Camp Time!

My guys got back this afternoon from a 3-day trip to Camp McCall. In the mountains near Rocky Bottom outside of Pickens, South Carolina Baptists have a real treasure in this camp for boys. For the past 3 summers, Ken & Matthew have looked forward to this father/son time. The cabins are rustic (to say the least), Lake Chilly Water really is, the heat can be sweltering, and the terrain is quite hilly. Yet, something special goes on up there.

Upon their return, Matthew bounded in the house & immediately told me that these were "the best 3 days of my life!" He made it clear, as he has all the summers he's gone to camp, that when he gets old enough he plans to work at Camp McCall as a counselor. He talked non-stop about all of their activities, adventures and fun, and then he told me how the camp pastor made chapel interesting and understandable for kids. As of this evening, he was scouring the remaining dates for camp this summer, and doing his very best to figure out how to talk his daddy into going back! (That might not be too hard, since Ken has as much fun as Matthew does.)

For me, our house was loudly quiet these past three days, but it was a great time of reflection and prayer. I remembered the times, growing up, that I had seen young guys from my home church go to Camp McCall and then come home somehow different. Although I was too young to truly process what was going on, I realize now that I was watching these boys begin to grow into the men God had called them to become.

So, remembering all those young men, I prayed for God to do the same thing in my son's heart. Matthew is a follower of Christ and has accepted his grace and salvation, but I prayed this week for him to hear & discern God's call on his life, and to deepen his own dependence on God. As he & Ken recounted their days at camp, it was clear to me that Matthew's love for God, His creation, and His people had deepened.

Somehow, in the middle of canoes, zip lines, swimming, campfires, & waterfalls, Godly manhood begins to be instilled in these boys at Camp McCall. In those mountains, it is as if God's voice echoes, "Rise up, O men of God!"

May the Lord continue to bless the ministry of Camp McCall, and may God continue to speak to the hearts of all the boys who set foot on that mountain.