was missing Impact, and then it hit me. Impact is just an event (a great one albeit) but Impact cannot be my focus. It has to be just a catalyst to greater things.
I can honestly say, that Impact 2014 will go down in history as one of my favorite Impact's ever. I am not sure if anyone would say it was one of the all time best Impact's but the fact is,I had a blast. You see Aubrey Wood, Jonathan Tucker, Seth Madaris, Michael Reed. and Brian D'Herde did loads of video for us, and for the first time ever I actually just sat back and let Impact happen. Sure I had a hand in some of the videos, but in years past that's really all I did all week and I never got to spend much time with you, the Impact camper. This year I got that time and it was brilliant. I scored my first soccer goal ever, I spent time developing new friendships especially with the roadies, and I got to just breath from after Morning Impact till worship. It was truly a beautiful thing.
But I digress....
2014 will forever be remembered as one of the most unique weeks in Impact history. Fact is, we were down a man. One of our most valuable tech guys Paul Skidmore, the genius behind years of Impact videos was given the chance to visit the Holy Lands. So we were missing a major cog in our creative machine. I think we did okay, but I pray Paul never get's that opportunity again ;). We were also missing Joey Robertson, another major player in Impact's past.
So this year in spite of missing main men, well it was incredible. This theme, this concoction of everything I loved from my childhood was born 24 hours after Impact 2013.
One day after Impact 2013 "Camp" I finally decided to listen to an audio book my friend and former intern Jonathan Tucker (aka, Drago) had recommended to me a few months prior. The whole thing was about video games and the 80's. It was a great read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, so much so that I listened to it again, and again, and I stared to dream about what a "video game/ 80's throwback" Impact theme would look like. It was literally the week after Impact and I already knew, this had possibilities. Then one day in Skid's youth room a couple of months later Rubio said this..."Know who you are, so you can like who you are, so you can be who are, in the world where you are." And "BOOM!" Impact 2014 was born.
And it was a great year. Just so you'll know we had two great theme ideas and the runner up, well Impact 2015 is already in development, and I can tell you next year is going to be unbelievable ;).
Let me just start off by saying this, 2014 will forever be remembered by me as the year the Impact campers blew me away.
Behavior, excitement, energy, and most of all giving. You guys gave $13,500 to five very deserving charities. Exile International, Best Buddies, Give Kids The World Village, Run4Water, and the Micah 6:8 team.
You also gave an additional $3,500 to our friend L.T.'s mom so she could visit the Holy Land.
That a total of $17,000 Praise God!
LT rest in peace my friend. I cannot wait to see you again. I know I am way down the depth chart but you my friend had an impact on this man's life.
So this "Boom" thing, kind of took on a life of it's own. We were just sitting in Johnson's side lobby and Skid was debating his accent. I think it was Luke Shoulders who suggested Skid should do the Hulk Hogan aircraft gun pose. Then someone yelled boom....and an Impact legend was born. Impact 2014 will also be remembered as one of the few times the skit provided us with so many epic characters, even outshining Morning Impact. Who will ever forget Thronton Melon and his awkward "Fish Face", or "Holidaaaaay, Floridaaaaa,"? Or Skid's portrayal of the "Biffster", Drago and Bridget (played perfectly by Valla Johnston), Mr Tubbs, The Wight King, Mario Luigi, Krull-Nar, Demi, Chip, etc....? This year was full of great performances. And not to be outdone two high school students: Darby and Sam played our leads and knocked it out of the park.
I will also think back on 2014 and think of trading cards. I had some of the most bizarre conversations of all times last week. "I tried to trade a Dr. Kobra for a Bear On A Bicycle and the guy said no", "How about two Racer Ex's for a Steve Davidson?" I actually heard these things. When former Impact camper Kevin Jordan approached me about this, I was interested, in fact I had thought of doing this years ago, but I did not think it would go over. I was wrong, you guys bought a whopping 2,000 packs of Impact trading cards. are you kidding me? Awesome...and in the process you raised a heck of a lot of money for Best Buddies. God bless you Kevin Jordan, a lot of kids are going to be blessed because you had an idea.
You see that was what Impact 2014 RPG was really about, If you are distracted, it gets hard to focus on your gifts. It gets hard to do the things God would love you to do. We get so busy that, sometimes, just like in the drama the only way to get away is to DIE to distraction and claim a new life in Christ. That was the whole point. Don't create a character, be yourself. Be the person God created you to be. Take that spiritual gift God has given you and run with it. Perception, Compassion, Exhortation, Giving, Service, Administration, or Teaching, use it. However don't run off a 6 foot stage, right Rubes?
So Impact 2014....Trading Cards and Video Games for charity, some guys named Thornton and Biff. Charities being blessed. "My Lighthouse" (oh man now it's stuck in my head), Josh Ross, David Skidmore, and Jeff walling bringing it strong. The best roadies ever and I mean that. Little House on the Prairie (Ruibio gets all the credit here...major win). That hilarious Balloon launch, Bob Ross, the return of the original Impact Puppet (awesome), etc...
BTW Shelby and Jessi Kohring deserve a huge shout out people! After years of doing the set Skid turned it over to the Kohrings and they knocked it out of the park. I can guarantee you no other youth rally in America had the actual "Rock-a-fire Explosion" on stage....fact! We also got to honor Darren Brown for his 21 years of service to the Impact Board. What an incredible example of that spiritual gift.
As I walked into an empty house last Saturday I knew that I would be having a tough day, I was missing you guys. I still miss you guys, and I am counting down the days to Impact 2015, Lord willing. But I also know that this pain, this light and momentary trouble, is really just a sign of this, Impact is a special place, it's not just a camp, it's a family, and one day well, we will maybe get to do Impact for eternity. Praise God we get to attend Impact but even I need a reminder from time to time that Impact itself cannot be the focus. Impact is an event that is simply a catalyst to greater things!
God bless you all!
Todd
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