Happy Father's Day - June 19th

Happy Father's Day! What are you doing for your dad today? My dad's name is Danbot, and today I want to take him geocaching - that's one of my dad's favorite things to do. I love spending time with him; He's an awesome dad! He isn't at Camp today, but I might take a few days off in the middle of summer and I might have time to geocache with him then. (You should take your dad geocaching at Camp - we have caches all over the place here!)

Camp is all abuzz today because it's the first day of real summer camp! The first two camps of the summer open today - Peewee camp 1 and Fledgling 1. Peewee camp is for children in grades K-2 and their parents, and Fledgling camp is for children in grades 2-4. The staff is terribly excited to finally get an opportunity to put their weeks of training to practical use, and the kids' enthusiasm is infectious! Even though it may not feel like it outside with the cloudy skies and cool temperatures, the start of these camps truly signal the start of summer here at Camp Phillip.   01010111 01101000 01101111 01101111 00100000 01001000 01101111 01101111 00100001 !

The passage today comes from Romans 5:8 and says:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This evening, Aaron Wakeman gave a humorous and heartfelt devotion that made this passage impact me in a different way than it ever has before. He is a father of two (with one more on the way!) and described a situation he encountered this weekend with his son William. After the Saturday night concert at Familyfest, Aaron was walking with William from the stage to the dining hall, laden down with a camera and folding chairs and a whole myriad of other items. William, on the other hand, was only carrying a poster the same size as a piece of paper. As they walked, William started complaining, "Dad! This poster is so HEAVY!" Aaron responded, "I know William, it can be hard when we have a lot of things to carry." William then continued to whine the whole walk to the dining hall.

 Yet, the next day (today), Aaron's wife Cora made him a cheesecake to celebrate Father's Day. William asked Aaron, "Dad, can I get you a piece of cheesecake?" William scooped and scooped and scooped the cheesecake out of the pan so that the entire piece eventually made its way on to a plate... but it was a globby mess. To quote Aaron, "You know what? Cheesecake has never tasted so good."

Aaron said that God, as our heavenly Father, tenderly holds on to all our "cheesecake" moments - moments of exemplary faith or devoted praise - and forgives us for each and every "heavy poster" moment in our lives. While we were still sinners, Christ died for US! Because of His sacrifice, heaven is ours. What an incredible Father we have!

As Camp officially opens for "real" summer camp this week, please pray that Camp enrollment rates stay high and that we never forget the blessings and love our heavenly Father gives us every single day! We are truly blessed. (And if you are interested in sending a camper to Camp this summer but you aren't sure of the availability, check this out!)

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