Boy, has this year flown by already.  As I write this I am knee deep in camp stuff.  June is a busy month with one week at Lutheridge with our  Confirmation students for Campfirmation, a week at the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama for Affirm and I wrap up the month with a week of Vacation Bible School in our Rainforest Adventure.  So I see a lot of fun ahead for the month and maybe a little less sleep than normal! 

   The funny thing about camp month for me is that I never really went to camp as a child.  Sure I attended Vacation Bible School some years but for the most part growing up in a resort beach community where others came to vacation meant for my family work.  My parents had a hotel, a bed & breakfast, a restaurant and rental apartments at various points of my childhood and I can remember clearly at around 2 or 3 years old my job was to push the big “huge” ball of linens down the stairs for the laundry – not sure how much I thought that was work but it was my job none the less.  So now as a pastor I get to go to camp each summer.

   The best part of camp is the opportunity to step away from the everyday routine of life and spend a focused time learning and growing in faith.  To watch children and youth connect with God in a unique way is the real benefit to these experiences for me.  One year at Affirm, when I was the Worshiptivity Unit Director, we had a young girl around 16 that was so  excited to serve as a communion assistant because in her congregation “girls” didn’t get to do that and she was just so overwhelmed at the opportunity to serve and to know that she was worthy of that service and I was blessed to share that experience with her.  Now I have to say the downside of camp month for me tends to be the “nature” stuff at Lutheridge – but each year I am learning to appreciate that spiders even black widow spiders have a place in God’s creation (as long as that place isn’t sitting next me while I’m rocking away in a rocker like last year!).

   I hope that as the days get warmer and the summer slow-down enters your life that maybe you too might find a way to step away and connect with that “inner child” of your faith and like a child be welcomed into the loving arms of Jesus.  And hey, if you need to hang out with some kids to make that happen like Pastor Dale and I, join us for Vacation Bible School as a leader – I promise the benefits of watching a little one grow in their faith is all the pay you’ll ever need and you might just find yourself growing too!

Like a little child in Christ with you,

Pastor Jill

pastorjill_tlc@bellsouth.net

(Oh, by the way all these camps mean that I’ll be out of the office June 1-5 to Lutheridge, June 6-8 to Synod Assembly, June 13-20 to Affirm so any prayers for strength and energy would be appreciated!)