camp story

It all started with that damn

Bruce Willis.

We were in Sag Harbor

over Thanksgiving

and decided to watch 

the Bruce Willis movie

Moonrise Kingdom.

For once,

Lyons even joined us

sitting in front of the fire

on a cold November night

snacking on popcorn.

Moonrise Kingdom

 is a fun, funky, 

beautifully filmed, 

wonderfully acted,

retro flick about two children

who run away together.

The young boy in the story
runs away from camp

and there are many scenes 

of Camp Ivanhoe

in the movie.

While watching,

Lyons casually mentioned

that he'd "always wanted to 

go to a camp like that."

Immediately, an alarm went off.

Oh no!

We never sent Lyons to camp!

We had Failed as parents! 

How did this happen?

When did he turn 15?

How did we miss giving him 

this essential opportunity?

How could we fix it?

We decided to give Lyons
a trip to camp
as one of his Christmas presents.

John and I spent a great deal of time researching camps,

 acquiring personal recommendations, 

and watching inspirational videos.

We found the Perfect Camp.

It's a Christian leadership camp

for kids who have completed 9th grade.

We felt that 

this was IT!

It was gonna be Great!

We were so Excited!

However, when Lyons opened the gift,

he looked up at us
Horrified
and declared,

"I didn't say I Want to go to camp.

I said I Wish I Had gone

When I was a Kid."

Oops.

We have spent the past 7 months

arguing, cajoling, and bribing

Lyons to try to have a good attitude
towards camp.

It was going to be an Adventure.

An Experience of a Lifetime.

We flew out to California to drop Lyons off

almost two weeks ago.

Since then, we have received
 three short phone calls from him. 

He was Not loving it.

The last call was the night before a 

Three Day Hiking Trip

In The Wilderness

with a

24 Hour Isolation Period.

He comes home tomorrow.

It is my prayer

that this was a positive time of personal growth for him ~

even if he doesn't see that now.

It is also my prayer

that he's still speaking to me!