Kamp Keck 2013 Is History

After watching "Ernest Goes to Camp" on the first night of Kamp Keck and hearing Ernest say, " You know what I mean?" 20 times too many, I realized one of my own little campers had the same quirk. Only my grandchild would say, "You know what?" He must have said it 1000 times over the course of the week. No one could ever guess what he was thinking.


On the second night, after watching "Ernest Goes to Jail" Ernest asked the same thing many times. I then
realized another of my grandchildren would politely, but constantly ask, "Can you help me?" Hum, I began to see a pattern.

Nothing changed with the third movie, "Ernest Scared Stupid." Ernest was right on with his favorite phrase. And wouldn't you know it, so were our remaining two grandchildren. We realized another child liked to ask, "What are we going to do next?" and the fourth frequently made the "Can we have a Popsicle?" request. Wish I had a nickel for every time I heard these phrases.

Mind you, Kamp Keck did more than watch "Ernest" movies. Kamp began with the creation story, "Days of Creation." We made colorful butterfly houses and butterfly feeding stations. We had a campsite and a tent-friendly inflatable moose. We went on a nature scavenger hunt and we went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. Maybe too, our visit to Cheekwood Gardens under the night skies to see Bruce Munro's " Lights" counted as a nature activity. At any rate it reminded us somewhat of the story of Abraham and God's promise to him. His descendants would be more numerous than the stars.

Every morning began with a Bible-based story. They included, "The Half-Empty Jar," "God Promises a Big, Big Family," "The Alabaster Jar," and "A New King." (All stories from the book Remember, and Don't Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me by Saundria Keck and Kay Benson.)

Since Kamp is about cousins building relationships, there were a lot of other simply fun activities. They recalled previous year activities and requested that we do them. Worm searches were done, a tea party was crashed, there was swimming in the big vinyl pool, water guns were filled, faces painted and art was created for the Kamp's art show held on our last day.

I especially loved it when one of our grandchildren bragged that her “grossed-out” act was better than the one her mother had as a young child. Her mother once left her pacifier amid the produce where she had been licking the cucumbers in the grocery store and after returning home wanted to go back to the store to retrieve it. Her daughter’s story involved eating the peanut butter used as bait in the mouse trap that was in the garage. It was truly a bonding moment for cousins. Need I say, you can tell Darth Vader apart from Mrs. Vader by the fact she wears lipstick.

 The highpoint of the week occured when Mimi and Poppa gave each of our grandchildren a "Mike with One-Eye" tee-shirt and went to see "Monsters University" at the theater. The ticket sales girl didn’t even have to ask what movie we were there to see. "You know what I mean?"

Scripture:   Deuteronomy 6.7 – As you go, teach your children that God is good.

Deuteronomy 6. 20 – When your son or daughter asks you, you can say what the Lord has done for you.

Psalm 78.4 – Tell the next generation what God has done, His power and wonders.

Psalm 79.13 – God’s people will praise Him and from generation to generation they will recount it.

Psalm 145.4 – One generation will commend God’s works to another.