When everything falls apart…

Here at Crane Lake Discovery Camp, we have been teaching the boys about outdoor survival and orienteering. That’s been a fun theme this January, with the snow and ice. As part of that, they built a survival shelter.

The boys were really proud of their work. Especially when a large buck came close to check out what they were doing. But they still needed to add more insulation to it before they could have a sleepover at the shelter.

On Saturday the group went out to finish their shelter. They only needed to add boughs to the last wall to finish. When they got there, they found that the main ridge beam had snapped from snow load, and the whole fort had collapsed. 

There was definitely a feeling of defeat, and frustration.

What do you do when everything falls apart, when your best plans are crushed?

At camp, when we face a problem, we “circle up”. We gather as a group and talk through our problem. But would they stick with this new skill in spite of their feelings?

The group gathered together, and was quick to come up with a new plan. A few of the boys seemed almost more motivated to make this fort a success. They tore the structure completely apart, salvaged all the sticks and boughs and started over with a new ridge beam. Yesterday we went back and finished the shelter and it’s ready to go for their campout on Wednesday night. 

This morning during devotions we reflected on that shelter being a bit like failures in our lives. We can easily let those things defeat us, or we can step back, reevaluate and ask God to help us use those experiences to grow us. 

As leaders, we were really proud to see how the boys handled this whole thing. Very exciting to see this progress in the group.

- Tim Martin, Group Work Supervisor