The SAIL Pathfinders spent the weekend at Buescher State Park, enjoying some quiet time in God's great outdoors. The evenings were a bit chilly, but it was warm around the campfire.
We began the weekend setting up our campsite in the dark, something the Pathfinders did quite well after all their practice setting up the tents. Sabbath morning we awoke in near freezing temperatures and gathered around the campfire to thaw out, before whipping up a hearty bunch of breakfast tacos. Sabbath morning the boy's unit hosted a game of Bible pictionary, before the Pastor read from the Psalms and led a discussion of seeing God in Nature.
During our hike, we looked for signs of things we couldn't see - how a series of rows of holes in a tree trunk indicated a sapsucker had been there to feed, how a ditch showed past running water, how the courting hawks indicated the coming spring. These are reminders of how we can see God in the signs of his creation.
Sabbath afternoon the SAILs made their own camp lunches, practicing for our future backpacking trips, and had fun making a dump cake for desert. The girl's unit led a nature scavenger hunt in the afternoon. In the evening we cooked our dinner over the fire and enjoyed an evening chatting around the fire before spending some time observing the stars and constellations.
Sunday morning we had a pancake breakfast, and then discussed knife and ax safety before practicing sharpening blades and splitting wood. The SAIL Pathfinders also made a tasty pot of chili on the fire, and made and cooked camp bread on sticks and in light-weight home-made reflector ovens. Then it was time to pack up and head home.
It was great to get out in nature, to set aside the distractions of daily life, of electronics, and enjoy a spiritual retreat.
We began the weekend setting up our campsite in the dark, something the Pathfinders did quite well after all their practice setting up the tents. Sabbath morning we awoke in near freezing temperatures and gathered around the campfire to thaw out, before whipping up a hearty bunch of breakfast tacos. Sabbath morning the boy's unit hosted a game of Bible pictionary, before the Pastor read from the Psalms and led a discussion of seeing God in Nature.
During our hike, we looked for signs of things we couldn't see - how a series of rows of holes in a tree trunk indicated a sapsucker had been there to feed, how a ditch showed past running water, how the courting hawks indicated the coming spring. These are reminders of how we can see God in the signs of his creation.
Sabbath afternoon the SAILs made their own camp lunches, practicing for our future backpacking trips, and had fun making a dump cake for desert. The girl's unit led a nature scavenger hunt in the afternoon. In the evening we cooked our dinner over the fire and enjoyed an evening chatting around the fire before spending some time observing the stars and constellations.
Sunday morning we had a pancake breakfast, and then discussed knife and ax safety before practicing sharpening blades and splitting wood. The SAIL Pathfinders also made a tasty pot of chili on the fire, and made and cooked camp bread on sticks and in light-weight home-made reflector ovens. Then it was time to pack up and head home.
It was great to get out in nature, to set aside the distractions of daily life, of electronics, and enjoy a spiritual retreat.
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