BY KEVIN KLEVJER

When I was 11 or 12 years old I got my first video camera. I was on top of the world! I had seen my uncle use his camera in really cool ways (at least for a pre-teen) that I had never seen before! He made stuff look like it was disappearing and reappearing, and showed me the wonders of stop-motion filming. I was instantly hooked! I had all these ideas bouncing around in my head for various plot lines of heroes vanquishing villains and much more. Many a weekend were spent with friends making goofy movies we thought were cinematic gold. When I got into my high school years, I eventually got too busy to make movies and eventually tapped out of the hobby I had enjoyed so much. 

Well last month, I had my two nephews over for the second annual Kevin Camp! Kevin Camp is basically my opportunity to be a rad uncle. Kellen, who is turning 12 and Beau, who is 10, come over and I show them a good time, taking part in various activities that are somewhat unique to me that they would enjoy. Last year we played some cutthroat frisbee golf, had a diving contest on Lake Washington, and I gave them some lessons in beatboxing. This year, we played an awesome card game called Sentinels of the Multiverse, made a pretend iMovie trailer, and sought to bless my neighbors by picking up trash around our town homes and the neighboring buildings.

On top of having fun, both years I have intentionally sought to teach these boys something about what it might look like to live how Jesus lived - loving and serving his neighbors. The boys got to meet four different sets of my neighbors who were very grateful for these boys serving them. It's amazing how the little decisions we make to spend 30 minutes doing a loving act and be a huge blessing to those around us. 

All in all, the Camp was a blast. It was particularly, nice to get back in the saddle again with my filming, acting, and directing skills. As an ode to Kevin Camp 2014, please enjoy this production by Totes Crae Films while you consider ways you might creatively be a blessing to family and neighbors: