From Brian's Desk..... 

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

In my younger days I can remember that it was a big deal especially for the womenfolk (and truth be known - a number of the men as well) to get caught up following all the soap operas that occupied the television stations in the early afternoons. From programs such as "General Hospital", "One Life to Live", "The Young and the Restless", "All My Children", "Days of our Lives" and "As the World Turns", came topics of discussions during coffee breaks, Tupperware parties, visits to beauty parlors, and in laundry mats, lounges, airports, and waiting rooms around the country. Some were so hooked that they could tell you life stories of each program as well as the background and dirty laundry of each and every member of the cast. Some would even seemingly go through major withdrawal symptoms if they didn't receive their daily fix of who's doing what to who, with whom and the consequences thereof. I believe there were times that people could tell you more about what was going on in the life of let's say.... Bo Buchanan for instance, than there own spouses. Times have changed, or at least it seems that way. Though there may be some that still follow these and other programs, I sense that for many those days as mentioned are of the past. Our world and its busy-ness (and ours) have a lot to do with that perceived fact. We are so busy nowadays that we need post-its, day-timers, electronic messaging and the like to keep us reminded of where we are to be and what we are to do next. Now we find ourselves living out our own Days of our Lives As the World Turns. We begin to realize that we really only have One Life to Live, that we are no longer The Young and the Restless, that All My Children are growing faster than I would like for them to do and that General Hospital could soon become a frequent destiny for many of us at the present pace at which life is passing us by. I guess what got me to thinking about these programs and especially the mixed ideas and thoughts herein is due to the multiple graduation activities and events that I have attended lately. Last Friday I watched as 3 and 4 yr. olds went through their Pre-K graduation ceremonies. The program theme came from the movie, Curious George, and the first soundtrack of that album, Upside Down. The song had words and phrases like: the world keeps changing, their mind spreads its wings, there is no time to waste, and the world keeps spinning. I watched those pre-schoolers as well as high school seniors march across stages to receive recognition, applause and diplomas. All of that was a way of saying: Good job, you've made it and You're now ready for the next level of education. But for many a parent it meant: That's yet another 1600+ hours of time that I (as a parent) had to be separated from you (my child) this past school year or That's one more year (and day) closer to having you move even further out on the limb of life and closer to your own One Life to Live. What's the point to all of the above? Life is short and seems to be moving faster (maybe because we are seemingly more busy) than ever before. Not only do we seemingly not have time for soap operas (hooray!) but we also seemingly have less time and involvement in the lives of each other, especially those of our children. So, while we are planning for and somewhat enjoying their accomplishments and graduation from one grade to the next or from high school to college, let us schedule quality time to get plugged back in and involved in their lives while we still have such an opportunity. Graduates, we are proud of you, we wish you the best, and we love you! Parents, lets let our children know how proud we are and how special and loved they are to us by becoming more involved in their lives and spending quality time with them this summer.

“My Camp Experience - 2007” I wanted to dedicate so time and space to those “eyes” and “ears” that are around us. They are usually too young to be taken into account in our general conversations. For some, hey should only be seen and not heard (especially when their voices volumes raise or their excess energy gets out of hand). They too however play an important role in “family dynamics” and might even teach and give us as “experienced Christians” a new (or renewed) take on life and God. I really enjoyed the time I was allowed to spend with some 105± junior campers (3rd thru 5th grades) a couple of weeks ago. I marveled at the pool of talents and abilities, thought-processes and creativity that these young folks possess, especially as seen in a healthy environment such a Christian camp. I decided to let them share with you their experiences, thoughts and ideas concerning their time spent during a week away from home at “church camp”. The following is their response to questions such as “What did you like about camp?”, “Why would you want to go back?” and “What would you tells others that were thinking about going to ‘church camp’?” (I tried to write their answers word-for-word – and inmost cases, letter-for-letter – so bear through any spelling errors to hear their thoughts.) What I liked about camp is the chapel services, the games, the food, the cabins. The cabins are cool, they have soft beds, they have room for you to play in the cabins. And the counselors are really great to! - Amanda It was lots of fun. Met new friends. Learned a lot also more about God. The classes were nice. I had a great time there. Awesome counselors, nice workers, great skits. I had so much fun. Now I Know God will be with me all my life. I love God a whole lot. A he loves me. - Hannah Why I liked camp - Because it was fun, I learned a lot, the songs were great and I met some new people. I want to go back next year because I can meet new people and learn more of how Jesus died for us. It can be a good experience for me to learn more. - Isabella I liked getting to play foosball, going swimming, playing on the playground and meeting new friends. I liked going to chapel and singing. I reason I want to go back is to see my friends again. I believe others need to go to learn about God and Jesus. - Stephen I like camp because I get to learn about Jesus, have fun, I also have good counselors, I got to make new friends, I learned new songs. We learned the gospel that: Jesus came down, Jesus died for us, Jesus was put in the tomb, Jesus was taken up into heaven, Jesus is coming back for us. Also we got three people baptized. We learned not everyone will make the right choices, but you can’t do the same thing, you must do the right thing. You have to have faith, trust, love and your heart in Jesus. We got to have fun with your friends. Everyone was nice. If you had a question you could ask the team workers. - Brianna I know that a lot of people were responsible in making “church camp” a wonderful experience for these and other children. Preparations and planning as well as changing schedules were made by parents to make it all happen. Some special people with special hearts and a love for children helped finance fees and the like to make this event possible for some of these kids (THANK YOU!) There were also lots of prayers offered up by many for such an experience to have a positive and lasting effect on these young hearts and minds. I believe God heard those prayers and blessed our young ones with good experiences and learning opportunities. Remember, those little “eyes” and “ears” are watching and listening (and hopefully learning about Jesus) while in our presence.