april 2016
BUILD CHARACTER AT KAMPOUT!
Wichita Family • April 2016 - 1
Success
begins at an early age
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Todd Vogts
Publisher Todd Vogts publisher@wichitafamily.com
Wichita Family Magazine is published 12 times a year by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. Wichita Family Magazine is available free, at schools, stores, restaurants, libraries, retailers and local attractions, as well as other places families frequent. For a complete list of where to find Wichita Family, or for subscription rates, email us at publisher@wichitafamily.com or visit our website at www.wichitafamily.com. Copyright 2016 by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Wichita Family Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or contest fulfillment from third parties. Reproduction in part or in whole without written permission is strictly prohibited. Wichita Family is distributed free of charge. The magazine’s advertisers make this possible, so support them! We reserve the right to edit submitted material. All submissions will be considered for publication, but we reserve the right to refuse material. Materials will not be returned. Any editorial content or advertising published is the property of Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. 2 - www.wichitafamily.com
Message from the Publisher Since I can remember I have spent the Easter holiday with my family on the farm north of Canton. Initially, Grandma and Grandpa Vogts lived there. Now, Uncle Stacy and Aunt Brenda own it, but the tradition has remained regardless of who lives there. A meal always takes place, and lots and lots of conversations are had. It is a Vogts function after all. But the main event is always the hunting. There is an egg and pop hunt for children through age 10, and this takes place in the front yard around the house. That is fun to watch, but it still isn’t the main event . . . really. The big show takes place after the youngsters have had their fun. That’s when all the older children, ranging from age 11 and up and including the adults who act like children, who is everyone in attendance basically, head outside for the great pop hunt. Todd Vogts publisher@wichitafamily.com Uncle
Stacy hides the cans of pop all over the property, and everyone stampedes out in hopes of being the first person to get their allotted number of sodas. Sometimes it takes a shovel to fully uncover the hidden gems of soda, and other times it requires tree-climbing skills. Regardless, a fun time is always had by all. I love spending time with my family, and this type of event is very important to me. I’ve written before about how I am slightly bothered by the commercialism of other holidays, and that’s the wonderful aspect about this particular celebration. It isn’t about gifts whatsoever. Sure, I won’t say no to a bag of Reese’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs, but I still prefer the fact my family’s Easter celebration is about togetherness. Easter in particular, much like Thanksgiving, is about being together. Isn’t the reason for the holiday indicative of this? Didn’t Jesus rise from the grave as a way to bring everyone together? I believe that to be true, but whether you agree with me or not, I hope you kept those you love close on this Easter. There is one person I was not able to keep close this Easter, though. It was my cousin Debra Shaw. She died
March 6 in Moundridge. This was quite unexpected, especially since she was only 57 years old. Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real that she is gone — that Cousin Deb is gone. She and I were extremely close, and I know whenever I go visit Moundridge, a place I consider to be home after running the weekly newspaper there early in my journalism career, it will feel strange. She had a larger-than-life personality, and everyone in town knew her. She was most well-known for working at Moundridge’s Goering Hardware, and I don’t know if I will be able to go in there again for a while. It will be so strange to walk through the doors, hear the bell clang above my head, and not hear Deb shout hello from behind the counter. It will be nearly unbearable not to see her run from behind the cash register and come give me a giant hug. However, I am taking solace in the fact she is in a better place. In fact, I believe she is smiling down upon me right now, sitting next to a bonfire, as was one of her favorite pastimes, while enjoying a nice cold brew. Cousin Deb will be missed, but she won’t be forgotten. Her mark on the people she encountered will live on for generations. Wichita Family • April 2016 - 3
The Power of Summer Camp BY GARRETT PERKINS
Director of Kanakuk KampOut!
C
ommunity is vital. Every person on earth, no matter the family, religion or walk of life they come from, has been created with a desire to know people and be known. Adults and kids alike thrive when they know people well and are known well by people. Each summer, I am reminded of this at summer camp. This rich community is the foundation for development. Kids need a safe place to grow, learn new things and develop friendships, and at Kanakuk, we are passionate about learning in the context of community. Every summer kids unplug from the distractions of social media and the stresses of school and plug into the important things in life: building character and a strong faith, growing in deep, long-lasting friendships and creating memories that will last a lifetime. 4 - www.wichitafamily.com
Here are few specific ways summer camp helps kids grow and flourish: Summer Camp Uses Fun Group Activities to Build Character in Youth
It’s so common in today’s culture for parents, teachers and coaches to fear letting their kids make mistakes or lose. The truth is that kids are going to miss the mark from time to time—we all do. And often, if and when kids do fail, they are not taught how to walk through those emotions with character. We celebrate overcoming obstacles together at Kanakuk, and we teach kids how to support one another in failure. For example, last year we had a Kamper who kept kicking the soccer ball out of bounds. He would get frustrated because he didn’t think he could do it correctly. As a team, his counselors and cabin mates rallied behind him.
His counselors helped him work on his technique, and his peers exercised the support and encouragement we teach at Kanakuk. These are the moments when character forms. It is built not in our success or failure but in how we respond to the outcomes of decisions made. One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is the means by which to walk through disappointment with a healthy perspective. This practice of supporting one another in honesty and encouragement is key to developing leaders. Summer Camp Helps Kids Develop Lasting, Healthy Friendships Culture today says the purpose of relationships is to consume rather than to contribute. Kids need to be shown that they can make a positive difference in their friends’ lives. When they support one another, they can experi-
ence a deeper purpose for friendship—one that doesn’t simply revolve around what they receive. When this happens, rich friendships develop that last years! That is why we say, “Kamp friends are the best friends.” My little sister experienced this at Kanakuk. To this day, she keeps in touch with one of her first cabin-mates. They later went to college together and became even closer friends. This rich community does not come from a perspective of “me first,” but one that actively seeks opportunities to add value to others’ lives. In fact, at Kanakuk we teach the I’m Third way. God first, Others second, I’m third. Summer Camp Develops Healthy Confidence in Youth We all have moments in our lives that we consider to be monumental—a time when we cross a threshold and there’s no going back. When we conquer a fear or someone encourages us in profound ways, that memory sticks. I still remember the encouraging words of a valued mentor from more than 10 years ago. I will never forget a 6-year-old girl who nervously climbed up to the zip line last summer, convinced she was too scared to do it. When I asked her why she came up to the top if she knew she was scared, the response was very telling, “Because if I don’t do it people will think I’m a baby.” I watched her counselor climb up and look directly in her eyes and encourage her about her identity, “Kayla you are strong, and you already climbed up this tower! I’m proud of you regardless of what you do, and we will celebrate everything you achieve, big or small.” That’s all Kayla needed, to be believed in and reminded of who she was. She was loved regardless of her performance. She rode that zip line 4 or 5 times that week. Kayla didn’t lack an ounce of confidence after that experience. This generation needs to be reminded that they are not defined by possessions or performance. When kids get to conquer fears and try new things that may have been intimidating in any other context, they carry confidence into other areas of life. MORE ON KAMPOUT! Kanakuk KampOut! has partnered with local churches to bring the fun, faith and family of Kanakuk, one of the largest Christian summer camps in the nation, to Wichita this summer. Kanakuk professional staff leads this high-energy traveling day camp through five days of guided sports and activity times, Bible study, worship and small-group time for children in kindergarten through 5th grade. Wichita First Church of the Nazarene will host KampOut! day camp June 6-10 and Metro East Baptist will host KampOut! day camp July 4 - 8. To learn more about the local KampOut! stops, visit: http://kanakuk.com/kampout Wichita Family • April 2016 - 5
~ A Focus On Values Essay ~
A Culture of Competition By Ian Anderson The year was 1986. My soccer career still blazed in all its glory, and at the height of that season my mother snapped a picture of me chasing the ball. Teeth bared, curly locks flowing, I would not not be the reason the Snakes went down. (Jerry might have been the reason; when the aforementioned picture was taken, he was probably on his back counting the clouds as his mom screamed that she was about to take him home.) It’s been a few years, but a small bit of competition still gets my blood flowing. Back then, all it took to get me moving was a simple phrase from my father: “I bet I can beat you.” And even now those words have power over me. Every once in awhile I catch a glimpse of the boy in that picture, but now it’s in the faces of my children. Each one of them has tasted the richness of winning, and they are often motivated the way I am — and it scares me. I know more than ever why my dad always said winning was “frosting on the cake,” why he never let me compete without telling me he was proud of me before the game even began, why he wanted me to know there was so much more to whatever game I was playing — so much more to life in general — and I have begun to repeat those words to my sons. I’ve taught now for a few years, and I’ve observed for myself what an overly competitive message from home can do to a child. Getting the grades and winning on the court 6 - www.wichitafamily.com
can easily become the only way to measure worth. The joy of learning, the joy of playing, and most important, the joy of relationships can be torn to pieces when being on the top blinds us. Of course, this competitive spirit runs through our culture effortlessly in the form of a million posts per minute on the social media of your choice. It’s not the Internet’s fault — we’ve been comparing ourselves to one another from the beginning of time — but now we don’t have to leave our homes to be jealous of our neighbors or our crosstown friends. We say we love independence and freedom, but really we just want what the next guy has, whether it’s his talent, his family, or his new truck. And that’s what competition does at its worst; it reduces what we have in our own eyes and makes us want more, more, more. I’m tired of it. I want to show my children that I actually love them no matter how well they do in school or on the field. All the wins and good grades do taste good, but frosting is best when had sparingly. At the end of a hard-fought game or a long project, we lose much if we haven’t enjoyed the process. There is joy in the game, even just playing the game for the sake of lying in the grass and counting the clouds. Ian Anderson is a teacher, a husband, and a dad. He lives with his family in Central Kansas. Occasionally, he tweets here: @ian_writes.
~ A Passion Fueled Essay ~
Experiencing Childhood Memories with Different Perspectives By Kendall Vogts Spring! Most days, it feels like it has finally sprung. As I’m writing today, there is a dusting of snow on the ground, yet I can clearly see the green buds poking through and the sun is shining a life-giving warmth! There was a time in my life where a coming spring meant being able to spend hours outside running or cross training, in preparation of my next college cross country season. I needed to be in shape, and I wanted to look good. As I have not been a college athlete for two years now, my mindset has changed drastically. My time spent outside running or walking is done to help me feel human, to disconnect with work, to reconnect with myself, and to admire what my body can do, as well as my surroundings. One of my favorite places to run and reconnect is a place I’ve been hundreds of times, but there is something new and so special about it that has given this place a new meaning. My hometown is Minneapolis, Kansas, and if you aren’t already familiar with our claim to fame, I’ll fill you in! Just east of Minneapolis, there is a park called Rock City that is quite the landmark. There are hundreds of rocks throughout the park ranging in size. There are some to stand on, jump up to, crawl through, climb up, scale, and jump from the high peak of one rock to the next. Seriously, some of them are huge! Now, this has been a special place to my family for quite some time as my grandparents were board members, and now my dad has joined that crew. When the nice weather would come, we would go climb on the rocks! As I’ve grown, it has become known as the place where my dad spends hours each weekend, and even most weekdays, once the weather turns warm. My dad has dedicated so much time to caring for the landscaping, mowing, weed eating, building fence, painting, and, most importantly, dreaming. For years he had been secretly dreaming about what this
place could be. Small side note: my older sister and I both ran cross country in college. Our dad was always very involved in our training, being an encourager and coming to as many races as he could. Little did we know, our sport meant more to him than we ever imagined. A while back, I got a phone call from him, and he informed me that he was as building a cross country course around the grounds of rock city. He wanted my opinion on things and wanted me to come check it out to see if it was hard enough, if the paths were wide enough, and if there were good places for spectators. His dream was for my home high school team (where I got my start) to host a cross country race. I was immediately excited! On the same lands as the rocks, there are open fields of beautiful rolling hills. It was quite the process, but my dad has done it and is ever working to improve it! There is a classic 5k course, complete with signs directing where to go. There are also several different one mile paths to choose from. I am one proud, impressed daughter! That course, the paths, the rolling hills looking out at the horizon once you reach the top of Donovan’s hill, those are what take me back there, even though I’ve already been there hundreds of times. So, as everything turns green, as the breezes become warm, and as the sunshine turns sweet, I recommend packing a picnic and taking a trip to Rock City. Climb through the donut-hole rock. Climb up and sit in the bathtub rock. Take a hike on one of the freshly trimmed paths, and if you’re brave jog up Donovan’s hill. If you’re lucky enough to see a man on a mower, flag him down and have a chat! Tell him the editor’s wife sent you his way! Kendall Vogts lives and teaches in Central Kansas. She is married to WFM publisher Todd Vogts. Wichita Family • April 2016 - 7
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• www.exploration.org
GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked The World is a Touring Exhibition of The National GUITAR Museum.
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