It's been busy!

I've been doing a lot. I probably could have gotten a new post up, but I didn't. Really astute observation there... :)

OK. Wednesday last week was alright. School was done, and it was literature. Poetry. Really, can any of you see me actually enjoying poetry? If you can't, you're wrong. Some poetry is actually enjoyable and profitable. The Psalms are poetry. However, other than those, and a few other poems, I really don't like poetry. As well, I'm normally not the best at analyzing it. As a result, it gave me some trouble, but I got through it. Later on Wednesday, Prayer Meeting was well-attended and profitable.

Thursday was different. I took a literature test in the morning. I ended up doing alright on it, but I should have done a little better. After that, I packed for a campout that we had in the next county south!

This campout went remarkably well. There was almost no rain (nearly a first), no problems with even minor insubordination, and, other than a scrapeup on a pebble beach and a couple routine knife cuts, no injuries. Also, I have pictures! :)

A deer that really liked wading out into the shallow water by the lilies. It was really interesting.

Knot work.
Ditto.
Nathaniel and I took out a two-person kayak.
This doesn't need any explanation, does it? :D
A great sunset over the lake.
We aren't sure why the picnic table is in the water. We were wondering if maybe it was to keep boats out of the stream, but we never really found out.
A group picture. The guys with the log are about to throw it and splash everyone on the table, so that's why the mischievous grins. :D
They're just about to throw it, but I took the center stage. :P
The flags at the entrance to our campsite.
The group coming back from the table.
Me again, by our food tables. Normally, everything was cleaner.
Another great sunset.
Ditto.

Breakfast on Saturday.

Milkdud standing around looking bored. I'm not quite sure why...

Alright. That's it for the campout pictures. The main two goals of the campout were to be having fun and to be getting requirements done for a bunch of the guys. We got both of those goals done with outstanding results. We older guys got to do a bunch of boating, and the rest (us included at times) got to go swimming about a half-dozen times. Overall, it was a great campout.

After we got home, Milkdud and I lazed around for a little while (yes, Milkdud stayed with us until yesterday evening) before we started on a movie. He'd never seen Saving Private Ryan, so we watched that. It's not really a movie that you can say you enjoy. As he summed it up at the end, "I've seen it."

Sabbath was good. We had good attendance, although one family had to leave a little early, and another had to leave before evening worship because the mom was starting to feel sick. However, other than that, the day was profitable.

The early afternoon sermon was on Romans 1:18-23, "The God Who Is." In it, Dad showed that all mankind knows who God is, and that they have offended Him. However, there is no general revelation of saving grace. For that, you need His Word. However, man, without the working of the Holy Spirit, tends to try to get rid of God. He can do this by immersing himself in things of this world, by trying to convince himself that God does not exist, or by lowering God to human standards. However, God will judge all those who do so and do not repent. To avoid that, we need Christ's atoning work.

The evening sermon was on John 12:44-50, the title being "Final Public Word." In this passage, Jesus gives His final public word (hence, the title) before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. We see a promise of blessing to those in Him, a promise of judgment to those not in Him, and lastly a statement of authority from which He has been talking all these past three years. The blessing He talks of is blessed indeed, as we in Christ will find out to our great pleasure. To those not in Him, the promise of judgment will be horrifically clear someday. The authority makes sense, as He is the Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity.

After evening worship, Milkdud and I talked for a while, then stayed up until nearly 1 AM on Monday playing a game.

Monday was busy as well. I had some schoolwork that I got done, but not a ton. It was Dad's birthday, but we didn't have a lot of time to celebrate. :( A committee from the Southside Indianapolis RPC was here to be seeing what condition our church building is in and to give recommendations for our current situation. Even though I haven't heard the full report, everything went quite well, and they were useful.

We did have mowing to do, so Milkdud helped out with that. He normally is used to a ZTR (Zero Turn Radius) riding mower, so walk-behind self-propelled was quite a change for him. Oh well. He enjoyed it.

After work was done, we had a festive occasion. The Blue and Gold (NOT maize and blue) Dinner was held. This is a Cub Scout pack's awards dinner. Over the course of the evening, we had some pretty tasty food, I got a $10 Dunham's gift card (yay!) and a couple guys, including "Lilbump" got their Arrow of Light, which moved them from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

Soon after that, Milkdud had to leave. Bummer. It was fun having him here.

Today was a bunch of schoolwork in the morning, then no mowing. Why? We've had very little rain here lately and we need more, especially as the grass is dieing and our income is suffering. Ah well. It's the Lord's Will. After that, Mom and I worked on getting my Eagle Scout Project Book ready to go. My Board of Review is Friday of next week, the 22nd, at 6:00 PM. If you think of it, please pray that I'll do well!

The troop meeting tonight was well-attended and plenty of fun. We have three guys just needing boards of review for First Class rank, so that's quite good. I think that's about it with the meeting.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be getting ready to leave. I'm going to Camp Birch early on Thursday and I won't be back until Friday evening. I'll be going through High COPE certification, which basically means having fun with high ropes courses. Yeeeeeehaw! :D

Well, I need to get to bed. Good night! Oh yeah, a video. Lemme find one.

OK. This is takeoff in an F-15. Boy, this looks fun. Good night!