Going Home With Stories: Telling Your Camp Story Points Others to God

Hey, Carpool Crew! Happy Sunday. Today wraps our Faith at Camp series. Have you ever come home from something big, and somebody asked you how it was, and the only word you could find was "good"? I'm Pastor Justin. We've all been there. And this episode is about not letting the best moments of your week disappear into one word. Let's jump in with the one thing I want you to remember for the ride: telling your camp story is one way you point others to God. Psalm 66, verse 16, says this: "Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me." The writer of this Psalm is doing something simple but powerful. He's basically standing up in a room of people and saying, gather around, I have to tell you what God just did. He's not preaching. He's not teaching. He's just telling his story. That word "listen" is huge. He's inviting people in. Not because he's the hero. Because God is. He just had a front row seat. You're about to come home from camp. Or maybe you came home this weekend already. Your bag smells like a campfire. Your feet are sore. Your hair is a mess. And inside your head you have a hundred stories. The high ropes you climbed. The friend you made. The night your throat got tight in the bunk. The verse that hit you. The kid you stood up for. Most kids do one of two things when they get home. They say "it was good," dump their bag in the laundry room, and go play video games. Or they tell every single thing in random order until their parents zone out. There's a third option. The best one. If Jesus were leaning against the kitchen counter the night you got home from camp, while you were telling mom one of the stories, He'd nod and say, "Don't stop with mom. Pick the one moment that mattered most. The one where you felt Me close. The one where you saw Me work. Tell that story tomorrow. Tell your sister. Tell your best friend at church. That story might be the thing that opens somebody else's heart this week." You're sitting at the dinner table the night you got home. Or maybe in the car the next morning on the way to something. Mom asks, "How was camp?" You can shrug. You can say "good." Or you can take a breath and tell the one story. The one you've been replaying since it happened. Hey, this week, here are a couple things you could try. First. The pick-one-moment move. Before you go to bed tonight, pick the one camp moment where God felt closest. Just one. Lock it in. Second. The "let me tell you one thing" move. When somebody asks how camp was, don't say "good." Say, "Let me tell you one thing that happened." Then tell that one thing. Watch their face. Third. The ask-and-share move. Ask one friend at church or in the neighborhood this week, "How is your summer going?" When they tell you, share back one thing God did in yours. Anybody can answer questions. The kid who asks first and then shares back is the one God uses to open conversations nobody else can. Hey, let's go back to that one thing I wanted you to remember for the ride. Telling your camp story is one way you point others to God. Remember, no matter where you are or how you're listening, God loves you. And parents, if this Faith at Camp series helped your family this week, would you take 30 seconds and leave a rating or review on Apple or Spotify? Other camp families need to find this series, and your one sentence is how they will. Hey, before you go, let's answer this question together. What's one camp moment, or any summer moment, that you want to tell somebody about this week? I'll see you tomorrow on Carpooling with Jesus.