"Learning to Lean on Jesus"

We are home, unpacked and trying to catch up on laundry.  We had a great week at the summer camp meeting!  I will try to share our experience, but I know I can never do it justice.

We left last Saturday before 7:00 and went to pick up the folks.  They were finishing up their breakfast, so we got everything loaded and ready.  We left Brookdale about 7:45 and headed north.  Our first stop was in Haslet, to meet up with Kay.  Dennis had asked to borrow her dad’s New Testament that he had copied himself, to use as a “prop” for his lesson.  It was a rainy day and traffic was terrible until we got to Oklahoma.  The rain stopped and the traffic thinned out and the trip was uneventful for the rest of the way.  We made it to our hotel in Clarksville around 4:00 pm.  After getting everyone settled into their rooms, we rested a little, met up with Ted and Carol, and went out for supper.  The Mexican food was tasty and the company was great!  We were happy to have them as neighbors in our hotel.  Later that evening, we drove out to Keith and Lesa’s to borrow one of Kenneth’s old Bibles (another prop).  We ended up spending a good chunk of time visiting with them.  We knew that we probably wouldn’t have much opportunity as more people arrived.  It was great catching up with dear old friends (old as in long-term!).

Sunday was a full day!  We weren’t expecting a big crowd, being the first Sunday of the meeting, but the room started filling up quickly.  Dennis began the week long discussion on “Learning to Lean on Jesus”.  He used a lot of examples of people he knew and had props for demonstrating how they had spent a lifetime “leaning on Jesus”.  After a beautiful service, we enjoyed lunch and fellowship all afternoon before having another assembly at 4:00, in which Craig gave an inspiring message about “Building up our Wall” (taken from Nehemiah).  More food and visitation afterwards rounded out a wonderful Lord’s Day!

Monday, Dennis and I went for a drive through the countryside.  Then we stopped by Keith and Lesa’s again to drop off the Bible…and ended up visiting with them and the Moores for a while.  We made it back to our hotel in time to pick up the folks and take them to lunch.  While we were eating, in walks Logan, with 6 or 7 boys in tow.  He is SO good with the kiddos!  I love how he cares about them and tends to them…and they all adore him!  After lunch we went to the bowling alley to watch all of the young folks enjoying themselves.  There were as many (or more) spectators as there were bowlers, so we had plenty of folks to visit.  Afterwards we went back to our room to change and rest up a little before heading back to the campus for supper and evening assembly.  The speaker lined up was Marshall H.  I’d never heard him before but had heard very positive things about him.  I definitely wasn’t disappointed!  He emphasized the point that we should not lean on our own understanding…nor on the culture around us…excellent study!

Tuesday morning, we had two young speakers:  Zach W. and Logan S.  Zach spoke on being prepared by putting on the Christian armor.  Logan admonished us to humble ourselves as a little child.  Both did a great job!  We had a very special guest on Tuesday.  Kenneth was able to get a reprieve from rehab for the day, so Ken brought him down for the assembly and lunch.  Everyone was SO glad to get to see him!  He has had a pretty rough spell here of late.  We were all very thankful to see him on the mend and able to make it!  After lunch we took the folks back to their room to rest and them spent the rest of the day visiting.  After sharing supper with the folks and Jarrod and Melissa’s family, we found a spot to enjoy the firework display…another great day!

Wednesday morning was the men’s breakfast.  So I just spent the morning taking it easy and lining out the folks’ meds for the remainder of the week.  When I prepared them before leaving home, I only did a few days, so we could see how they were going to make the trip (and if we’d need to bring them home early).  They were doing great, so we figured we’d be able to stay through Saturday morning, as we had planned.  The young folks were going skating in Russellville from 11-1, so Dennis and I checked to make sure the folks would be ok without us and headed over there to watch the fun.  It was another great turnout!  We were having a blast just watching everyone and visiting the other spectators.  I loved how the older and more experienced skaters were helping the younger and less experienced!  Dennis kept talking about how much he used to enjoy skating and looking longingly at how much fun the little ones were having, so I told him to go for it.  And he did!  The other adults were pretty nervous, as were many of the kiddos, to see him struggling to stay on his feet.  But he did ok and only fell once…no injuries! 

We all met again for supper that evening and had another wonderful assembly with Richard N. giving a wonderful study on Relationships.  There were snacks and dodgeball afterwards in the gym, and Daddy and Bobbie even stayed to watch.

Thursday was the Ladies’ Luncheon in the cafeteria.  We had a great gathering of young and old, with a little exercising of Titus 2:4-5, great fellowship and good food.  A little later that afternoon was the Sing-On and then supper and another assembly, with Owen C. admonishing us to “Be Strong” as we were “finding more power than I’ve ever dreamed” in leaning on Jesus.

Friday morning we had a morning and evening assembly.  Bryan P. was the morning speaker.  It was my first time to hear him also.  I’d also heard good things about his speaking, so I was looking forward to hearing him for myself.  I was blown away!  He gave an excellent lesson on Confidence…and where it comes from.  I look forward to hearing more from him in the future!  Again we had a good lunch and fine fellowship and then some of us spent some time singing together in the chapel (actually, we were in the basement of the chapel…much cooler!)  Then we were blessed with a lesson on “Hard Sayings” from Houston that evening.  Dennis took the folks back to their room to rest up, and then we tried to squeeze a bit of last minute visiting out of the week before having to head home this morning.  It was SO hard to tell everyone good-bye.  It was truly a time of refreshing!  I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a week as much.  There was such a sweet spirit everywhere you looked!  We loved catching up with old friends and making new ones.  I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make it all possible…especially the City Park Church of Christ!  I also want to thank Patsy W. who loaned us a wheelchair to use all week to make things easier on Bobbie.  I believe that is what made it possible for the folks to hold up so well all week.

Even though we hated to leave everyone and miss the final two assemblies (and lessons), it was good to get home.  The folks looked VERY relieved to finally be back in their little apartment at Brookdale.  I know that Dennis and I were thrilled to get home and relax.  We are SO thankful that we were able to make the trip, and that the folks were also able to attend and do so well!  We are already looking forward to next year!