Church Camp Conclusions

Well, all good things must come to an end. Add to that list my four straight days of having four hours to do nothing but eat Chick-fil-A and play on the Twitter (trust me. I did more than that; but not much).

On the last day of camp, one of the teachers texted this picture to me with a message: "Pastor Freddie, leading worship." They were studying the Temple that day - and how Jesus, as a boy, had been there, teaching the leaders, so they had a church set up, which immediately reminded me of the one my friends Erin, Tessa, and I constructed in my parents' basement for those times when we'd play camp meeting or church, and yes. We FREQUENTLY played both camp meeting AND church.

"Amen or not, Brother."

Anyway, I love this picture - not only because it brings back memories of playing church myself, but also because that's my boy up there, THE ONLY TWO YEAR OLD in a class of kids much bigger than him, "leading worship." There is something very Tyler Ulis about this to me, and it may be what makes me proudest of all about the week that was.

No six year old with a kindergarten diploma and the ability to read is gonna intimidate MY baby boy!

Jones had a great last day, too, and I was able to get some clarification from his teachers about what I'd (wrongly) thought was a terrible Tuesday. Apparently, he HAD pitched a fit about coming inside (which he also did again on Wednesday but not Thursday), but the bigger issue they had on Tuesday was that he didn't want to participate. He wasn't disruptive or disobedient. He just sat to the side. I DO think that was caused by the exhaustion, because on Wednesday and Thursday, it got progressively better - and more like he'd been on Monday when he jumped in with both feet.

Hearing this in a long talk with the preschool director (and lead teacher of the camp) made me feel much better. We talked about her perception of his readiness (or not) for a preschool program of his own (she thinks it's worth trying, though we're still not sure whether or not we will).

So that was our week. It was absolutely wonderful for both the boys and me, I think. I enjoyed getting some stuff done around the house, while re-engaging with some passions outside of my boys (i.e.. reading and musical theatre - and reading ABOUT musical theatre), and they have LOVED having artwork to hang on their walls. Jones, of course, still says, "It's so boo-tih-fool" when he sees his handiwork, and Freddie will randomly point to his papers and say, "I made that!"

So they're very proud of themselves, and I'm very proud of them, too.

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