June 22 - “Air quotes”

Met the band keyboard player when I went to get some coffee. We chatted for a long time about his life as an assistant principal and the program he was working on to mirror a camp setting in his welcome to the campus for incoming sixth graders. He has some great ideas. That campus is about to be hit with a whirlwind of activity. Get ready.

 

Standing in the breakfast line, I was greeted by a little girl who threw some Air quotes my way. She said, “you were, <<Air quotes>> ‘Josiah’ weren’t you?”

Yes, I was, young lady. Yes, I was.

 

Wacky large group games again got the morning started. High energy songs from the band. All that led into outdoor games. Our guys and girls were cited by the rec staff as the most encouraging group of the whole camp during game time. That makes me proud.

 

After lunch we headed over to our meeting room for Bible study. I did a memory verse game after they blew it out of the water remembering the visual verse. Jeffrey led the Bible study. He did a great job reinforcing the Josiah points.

 

The rest of the afternoon was open for various activities. Swimming in the pool and the lake, archery tag, and crafts were a few I heard mentioned. We came back to our room. Chris read and napped. I did my best to get the Nehemiah story straight. He was my upcoming character of the evening. Truth be told … I did a little napping, too.

 

Supper time came, and we had a knock on the door. It was Josh. He wanted to invite us to join them in a family dinner of sorts. Actually, he had just seen the menu for dinner - orange chicken and other Oriental-type delicacies. My response was perhaps a little too quick, “I’m in.”  I did the driving into town with Josh - a business meeting, of course. We went to Sonic to save the family from painted-orange chicken (or whatever that means).  We ate together in the hotel common room. It was so good. I haven’t had a cherry limeade slush in forever. My BLT was good as well. The family left full and happy for worship.

 

Greeting the kids before worship, a young girl approached Josh. Seems she needed to have Jesus in her life. She walked away a child of Jesus. Josh walked away on cloud nine. And worship hadn’t even started. I told him she was the one that made the whole week worthwhile. Everything else is gravy. The service itself went pretty well. Josh and I got off-script a little more than either of us was comfortable with, but one of my ad libs actually fit better with some changes I didn’t know Josh had made in his sermon. Way to go, Holy Spirit!

 

After worship we headed to the jungle and rock-climbing wall. Luke made it to the top and rang the bell a few times. Several others - boys and girls- did the same. Then it was over to the canteen for a late-night snack and some ga ga ball. Mr. Daniel challenged the girls, and lost, so they get to paint his face this morning. Looking forward to that one. I got to be the answer to another group’s scavenger hunt. They took my picture with them because “you were that guy on stage.”  Guess I’m famous in this minuscule corner of Texas … for a week … maybe.

 

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Father, please watch over the young girl who Josh led to the Lord last night. Help her to grow in you. Amen.