A Simple Brushstroke

Last week I journeyed through our capital and one of the largest cities in our nation.  This week I find myself in the countryside on the outskirts of a small Pennsylvanian town.  There are no worldwide famous landmarks or tourist destinations like the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty, no stores selling a $2000 jacket like Gucci or ‘Jeffrey’ or anyone’s famous place like the White House of the President or the Trump Tower.  No, none of the things the world longs to see are here at Edinboro Camp.

In fact it is a very simple lifestyle.  

When I first arrived here on Sunday evening, I found out I was to stay in an ‘A-frame.’ 

“Okay,” I said.  “Where are they located at?”

The person in charge of admissions took me to a small, one room wooden building.  A chair, a couch, two bunk beds and a fan were the only items in the A-frame (oh and a couple cans of Lysol disinfectant spray too).  In the evenings, a spider hangs out above my door when the sun disappears from the horizon.  I leave him there to catch any mosquitoes and other bugs that might try to steal their way into my little ‘home.’  Very simple! 

Home sweet home for a week

   

Comfy, no?

But don’t confuse simple with boring.  Quite the opposite—it is an exciting place filled with opportunities to rest and relax, make new friends, converse with old friends, play games, eat good food (including ice cream!) and encounter God. 

For four or five years in a row I’ve taught the children in one capacity or another.  What a joy it is to interact with them, to listen to them worship God along with me as I strum my guitar and to see their eyes glisten when they ‘get it!’  Then usually in the afternoon and early evening, I run around and play a variety of games with them whether it is 4-Square or carpet ball or their favorite ‘Capture the Hat,’ referring to one of my four wide brim hats (I need these to protect my vulnerable head from sunburn).  In the evenings, I go to the main building and listen to the speakers and interact with the adults.

The Main Tabernacle at Edinboro Camp

Our evening speaker, a pastor from Dayton, OH named David Smith, began a series on ‘Living in a Hostile World’ derived from Daniel chapters 1-5 or 6.  In his first message he spoke on facing the unexpected.  “When we face the unexpected we are prone to compromise,” he said.  Then from the passage he distilled four points for us to ponder so that we will not compromise our faith: 1) Remember that people, places and possessions do not change us…unless you let them. 2) Resolve is often in the small things.  Here he said that resolve is defined as ‘making a decision before you get there’ and that the little yeses add up to the big yeses and the little no’s to the big ones.  3) Remember that obedience is the pathway to holiness and 4) Regardless of what happens, don’t compromise. 

One of the questions that I asked myself is this: “What do I resolve in my heart to do or not to do?”  

After the service I reunite with good friends like Wes Knapp and we share about what God is doing in our lives.  And when the sun finally sinks below the horizon and the diamonds blaze in the black velvet above, I sometimes go to a campfire, roast marshmallows and fellowship with my heaven bound friends and family.  For a few years in a row I’ve thought: “This must be a brushstroke of Heaven, just a glimpse through a foggy window of what it must be like.”

If you've never had the opportunity to visit Edinboro Family Camp or one of the youth camps, I would encourage you to come and be blessed.