Fort Richardson Campout

Our troop went camping this past weekend, so here is a summary of our campout:

Place: Fort Richardson State Park
Attendance: 5 youth, 3 adults
Activity: Scout skills - Woods tools, fire building; 6 mile hike (with a milkshake at the 4.8 mile mark :-)

Notes: Great campout. The weather was wonderful; cool nights and warm days. This time of year is my favorite time to camp in Texas.

Since it is deer season, we were not able to camp in the primitive camp sites. The park ranger offered us the overflow camping area. Had we made reservations earlier, we might have been able to plan a different location, but since we were on a short time line, we decided to take the overflow campsites. A more remote camp site would have been nicer, but we still had a good time.

In the morning we did the scout skills, then toured the fort. All of the buildings were open, and there are more displays than were here last time I visited. We started our hike from the fort, and ate lunch at along the trail.

The hike this time went much better than the last campout. The trail was easy to find, and well maintained. The troop made much better time completing the hike.

We also used the caterpillar method of hiking which allows the scouts to stay closer together, take fewer rest breaks, and cover more ground in less time. The way the caterpillar works is we all get into a line, and start hiking. The person at the front of the line takes 50 paces (counts how many times his right foot hits the ground), then steps to the side of the trail. The next person in line then starts counting 50 paces. The one who stopped, gets to rest until the last person in line passes him, then he joins the line at the end. This process is repeated until we reach our destination. Once they get the hang of it, it works very well. The key is keeping the group in the same order.

After our hike we came back to camp and prepared dinner. The boys cooked hot dogs over the fire, and they all thought they were the best hot dogs they had ever tasted. Maybe cooking them for themselves made the difference.

I did get to use my "Your Best Guide" chaplains minute on Sunday morning, so my prep work was not wasted.

I am happy with our new troop. The boys seem much closer than the boys in our old troop. I'm sure that size has something to do with it. Also, having a common bond of homeschooling may help. There are things that I miss about the old troop (it really is a good troop), but I'm confident that we made the right decision. Now maybe there will be another really good troop in Flower Mound.

Your Best Guide

Our new “Scout Family” (troop and pack) had a family picnic Saturday. It was more fun than I thought it would be. We had a little over 100 people come out to enjoy the beautiful weather at Lake Lewisville Park. The location was ideal for this type of event.

For an activity, several of our Boy Scouts set up an orienteering course for the rest of us to run. Most of the boys tried it out. Since there was a possibility that I would get to give the devotional last night, I prepared the following “Chaplains Minute”. Someone else gave the Chaplains Minute, which was probably good since I didn’t have much time to practice this, but here it is for you reading pleasure.

Did everyone have a good time at the family picnic on Saturday? I know that I did. I especially enjoyed those deserts!

How many of you did the orienteering course that the Boy Scouts set up?

I thought it was a good course. It was about the right length; not too easy, and not too hard. I enjoyed doing the course.

Our group had three things with us. We had a map, a compass, and a GPS. Which of those three do you think was most important?

How many of you think that the GPS was the most important? No, it was probably the least important.

Compass; yes, it was important, and knowing how to use it was helpful in completing the course, but no, the compass was not the most important.

The map was the most important. With just a map, we could have completed the course. It probably would have taken longer, but we could have done it. Without the map, we would have had a difficult time finished the course at all.

You see, if you know how to use a map, the map can tell you where you are, what direction you need to go, and how far you need to go. We can even figure out where north is just by looking at the map.

I have heard some people say that the Bible is like a compass. It points the way that you should go. That may be true, but I think that the Bible is more like a map. With it you can tell where you are spiritually. It can also tell you where you should go, and how to get there.

In Proverbs 16:25 the Bible says. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”.

The Bible is our map for life. If we ignore the map, and do what seems right to us, it will lead to death.

If you want to get better at reading maps, you just need to practice. Just like map reading, you need to practice reading the Bible. The more frequently you read it, the better you will be able to use it to guide your life.

I know, you are probably thinking that the Bible is not a map, it is a book. “How can the Bible guide my life?” Let’s look at an example.

In Galatians 5:19-23, Paul tells us:
“19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. “

What do you think this area of the map is telling us? These are danger areas, stay away from them. It’s like seeing an area on the map marked “US Army Artillery Range, Keep Out”. If you go there, you may get hurt.

Now let’s look at the next area of the map that Paul shows us:

“22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

What about this part of the map? It’s telling us that these are good things to do. We should try to do these things; they may make our life easier. This would be like seeing an oasis on the map of the desert.

It’s not hard to read the map that God gives us in the Bible; we just need to practice reading it, and following it. So scouts don’t forget to practice your map reading skills.

A New Beginning

It’s been a long time since my last post. A lot has happened, and most of my “spare” time has been sucked up by other endeavors.

I have a new job at work – Same employer, but a better position. The new job is requiring periodic travel to CA; and getting up to speed is taking its toll on my “spare” time. Hopefully I am past the worst part of the learning curve, and will be able to have some time to blog more.

The other change is that my two oldest boys and I have moved to a new Boy Scout troop. We are helping get a home school troop up and running. Tons to write about there, but I’m planning to include a short write up for each of our camping trips. I see two benefits to this plan. First I will have a record that I can look back on to see where and when we camped, second it will force me to write something at least once a month.

This past weekend was our first troop campout:

Place: Worth Ranch in Palo Pinto, TX.
Attendance: 8 youth, and 6 adults
Activity: 5 Mile hike and scout skills

Notes: Great campout. Great weather I didn’t even put the rain fly on the tent. The scouts all got along well and seemed to start the bonding process that will lead to a strong troop. The adults got along well too. It looks like we have a great group of youth and adults to get this troop started.

The boys decided on a route for our hike. After a few false starts, we ended up on the right trail. We had an enjoyable hike up Kyle Mt, and had lunch at the top. The boys decided to hike around the top a little while they refined their map reading skills, but we eventually made it down.

We refilled our water at the dining hall, and decided to hike along the road to the front gate then back to camp so we could get in the full five miles. Even the slowest hikers agreed to the plan. In the end it took us way longer than it should have to cover the five miles, but the boys learned more than they otherwise would have. I also think it helped the group bond a little. They had a common goal in getting to the five miles, and they made it happen. All of the attitudes were pretty good, and I think they all had fun.

After the hike, we worked on tot n chip with the new scouts while a few of the others built the campfire. After dinner and desert of scoutmaster birthday cake, we had a great camp fire.

On Sunday morning, everyone pitched in and cleaned up quickly. We held a short chapel service, and then headed home.

Most of the boys carried in all of their gear in their packs, so we are definitely heading in the direction that we want as far as being a “backpacking troop”. The hike in was only about twenty feet, but it helped us get used to backpack camping and cooking. Since this was the first campout for a few scouts, they ended up sleeping in tents with their dads. Hopefully they will be ready to sleep with their patrols next time. It is better for the troop and the boys if they camp, cook and work together as patrols.

We are trying to prepare the boys for backpack camping. You can car camp with backpacking gear, but you can’t backpack with car camping gear.

A Nice Long Weekend

It's been awhile since my last post. It has been very busy around our house lately. Lots of changes at work, and lots of activities with the scouts.

Since July 4th fell on a Wednesday, I decided to take Thursday and Friday off from work making it a 5 day weekend. I was able to get caught up on lots of chores around the house. We made a list of things that needed to be done, and on Sunday night I counted 43 items on the list. We completed 37 of those items. Not too bad considering that some of the items were multi hour jobs. Of course there are still the 6 items left on the list. Maybe we can get to them during this week, because on Friday, we will probably generate another list for this weekend.

I think before the 4th, I was further behind on house chores than I have ever been. Scouts and work have been consuming most of my "free" time. Hopefully this shot of progress will keep me caught up for awhile. There are still tons of things to do around the house (and no mater how many I get done, there will always be more), but I feel like progress was made.

Now if I could only get that AC drain cleared :-)

Just a Little While

My wife frequently tells the kids that she is so happy that God has given them to us. I agree, but then I add “for just a little while”.

I know that she doesn’t really like to hear it, but she knows that it is true. In the course of daily life it seems like they will be with us forever, but they will leave someday. Our job is to take care of them, and prepare them for life. My goal is to have kids that will be able to take care of themselves and their families.

Do I want them to go? Yes. Will I miss them when they are gone? Most definitely yes! However, they need to go; after all, they are His, not ours, and He wants them back.

My Little Brother

Wow, it's been a month since I posted anything here. Guess I've been busier than I thought.

This is the Scoutmaster Minute I gave on Monday April 2nd, and Advisers Minute I gave on Tuesday April 3rd.

I start by asking about a symbol for the "brotherhood" of scouting (Brotherhood sash for the OA, and world crest for the scouts).

The symbol represents that you are a member of the brotherhood of scouting. You are each brothers to the other boys in our unit. We have a poem that we use at our house, it goes like this:

I have a little brother
he's watching me each day
He likes to do the things I do
and say the things I say
and so I must be careful
in words as well as deeds
to be the kind of brother
my little brother needs

Scouts, remember that your brother scouts are watching you. You are teaching them what it means to be a good scout. Your words and deeds(actions) are the way you teach your brother scouts. What kind of lesson do you want them to learn?

Ancient Wisdom

We all would love to have some secret ancient wisdom. I think this may be some of the allure of the book The Secret than my friend Mike mentions in his blog. Let me tell you how I found some ancient wisdom.

I was on a weekend trip with my oldest son, and we had a list of “ice breaker” questions to help get the communication flowing. One of the questions was “If you had a time machine, who would you go back in time to meet?” Of course we both agreed that it would be coolest to go back and meet Jesus and see him during his ministry, so we focused on the next choice. His answer surprised me. He said that he would like to go meet Solomon, because he wanted to learn from the wisest man that ever lived.

I like that answer. It got me thinking, that I too would like to go learn from the wisest man who ever lived. So, I did. I couldn’t find a time machine, so I did the next best thing. You see Solomon left us his teachings in the book of Proverbs. I decided that I would make one chapter of Proverbs part of my daily (most days) Bible reading.

I now have some secret ancient wisdom. I have read through Proverbs more times than I can remember (I’m not trying to keep a tally). I think some of it is sinking in. When things happen in life, the applicable part of Proverbs comes to mind. Every time through the book I see something I missed before. Most importantly though is that I think it is helping me to know God better. His wisdom shows me more of his character.

So, if you want some secret ancient wisdom, go meet Solomon, or maybe more accurately go meet God in the book of Proverbs.