The Hand of the Lord is on Us

You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where ever I go; what ever I speak; what ever I think; He knows it completely... and in spite of our ignorance and shortcomings, He keeps His hand on us: directing, leading, encouraging, providing, and admonishing us when and where it is needed. I am convinced about this as we work at Hidden Acres; God's hand is on us and is the guiding source of all we do.

My days are short before I move into my tent at the site of the new motel; on Sunday, I will give up comfort, a/c, and my chair and coffee in the morning for a tent. I will stay overnight in this tent for 30 nights; I will have my morning devotions in the tent, drink my morning coffee in the tent, and watch camp wake up slowly. I will wake up early; hours before the rest of the camp is moving about. I will see the flag being raised each morning; I will watch the flag taken down each night. I will hear excessive noise and late night activities; some sanctioned, and some not so sanctioned or encouraged by the camp. I am looking forward to the month. Perhaps I won't hear much news about the politics of the summer; perhaps I won't know if the corn prices have hit $7 per bushel; perhaps it might be just the thing to do to clear the mind from the noise of our nation.

The tent is a temporary home; not a place where we want to accumulate lots of extra stuff; just those things that are necessary in life. No pictures on the walls, little furniture, and nothing on the floor: there is little to keep track of; little to dust; and even less to organize and straighten up each day. More time to ponder, more time to think, more time to relate to friends and family, more time for exercise and write.

The Hand of the Lord has been on me. I have seen it over the 24 years at Hidden Acres. I have seen the Lord's hand in and on our daily activity. I have seen His hand with each building we build, with each new program we begin, with each staff we hire.

I trust you can read as I write more often this coming month of the days in the tent. I am praying for insight, new direction for myself and the camp, and for a fresh understanding of what it means to have His hand upon me each day. I am praying that the Lord supplies our needs as we begin the building; to keep us safe; to supply the funds and the workers, and to go before us and make our decision making process accurate and effective.

earldtaylor@yahoo.com

Carpet Ball and Life

I love the concept of carpet ball; everyone can win and past champions can be beat; there is little skill needed, only persistence and a good strong arm; but even the arm is not that important.

The activity is an equalizer; a 3 year old can compete against adults and adults can play with their kids; and both will enjoy the activity. There isn't many games that will please all people; basketball and baseball takes talent; with carpet ball, you just show up to the table and play; if you lose one game, you fall back in line and try again until you are anointed champion for the minute or for the hour.

I have watched educated grown men who are full of profound thoughts spend an hour at throwing pool balls back and forth; no thoughts, no efforts, no issues: only simple competition that should drive everyone.

I like competition; I am not afraid of competition. Our culture wants to eliminate it; they want everyone to be the recipients of blue ribbons; in the name of self esteem... they make everyone the champion in schools. My grand daughter came home with a medal the other day for reading progress; her mother said, "Everyone got the medal!" Wow! That must mean everyone is reading at an accelerated rate... but I doubt it.

Through healthy competition, the cream rises to the top; the best gets recognized and rewarded; hard work is rewarded; the sloven and lazy get nothing. We lost it as a nation in the 60's when we started handing out checks to those who didn't want to work; within 40 years we now have a nation full of people who feel entitled to something free without any effort. They have learned the system and they work it with the skill of a surgeon; they know what to do to claim disability payments and line up for the next hand out.

Let's apply the carpet ball principle to our culture; everyone is equal, but only those who stick with it and apply themselves wins. If you are too lazy to throw the ball, don't expect to rise to the top and become the camp champion; or the best reader in the class; or the best counselor; or the best car salesman! I am not big on whiners, but doers.

Now get out there and start throwing the pool balls!

earldtaylor@yahoo.com

Family Camps at Hidden Acres

We are right in the middle of Memorial Day family camp; over 400 people are enjoying the extra cool weather and a little rain and mud; but most are die-hard family campers and would attend regardless of weather predictions or high gas prices: they see attending family camp as a tradition they don't/won't give up. It is worth of trouble and the expense to create some special memories for their families.

This is my 24th Memorial Day family camp. I still am just as pleased to see our families return; I love it when they invite their friends and family members along to share their weekend. I am even more pleased when a second generation family camper returns with their small children. It was important to them, and now they want their children to have similar memories.

There is more value to family camp than just memories: I see good wholesome, safe fun to be the glue to keep active families together. It is hard for dads to slow down enough to sit around a fire with his kids and just poke at the sparks and talk about things that seem insignificant at the time; child babble it could be called. But occasionally, out of the mouth of a babe, a life truth might be said, or a particular insight into the heart of a child will be revealed to the parent. What parent doesn't get surprised at what really make their kids tick when we stop long enough to listen.

Parenting can be tough, but it can be a real lasting blessing if done with care and with active involvement in the lives of our offspring. Cooking meals outside with less than ideal conditions teaches principles to children like, "Even when it ain't perfect... keep at it... don't stop when frustrated... or if you don't work, you don't eat. Sleeping in a soggy tent ain't fun, but I have yet to see a family melt due to a early morning rain shower. " A weekend at family camp might be one of the few times a family really has to rough it together. And roughing it is good!! Life isn't about convenience and always having comfort in order to be content and happy. Being content in the rough times, only makes those occasional, knock your socks off sunsets even more beautiful and meaningful. Life ain't the Holiday Inn, as a matter of fact, it is more often the Inn experience... with little holiday. There is nothing wrong being in the Inn... surrounded by hay, and sheep, and an old goat or two.

I spoke with a couple my age yesterday; they have been coming to family camp for 22 years; they were waiting for their daughter and her family to arrive at camp. They reflected warmly about the years past; the wet ones, the cold ones, the warm ones, the years the fish bit, the years the mosquito's bit, and the years the speakers spoke to their hearts. All added up to a rich tradition that they would not be traded for all the hotel stays of their life time. They don't run as hard as they used to run, but they love sitting in the Family Life Center and watching camp go running by the window; knowing that their grandchildren can/will be a part of something special too.

See you at Labor Day.

Imprinting: Transferring actions and attitudes

I see it all the time in the animal world; ma and pa goose teaches and emulates proper goose behavior and methods of survival; "Watch what I do and how and what I eat and you will survive to fly south someday," they seem to be saying to the gosling off-spring. Sometimes I wish it was that easy with young people.

I don't know if you have noticed, but young people think differently than we did as teenagers; we lived somewhat simple lives; there were very few outside influences on our lives; our parents, family, church, and our friends pretty much was our world; we were not connected to the outside world's culture. What was going on in California stayed in California; we were quite content to live the rural, bucolic life style of a farm family in Iowa.

Not so today; every kid is bombarded from loud voices from all ways of life; the school teaches multi-culturalism, and a form a rebellion from our parents ways. TV and the Internet brings with its entertainment, but also all kinds of compromises and filth. What we were taught as children as to be wrong or sinful, in today's world nearly everything goes and everything is acceptable.

Imprinting: I try to change the way our summer staff think about their summer ministry; sometimes they respond, other times, they fight me and call my thinking outdated and old. I do try to instill certain behaviors that I find necessary: i.e., no excessive hardware stuck in various parts of ones head; no hats on backwards; no sloppy look in dress; look people in the eye when you talk to them; watch what you watch at the movies and on TV; memorize entire chapters in the Bible; get into the Word every day; cool the secular music and don't get carried away with wild and crazy Christian music (if you can call it Christian!).

I have seen an institution go to pot when someone doesn't stand up and hold certain principles of action as a guiding force; when someone doesn't hold up acceptable behavior patterns, it becomes tyrannical; out of control; the late 1960's revisited. During the first week of camp, we instruct the counselors that they need to conform to our standards. What is acceptable back home may not be acceptable at camp; it isn't a matter of right and wrong... it is about what is acceptable behavior while at camp.

Why should we be so fussy about how a counselor looks like or how they act? We have nearly 2000 young campers who attend Hidden Acres. Each camper comes from different backgrounds, different family situations, different traditions. Many campers are home schooled; their families might have a more conservative flavor to their family; while other campers might not have any church background and find everything acceptable. Our motto is always error on the conservative side.

Most people forget that it has been the seniors of our district that has given the money to develop the camp. I always tell the staff, "Don't being doing something or acting a certain way that would offend your grandmother." I would like to think that any guest that pops into camp would find the actions of the staff as acceptable and positive. Hidden Acres is every ones camp; I don't want one particular generation over-running and controlling the flavor of Hidden Acres.

Besides, I too want the staff to be able to fly south someday; successfully and without any baggage in their lives that will drag them down. Keeping a tight reign on the camp is not about me and what I want; it is about helping young people think through behavior patterns and the affect of bad choices that will scar their lives for years to come.

Appointments to Miracles

We held our annual Spring Fling yesterday for our seniors; John Eilers from the Indianola Free Church spoke to the 40+ folks who made the trip to camp. What a wonderful day together with old friends of the camp!!

John shared his testimony of how he came to know the Lord; he was in his late 30's when he accepted Christ; he had lived an unfulfilled life up to that point... a life with alcohol that clouded his perspective and brought heartache to his life. But what a transformation when Christ got a hold of him. From a pagan to a preacher. From a life without purpose, to a spirit led life. A new creation.

In the afternoon session, John shared from his book about appointments to miracles; short stories of people and opportunities that he used to share his faith. John said, "I am a chiropractor that loves to share about Jesus!" He saw and took every encounter as a divine appointment to share his faith.

I missed one last week; I was standing in Walmart in Independence Iowa picking up a trout stamp and turkey license. An older gentlemen approached me and said, "I bet I have done something you haven't done; I was nearly blown up in Sioux City, at a local grain elevator. Five guys were killed, and I was the only one who survived." All I could say was, "You should thank the Lord for your life." He was 70+ years old... and may never hear the gospel message, and I blew it. Lord help me to see opportunities as appointments to share all that the Lord has done for me.

Divine appointments: are we praying for them or avoiding them? Do we see everybody we come into contact with as a potential hearer of the Word? At the end of our lives are we going to have a trophy room of junk or a room full of testimonies from people that we shared our faith with?

Pray for the summer staff that they too take advantage of every possible opening to share their faith with each camper.