Today Perry and I took Sam to church camp. It's a wonderful place a half hour northwest of here called Hidden Acres. The camp directors are friends of ours from church, and all of our boys have loved spending time there. They love the swimming pond, climbing tower, zip line, and now there is a neat new indoor facility with a gym and swimming pool. The program is well run, and the boys come home from a week at camp with a neat new perspective on their faith.
Sam was counting the days and minutes until it was time to leave. A few months ago, we had signed him up with a a friend, which always makes the experience more comfortable and eliminates any homesickness. We even coordinated arrival times with the friend's family so the boys could get settled in to their cabin together.
As we pulled up to the main building, Sam and I hurried to the check-in line. It was a little later than we had hoped to arrive and we imagined his friend, Storm would be wondering where we were. Sam gave his name to the counselor with the clip board. She scanned up and down the list, double checked the spelling of his name, then replied, "I don't see you on the list." My heart went cold at those words, and my brain went on mental rewind. Of course he's on the list, I registered him online, back in March, I reassured myself. I could have kicked myself for forgetting to bring the confirmation letter, then I tried to remember where I'd put the confirmation letter... and finally wondered if I'd ever seen a confirmation letter.
The teenage employee went back to the office to check with the director, and I tried to act calm so Sam wouldn't see that my mind was spinning in a panic. After the counselor returned, she sent me inside to Dede's office, who told me they didn't have any registration for Sam on their computer. My heart stopped beating as I imagined having to take a disappointed boy home in the car, but before I could react, she calmly told us that they would simply add his name and he could stay for camp. She checked the list of boys in Sam's friend's cabin and God must have been smiling on us. There was one open bunk in that cabin, so Sam would even be able to say with his friend as he'd planned. I felt myself breathe again, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude at her flexibility and understanding.
We finally caught up with Storm, who had been trying to tell the counselor that he was waiting for his friend Sam (who didn't appear to exist). We explained everything to the counselor, who good naturedly welcomed my son into the group, much to my relief.
I came home and checked my computer, but found no sign of any email confirmation, so either there was a glitch with the web site or I made a mistake in some part of the online registration. I feel so stupid, realizing that a careless oversight on my part could have caused Sam to miss out on his week at church camp. Tonight I am thanking God for the way everything worked out for Sam, and feeling sure that He's got a lesson in all this for me.
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