At ten years old, my little big man had his first stayover church camp last weekend. Yes, I was freaked out at the idea at first and yes, “worried and concerned” was an understatement when I first learnt it was going to be a stayover camp.
Ethan was super excited about it though; “It’s compulsory, Mommy…”
Well, actually he was a bit disappointed when I told him it was not going to be a “sleep in the tent” kind of camp, but rather in dormitories. But it was going to be an exciting adventure for sure!
Yes, it was part of the journey Ethan was embarking on this year, as he heads towards celebrating his first holy communion in May. Big milestone!
But yeah, I was worried.
Anyway, the day of the camp came. And Daddy complained that I had packed too many things for a one night stay.
We dropped him off at church and a big bus took all the first holy communicants to the church in Balik Pulau for the camp proper.
We decided to attend the evening mass at the church so that we could catch a glimpse of our boy and also to check out the living condition at camp.
No air-conditioning in the rooms and the boys all slept on single mattresses in a room with only the fan on. He looked….HAPPY. And that was all I needed to know.
Fast forward to the following day and we had a short meeting with the camp facilitators at church before the bus brought the kids back to church.
Ethan said he was chatting with his friends till 4 a.m. the night before! When asked if he would go for camp again, he answered yes without hesitation.
My boy is growing up. Most definitely.
I’m eternally grateful that Jesus is guiding the way.
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