So I spent the last week in Michigan. Since we have nothing else going on in our lives right now, Mike spent the week speaking at summer camp for high schoolers. I got to hang out with the kids at his parents house down the road. Basically I spent my time avoiding the swarms of mosquitoes, holding a crying baby, and watching Emma have a great time with her grandparents. Fun times – but no chance to get any work done.
What I found amusing this past week were some of the juxtapositions of cultures and ideas I witnessed. Rural Michigan is interesting because you have traditional farms up against small towns being destroyed by Meth. I also saw in one town a biker rally – leather, studs, lots of tattoos – and right next to the bikes was an Amish buggy hitched to a fence. In some ways the worlds are changing too fast for any balance to be achieved.
Then there were the experiences at the camp. I visited one evening to hear Mike speak on contentment and priorities. I sat in the back with the kids, so I got to observe the high school girls in front of me. They of course didn’t pay any attention to Mike, but instead spent the whole time playing MASH. So much for contentment…
Then I was down at the lakefront talking to a friend from college (whose dad runs the camp) about how pesticide and fertilizer runoff from nearby farms is destroying the lake and has already poisoned the camp’s well. She, an environmental educator, was describing how to help restore the ecosystem. Great ideas, but at the same time the camp staff were right by us painting the boathouse and were washing their paintbrushes in the lake. Kinda hard to work for one goal when others subvert it.
But I only got to observe…