A Week At Camp...Through Different Lenses

Camp (through the lens of my child) = A nervousness the night before the departure, and then a week full of adventure, excitement, nature, and discovering more of who God is.
Camp (through the lens of a parent) = A week full of quiet where things have amazingly stayed where they were put yet through the serenity you long for a little of life's noises and chaos that keep us moving, breathing, and alive as a piece of our heart is in the woods.  
Camp (through the lens of a sister whose brother is the camper) = One last slumber party together before five days apart, a sweet hug filled with goodbyes, and then the subsequent days of playing with dolls (where there are no bad guys) uninterrupted, staying up a little later with just Mom and Dad, watching girly movies, lots of ice cream, and missing her brother.  
Today we will drive to the base of the mountain to find, amongst the other campers, our child who will be darkened by the sun and the dirt that has found a way to cling to him.  We anticipate the stories of the giant swing and blobbing, night games, and everything else that makes camp so exciting and amazing.  And we pray that God's Truth has sunken deeper into his heart as he has learned and lived in the very nature that has a Designer, a Creator, that we can thank.  The sister's playmate will return and once again there will be good guys and bad guys, Hot Wheels will collide and make lots of noises, and he'll make her laugh as only he can.  We will gladly vacuum the crumbs and tell the child to put the bat and ball where he found them, and noise will bring us joy.  Camp...so grateful for it in so many ways.