If you are used to church, camping ministry can seem a bit odd. Yes, the camp speaker and your pastor both preach out of God’s word. But once in awhile at camp, your Bibles are also incorporated into cabin skits and night games in the dark forest. Yes, Sunday School often includes snacks, scripture memorization, and crafts, all traditional camp activities. But at camp there are times when you are part of the craft, as demonstrated in the photo above featuring sandcastle building. 

But while we might look a bit strange up here at Camas Meadows Bible Camp, we are still just followers of Christ seeking to share His glory with kids. At church a child might seek out the pastor after the sermon. The same thing happens here, with just a few differences. A child seeks out the camp speaker and his counselor. They sit and chat on the porch at the main lodge. These guys share their time and attention with one of God’s children in the pine-scented quiet of the forest. Except, while the air is indeed pine-scented, the forest may not be all that quiet if there is an all-camp pillow fight going on at the same time.

At church children can learn about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as they participate in communion with their parents for the first time. Here at camp this happens too. But it sometimes looks a little different. Like a counselor breaking a Twix bar and pouring out her can of Coke to share with her girls as they contemplate the body and blood of the one who gave everything to make them real live princesses, true daughters of the king.

A little strange, yes. But such is the body of Christ. Each of us have our part to play in God’s amazing story. Some of us get to wear a suit and tie or a fancy dress while we follow our Lord, while some of us serve by chewing up a dill pickle and spitting it into a glass bottle faster than that pesky boys cabin who TP’d the cabin last night. Don’t let this stop you though, teach that Sunday School class, eat that pickle, and serve God in the way that He has called you. 

Boo Boo

 This week began our summer camp season with our fist camp for grade school children Jr. A. Frosty, our speaker spoke from Romans 12 and as I talked to counselors and campers and listened in during Staff Meeting in the mornings I heard wonderful things. Two new Christians were born this week, a boy and a girl both decided to follow God. Other children decided to go deeper with their Lord. I heard about how kids spoke of wanting to take the next step with God, wanting to learn how to obey and become more and more like Jesus each day.

I was able to go down to the campfire on Thursday night and be a part of the singing and sharing out under the stars. No, we didn’t have an actual campfire (the fire danger is intense this year) but we sang together beneath the darkening sky, jumping around to the fast songs (I myself tripped during “Lean on Me” and lost my glasses beneath a pig pile of happy children who were doing the motions to the song) and raising our hands up toward heaven as the music slowed. Then a glowing red flashlight was placed in the fire pit and any child who wished to share took a glowstick and stepped forward. As the wind finally cooled for the evening and a full moon began to rise just beyond the trees, children stood and shared their hearts. 

Some were silly and some were serious and all of them were so very brave to stand and praise God before their peers. “I want to thank God for my new friends.” “I want to thank God for Frosty and how he made us understand the Bible.” “I want to thank God for all the fun I had.” These sentiments were common and heartfelt. It is a big thing to leave home for an entire week and realize that you have made it to the end.

There was one little girl who stood out to me. She didn’t rush through what she had to say. She spoke and then paused, fiddled with the glowstick, and then slowly spoke again. I knew that this particular child had been reluctant to participate in cabin discussions and chapel times. The music was too loud for her, but she listened from outside the lodge where one of her counselors always kept her company. Her counselors tried new ways to make her feel welcome and hoped that she would enjoy camp in the end.

“I want to thank my counselors for sticking with me the whole week. . . and I want to thank God for all the counselors who took care. . . who loved us.”

I am so glad that she realized that her counselors careful care of her was in actuality love. Because if kids can see love in us, then there is hope that they will be able to see God as well. For God has sent us to camp to serve and God Himself is love. So I want to thank our counselors as well, two of my boys were campers this week. Thank you for your sacrifices and you care. Thank you for your love. 

Boo Boo 

I was walking along the path between the camp and my brother’s house. My brother and I made this trail when we were children, wanting a quick way to Grandma’s on Saturday morning for cartoons. It is thin and twisty and scattered with broken pine needles. As it snakes through the forest, the path brought me near these beauties.

As I was snapping photos, it occurred to me that this was but a small sampling of the wildflowers that carpeted our forest. I had the privileged of viewing these particular flowers, because they happened to be growing near a path. But what of all the others? Were the unseen blossoms any less marvelous because they bloomed in the dark recesses of the woods, far from the tromp of human feet? Of course not. Just the knowledge that they exist, scattered all through the pine-scented woods thrilled my heart.

Isn’t God like this? We see a bit of Him, because the path we are on happens to brush up against some of His glory. But the thrilling thing is knowing that there is so much more of Him. Glory upon glory upon glory, that we have yet to encounter. Like wildflowers that carpet the wilderness, alone and unsung, but all the more lovely for their quiet splendor. 

The forest shows me something of God, every time I step out, breathe deep, and pause long enough to actually see. This is what we hope for the campers who will rush through our doors this summer. That they will be granted a moment to bump up against God. Maybe it will be in chapel time, or while reading the Bible with their counselor, during game time, midnight hike, or simply as they walk the path from their cabin down to the dinning hall.

God is here, but we must pause and take Him in. We must let go and let Him take charge of us and do His mighty works. God is vast and God is quiet, like wildflowers hidden in the wilderness.

Boo Boo

Mountain Lady Slipper

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

–Anne Lamott

When I read that quote, I couldn’t help but think of camp. Did you know that a week in the wilderness, away from all electric lights, will even reset the human body’s internal clock? There is more than one way to unplug. Unplugging from man-made light will restore the body’s natural ability to sleep and awaken. Unplugging from a tense or dramatic situation can give one the clarity to deal with it in wisdom. Unplugging from our own goals and desires can give us the freedom to hear God. Unplugging from the pressures around us can give us a moment to reach for our Lord and heal.

At camp, we seek to give campers time to unplug. Are things looking jagged at home? Or perhaps going so well that the pressure is high and the pace of life is furious? Camp is a place to slow, and listen. A place to rest in the glory of God’s creation, to breath in the flower-scented air of the forest and remember who made us. At camp we confiscate cell phones and ipods and strive to give kids something different than what they are used to. Something real and tangible, something that lives beyond cyberspace and lasts longer than a tweet.

We hope to give campers the time to seek and be heard, to listen and to wonder, to grow and to become something new.

Even if you are not attending a week of camp this year, you can still unplug. Drive to the forest and take a walk, go on a picnic with your children, swim at a lake, read your Bible in the quiet of a park, or build a castle in the sand. Take time away to seek God, to listen with silent lips and a still heart. God does not disappoint, He has been waiting for you all along.

Deuteronomy 4:29–“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Boo Boo

For years Camas Meadows has needed a camp promotional video. If Scruffy has come to your church to speak, you may have seen a slide show or a few old photos. But a video…not so much. One of our wonderful counselors, Gambit, took some great footage a few years ago. But still, the promo video did not become a reality. Until this week!

A brave and daring counselor, Shinobi, used some footage from 2013 coupled with several shots from last year. Since the rest of us had no idea what to do, he then spent a significant amount of time figuring out how to turn these images into something fun and amazing. Add some superhero music and a bit of style and we now have our own camp video. 

No longer will you have to suffer through an ancient slide show. No longer will you be required to view that picture of Scruffy in the rainbow clown wig or the photo of camp counselors dressed up in cheerleader outfits and side ponytails (unless you want to of course. I believe these historic photos are still available on the camp website). Now we have an actual video!

So sit back and enjoy the work of our very own Summer Camp Super Hero. He put his time and passion into bringing us something that just might give you a little glimpse into this thing we call camp.

Please Click Here

Boo Boo

Purple Trilliums

I wonder if it is easy to forget God if you live in town, surrounded by the works of man. People make the houses and the streets and the businesses. Plywood and roofing metal and sheet rock, asphalt and concrete and brick. People plant the flowers and tend and water them and make it all grow and thrive with their hard work and dedication.

It seems nearly impossible to ignore the glory of God, living out here in the woods. The majestic pines and firs stretch up towards the heavens without my assistance, thick razor grass covers the forest floor without me watering it every day, wildflowers thrive in vibrant color all through the forest.

Yellow Bells

Wildflowers. Just the name says it all. No one planted them. No one tended them. No one watered them. No one but God Himself. Here they are, thriving and brilliant. Their time is short, but their beauty is timeless. May we become such as these. Trusting the caring hand of our Lord to protect us and bring out the best in us in His good time.

Bird’s Nest In a Young Tamarack

Matthew 6:26-29–“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Boo Boo

So Scruffy and I were chatting with a friend the other day. This particular friend loves math and science and always has info about some strange and fascinating study for us to consider. Last week, he was telling us about “The Rat Park.”

What? You don’t think we should build a rat park at camp? No, I’m not suggesting that we invest in a rat park. We have sufficient amounts of rodent wildlife already, thank you very much. But there was this experiment involving a rat park and it fascinates me because it says something about community and space and how God made us to thrive. We are certainly not rats, but there is a lot that we can learn from our whiskery friends.

A scientist was looking at that famous experiment where drugs were made available to rats in a maze. The rats quickly became addicted, so addicted that they ceased to do everything except get high. It was very sad. Well this scientist wondered if perhaps there were other factors involved. So he recreated the experiment, only he made drugs available to rats who lived in this huge and fabulous rat park. There was space and fun things to do. It was a rat heaven which also included unlimited access to drugs. The rats tried the drugs…but they did not become addicted. They also played and ate and ran around doing rodenty things. The scientist even took rats who were already addicted to drugs and placed them into the rat park. These rats started to live life instead of just get high, even thought the drugs were available.

Now, when you come up to camp this summer, you will not see a rat park. We hope that you will not see a rat at all, maybe a squirrel or an elk or a bear… Anyway, if the whole rat park thing seems like a pretty large leap away from a discussion of summer camp, I understand. A whole lot of crazy things make me think about summer camp. I live here. It is on my mind a lot. But this rat park story made me see that we are striving to give campers something that God created us to have. 

We were made to have beauty and space and fascinating discoveries. We were made to stretch and live and love. We were made for community and compassion. We were not made to be trapped and alone.

God tells us in His word not to forsake meeting together. He tells us that the wonders of His creation speak clearly of the Glory of God. At camp we want to offer space to run and play and see all the Glory of God around us. We want to offer a fun and kind community where kids are safe and cared for.

Sometimes we find ourselves living in a tight little maze, packed full of bad options.

At camp we want to offer something different. Wildflowers and the wind ruffling your hair. A sprint through the meadow with a water balloon in hand. A quiet moment with friends, praying for each other. God made us for things such as these.

Our hope and our passion? To spend this summer offering life at its best to the kids God has seen fit to send us. God around us in His beautiful creation. God in each of His people, putting aside self to love others. This is our goal.

Boo Boo

I am always interested when I come across info that is relevant to camp ministry. What do we have going for us here at camp? Woods, friends, getting away from screens of all shapes and sizes, focused time learning about God, and time to play. Being in the forest feeds the soul and stepping into a new adventure grows you as a person. Seeing someone a little older than you who is hungry for God’s word changes you. But this week Scruffy was listening to a podcast on the value of play. 

This weekend is the CamasCon Christian Board Gamer’s Retreat. It’s a perfect time to look at the value of play. 

So, Scruff was listening to a podcast, as he often is, and came across a fascinating study. As many studies do, this one had its roots in tragedy. Up until recently, the largest school shooting occured in the 1960s. But the perpetrator left a suicide note asking if someone could figure out why he felt the way he did. And so a scientist was assigned this task. Why did this man in particular kill? He studied the killer’s life, perfect student and soldier, always getting great grades, never getting into trouble. But one thing stood out about this man’s life. He never relaxed and never played. He was always on task. The researcher looked deeper and found out that this man’s father had prevented him from playing, ever, even as a young baby. Taking the idea further, the researcher went into prisons and started interviewing killers. What many of them had in common, they didn’t play.

God did not design us to live like this.

Exodus 23:12–“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.” 

Mark 2:27–“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Now, if you don’t come up to CamasCon or Summer Camp this year are you going to go on a shooting spree? Probably not. But this startling story emphasizes the value of something simple that we try to accomplish here at camp. We play. At CamasCon they sit in front of complicated strategy board games for 3-11 hours at a time. At Junior Camps they ride horses and have water fights and run all over the woods looking for chess pieces hidden in the forest. At home, my boys snuggle their chickens and ride bikes and have monster pillow fights. My step dad would go hunting or chop wood. My grandfather fiddles around in his wood shop. I curl up with a good book and a cup of tea when I am weary. These are all forms of rest, forms of play.

Hiking and crafts, paintball and slip-n-slide, night games and singing and three legged races in the meadow. God made us to work hard and to accomplish great feats. But He also made us to rest and play and be refreshed. He knew that the human soul needs careful care. He knew that we would see Him in the gentle way that sunlight filters through the branches of a forest and in the sound of laughter as kids dig through bowls of mashed potatoes looking for Skittles. He understood that if our souls were never at play, they would shrivel and die.

And so I challenge you today, have you taken the time to play? Walk a mountain trail, grab a picture book and pull your child into your lap, set up a board game with you sons, make a craft out of pine cones with your little girls. Remember how God made us. We must pause from our perpetual accomplishment and take the time to be refreshed. It is to our benefit that we rest. How can we ever see God if we are constantly focused and busy. He will not always chase us down and tackle us demanding that we see His glory. Sometimes we must rest and be quiet, or laugh and be loud in order to see Him at work and find rest for our souls.

Boo Boo

Spring has finally come to Camas Meadows. This is a view from our small gravel road taken on my morning walk. I no longer have to pick my way over treacherous icy patches. The road is clear, if a bit muddy. The meadow is mostly free of snow, only a few cold white mounds remain. Birdsong fills the morning air and frogs fill the evening shadows with their soft melody. Crocus are pushing up through the brittle gray strands of last year’s grass and yellow pine lillys dot the hillside on the drive up Camas Creek Road. 

The unfolding of spring around us speaks to me of resurrection. 

Romans 1:20 says that “God’s invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made…”

God shows Himself in the world around us and spring tells of how we are made new. Three little girls chose God last week for the very first time. They are new, like spring, breaking across the meadow in all of its fresh beauty. Our Lord came down among us so that we do not have to stay cold and dead like an icy winter night. We are made to live and grow. Seeing springtime change the meadow around me, gives me a glimpse of all that God wants for us. Resurrection, new life, growth and change and beauty. Like the new shoots of the wildflowers, stretching past the dead leaves of yesterday and daring to become something new.

John 12:46–“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

Spring in the forest

Boo Boo

Scruff has been wanting to do some more woodworking. Consequently, he’s spent some time perusing table designs online. He was scrolling through a bunch of pictures when a certain table caught my eye.

“That one.” I said, stopping him before he moved past it.

Both of us paused and admired the table. A gargantuan plank had been sawn from a single massive trunk. The surface cut and sanded glassy smooth and treated with a gleaming finish. What made this lovely bit of craftsmanship stand out from all the other beautiful tables?

The wood was damaged.

Something had gouged out or perhaps eaten away a large chunk from the center of the tree. Dark and irregular, the deep wound rested at the heart of the magnificent table. The damaged place reduced the practicality of the piece. I could imagine businessmen losing their coffee cups and pens down inside the blackened crevasse. As a mother, the thought occurred to me that cooked carrots might be hidden inside, or small jars of bugs or captured frogs. I suppose the table had lost some of its usefulness because of the gaping wound. It had been damaged.

Oh, but it was beautiful.

The utter loveliness, caught my breath and stilled my eyes as they roved over the other pieces of furniture. This one was more amazing than all the rest.

Why?

You tell me. Here is the link. Obviously, I cannot afford this table any time soon. But anyway… for me, the character of the piece is what drew me in. There was nothing else like it. The tree must have been ancient and enormous, great and tall and strong. It had survived some deep wound within itself and had lived on. It continued to grow and thrive and the rest of the wood shone with the rich colors and intricate grain that always enchant me. But that deep gouge at its heart, this bought my love. The table was simply gorgeous.

We are like this, you know. You and I. Is there any among us who has not been wounded?

A rental group was up a few weeks ago. The speaker was Chris Weedin. He spoke for us at Sr. High Teen Camp last summer. Chris asked Scruffy to start out their testimony time on the last night of their retreat. Scruffy’s testimony is not pretty. God called him out of a dark and terrible place. But then, isn’t that what God does for us all? Without Him, we are diseased and dying. Then The King rides rampant through our darkness and makes us new. After Scruffy started things out, kids got up to speak. One after another, after another, after another. Broken, bleeding, and beautiful. Until 1:45am they came.

I can imagine their Lord, watching from His throne as each one stood and walked forward.

“That one.” He said. “I want that one.”

For just as I stopped and stared in amazement at the beauty of that wounded table. Our Lord sees the glory waiting within each of us. Gleaming wood, delicate grain, wounded heart. So lovely. Do not forget, my friend, what you are to your Lord and King.

 Psalm 34:18–“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Boo Boo