the benefits of camping

What a great weekend! My wife and I took 2 of our kids (the 1-year old stayed with grandparents) on a weekend camping trip in Monroe County, Indiana with 4 other families from church. Monroe County is the home of Bloomington, Indiana University, and Midwest liberalism, but it is also the home of Lake Monroe, beautiful forests, and great campgrounds. It's a great place to get away from the trials and tribulations of the modern world.
As good a time as the adults had, the camping experience was even better for the kids. Combined, there was a total of 10 kids, ranging in age from 2-7. When we first arrived, I was somewhat dismayed to find that our cabins were equipped with satellite TV. Of course, the kids were ecstatic, because they couldn't bear the thought of missing even one episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants. We outlawed the TV during all daylight hours and told the kids that we were on this trip to fish and hike and swim and play outdoors. And don't you know, an amazing thing happened to our kids. They temporarily forgot about their "electronic attachments" and became true "outdoor kids" for the weekend. We went fishing at Lake Monroe. We swam and had a group squirt gun fight at the campground swimming pool. We played football and we hiked and we cooked out and we all grew closer to each other and to God during this amazing weekend. And we accomplished all of this without the aid of indoor electronics. What a blessing!