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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause
and reflect.
—Mark Twain
Only dead fish swim with the stream.
—Malcolm
Muggeridge
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play the game
 Want to win a free week at SpringHill
AND a great waterproof digital camera to record all the fun? Go to the SpringHill
Game website to
play the game and be entered in the drawing! (Plus, we’re giving away
an iTunes gift
card every month!)
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talk about it
 Nearly
every day we are pressured to conform, to go along with the crowd, to make
choices we would not be proud of or that we know would not please
God. The people we hang out with can be powerful influences in
our lives. So can TV, movies, music, books, family and so on. Think about
the inlfuences in your life. What or who has the strongest influence on the
choices you make? Do your main influences come from a godly place? Why is
it so hard not to conform and give into peer pressure? Take a deeper look
at what or who is influencing you these days. Are you proud of the choices
you're making?
Talk about it with other SpringHill
campers and counselors on the SpringHill MySpace
page. Or, if you have another question you'd like to discuss, email us.
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what you said
· One
third of you surveyed said that you gossip
weekly; another third said you hardly ever do it.
· Why
is it so difficult to stay away from gossip? Nearly 70% said that it's just
easy to be negative about certain people; the rest of you don't
know why.
·
The worst consequence of gossiping for half of you is knowing that you're
sinning or disappointing God.
·
More than 80% said that you only occasionally have a difficult time
sticking to your values.
·
Wanting to be liked is the most common reason you follow your
friends even when you know they're doing something wrong.
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who's behind your
decisions?
 Every
day we are influenced in hundreds of different ways — by
friends, family, media and so much more. Do you know who and what
has the strongest influence over you? Why do you allow youself to be
negatively influenced even when you know the choice is
wrong? Last month's survey showed that more than a third of you
give into peer pressure because you want to be liked. In
this issue of The
Well, you'll discover why pressure from
friends is so powerful, think about who and what is influencing your
decisions and learn how to become a better influence on
others. You'll also find all the latest SpringHill
news, great reviews and a provocative conversation on the
SpringHill MySpace page. Don't miss it!
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news @
springhill michigan
There's still time to register for
Summer 2007! Check out the SpringHill summer
schedule and all the details about TST. Then, start
planning the best weeks of your summer! Go to the SpringHill website NOW
to register!
Interested in being a counselor at SpringHill someday? Consider our TST
neXt program! This new 3-week program for older high school students is
the next step for campers who love kids and want to be involved in
Christian ministry. Students will receive one week of training at
SpringHill, and then serve for two weeks in either Copper Country or
Storybrook or at one of SpringHill’s Daycamps in
Auburn Hills or Novi,
Michigan. Learn more and register on our
website!
Bring your family to
SpringHill Family Camp
over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28, for an out-of-this-world bonding
experience! Spend quality time with your family playing, learning,
talking, growing and worshipping. It'll be the best four days you spend
together all year!
Want to help SpringHill get ready for an
awesome summer? Bring your family or your youth group to SpringHill for a
Spring volunteer weekend from now through June 15. It’s a
great opportunity to serve at SpringHill and have a blast doing it! For
more information, visit our website.
Then, have your parents or your youth group leader call Denae Durling
at 231-734-2616 to register. Don’t wait — space is
limited.
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influencer
or influencee?
Be on your
guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. —1
Corinthians 16:13
Have you ever heard the
phrase, "You are the sum of the choices you make?" How about,
"You are the average of the five people with whom you spend the most
time?" No matter who we are or how strong our faith is, what and whom
we allow ourselves to be influenced by plays a huge role in what we choose
to do, who we become and whether or not we are able to follow these words
of the apostle Paul.
Take a look at the main
influences in your life. In order to stand firm, be courageous and be
strong, you have to take ownership of what's influencing you. You have to
lead yourself with integrity. A lot of times we think about standing firm
and not falling prey to peer pressure in terms of physical purity. But what
about emotional and intellectual purity? What we feed our hearts and our
minds can influence us in powerful ways. The more positive and holy our
influences are, the more opportunity we have to be a wise and godly
influence on others.
Think
about this: What's been
going into your brain lately? Who or what have you been allowing to
influence you? In your circle of friends are you most often the influencer
or the influencee? Why? What could you do to be a better influence on
others and draw them toward Christ?
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a
tst crew chief talks to the well
 Amy
Fitch, who's a freshman at the University of Miami, spent part of summer 2006 as a Storybrook counselor
and part as a TST crew chief. Here, Amy talks to The Well about what
influences her decisions and how to avoid being negatively
influencedby others.
The
Well: When you were younger, what was the most common reason you did things
you knew you shouldn't?
Amy: Curiosity and being pressured
by my friends.
The
Well: Why does peer pressure have such a strong pull on us?
Amy: We want to feel like we
belong. We like attention and looking cool.
The
Well: Who is your greatest influence today?
Amy: My family.
The
Well: What else influences the choices that you make?
Amy: Above all, my relationship
with God. I can only imagine how I'd be if he hadn't changed my heart. He
is the only one who truly makes me want to do good things.
The
Well: How do you influence others?
Amy: Letting Christ live out through me. I'm in contact with a lot of
non-Christians and it's amazing how simply living out my faith can have
such a big influence on others. In the end, though, loving people is the
biggest thing.
The Well: What
advice do you have for students about how to keep from being negatively
influenced by others?
Amy: Remember that Christ loves you just as you are;
so, you don't have to seek after acceptance from other people.
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now
playing
 Walking in Victory: Experiencing the
Power of Your Identity in Christ by Dennis McCallum: Highly recommended by SpringHill summer staffer Philip
Otis, this easy-to-read, grace-oriented book will help you learn to take
Christ at his word and replace the deadly cycle of legalism and sin with
victory and grace. "It helped me see who I am in Christ and who others
are," says Philip. "Through this book I really began to
understand why I was being mastered by certain sins and how to get out from
under them." Learn
more about the book on the publisher's website.
 The
Art of Breaking
from Thousand Foot Krutch: This
Canadian rock trio tops the play list of SpringHill counselor Jason Arnold
who appreciates them for their solid, hard-hitting rock music and for
"speaking out God with everything they've got." Even
though Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) doesn't actually refer directly
to God in any of the lyrics, their passion for Christ can be felt
throughout the songs. With the same nu metal rock sound they debuted in
their first labeled release (Phenomenon) under Tooth & Nail, The Art of Breaking
is fun, aggressive, heartfelt and perfect to blast through your car stereo
with the windows down. Learn more about the band and the album on the TFK website.
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