The Keys to Life, Love and Happiness!

Church camp 2010
Originally uploaded by jwlohr

After a layoff from directing or counseling at camp for nearly a decade, I decided it was time to say yes to the invitation to direct a camp. Something about finally having a child of camping age made that decision a bit easier. Joey went to camp where I went as a child and she seemed to have a really good time. I find myself thinking and sometimes saying things that I never thought I would say like "When I was a kid..." Well, when I was a kid, the cabins were grafiti-laden, non-air conditioned, hot, leaky, primitive places to sleep at night... times have certainly changed from those days!

The camp has improved a lot from those days with the addition of lots of modern amenities and attractions including the zip line Joey is riding on in this picture. I simply LOVE this picture, because the smile on her face is so huge. I cannot believe how much my baby girl has grown. As Will is just now starting to walk, I remember when Joey was that age and how amazed we were at her development even then. It seems each new stage brings more and more Joy in watching our children develop and grow. Of course there are challenges in parenting and in many ways, we would like to keep all three of the kids small forever so we could protect them from the inevitable hurts that they will face in life. But, it is also a great joy to see the joy and the zest that they posses as they live their lives. How much better would this world be if we could all retain just a bit of that child-like enthusiasm and unadultrated joy in our daily pursuits?

What a blessing our children are and how very much they enrich our lives. It seems I am more in love with the three of them with each passing day. God has blessed me richly with them and with a wife who brings nothing but blessing to my own life. While I may not have much in terms of money or power, I am an immeasurably wealthy man in terms of the love I am shown each day by the four most important people in the world to me! They teach me again and again what life is really about and how to be a happy man at the core. Even when the world around me brings challenges (several times a day it seems) my family reminds me again and again what is needed to possess a joy that carries me through the present struggles and to keep things in proper perspective. Thank you Jenny, Joey, Ian and Will! I love you all more than I can ever say!