There is nothing quite as frightening as a blank canvas, a blank notepad or a blank word processing screen. There are so many colors, so many thoughts… too many possible directions to travel. And our modern world is so busy! It feels as though my life has been so blessed and full with one great adventure followed by the next. There have been multitudes of opportunities. Opportunities for experiences, with vast stores of information and unparalleled access to knowledge. On the other hand, the modern human is skeptical of truth and very rarely finds Truth. There are currently 20 billion blog pages on WordPress each month. We find ourselves surrounded by “muchness” and ”manyness” (see Richard Foster’s book Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home), and yet we also find ourselves searching Snopes to see if the latest sensational article is also the latest episode in a long list of fake news.
But there is truth that surrounds us each day. The inexplicable but undeniable truth in the joys of our interpersonal relationships, the truth of pursuing a living God, the truth of the gift of creation, the truth of a child’s curiosity, the truth of how we fail each other and the story of our human frailty and the truth of our responsibility to find a way (amidst our abundant differences) to work together and to prepare the next generation.
Why another blog? We certainly don’t need more information! I truly agree with Solomon that “there is nothing new under the sun”. But I do regularly find books, articles and thoughts that inspire me to live a better life, to encourage my children and grandchildren and to raise the awareness that we can do better. These thoughts are usually from a evangelical Christian worldview, but please don’t read that as “judgmental” or “preachy”.
This blog will be hosted on the Wildwood Ranch page. I have been the director at this ministry for over two decades and it is a labor of love! Many articles will be written for (and by) the children, youth, families and staff who call this place home. Other articles will be shared that will be helpful and interesting to our Wildwood family. Still others will be related to the areas of youth development, nature exposure/exploration, devotional thoughts and current events (only in relation to building a stronger and kinder community/world for the campers that we serve). I pledge that this new endeavor will not be a forum for political bias or partisanship.
Our Wildwood Family is excited to connect with our world in this manner! We hope that you will participate by reading, commenting, sharing and even submitting articles of your own that would be beneficial to our community. God bless!
David has served as the Executive Director at Wildwood Ranch for over 25 years and Camp Burt Shurly since 2015. He received his D.Min. from Regent University. He volunteers with the American Camp Association on the National Council of Leaders as well as the Michigan Local Council of Leaders. He was involved with promulgating the Michigan camp licensing rules, an Elder at his local church and married with 3 daughters and 2 granddaughters. David has long been a voice for youth advocacy and child development.