Rufi-O!!

Wow! I leave on Thursday morning for camp! I am so excited! I will be gone til August, but I will not be totally out of reach. If you ever get the urge to communicate with me, there are a few secret ways. But if I told you, I’d have to kill you. Wait… nevermind… that’s another club I’m in… Anyway, you can call me on Saturday evenings from about 4 til 11:30 or Sunday mornings before noon during my off times. Also, if you want to send me something (a letter, some cookies!, a blank check, etc.) – and anything at all will be greatly appreciated and fully paid back in hugs – you can mail me at this address:

“Rufi-O”
Pine Cove at Crier Creek
1123 Creekwood Lane
Columbus, Texas 78934

By the way, for those of you who don’t know the story, Rufi-O is my camp name. All the staff at Pine Cove get one during orientation. Basically, someone gets called up to sit on a stool up on stage in front of everyone and they get bombarded with questions, and then people try to piece together their answers in some witty way to make a name, and then try to “sell it” to everyone else, and if they get enough applause, that becomes the person’s camp name, which is all they go by when they are at camp. For example, I successfully named one person (I’ll spare you about the humiliation of my unsuccessful attempts). This girl was from Tomball, she loved running, loved Mexican food, and had been on a few mission trips to Mexico. So I “sold” the name – I suggested to keep in mind “Run” because she loved running, and then also “Border” because of the whole Mexico theme and the fact that Tomball is kind of out on the border of Houston, and then brought up the old Taco Bell slogan “Run for the Border.” And that was my one successful naming. So anyway, here’s the story on my name:
I had mentioned earlier in the week about the time I got sick when climbing a mountain in Colorado, and I basically puked over the edge of a short cliff/steep slope when we were at about 13,000 feet up, and someone requested that I tell everyone that story. I also told everyone that I really like movies, and someone asked if I liked Hook. I totally loved that movie when I was younger, and I watched it all the time. So then a girl got up to sell a name. She pointed out that when I got sick, I was up on a really high ridge, kind of like a rooftop. I then mentioned how at home, I used to climb up on the roof to get in on the 2nd floor when I was locked out sometimes. So that emphasized the “Roof” part even more. And getting sick, I was probably groaning like “Oohhh” or something. Then she reminded us of Hook, where Peter Pan comes back to Neverland and he is no longer the boss – there’s a new guy in charge of his old clan, and he’s kind of a crazy guy, so let’s name Eric “Rufi-O!” And lots of people cheered and it stuck. So I am now known as Rufio for the rest of the summer. Fun!
I am soo ready for Crier Creek! I know this summer will be incredible, and I just ask that you keep me in your prayers. Have a great rest of the summer, and don’t forget to send me mail!!

- Rufi-O!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
- Colossians 3:23-24