Ready to go to camp? Of course I am not ready to go to camp. I am not even thinking about camp. It is the middle of January. Why would anyone in their right mind be thinking about summer church camp in the dead of winter? Jack would greet me every Sunday with that question. There was never an exception. It did not make any difference if it was January or September. Jack was ready to go to camp. Don’t be too quick to make assumptions. Jack is not an overly eager 10 year old prospective camper. Jack is in his 60’s. I find his story to be moving.

Jack worked for the City of Wichita Falls for over 40 years. In the days before automatic car washes, he hand scrubbed police cars and other city vehicles. In his later years with the city, he ran a weed eater and did odd jobs. Professionals would likely say that Jack had a below average IQ. Perhaps that is true. I found that Jack’s emotional intelligence certainly surpassed my own in several ways.

In a work setting, Jack was overly kind and terribly vulnerable. Co-workers preyed on him by borrowing money from on payday and otherwise taking advantage of his childlike demeanor.
Thankfully a fine Christian man intervened. Dennis took charge of Jack’s financial affairs. He made sure that Jack had a modest place to live, three square meals, and someone to do his laundry. Dennis took his role as Jack’s caretaker very seriously.

At one point, some of the men at the Tenth and Broad Church of Christ took Jack with them to a work day at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp near Altus, OK. Jack found his niche. He loved going to camp to mow and do odd jobs. But more importantly he loved kids. He understood what camp could do for kids. He embraced the whole idea of church camp like no one I have ever seen!

I directed a session at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp for 17 years. Jack only missed one year, as his health began to fail. Every year we would have to throw him in the pool fully clothed, or he would be terribly disappointed. Jack could work circles around anyone. I had to force him to take a break from mowing and weed eating in the heat of the Southwestern Oklahoma afternoon. It was during those breaks that I had my best conversations with Jack. We would both retreat to the rock house, as it was called, to catch a mid-day nap. One afternoon Jack told me: It is Thursday! Camp is almost over. I said: Yes I know! I was looking forward to getting home to my sweet wife and my pre-school age boys. As I looked at Jack, I saw tears his eyes. He was not even close to being ready for camp to be over. When Friday finally rolled around one year, Jack gave me a fifty dollar bill. He instructed to me buy pizza for all of the kids from our church on the way home. It was tradition to stop at Mazzios Pizza in Altus. At that time, fifty dollars would actually buy a lot of pizza.

In one of the later years at camp, Jack told me that he wanted me to officiate at his funeral, when that time came. I was very touched in a way that is difficult to explain. You see Jack was an excellent judge of character. He would quietly tell me when he didn’t like someone. There were times that I dismissed his character assessments, but I soon discovered that he was almost never wrong. I felt affirmed in a strange way when he asked that I officiate at his funeral. He was giving me his stamp of character approval. That stamp meant a lot to me, because I knew sincerity of it.

Jack found a family at camp. The Saturday work days to repair cabins and trim weeds were like a weekend family gathering for him. The weeks he spent with camp manager Paul Brown and his good family during the winters were like going to visit close relatives. Summer camp was probably the only family reunion setting Jack ever experienced in his entire life. It is no wonder that he dreaded Thursday to roll around during camp week. He had no family to go home to, when the week was over.

Jack passed away during the summer of 2007. I drove to Wichita Falls to fulfill the promise I made to him fifteen years earlier. I miss Jack. He taught me a few things about being an unselfish servant. I also learned a few things about assessing character from Jack! Most importantly I learned to appreciate what it means to be a part of a family. The song: “God’s Family” took on new meaning for me. We are all truly a part of the family…

I leave for camp one week from today. Am I ready for camp? Oh…probably not. But I yearn to hear Jack ask me one more time if I am ready for camp though. I will go to church camp and love those children like every single one of them were my own. Jack would be disappointed if I did anything less… Ready to go to camp? I think so…