Things Begin To Happen:

Well, here I am at Timber Bay for the first coed camp of 2011.  We had about 47 high school boys and girls and spent Friday night through Sunday afternoon enjoying what was a perfect winter weekend in north central Minnesota.  The temperatures were in the low 20's, but there was little or no wind.  Snow was up to the knees and more in the woods with piles plowed as high as eight feet.  Little Whitefish Lake was frozen solid with at least thirty inches of hard, clear ice to hold us up.

The theme of the camp had to do with finding shelter for living in the wisdom of God.  We covered numerous Gospel stories in four chapels.  I was allowed to teach two of them and considered it the greatest of privileges.   I spent the two nights with about six young guys who are very interested in hearing God's word.  They also had much to add to my life and teach me.

We had a number of interesting activities.  Our first was to build shelters for eggs out of straws and masking tape.  The object was to see if we could build a sheltering system, which would protect the eggs when they were dropped from progressively higher levels.  We were amazed that all of the six or seven groups, who made packages, survived the first two levels.  The winner actually survived a nearly ten foot drop to a concrete floor.  Another activity was doing a scavenger hunt to find the different types of shelters that are in the woods, either shelters built by animals, or those built by people.  Some youth built different types of primitive shelters.  Igloos were common because of the plentiful snow, but some built shelters out of pine bows and other available materials.  The last activity was a polar plunge where we cut a six by four foot hole in the lake ice.  Leaders and students jumped into the frigid water.  Coming out of the water the plunger was surrounded by loving friends with blankets, towels, and were ushered up to one of our beautiful lodges where they had opportunity for a good hot shower, some hot chocolate, and to sit by a beautiful fire to warm themselves.  Waconia's area director, Mark McKeever, was the person who put the lessons and themes together.  It was educationally as tight as could be.  Many opportunities for teachable moments and discussions were provided and taken advantage of.  It was a beautiful thing.

Food was great too!

I sometimes can't believe that I get to do this type of work.  I am so thankful.