Youth and Parents have a Blast at Family Campout

The weather was perfect.  The company was fantastic.  The setting was beautiful.  And the families were blessed.  This year the youth program introduced a new event–a family campout.  Everyone packed up beds, clothes, food, and supplies and left the youth building parking lot at 5:30 Friday afternoon, November 13, and went to Ft. Parker State Park near Mexia.  The most challenging part of the weekend was setting up camp in the dark.  But once beds were set up and the fire was built, the passion for roasted hot dogs and smores took over.
Families spent time together in Bible study.  Everyone spent time in Bible study as a group.  There was even a rap sheet session where parents and kids got to share with each other what they liked and disliked about their relationships.  When the smoke cleared, parents and teens got to see that being in the other one’s shoes isn’t easy.  One parent suggested the group do these trips more often.  The weekend culminated with a fireside church service Sunday morning.  Roxanne Davis led the group in worship.  Donna McCord planned all of the meals and Janet Raybin, Tressa Hardin, and Priscilla Stuart assisted in the cooking efforts.  Everyone got packed up and headed back to Palestine before heavy rains and a breezy cold front rolled through East Texas.  Aside from a snake falling on Janet’s head as she rose from her cabin Sunday morning, the weekend was without any unexpected, unpleasant mishaps.  Fortunately for Janet, it was too dark to know it was a  snake.  Click on any of the pictures below for a larger view.