Impact 2017 "Seek"

Impact 2017 “Seek”

TODD N. LOYD·MONDAY, JUNE 26, 2017

I don’t know why.

I have my suspicions but I am not certain.

Fact is for the first time in 26 years, as the calendar flipped over to June I was not looking forward to Impact. It could have been I was nervous about one thing or another, or stressed about it all going how we had planned. I honestly thought this might be the year I summed up Impact by saying, we did not pull everything off.

I was wrong.

I have not quite sat down to evaluate it yet, but this one might actually rank up there amidst the best Impact’s ever.

As soon as John Pyle opened our program with his challenge to the students, and hearing the teens cheer as Savannah and Easton belted out “How Far I’ll Go” I knew everything was going to be fine, and God would be using this week for His glory in spite of my foolish doubts.

And then on that last night watching Rubio quote the Sermon on the Mount, well the words of Jesus permeated the Arena, and Impact 2017 “Seek” wrapped up, with a hundred baptisms, and thousands of teens and adults inspired.

It just fit, the theme, the skit, the speakers, the classes, the giveaways, the charities, it was just solid.

But that was fast….it was all too fast. I am truly still sad tonight. Sad it’s over. I actually woke up this morning thinking I needed to get over to Allen for skit practice. I am at a loss. For 344 days we plan. Then in a blink it’s over.

Pardon the pun but there is a “silver” lining here..... “It’s the seeking not the finding that’s the most exciting part.”

Today the fun begins again. You see, we have no Impact 2018 theme, the chalkboard is clean. The sandbox is empty. A new pallet is waiting to be painted with exciting ideas. As much as I love the event, I truly love the relationships I have built around LU Impact even more. You see, starting in about 2 months I will be calling men like Jonathan Tucker, and Brian D'Herde. I will be texting Justin Moore and Aubrey Wood. I will be meeting with David Skidmore, David Rubio, Jon Shoulders, Shelby Kohring and Patrick Cordell Chappell. I will annoy Steve Davidson and pester Johnny Markham. I will tell Jon Micah Richardson how I feel (sorry inside joke), and make sure MacKenzie Lewis is not doing anything next summer. Because just like John Silver told Jim Hawkins on the last night of Impact 2017 “the seeking is the adventure I enjoy most. “ Every year the last night of Impact is “the best of times and the worst of times”. The one night many of us spend countless hours building to.

And so the book that is “Seek Impact 2017” closes wrapping up our two year arch “Hyde and Seek” but your adventure continues. Who knows where we go next year?

But for now I think back on “Seek”. A week we all got “Bet on it” stuck in our heads. We got to hang out with old friends like Mr. T, Bob Ross, B.B. Purvis, and we even had a special appearance by Gnash the Predators mascot who helped us take out a giant Russian Penguin….(don’t ask). We sang “Proud to be an American”, and we watched a decapitation.....well sort of, lol. Oh and man how about Kidron Cannon our video guy…..the guy is amazing!

Oh and there’s the game and the “Seek your own Adventure” book. Check the website.

We worshiped with Mateo and Jordan. We heard lessons from David Clayton, Matthew Clark, Paul Evans, and Skid. We had 8 excellent classes and my teens told me how awesome every one of them were.

You gave $13,000 to three fabulous charities. Best Buddies, Peter Powerhouse, and Running for Orphans with Down’s Syndrome. You gave $10,000 in the collection and bought $3000 worth of gear above our cost. Our counselors and roadies were solid yet again.

But there will be two memories I will carry forward from “Seek” the rest of my life.

1. The Sermon on the Mount theme resonated with the campers and when Rubio finished his recitation on the last night, there were more than a few wet eyes.

2. The reaction of you guys on the last night of the skit “Cinder-Island”, it was electric. The cheers, the cries, just awesome. I can only remember about three skits in the Impact skit 23 year history that got that kind of reaction. “Hooked 2011,” “The Story 2006”, “Day of Reckoning 2008”.

In fact, the reaction to the skit was so unbelievable this year I have no idea how we can possibly top it in 2018. This year’s cast was strong, very strong. Every character was great, and every actor/actress did their part. Taking two beloved stories and creating something new was exciting and I was so thrilled the campers bought in emotionally. This little skit team has become a family. So Hayley Todd Sells, Easton Curtis, Robert Lyndsay, Mackenzie Lewis, Kolton and Kody Smith, Tucker, Chapel, D’herde, Rubio, Shoulders, Skidmore, Jesse Kohring, and Jordan House thank you! Oh I cannot forget our silent member....Charlie Sells who is the music miestro. Music is an important part of the skit.

And then there were the younger teens in our crew, Macie, Brock, and Ian. They were just exactly what we wanted!

I had a church member ask me this morning. What is Impact?

How do you explain to someone who has never been there? I am not sure you can. I tried to answer my own question here a few times and the words are just silly. Is it a Church Camp? I mean the words “Church Camp” they conjure up dress codes and sports time, counselor vs camper softball games, and “Sadie Hawkins” kickball. I mean I love church camp, I mean, I really love church camp. I grew up a camp kid, attended a few hundred, was a counselor for years, and then directed a dozen, and then even taught college classes on the deal. But Impact is not church camp. No Impact is so much more inclusive....wait I think I mean “explosive”.

Impact is 4,000 teens coming together to party. It’s a family who has been a part for a year. It’s 2,000,000 inside jokes and billions of memories. It’s a Bear on Bicycle, Perfect Comeback Guy, It’s grown men lip synching High School Musical, BB Purvis, a charity called Best Buddies and speakers like Walling and Clayton. Impact is imagination, and no limits. Its a mystery as to what could happen next and yet we all now how it will end. Every one of us, know the ending. It’s a choose your own adventure book that always ends with....”Go Be Jesus” to someone else. And that is Impact, a week that challenges everyone of us to seek our own adventure. And then it ends, and for about 72 hours I am depressed.I am at a loss.

For 344 days we plan. Then in a blink it’s over.

Thankfully the good news is this.....”The Seeking” is the best part.

What a great year!