First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso

Are You Ever Too Old for Church Camp? I wasn't sure. So this past July I signed up and enjoyed the privilege, the thrill actually, of being a Camp Counselor at Geneva Center for the Jr. High & Sr. High Traditional Summer Church Youth Camp. I was lucky enough to be with our own Ken Crews who volunteered as the Jr. High Camp Director for that week. (This was actually my third year in a row counseling at camp; but before that, it had been some 30 years since I was last at a church camp in the summer.) I survived and concluded I wasn't too old. Church Summer Camp used to be an activity that most every church kid participated in; and I know that many of the families in this church have a history

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away... If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there." -Ps. 139:1, 8 The psalmist is clear that God knows each of us intimately, and not only that, but God is with us always. Every single minute. Never absent. I think it's hard to understand that. We know what presence is, but we know what absence is as well. In absence our hearts long to be reunited with our beloved. In absence we yearn to be together again, to sit next to, to listen to, to hug. We know what absence is, which makes presence all the more powerful, connected, fulfilled. I'

This past year I have acquired a bunch of T-shirts. As I described in a previous blog, Tracy and I have been running races in our attempts to stay healthy. As a part of signing up for these races, you can get a T-shirt for a minimum amount of money and/or free. I am addicted to getting these shirts. I wear them with pride and they remind me of the work I did training to run that race. The problem is that I had a plethora of old T-shirts before starting my running career. Tracy tries to shame me by pointing out the amount of old "holey" (not holy) T-shirts I own. (Personally, I feel that I am just breaking in those shirts). Tracy wants me to get rid of a few T-shirts. My closet is overflowin