Guest Post: An Unexpected Summer
Guest Post by Heather Harbaugh
Last summer was not at all what I had anticipated. I envisioned a time of getting organized for the next school year, completing household projects, and having fun with the kids along the way. But an opportunity to serve my mother-in-law became top priority, and we spent much of the summer caring for her. The time was precious, but the fun I had promised the kids didn’t happen the way I planned.
God is so good. The life circumstances that changed my plans for the summer did not catch Him by surprise. And in His goodness, He planned a little surprise for us in August: Family Camp.
The opportunity to go was absolutely spontaneous. I could hardly see past our circumstances to determine if we could get away for a week to experience the Family Camp I had heard so many good things about. But get away we did (minus my sweet husband who had just started a new job), and off we went to LLFC.
As we descended into the canyon and drove through the river (I loved my kids’ reactions and constant questions about “what if…”), the peace and rest my heart needed began to saturate my soul and envelope our family.
Dinner came first, and I enjoyed meeting the counselors who sat with us at each meal to help with my younger children. Help at the table? I am liking, no, l-o-v-i-n-g Family Camp so far!
And the week only went up from there.
We loved, loved, loved Jim and Carol from Acts of Renewal. A definite highlight of the week, their drama presentations brought tender messages from the Lord that spoke to young and old alike.
The enthusiastic camp staff blessed us with their joyful servants’ hearts and fun, quirky, wacky skits and games and songs (my kids still sing the “theme song” from the week!). They never tired of loving on me and my kids – always ready to help and to encourage us.
When asked about the highlights of their week, my kids all talk at once: The zip line! The big slide! The trip to “Blue Hole”! The snacks! The rodeo! The counselors! When can we go back?
I am so thankful to the Lord for opening up this opportunity for us last summer. It’s a remembrance stone of the abundant provision of the Lord when I least expected it. He went above and beyond all I could ever ask or imagine.
Thank you, staff and families of Laity Lodge Family Camp. Our family was supremely blessed by your service to the Lord and to us last summer. You successfully brought together the elements for a winning time for the whole family – the perfect balance of fun and refreshment (spiritual and physical) for parents and kids alike.
We can’t wait to get back!
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Tags: Guest Post, Heather Harbaugh, Laity Lodge Family Camp, surprise, Texas, unexpected
