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.