So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. Isaiah 41:10
My dad had gone to celebrate his mother’s birthday with her the weekend
I went to camp for the very first time ever. I was a very excited
eight-year old but the closer the actual date of my arrival to camp
got, the more anxious I got.
I had been excited about camp since I had seen the brochures at church and had told my folks that I wanted to go. They had arranged for one of my best friends to go with me so that neither of us would be alone.
My dad was incredibly late. …held up by car trouble as it turned out. Finally, about 3 hours after we were supposed to leave to make the 2 and one-half hour trip to Camp Don Lee, he called the my friend’s dad and asked him to take us. We left and got to camp way after supper that first night. I was scared and embarrassed to be so late. My friend from home was scared and angry too; angry at me for being late. We must have looked very sad because within a few minutes of meeting us, our counselor asked me, “What’s wrong?”
I tried to be brave, but I started to cry. I told him about being late; about being scared; about being upset at my friend being angry with me; about being embarrassed, about being alone. He took me very seriously and told me, “Camp teaches you that God is bigger than everything that’s bothering you. Think about that.”
That was my very first lesson from camp. I have spent a lot of the rest of my life trying to remember it (and “think about that.”)
Gray Southern
Past President, NCUMCamp & Retreat Ministries, Inc. |
