I think I have mentioned this every year, but for those
newbies that may not have read posts in years past, I have a favorite prayer
spot at The Wilds. There is a small lake on the property. On the top end is the
area for swimming and play. There is a large tower to jump off of, small zip
lines to jump into the water from, a small tube slide, climbing wall, basketball
goals and greatest of all the blob. A
lot of screaming, splashing, jumping and fun is had at the top of the lake. The
bottom of the lake is reserved for the kayaking, paddle boats and canoes. These
activities keep the waters churned as well. But, in the morning, you crest a
small hill at the bottom of the lake that is normally reserved for the boats.
The water has stilled to a glass like surface overnight. Only the sparkle
caused by those little bugs that zip along the surface can be seen. The sun
comes up straight in front of you reflecting off of the water. Most mornings,
there is an evaporative fog lifting. There is my place at The Wilds where I
like to speak to God. Scotty and I took full advantage of the beautiful spot to
pray for each of our teens individually and specifically this morning. I know
that prayers don’t rise any quicker from that spot, but there is just something
about it.
Anyway, we enjoyed our first full day at The Wilds. Many
activities were enjoyed. I hope you are enjoying the picture being posted. As
with all years, we will begin posting fewer and fewer each day. So, no evil
eyes please.
Teens are active in their Chapel and God and I Time of the mornings
and had another big field game together called Field Yatzee this evening.
JBC kids are all doing well. Christy checks on each often and all
are having fun. Scotty joined Christy in the JBC evening service this evening
while I was with the teens on the field. Mark Herbster is speaking to the JCB
again this year.
We just returned from the teen evening service a few minutes
ago.
I really enjoyed the message tonight. Simple but deep. Can
those two descriptions go together? Steve Pettit spoke to the teens about, “How
Do You Overcome Sin?” He gave us the Triple A’s to accomplish this.
·
Accept – We must believe· Admit – There must be an honest confession
· Act – We must make a decisive choice to leave sin.
Kinda funny story to leave you with for tonight. During some
teen cabin sessions today, the sponsors had the opportunity to ride the new zip
line that stretches across 3rd Falls. Scotty and I were about 8th
to go off. We heard some rumblings of thunder off in the distance. Dark clouds
began moving our way. When we were close to our turn it started to rain a
little. We get to the block to get attached to the line. It starts raining a
lot. One would think they would say, “We better hold off, or wait or anything
but….OK sit down on your harness and take off.” When we looked out, the heavens
had opened. White sheets of rain completely obscured the landing zone on the
other side of the mountain. However, there we went. The rain was no hard and
the speed of the zip line was so fast that I literally could not catch my breath on the ride
over. Once on the other side the rain slacked a little and the ride back was
more enjoyable. Needless to say, we were soaked through and through.
