Going Home- Part 3

Appropriately, tonight I sat at the campfire with the church camping group and had a long conversation with "Doc."  He was my pastor growing up.  And, some of the best memories of my youth are weeks at camp with him.  So, tonight, I thought it would be a great chance to find out some of the "secrets from camp"  since I'm now a youth leader- kind of a rite of passage thing.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to find out the big mystery about the magic circle.  But, another mystery was solved.
We talked about camp and the difference between camp then and now.  We roughed it while now camp usually means cabins and air conditioning.  But, he shared how he did things- planning, dealing with things as they happened, listening and knowing the group, and turning things into teachable moments.  And, the more we talked, the more I realized that how I run my events is how Doc ran camp!  I never knew then how things were set.  But, it's so obvious that how I deal with situations and events that it's what I learned and absorbed from those weeks at camp! My philosophy is to plan things but then to do whatever God leads us to do depending on the group.  And, that's pretty much how he ran things, too.
The other cool thing was when we were talking about camp and he realized I wish I could give my youth the same experience I had, I mentioned that I take them on mission trips.  And, he asked me about them and shared with me how the things I do on the mission trip are like our camp was.  And, he gave me suggestions for ways to further that next year.  I'm so excited for my next mission trip that I'd be ready to leave on Monday!
Then, I got to thank him for all of the things he taught me and all of the guidance he gave me.  And, it was great to be able to tell him how he had been a big part of my spiritual journey.  He figured through at least 18 years of leading camp he had about 40 kids come through- I think that was a low estimate.  I told him that I had about 30 youth this year so not only did he influence the 40 he took to camp, but the ones I lead, too.  It's an amazing web of people that we touch that we may never even know.
So, where is God?  He's tangled in that web surrounding all of us.
Blessings,
Jennifer