Gulf Shores Camp

• Rayanne and I had a great time at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL with the Ewtonville Baptist Church from Dunlap, TN. First time back to camp in a couple of years and it was a lot of fun. What a great group of young people. It was the first time Rayanne had been to camp as an official camper although she has been with me on several occasions when I was the leader.
• I did not put even one toe into the ocean. I love the ocean but I'm not a huge fan of the beach. The beach was beautiful but very calm. We made bigger waves in the pool. Everyone that went into the ocean except Rayanne was stung by a jelly fish. They were also fishing from the beach and pulling out sharks on a regular basis. Most were just one or two feet long and probably could only nibble on you but I have grown fond of my fingers and toes. One shark was about 4 ft. Needless to say most of stayed out of the water.
• It was hard to preach 8 times to the same crowd in 5 days but I feel like everything went real well. The theme of the camp was The Amazing Race. The Bible often compares the Christian life to a race but it is more about finishing than competing. As a matter of fact, if you finish, you win! At night we talked about the finish line as our destination. We have to keep sight of the goal if we are to run well. Our main verses were Proverbs 3:5,6 where God promises to make our paths straight if we trust in Him. The fastest way to the finish line is the straightest route. I taught that the Straight Path is that path of life that when followed brings the greatest amount of glory to God and the greatest amount of blessing to your own life. In the mornings we spoke on training for the race and disciplines we need to run well.
• I missed Pattie. She went to Chattanooga for the week to be with her Mom who is now in rehab hospital preparing her to go home. Keep praying for her. Rehab is painful and exhausting. The moonlit waters of Gulf Shores lost much of their beauty without my wife at my side.
• Best fun was synchronized cannonballs into the pool by about 6 of us guys on the last evening. This should be an olympic event. We made some great waves.
• It was good to be home Friday night and it was even better when Pattie got home on Saturday night. It was good to see Ben, Joe, Sadie and Oreo.
  
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