The 12th-annual Lower School campout was all about dads spending quality time with their children. Second- through fourth-graders and their dads enjoyed great weather and had lots of fun at Camp Highland thanks to Campout Chair Jim Wilkins, Craig Miller, Danny McKinney and all the volunteers that helped out.
On top of all the games and activities, families enjoyed a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday evening followed by s'mores around the campfire. On Sunday, September 11, parents and children enjoyed a devotional with a great spiritual message and some one-on-one time. Click here to see more photos.
Read a firsthand account of the weekend from dad Thomas Walker:
The Lower School Campout was another huge success. Whitefield dads and their Lower School kids had a beautiful weekend of bonding at picturesque Camp Highland.
Everyone arrived on Saturday afternoon, settled into their cabins, and then assembled together in the main lodge for introductions and opening prayer. The afternoon was spent at a series of outdoor activity stations, including rock wall climbing (which led to a platform with a huge zip-line experience for those children who were able to make it all the way up the wall), an outdoor cable swing experience, activities on the athletic fields, and incredibly beautiful walks through the woods and (for those who wished to sojourn a bit further) an incredible lake. Being high in those mountains brought us physically and metaphorically closer to God and, through Him, closer to our children.
The evening had us all assembling back at the lodge for dinner and some free time, including a dads versus kids wacky kickball game to entertain the masses. As night fell, we were dazzled with an incredible fireworks display (thank you Craig Miller) that would have impressed even those in Washington, D.C. (if you’ve never seen the Fourth of July fireworks display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it is certainly an item for your bucket list). The evening concluded with a return to our cabins, where campfires and s’mores were awaiting our children (well, I suppose the adults may have indulged as well). Upon the “sugaring-up” of our children right before bedtime, we all retreated to our cabins for a “not-so-restful” night’s sleep as the excitement of the day (or, perhaps it was just the sugar) did not depart our children’s minds, bodies, and souls as quickly as the dads would have preferred.
On Sunday morning, we reassembled in the lodge for morning coffee and breakfast – did I mention the coffee? Breakfast was followed with a wonderfully moving service, including live contemporary Christian music and an inspiring sermon. After the service, we experienced what I believe was the most important and fulfilling part of the entire weekend – we were given time to walk with our children to a spot of their choosing to talk about the message of the sermon and anything else they wanted to discuss.
That is the moment when I captured this picture of the Feagans. The entire weekend is truly captured in that photo. The location was at the top of a cliff overlooking the incredibly beautiful lake in the valley below. The cross stands there as a not so subtle sign that our Lord Jesus Christ is always near, watching over us and permeating our lives when we open our hearts and allow Him to do so.
For many of us, this campout weekend was a moment, even if ever so brief, which enabled us to escape the complexities of our everyday lives and open our hearts, minds, and souls to let Him in. Thank you to all who organized this event, making this inspiring experience possible.