We held our church campout at Linn County Park over the weekend, and oh what fun we had...
…….
The first night was “highlighted” by a water leak in the camp. Park workers came and started "digging" to find the problem. Wayne Ellis stepped in, helped out, and fixed the problem, and the Park was so happy with Wayne's help they refused to let us pay for our campsite. It was all "on the house" thanks to Wayne. Clark and I were talking later and we figured Wayne would get an even bigger reward someday in Heaven.
One thing I noticed this weekend is that some people are "night" people while others are "morning" people. Several of the "night" people stayed up late playing Bible trivia. It was a blessing to hear of folks having fun, and doing something “spiritual” at the same time. From what I understand, the Koelsch kids taught Clark a thing or two about the Bible, but Clark swore he would redeem himself if only he could get Naomi to the horseshoe pit for a match. (I don't know if its true but I heard the next day Naomi embarrassed him in a game of horseshoes as well. For those who don't know them, Naomi is 7; Clark is 50--give or take a year). I guess in the area of Bible trivia, Clark makes a pretty good woodcutter. And in the area of horseshoes, Clark makes a pretty good woodcutter. Volleyball? Clark makes for a pretty good woodcutter. Fishing? Clark makes a pretty good... (you get the point).
I'm not sure what the other big event was on Friday night, but Richard and I could both hear it from our tents. Laughing, giggling, screaming, catter-wauling, and general "teenage" noise coming from 3 tents I dubbed, "Party central." (Obviously they were "night" people.) They finally quieted down sometime in the night and the camp enjoyed a couple of hours of quiet sleep…if you can call it sleep. When its 100 degrees and you’re in a tent a night of “sleep” is more like “passing out” and “coming to” several times until the sun rises. Then its the “morning peoples” time to shine. Of course you also have some people who do well in both the morning and the night, like Olivia Laudan. She stayed up late on Friday night and then got up early Saturday morning and spoiled us all…
Olivia had graciously offered to fix breakfast for all the campers. Biscuits and gravy, muffins, cinnamon twists, orange juice, coffee, milk, you name it. We had about 40 campers eat--Olivia fixed enough for 400, and it was GOOD. (I agree with Clark...gravy needs a lot of sausage in it and Olivia did it right.) Thanks Olivia, what a blessing you are!
Saturday was a fun filled day of fishing, eating, swimming, eating, visiting, eating, napping, eating, and playing games. Did I mention eating? Saturday night we had a church wide cookout and testimony service. We had plenty of hot dogs, hamburgers, and side items. Our church DOES know how to eat. (see above). Testimony time was special as we talked about memories made this year, and about memories from campouts past. We had dedicated this year’s campout to the memory of Bill Laudan (Olivia's husband). We were all deeply saddened by Bill's passing in February. He loved church and camping and friends and playing with the kids. He had a great time last year, and would have loved it this year. But, he's in a much better place now and we look forward to seeing him again on the other side, where the Lord’s followers will experience an eternal "camp out" with him.
Some of our testimony time was lighthearted...Adam & Tiffany announced their engagement...Clark made excuses for why he got beat at Bible trivia by a 7 year old...Edward had a bit of a melt down, but our "Buildings and Grounds" committee tightened up a couple of the screws in his head and he's OK now. For a moment he thought it was 1938, he thought I was his brother Melvin, and he thought my blue jeans were his Big Smith overalls and “he wanted ‘em back!” A few minutes later he snapped out of it, we tightened those screws, and he was back to his old, fun loving, normal (at least for him) self. Actually, Edward's meltdown was a joke that only him and I were in on (and for the first 10 minutes, I wasn't even in on it). I explained it to our group and we all had a good laugh (and breathed a sigh of relief). After testimony time, a few of us experienced a "glorious" boat ride on Ray's pontoon. Mary Jo has the pictures of a sunset sent from Heaven.
By Saturday night, the Campout had most of us "camped out." But once again fun was had and memories were made. A church family grew closer together. There were a lot of laughs, a few tears, and a weekend enjoyed by all. Now everyone is looking forward to Campout 2007 when we will once again head to the great outdoors and enjoy God's creation. We'll also try to make sure something falls apart at the campground that Wayne can fix and get us another "deal." We’ll take boat rides with Ray. We’ll play horseshoes with Clark. We’ll play Bible Trivia with the Koelschs. We’ll visit. We’ll eat. We’ll fish. We’ll laugh. We’ll cry. We’ll play. And we’ll continue loving each other until our Lord comes back to get us. Until next time...
Sorry I missed out on the good time. Maybe next year it will work out I can go.
Posted by: Marilyn Michels | July 30, 2006 at 09:58 PM
I think you missed your calling (no pun intended) - you could be the next Dave Barry (or at least his fill-in while he's on hiatus). tee hee By the way, am I the only one who has to type the numbers and letters to make sure I'm not a robot? I'm gonna feel really stupid if this is just some cruel joke you're playing on me!
Debi
Posted by: Debi U. | July 31, 2006 at 12:53 AM
**Rolls Eyes**
No Debi, you are not the only one.... Who is Dave Barry?
Posted by: Alex | July 31, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Alex, Alex, Alex...Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist who makes millions while humorously entertaining the world... Whereas I am a small town preacher/blogger who makes slightly less money while entertaining the Umphenours...Do you remember a TV show called, "Dave's World" (it was about Dave Barry). It was on back in the early 1990s....Nevermind that was before you were born...
Posted by: Shane | July 31, 2006 at 02:24 PM
To Alex: "Rolls Eyes" (and maybe your head!)- see Shane's bio of Dave Barry.
Debi
Posted by: Debi U. | July 31, 2006 at 11:18 PM