So from Lake Retreat, we drove to Spokane, WA. Matt and I stayed with Tia and her parents, and the girls stayed with Rhianna and her parents. This was the long weekend of July 4th, so we had a ton of free days off. We hung out, slept in, and hung around the house, thankful for the brief break that we all knew we would be longing for in just a few weeks time. We went up to Coeur D'Alene, ID for a day and jumped off of the cliffs, which was so fun! And we got to hang out with Isaiah Joner and Katie McMurphy at the huge Cabela's store, and got to watch fire works with them up at Coeur D'Alene on the 4th.
After days of much needed regathering and recuperation, we headed up to Newport, WA, where Pinecroft Camp is located. We got there early, so we had time to go get food at Safeway. When we returned, we unpacked and started to get to know the staff. That was the first camp where I felt really... out of place at first. But it wasn't long before I felt completely at home. This was to be the only week that Matt and I got to co-counsel, along with (name is escaping me, I'll change it later), who is an awesome older guy with a huge heart for the Lord and for kids. This first week was 3 days long, age range being Primary (1st-3rd grade). We had 9 boys in our cabin: Josh, Ben, Angus, Wade, Ethan, Jordan, Joel, Derek, and Justin. They were EXHAUSTING! I've never seen so many naked children at one time in my life! You would tell them to put their clothes on and the next minute, they'd be running around the cabin with less than they had had before! It was insane!
But so much fun! You would think that most people would vow never to have children of any kind after going through the week that we did. Not me! Ever since that week, my desire to be a daddy has only increased :)
I was amazed and even humbled by their childlike faith. The way that they just knew that Jesus was their Savior was so amazing... As we grow older and experience more and more of this messed up world, God gets so crowded out by, well, everything! But the way these children were so understanding, the way that it all just made sense to them was amazing!
Luke 18:17 says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Jesus wants us to know that we have to accept Him with child-like faith, but otherwise we will not spend eternity with Him. When we say in our hearts, "No, God. I cannot believe in what You have done", we have said no to an eternity of the opportunity to worship Him. These children reminded me that I have to have that child-like faith day to day, the faith of knowing that "Of course God is going to take care of it all! He's God!"
That week, Matt and I had the opportunity to lead 4 of our boys (2 a piece) to Christ: Josh, Angus, Jordan, and Justin. It was so simple too, coming back to that child-like faith. :)
A story worth mentioning happened the next week, but had to do with Angus. When we were doing orientation for the camp the next week, a woman came up to me and said, "Are you the culprit?" I panicked because I thought I had done something wrong. She told me that she was Angus's mom. She said that he had come home the weekend before, not telling her about his acceptance of Christ. But in the evening, he curled up in her lap and showed her his Bible, which said on the inside flap "Angus accepted Christ on --date--." At this point in the story, she broke down crying, so happy that her son had accepted Christ. She said that it was so hard being a parent and not knowing whether or not your child would become a believer. She thanked me over and over, and gave me a hug. I wish I could have stayed longer to talk, but I was late to chapel. But I had never really thought about the stage of not knowing about your child's salvation...
All in all, it was a great week! But I was so glad when the 3 days were up, as they were so exhausting...
During this week, we befriended Trudi Fountain, who was working at the camp and was the mother of Ethan, who was in our cabin. She offered to have us for the weekend, as we would be coming back to Pinecroft the next day. So we headed off to the Fountain home, and to 8 friends I will not soon forget.
Well, until next time, this is John Friend, signing off :)
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