MissionFuge survival

I first went to Centrifuge about 20 years ago. Can't believe that at 57 I'm still trying to keep up with teenagers...but I love it!

We had 4 guys get saved at camp, and the other 3 I think really got serious about their faith at camp.

MissionFuge is like Centrifuge, but with a longer missions component...roughly 5 hours a day are devoted to a mission project. In our case, we had 2 hours of travel to get to/from the site each day, so we had to pack a lot into the 3 hours we spent there.

All this got me thinking about some 'rules' for going to youth camp--some serious, some not.

1. Pray ahead of time, and recruit folks to pray for specific youth while they're gone.

2. Do NOT, under any circumstances, let the youth learn the song named, "This is the song that never ends..."

3. Pick a camp with a staff and a very full schedule, so that you don't have to supervise the kids every second.

4. Go far enough away to be 'away' but near enough to send kids home in an emergency. (Of course, next summer I'm violating this rule by going out west!)

5. Recruit a good person to lead fundraising

6. Jump in to the action, even if it's sliding around on a dark, wet field and getting flour dumped on you. The bruises are worth it.

7. Take LOTS of photos.

8. Don't forget to pray yourself and let God speak to you, too.

9. Help kids put perspective on 'camp romance'

10. Be sure to give a report to the folks back home who helped you go!

Things you call your Dad for...

Strange, isn't it, that adult kids still need their folks?

Today I got a call at the office from Nathan, who'd arrived home in HOT Texas last night...this morning when they let Annie the Jack Russell terrier out into the back yard, she promptly went under the house. They heard her barking for awhile, then...silence.

This is the kind of thing that gets folks who love their pets in a panic, so Kayla naturally wants Nathan to check on her (Political Correctness and Feminism aside, crawling under an old house with the spiders and potential rattlesnakes is definitely a 'husband' thing to have to do.) Nathan called me for advice...

The first thing I learned was that Nathan's flashlight batteries were dead, so I suggested checking around the house skirting to make sure there were no other places Annie could have escaped, then taking more of the house skirting loose in the area enclosed by the fence, and finally putting out some tempting food while he left to get batteries.

I got a call a little later...while Nathan was gone to the store, having followed all my suggestions, Kayla was surprised to see a 'strange' cat streaking across the backyard, with Annie in hot pursuit! Nathan remembered having seen a cat of the same description (I'm sure smaller--without its fur fluffed out!) that morning, near their front porch--with kittens in tow. So I'm hoping they don't have a new family living in the 8" high 'basement.'

Still, it's good to be needed, if only for advice on dealing with errant pets!

Chalk on the carport

Our granddaughter Brenna (3) has been visiting with us the last few days (with her Mom Kayla and Dad Nathan, our middle son.) We've had lots of fun, with a traditional 4th of July celebration, church with K/N singing a special, going to the GA aquarium, but one of the best times was just taking Brenna out under the carport yesterday, messing around with her new chalk. It's supposed to be "3-D" somehow, but I never got the little glasses to work for me. Still, it was fun tracing the animal stencils, coloring in the outlines to make them look more real, and listening to her chatter.
Today they leave, going to see friends in Athens. Sad that we live so far away. We've been trying to set up video on the computer so we can call back and forth. It's really not good when you only get to see your granddaughter once or twice a year.
More later, with maybe some pictures...