In my ten years of being in the ministry, one of the innumerable joys which I have been privileged to experience has always been confirmation.  Each class has been given the opportunity to begin the process of claiming discipleship in Jesus Christ at a woodsy, insect laden camp in northern Minnesota.  Each group that I have been associated with has had its own identity.  This year's class is certainly no exception. 

As I glance at each of them, I am reminded of their part in the camp.  I remember Mike Smith - an easy thing to do because any of you who have ever been around Mike for any extended period of time realize that one of his God given gifts is his sense of humor.  (Ask him sometime about the campfire song he shared with everyone…)  I remember the girls - Taniya, Tiffany, Sarah, Nicole, and Lacie - when you take this camp and add these girls and then you add the boys from other churches to this camp, well, let's just say I remember these girls.  Johanna and Noah attended camp in other years, so, even though their camping experience was with other groups, I have good memories regarding the time we shared together in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

All of these memories notwithstanding are indelibly etched into my heart.  But it is the most precious one regarding the young man Thomas Ratcliffe that I shall always treasure as a very special moment in my life and, I would hope, a defining moment in his.  I have asked for his permission to share his remarkable story.

We were set up at camp - it was Monday, the first full day of our camp.  We usually get ourselves organized for the week and begin to do some connecting with each other, with our environment, and most importantly, with God.  All things were going along just fine until later in the day, Thomas asked if he could speak with me for a moment.  I said "Of course," so we went into his tent and he began to tell me that he was having a very hard time of it at the camp.  At first glance, Thomas has always appeared to be a very shy and quiet person.  I thought it might have been due to a difficulty in adjusting to the dynamics of the camp - sharing a tent with some boys (as I remember them) whose strings were wound rather tightly.  Thomas assured me that it wasn't that.  He had a severe case of homesickness.  What I didn't know was that Thomas had never been away from his family for such an extended period of time - and that prospect of an entire week without them seemed to be closing in on him and making him feel uncomfortable.  He truly desired to go home.

I just want to say that I understood his feelings.