Monthly Archives: November 2010

Recently, I came across a letter that Sam wrote to us during a week he spent at camp. We really missed him while he was gone, but thankfully he was able to take a little time to write us a letter that eased all of our fears about him being away. His letter is below:

Dear Mom and Dad,
    Our camp counselor told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and were worried. We are OK. Only one of our tents and two sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up the mountain looking for Josh when it happened. Oh yes, please call Josh’s mother and tell her he is OK. He can’t write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it wasn’t for the lightning. Our Counselor Clark got mad at Josh for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Josh said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn’t hear him.
    Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blowup? The wet wood didn’t burn, but one of the tents did. Also some of our clothes. Michael is going to look weird until his hair grows back.
     We will be home on Saturday if Counselor Clark gets the car fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Counselor Clark said that with a car that old, you have to expect something to break down; that’s probably why he can’t get insurance. We think it’s a neat car. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the state policeman stopped and talked to us. Counselor Clark is a neat guy. Don’t worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Michael how to drive on the mountain roads where there isn’t any traffic. All we ever see up here is logging trucks.
     This morning, all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Counselor Clark wouldn’t let me because I can’t swim, and Josh was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Counselor Clark isn’t crabby like some Counselors. He didn’t even get mad about the lifejackets. He has to spend a lot of the time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.
Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Wade and I threw up, but Counselor Clark said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick that way with the food they ate in prison. I’m so glad he got out and became our Counselor. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pyromaniac? I have to go now. We are going to town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don’t worry about anything. We are fine.

Love, Sam

PS: How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot?

Obviously, Sam didn’t really write that letter and when he was at summer camp, they took excellent care of him while he was there. This is just a funny letter I found on the internet and modified a bit – and while it gave me quite a chuckle it also made me think about worrying. There are so many things in this world that we can worry about – things that will happen, things that could happen, things that might happen, things that we want to happen but might not, things that should have happened but didn’t. There is certainly more than enough worry to go around and we can become a slave to it. If we sent our son to camp and then worried that all of those things written in the letter might happen, it would have crippled us. The point is… we need not worry – let me rephrase that – we need to not worry because we aren’t in charge anyway. We need to be prudent and alert, but worrying causes us to forget that God is in control.  As the saying goes, “Don’t sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff (for God).

Philippians 4 (The Message)
⁶Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. ⁷Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

1 Peter 5 (ESV)
⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

I have been keeping a secret… a secret that I am sure you will all find surprising.  I am a football fan!  Shocking, isn’t it? Is there anyone who knows me surprised to find out that I actually like football?

OK… maybe it isn’t all that surprising. Why didn’t it surprise any of you? It wasn’t a shock because I’ve made it rather obvious. If you have known me for any length of time, I have probably talked about football, or you have seen me in a football jersey, or heard me discussing our fantasy football league. Many people have even watched football at my house or seen me wearing one of my football ties. Not only is it evident that I like football, it is also obvious that my favorite team is the Eagles. In addition, the Eagles happen to be the favorite team of my entire family (not that they were ever given a choice.) If you see them, you’ll see them dressed in the appropriate attire for a football fan on the first Sunday of football season. Yes – I’ll confess, I am an Eagles fan.

Why does any of this matter? It matters, because as I thought about how obvious I have made it that I am an Eagles fan, I wondered how about how obvious it was that I am also Jesus fan. After all, what have the Eagles ever done for me? Sure, they have given me many hours of entertainment and lifted my spirits. But… there have been plenty of occasions where they have let me down too. Jesus, on the other hand has done everything for me. He created me, sustains me, guides me, and died for my sins. All my hope is in Christ. That being the case, it should be even more evident that my life is dedicated to Him than it is that I like a football team. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with being an Eagles fan (being a Cowboys fan on the other hand, that’s different – someone should invent a pill to cure that), and the NFL has its share of solid Christian leadership – Reggie White was a powerful evangelist, both coaches of the past Superbowl are professing Christians, etc.  Enjoying football isn’t wrong, but I do find myself searching my heart to make sure it isn’t something that I am putting ahead of God. Do I need football – certainly not. Do I need God – absolutely.