How cool is church camp?

As I write this, I'm about

to leave again with 30 youth from our church heading for our Lutheran

camp in the mountains near Asheville, N.C. Tough job, but somebody's gotta

do it. Ha!

I've been to this particular

camp taking young people for 22 years in a row. And as you read this,

I'll just be pulling back into Prince of Peace in Fayetteville, exhausted

and spent, but blessed beyond description!

There is something oh-so special

about a week at church camp. "Immersed in intentional Christian community,"

our camp calls it. And that's a good thing! We'll sing and pray and listen

to Bible stories and discuss our faith and meet new friends and get closer

to old friends and hike and swim and light fires and watch birds and walk

in the rain and see sunrises and sunsets and lay awake at night and hear

only the choir of crickets. We'll see the face of God and hear His voice

in trees and mountains and streams and rocks and lakes and fireflies and

frogs and through the lives of counselors and pastors.

We'll have no radios, no stereos,

no CD players, no TVs, no videos, no DVDs, no mp3s, no computers, no downloads,

no e-mail, no cars and no darting schedules.

But we will hear God's beckening

voice calling us, young and old, to see Him more clearly, love Him more

dearly, and follow Him more nearly. We'll laugh and cry and go through

all the realities of life even present when lived "immersed in intentional

Christian community" such as the necessity of asking for and offering

forgiveness. We'll get tired and impatient and bored and hot and cold

and sad and silly and scared and home-sick and lonely and ready to come

home.

But through it all, we'll have

grown closer to God and closer to one another in His Name. We'll make

decisions that will positively affect the rest of our lives. We'll feel

the presence of God in ways we'll remember until the day we die. We'll

be refreshed and renewed to return to our normal everyday fast-lane, fast-paced

lives.