Summer ‘09 in Photos 29/87 “Faith”

We have returned from our weekend retreat to Church Camp. God did bless us on our trip. We had an outstanding day on Saturday, we hiked, we crossed a rope bridge, we played in a stream, we rode on fun bugs and then while the girls and Brenda did a low ropes obstacle course I jumped off a cliff, attached to a zip line of course. It was amazing. Leaping off and having complete faith in Joel, our camp counselor, the line and all of the equipment that kept me safe. I reflected a while as I was the last one of four to jump. I watched Joel closely while he instructed us on the do’s and don'ts of zip lining, he seemed very knowledgeable and confident. It is easy to have faith when we can see and touch. I know for me that sometimes it is not so easy to have complete faith in something we don’t see. I feel it is so important to take a moment to look around and see what God has created. This adventure has helped me realize how wonderful our God is. The beauty that we hiked through at Westminster Highlands Camp and the fellowship we participated in is proof positive of our Great Creator. Several times during our trip I felt almost drawn to tears, happy tears. I am so grateful to God, for my family, for my friends, and for his grace. I’m far from perfect, and he blesses me everyday with healthy children, a loving and caring wife, and a wonderfully loving Church family.
Bryan, one of the little campers in the group, fell last night and cut his forehead pretty bad. I was blown away how we all acted very quickly to assist like he was one of our own. Each one of us scrambled in different directions one to get a van, several to get first aid kits, and one to get a GPS, then to the parents which took care of Bryan’s brother and sister while his parents went to the hospital with him. We scrambled and had  Bryan in route in less the 4 minutes to the nearest ER, all because each on of our hearts ached to see this little guy in pain, like he was our very own. A counselor touched on this earlier in the day. One of the first things she noticed was how we all took care of each others kids like they were our own. She had never experience such closeness in a group. Attempting to distinguish which kids belong with which parents was a challenge for her. That brought to my attention of how blessed we are to have this group of friends.
I complained in my last post about the beds and the critters. We switched up beds and the second one provided me with a much better night of sleep. As far as the critters, I must go into a little more detail. Our particular Hut did not have walls or a ceilings on the inside, so this left the openings at the ends of the roof rafters wide open to the outside. On our first night the girls slept with another family up in the lodge, Upon returning from taking their sleeping bags up with them, I came back to the hut to find a mouse along the outside roof rafter of the hut and when I startled him he ran right out of the hole I was referring to. After this, I was a bit paranoid. So with a bad bed not letting me sleep well, every little noise had me turning my flash light on to check to see what it was. I never did see another critter in our dwelling. But only got around 4 hours of sleep that first night. By bed time on the second night I was exhausted. A bomb probably would not have woke me.
All in all we had a good trip. Looking forward to getting together again with these great friends. Thanks for visiting and making it through my painful grammar. I pray everyone will have a wonderful week!
Here is  picture Jason took right after our Outdoor Church service, held at Chapel Rock. Sorry for the bad picture quality, our camera is not working anymore, so I used my phone all weeked.