Saturday Devotional: Happily Ever After
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Saturday Devotional: Happily Ever After

I love a good story—the kind that starts with “Once upon a time” and ends with “...and they lived happily ever after.”
But the truth is, our lives don’t always feel like those kinds of stories.

One afternoon, a teen camper came up to me—we’ll call her Amanda.

“Pastor Dave, can I talk to you?” she asked.

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Friday Devotional: Let’s Party
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Friday Devotional: Let’s Party

As the sun set and darkness crept over the dunes, we headed back to the parking lot. Ours was the only car left.

I reached into my pocket for the car keys—nothing. I checked another pocket. Still empty. Panic started to rise in my chest.

“Did I give you the keys?” I asked my wife.

“I don’t have them,” she replied.

My heart sank.

Somewhere out there, in 1,500 acres of dunes and sand, my keys had fallen out of my pocket. And with the strong winds, even if we could find them, they might already be buried. It was cold, getting dark, and we were miles from town. The odds were not in our favor.

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Thursday Devotional: Runaway!
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Thursday Devotional: Runaway!

It was Wednesday night of Tween Camp. The evening program had ended. I had just finished telling the campers that Jesus gave His life for them because He loves them, and they are His children.

That’s when a boys’ counselor ran up to me in a panic.
“One of my campers just ran out the side door of the gym!” he said.

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Wednesday Devotional: Walking with the King
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Wednesday Devotional: Walking with the King

When I was in 8th grade, I joined a youth group called Pathfinders. We went camping, learned outdoor skills, and did service projects for our community. As Labor Day approached, our club director had a big idea—he reached out to the Governor of Michigan to ask if we could join him in the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk.

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Tuesday Devotional: Lost in the Woods
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Tuesday Devotional: Lost in the Woods

By now, we’d been gone for a long time, and it was time to head back to the car. We tried retracing our steps, but the faint trail we’d made had vanished into the thick brush. We were lost—and we had no idea which way to go.

For fifteen minutes, we pushed through a dense patch of fir trees. The branches were so thick we couldn’t see more than three feet in front of us. In my head, I imagined the headline: "Camp Director and Staff Lost in the Foothills of Mount Rainier."

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Monday Devotional: Broken Pieces
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Monday Devotional: Broken Pieces

The first time I ever used a chainsaw, I was 17 years old. I was working on the summer maintenance crew at Camp Au Sable in northern Michigan. During the last two weeks of camp, it was our job to find and cut down all the dead trees and turn them into firewood for the winter.

Before we started, our supervisor, Mr. Dick Scott, gathered us together and gave us a serious safety talk about using a chainsaw. We all promised to be careful and then headed out into the woods.

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Sunday Devotional: Haircut Hide and Seek
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Sunday Devotional: Haircut Hide and Seek

I loved when my dad called my name and said it was time for our next adventure. But when he pulled out his barber kit and announced it was haircut time, I felt something very different—fear.

So, when my dad called my name with the clippers in hand, I would run and hide—sometimes in the closet, under the dining room table, even in the garage. Anywhere I could escape the dreaded buzz cut.

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Overcoming Nature Deficit Disorder
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Overcoming Nature Deficit Disorder

Last weekend, my wife and I took a walk with our son and grandson through the woods behind their house. At the edge of a large clearing, my grandson discovered a drainage ditch filled with water and topped by a thin layer of ice. It was an irresistible invitation for any 4-year-old. Wearing his boots, he eagerly waded in. We offered some words of caution— “don’t fall,” “don’t go too deep,” “don’t get wet”—but he was fully immersed in the joy of the moment.

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Making the Holidays Impactful
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Making the Holidays Impactful

The holiday rush is fast approaching. Your kids are excited for the decorations, family time, and gifts under the tree. Meanwhile, you might be dreading the hustle, endless shopping, and commercialization of the season – all while hoping for something more meaningful. So, how can you make this time of year everything it was meant to be? What if you could bring the core principles of camp into your holiday celebrations? Here are a few ideas to spark some creativity for you and your family.

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The Power of Play
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The Power of Play

As adults we often forget how to play … But what if we took the time to play catch with our kids, or hide and seek, or build a cardboard rocket ship in the backyard and pretend to be astronauts and fly to the moon.

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Understanding the 4/14 Window
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Understanding the 4/14 Window

The statistics are astounding. According to research by Dr. Bryant Myers nearly 85% of the decision that are made for Christ in the United States happen between the ages of 4-14.

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Five Promises Every Parent Should Make
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Five Promises Every Parent Should Make

What would happen if you lived by these same five promises at your home? How would the dynamic of your home change if your children knew that will do all you can to keep them safe, that you will always be present for them, that will always respect them and take responsibility for your actions? And what if every word spoken at home was used to build each other up? These five promises could change everything.

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Restorative Justice for your Home
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Restorative Justice for your Home

We live in a world frozen in perpetual conflict. Conflict resolution is about winners and losers. It is about who can shout the loudest and who can tear down the other person first. But what if there was a better way?

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Trauma Informed Care
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Trauma Informed Care

Trauma-informed Care for the Home

Over the past six years and particularly since 2020, it has become increasingly common to have kids at camp who have experienced trauma. These campers don’t know how to express their feelings or communicate what they need. As a result their trauma is expressed behaviorally. Loss of appetite, too much or too little sleep, unexplained anger or irritability, anxiety, and an inability to focus are all signs of trauma in a child.

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