Camp lag...

and the stench of camp laundry are my issues today. I'm not motivated to do anything. We went to church, had lunch, and came home to tackle the camp mess in the front room. Everything is back in its place, except the laundry. Man, the boys laundry really stinks when they hold wet clothes for days in their suitcases. P U!

I had planned to turn in early on Saturday night. Instead, Chuck and I were up talking about camp (he's jealous I had so much fun, and watching the Olympics. We just had to cheer on Phelps as he reached for the 8th Gold medal. Exciting. We were literally standing in our bedroom jumping up and down.

But really on my mind today are:

1) Kairos- its ancient Greek meaning and why & how God brought it to my attention
2) It's a small world after all, In Him (thanks to Kairos)
3) Camp strengthens friendships
4) Camp doesn't just strengthen 'my' kids for The Journey (Thank you Lord)
5) Teachable moments are related to Kairos by definition

I am sure not to discuss all of these thoughts in this post. It's to much to think about and layout in a post. I am also sure not to deal with them in the order they are listed. So hang on. I'll get to them eventually. I'm still processing their connections.

Kairos is a church planting organization (go to the site, I'd butcher it's intent because I'm not yet educated on it). It first came to my attention in the Christian Chronicle. The reason it stuck out to me is that a man who heads the program is the oldest son of people who I believe had an influence on the fact that I am a christian today. They were friends of my parents when I was about 7 or 8. My father wasn't a christian when we first meet them. They befriended my parents, loved them, fellowshiped them, and taught them a great deal about family in Christ. I have some very vivid, very fond memories of times with this family. So when I see Stan's name in the Christian Chronicle, I read (I use the term loosely- I'm guilty of being more like a skimmer of material, I'll warn you this is a dangerous practice, I've missed IMPORTANT info. as a skimmer) what he's up to.

Hang on it's all connected.

While at camp I was talking to John (our rifle director) about, his son who is currently on the west coast, and other connections he has there. I mentioned the family who meant to much to me, and that they live on the west coast. He said "Oh, do you know Stan?" I said "yes, he's their oldest son." Within minutes I was on the phone with him via the cell phone contact list of John. This is point two from my list above "It's a small world, In Him." Stan is the director of Kairos, and John had just spent time with him a few weeks ago.

All this led to me wanting to know what kairos (καιρός) means. It's an ancient Greek word meaning the "right or opportune moment". Really there are two meanings in Greek for kairos. One is for chronological order and the other is moments that take place 'in between' the chronological order, usually significant moments, opportune moments. Of course mission work provides significant or opportune moments, which is why kairos is an appropriate name for a church planting organization.

Kairos, a new word to my vocabulary is defined for me through teachable moments for my children. They are significant, because they are about God, and opportune (carpe diem) because I must seize them when they first happen, to give the moment the most power as a teaching tool.

A teachable moment or kairos, came from camp for my boys from dealing with difficult campers. Some of the children who attend Manatwany are foster children in the states care. They are sent to Manatawny to give the foster parents a break. These kids often know little or nothing about Jesus. Three of our boys discussed with me how difficult it was to deal with these kids and how they made their time at camp 'a little less than heaven on earth.' This is a term we often describe camp by. We are often protected by the world and satan's flaming arrows while at camp. This year was different.
After the initial discussion it took me a moment to turn the kids thoughts about the potty mouth, bratty campers into a teachable moment or kairos, our faithful God gave me the words.

First, we prayed, by name for the campers. Then we discussed the challenges they face living in foster care. We talked in depth about how they might feel without their own parents. We concluded that God sent them to us, so we could show them the love of Jesus as an alternative to the ways of the world. We talked about the times we didn't handle situations with these campers the way God wanted us to. We discussed how at camp we are in the majority, as there are many from God fearing homes who are faithful to the Lord. On the flip, back home we are the minority, living in the world among those who aren't faithful. For the campers from foster families their experience is the reverse of ours. We discussed what this meant for our responsibility to the campers and to the rest of the world when we aren't protected by camp. We also discussed how camp gives us experiences so we have strength for the journey, in the world. Lastly, we talked about the importance of forgiving those campers immediately for things they said or did, followed by responding to them in a manner so that Jesus would be honored. Wow this sounds so good in writing. I sure wish we could ALWAYS apply these theories in our own family, brother-to-brother!

More discussions will follow in the days to come, about responding to difficult people. I'm sure I'll use this in my devotional book I'm writing for the boys.

In case you missed it, I covered my thoughts, four and five from my list early in the post. Whew...Good night.

Seize the opportune moments given to you. Honor God!