A Time for Boys, Camp and Funny Stories

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:" ~Matt.7:24

We are back from a really great week at Camp Good News! If you can believe it I was so busy I didn't have time to take even one picture! I need to thank all of you who prayed for our family last week...your prayers were felt. Emma did amazing! I was so shocked, considering how she would not go to anyone the week we were up at the lake with family. She took right to everyone and slept great and I know it's all because of the power of prayer. Thank you!

The three boys were all in different cabins this year. For Noah and Owen going to camp was old hat as this was their 3rd year, but for Gabe it was his first. He was in the "Mighty Mohawk" tribe, the youngest boy cabin at camp and Ben was his counselor. I really need to give props to my husband. It's not just any man who could be a counselor to that age group of boys but he does it so well and is such a trooper about it! I was given the job of "Dining Room Hostess" and I loved it! We worked hard but it was fun work and I got to make several new friends which, thanks to Facebook, I will now get to keep in touch with.

A couple of funny stories. I am probably the meanest mom ever for doing this but....I forced Noah and Owen to put down "swim lessons" as their #1 choice. You see at camp every camper gets to choose a skill to do for the week. You write down your top 3 choices, #1 being the one you want to do the most. They try hard to give the campers their #1 choice but there can only be so many in certain classes so not everyone gets their #1 choice. My reason for forcing them into swim lessons is because, if I can be frank, swim lessons are expensive AND time consuming. I feel it's wise to take advantage of FREE swim lessons since we are at camp anyway! Plus I want my kids to be more comfortable in the water. So they both went to camp with the understanding that they would be putting down swim lessons first. So after all the campers had been assigned their skills I found Noah and Owen on my break and asked them which skill they got.

Noah says to me, "I got swim lessons but not WILLINGLY!" Haha. That made me laugh. Not only did he get it "not willingly" he ended up the only boy in the class! This momma felt really guilty! He will tell you though that even though he started off not wanting to be there he is glad he did it because he learned to do the back stroke! He has asked to be allowed to choose whichever skill he wants next year and I said yes!

Owen says to me, "I got swim lessons but I really wanted wood working because they are making a candy dish. I put woodworking as my second choice and on my sheet of paper I wrote, "please choose wood working!". I laughed so hard! I can imagine what the staff member who was in charge of placing the kids in skills was thinking. Probably something like, "if he wanted woodworking, why didn't he put it as his first choice?". Little did she know his mom was forcing him to take swim lessons. Little did mom know he would try to get out of swim lessons like this! It didn't work though because he got swim lessons. He too, is glad he did it because he does feel more confident in the water now. He was the only boy in his class too...seriously! He has decided already he is putting woodworking as his first choice next year!

Because it was Gabe's first year at camp he was allowed to choose whichever skill he wanted. He chose archery and really loved it. By the last day he was hitting the target like no ones business! He asked me if I will force him to do swim lessons next year and I said yes. He's in the process of convincing himself this is what he wants anyway!

On the last day of camp there is a banquet dinner and an awards ceremony. The campers are awarded different things by the recommendation of the counselors. Noah was given the "Leadership" award, which is the second highest award you can receive. We were really proud of him and he was thrilled to have received it. I'm so thankful for what all three boys learned at camp last week. They got to hear from the camp Pastor each night and the missionary that week also spoke to the kids each day. There was a lot of valuable Bible teaching given to the kids and I pray that what they heard and learned will sink in and stay with them. I'm thankful for how much they enjoy camp and how they are already planning for next year! I'm thankful for the teaching the staff received each day in devotions from Matthew 7 and what a challenge and blessing it was to me. I'm thankful for the full-time staff at camp who give so much of themselves and are so willing to allow God to use them however he asks. They are certainly an example and encouragement to us.

Now we are home and I have started tackling the boys laundry. It's not for the faint of heart!