Family Camp

Howdy, friends and family! We have just just returned from a week of family camp at Lighthouse Christian Camp. It was a wonderful time but now I need a vacation to recoup from our vacation! You know how that goes. Although we have dropped in on family camp in the past, we have never stayed for the week. Greg was asked to lead music for the morning worship time and he was originally going to commute since camp is only a half hour away. But, the Hunt family graciously offered us a place to lay our heads so we were able to take it all in.

Josh was only able to join us for 2 days and on Sunday I dropped him off for a week at Boy Scout camp. He had a great time!! He was able to complete requirements for 4 merit badges and he also got a Junior Shooting Team badge he really wanted. To get the badge they had to shoot at a target and get a minimum of 35 points, out of a possible 50. He used a .22 at 50 feet and got 5 bulls eyes for a perfect score!! He even saved his target sheet to show us. Uncle Chris will be so proud! He returned home with only minor scrapes but one huge smile!

Kaleb stayed at family camp but we didn't see him much. They keep the kids very busy with activities and any spare time was spent playing four square. I watched several times and all I can say is that they don't play that game like I remember! There are a gazillion different rules these days. It was the perfect kind of week for Kaleb, lots of sports and running around. He met up with some old friends and made new ones. You know it was a great week when they don't want to leave. He and Greg had a chance to get out on a sailboat the last day.

It was an interesting week, a time where old and new things collided. Lots of folks from Pearce church attend FC so it was a good time to reconnect with old friends.

The Harp family and the Kuhlkin family have been friends for many years, going way back to when they attended Parkminster Pres together. Greg, Jon and Thom were in scouts together with Mike and Dave. Greg and Mike have both worked for Young Life. They even applied for their first ministry jobs at the same church. Mike got the job and shortly there after we moved to Florida to work at First Christian. Fast forward a few years to Greg working as the youth pastor of Pearce church and Mike doing Young Life in Rochester. They often paired up to do ministry together and were a great source of encouragement to each other. Who can better understand a wacky youth guy than another wacky youth guy?! Fast forward a bit more and you find us at Ransomville FMC and now Mike is leading the youth at Pearce. This past week Mike lead the teens at family camp and once again we all were together. Thursday nights of family camp are reserved for a baptismal service and Mike and Greg were asked to participate in some of the baptisms...as a team. Isn't it cool to see how God weaves together our lives? I am sure if you got Mom, Dad, Char and Roe Kuhlkin together, they would tell you they had no clue their sons would end up in ministry, let alone doing baptisms together! It was a cool service, 23 people in all were baptized. Thanks to our friend, John, we have a couple of wonderful photos to share with you. This was on the shore of Lake Ontario...going in....

And coming out...

"He is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come" 2 Cor 5:17

Greg also ran into a couple of people from his years at Rochester Christian HS. Greg hadn't seen Jason Storm since those days, more than 20 years ago and there he was at family camp! The boy that Kaleb befriended happened to be Jason's step-son. The last night at camp they invited us over for supper and we were joined by George and Kathy Merz! George is another one from the Parkminster days and Kathy we met through Young Life. They are friends with the Storms and were visiting for the day. We had a great time of fellowship that night!

At the start of the week I had no idea what lie ahead. On our last night there Greg and I were walking back to the cottage and he commented to me "you've changed". He was referencing that I had sort of come alive as the week progressed. I was more out-going, more talkative, more joyful. I think I felt more myself than I have in a very long time. That makes me both happy and sad. Where has my old self been?? I hope it sticks around awhile.

Today the boys are headed to Covenant Acres Camp for the week. More of the new and old colliding. We arranged it so that they would be there at the same time as several of their old friends from Rochester. They have been looking forward to this week for a long time. I bet Kaleb will have a week where he feels more like his old self too. I can't wait to hear their stories!

Blessings!