Reflections on a Vacation

So as many of you who are following the goings on in my life know, I spent  October 18-20 at a camp.  Church workers were invited out to Camp Eagle outside of Rock Springs for a 3 day retreat.  You could take part in as much or as little of the programming that you wanted.

It is not often that you get the chance to leave reality and go hang out at camp for free.  I had been looking for a way to take some vacation time to just relax and be quiet.  I really planned to do nothing.  I wanted quiet meditation with God in a beautiful setting.

I arrived and went on a tour.  I quickly realized that this was not going to be quiet relaxation or meditation.  And that was ok.  I felt this need and desire to try things and do activities and getting into the action while still having some wonderful meditation.

Day 2 started with a walk over to breakfast and hearing a powerful story about the director taking a leap of faith in making Camp Eagle what it is today.

After breakfast, I did it.  I had wanted to do it for awhile and I ziplined.  You can read about that experience previously.  The rest of the day was spent exploring and seeing what all this camp had to offer.

Camp, for me, is about experiencing God in a very different way.  Mostlly for me, camp has always been about comfort and peace.  Camp has been about staying in your comfort zone and being happy with that.  This week was much different for me.  Going somewhere new is always fun but this was much more than that.

Where I am quite comfortable at camps that I will always love.  I grew up at places like Chrysalis and Lutherhill.  They helped to define me as a person, as a Christian, as a youth worker.  Ebert has been an awesome new experience for me that is just a totally different camp experience.

Now, I have a new place that has shown me that it is ok to step out of my comfort zone.  It is ok to try new things.  I planned on doing ABSOLUTELY nothing at this camp but relax.  I did.  It was not the relaxation I expected.  God had other plans.

On the last morning, I was supposed to attend "Cave Church."  I knew nothing about the experience except it was a mile away, it was dark and it was dirty.  I kept an open mind and thought I would try.  This was when God again let me know what I needed to do.  I finished the hike with my companions to the Cave Church and there it was in front of me.  I am claustrophobic.  In the ground before us was a hole that was probably about 3 ft across.  I was supposed to climb into it to a room about the size of my living room but only 6 and a half ft tall.  I said no.

I didn't go into the hole and was very satisfied with my decision.  While my companions climbed into the cave and had worship, I had the quiet time I needed.  It was a wonderful time to reflect on my time at this place.  I had a view of half of the campsite.  I sat there and thought about facing fears and knowing my limitations.  I praised God for the experience that was so rewarding.

That 30 minutes or so gave me the time to do what I needed to do to come to terms with not going down the hole.  I was grateful for the time and renewal.

As we began to walk back, I was tired.  When you are not used to hiking a mile and you are not in shape to hike a mile, it can be difficult.  We went an "easier" route and not straight back up the hill.  THANK GOD!  We came back around the side of the hill which gave us a final walk around the camp.  This was nice because again I was able to reflect the things I had done and experiences I had.

God works in mysterious ways.  I thought I needed a time to relax and spend time in the presence of God.  What I really needed was a time to step out of my comfort zone and be challenged and try new things while in the presence of God.

AMEN.