Attention, campers!

Camp is on my mind this week. Many of you have already been to camp this summer and some of you are sure to go before August comes to a close. But this week, my brother (who is a volunteer youth leader in the church we grew up in) and his wife are taking their fledgling youth group to FUGE. It's the first time many of these students have been that far away from home. It's definitely the first time they've taken part in a church camp that's, well, that big.

Yesterday, I left him a message to let him know I was praying for him and the crew. I just felt the need to pray pressing on me, so I did. He called in the afternoon, saying they were on their way. Later that night, he called to say things weren't going so well. Kids were homesick; the pool wasn't open; this camp was "too different," and they didn't know anyone. "I don't know what to do," he said, his wife echoing the sentiment in the background. "Their attitudes have to change."

He called me back around 10:45 p.m. Things were going better, he said. It was only the first day of camp and things will hit full force today—and hopefully, his students won't have time for complaining and homesickness.

Here's the point: your attitude at camp makes a difference. If you arrive ready to find fault and dislike the experience, you probably will. And you'll have squandered an opportunity to grow in your faith and get to know God on a deeper level. If you spend all your time complaining to your leaders, you not only ruin the experience for them, but you also make it very clear that you think you're the most important person there. Sometimes camp is the experience that God uses to separate us from all the stuff going on in our lives so that He can work in our lives and speak to our hearts. It would be a shame to miss out on that because you were too caught up in complaining about the heat, the pool, the distance from camp to home.

Your camp experience will be what you make it. Your attitude matters. Check out Kyle Cravens' story on page 50 of the July issue of ec for ideas on how to get the most out of camp. Regard it as an opportunity to grow in faith, deepen your relationships with others in your youth group, and just enjoy the fellowship of other believers.

God is at work. Don't miss it!