The Most Important Part of Your Child's Summer

Camping used to be more important to a church than it is today. It is obvious, that with the continual onslaught of options eating away at our kids time, children have less time for some of the things in life that may be most beneficial. In fact, the methods, techniques, and tactics used to get children to participate in many activities seem to be based more on benefiting an adult and his/her agenda than the students.

Increasingly, I hear youth pastors and directors act helpless when they speak of their students summer agendas. They tell us that kids today do not have the time or the money to come to camp. After the church has organized a mission trip and the teens spend weeks raising money and preparing for that, they have little left for a camping experience. Not only that, the typical student needs to fit in a vacation with the family, alongside attending the school-organized band, cheerleading, or sports camps that are now mandatory. With all that happening, summers are just too short and hectic.

My point exactly. Summers are short and hectic and need a plan. This plan, whatever it is, needs to include some time for your child to be a child. It needs to include time for what really matters, instead of things that seem to matter.

The chance of your child becoming a professional athlete is nil. The idea of sacrifice for a winning team is great for the Green Bay Packers, but not so important to the typical child. Children should be playing spo ...