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The month of June is Grand Camp at the Instead and this year’s was the best. In addition to locals, we hosted children from Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio. Our crew reminded us of the ‘Our Gang’ of old, also known as the ‘Little Rascals’. Their backgrounds were varied and wide, with ages running between four and ten. Everyone proved special in their own unique way, but they blended like they had always known one another. We are grateful for all our blessings and love to share with others. Funny how blessings work, you try to pass them out and they return tenfold. It’s not why you do it, but it does happen that way. Today we said goodbye to the Carolina boys and tomorrow the Florida children catch a flight. Our hearts have run on high for a month and now we must let go and give thanks. No one fought, at least not for long, no one was seriously injured, and everyone earned pins for acts of kindness and sacrifice. An unplanned experience developed with the children finding a family of garter snakes in our courtyard. We were able to teach them to not harm them or be afraid of them. We also observed tree frogs climbing up doors and trees, and mourning doves protecting their skimpy nests.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” NIV

The Instead has twenty-two acres of varied grounds for children to roam. So sweet, every adult who participated can attest to the heavenly atmosphere. Kites were flown, rockets launched with air stompers, fire boosters, and baking soda. Kickball, disc golf, and soccer games spontaneously erupted. Swings, saucer swings, and slides provided endless joy.

The main key, we just let it happen, the kids ran from morning until night. One of the children has a little brother who calls him Brubbie. When Brubbie and three cousins began singing around the campfire, we deemed them, “Brubbie and the Cousins”. Watch for them on ‘America’s Got Talent’. Many of the children also took turns on the keyboard. Children came and went, some came for a day or two, others stayed the month.

At one of campfires, we invited a couple of friends, a ninety-year-old who worked for William Shockley developing the first transistor and later worked on twenty-five nuclear bomb tests, the children were enthralled with his stories. The children found the woman who brought him equally interesting as she spoke of her late husband building their stone home and living for years without electricity or running water. Her husband split huge boulders into building blocks and harvested timber on their property for wood. He hand built all the kitchen cabinets, and the house turned out to be gorgeous. She shared photos and stories which stretched their imagination.

“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” – Psalm 118:14

Off-campus events included playground visits, swimming pools, and a visit to a nursing home—where all the children voluntarily hugged a resident and spoke with her.

A favorite event was a visit to a local dairy farm where everyone participated in bottle-feeding calves, walking through the milking parlor, climbing into the cabs of huge harvesters and tractors, and climbing to the top of huge silos. The farmer took all six kids on a ride in the cab of a large piece of equipment. The farmer is a family friend, with over 700 cows, 1000 acres, and an unknown tally of equipment. We interrupted his schedule, but he loved it. All the children made thank-you cards and we delivered them the next day. It is important to teach children to be grateful. Our youngest’s thank you didn’t make it into the pile, so on a different night we took him to personally deliver his thank-you; he was well received by the farmer.

There were trips into the city to visit museums and the airport. We enjoyed hikes in state parks, and a walk to a little-known waterfall. We took our crew to a cousin’s graduation party. On an embankment behind our house, we set up a slip-n- slide when two new guests arrived. An impromptu visit to a local hot dog shop for dogs and ice cream turned out to be a big hit. We had a couple of movie nights at the house and a couple of others at a local theater. Some of the children went to a friend’s house where they were able to hold chickens and cats, use rollerblades, and chow down on pizza.

On one instance we headed to the Instead basement when tornado warnings sounded.  All was well, and a charades game broke out. Halfway through the month an uncle and aunt invited all of us to a local state park for a day of lake kayaking and power boating. All the kids took turns being in charge of the water crafts. The boating adventure was followed by a picnic and campfire back at the Instead. Over the next couple of days, the children went to a local exotic wildlife park and paid  a visit to a local swimming pool—complete with slides and fountains.  On Father’s Day, the family told granddad to take a hike, and we all did, to a local waterfall and along a wild creek in the gorge. The hike included walking in a covered bridge and old gristmill. On another hike we ventured into a little-known valley to a large waterfall and the remnants of an iron furnace built of large cut stone in 1818, followed by a walk into an old train tunnel converted into a bicycle rail to trails.

A friend who owns a bicycle shop loaned us four bicycles for the out-of-town children to use on a nine-mile trail ride. The trail runs along a very scenic creek with a rich history from the original oil boom-days. A scenic railroad also follows the creek, and several bridges cross the creek. One of the hikes included a rainstorm—everyone got soaked. This hike also followed a creek in the area’s virgin forests, and one of the bridges is a cabled swinging bridge, the kids loved it and ran back and forth across it. Some of the most memorable events weren’t planned, the kids all chipped in to clean up, serve food, and say grace.

Almost every night involved s’mores, while ice cream figured large as well. But they attacked protein waffles, porridge with fixin’s, steak salads, and homemade tomato soup-n-grilled cheese sammiches.

We are feeling plenty blessed. When people comment that it’s a big effort, it’s a little disconcerting. We wish more grandparents and families would know this joy. We open our hearts, energy, pocketbook, and time to kids, and the blessings flow back to us ten-fold.

Comments we heard more than once: Best day ever! This day was the best! I’m having the best life, it couldn’t be any better.

We let kids be kids. They had a 1950’s-style start to their childhood summer, without helicoptering. Everyone benefited. Everyone grew in many ways. Everyone felt gratitude for a time well-lived.