Yesterday, during the prayer request time in our small group (that's Sunday School class, for you oldies like me)...one couple mentioned one of their friends...whose 25 year old son died this past week from heat-stroke. Isn't that just awful?
This same couple, the ones from our class, also added a prayer request for their 18 year old daughter. She had driven out to Colorado with 3 of her friends, to spend a week of vacation before college starts.
A couple of things about this...
First, every year, Logan, and a group of his buddies, go on a camping trip. Usually it's over a long weekend. This time, because of time constraints and jobs and, you know...Logan has a WIFE...it was only going to be over one night. And that night...was last night.
So, after church...and after lunch...Morgan packed up and headed to her family's home for the night. Logan and Patrick hung around here, waiting on the other two friends to arrive.
As a woman...and a MOM...(and you'd think that, as a mother of 3 boys, I wouldn't be surprised) I was appalled at their packing skills. They each took a backpack. Not a giant, survival-type backpack...just regular-sized backpacks. They each took a hammock to sleep in. Or, as my friend, Sarah, calls them: BEAR TACOS.
Well, that's unsettling.
Logan took a wad of toilet paper. Not a roll. Not a partial roll. A WAD. A "guesstimate" of how much he might need.
They did take bug spray and sunscreen. I went on and on about them taking more water. I am so concerned that they didn't pack enough water. They assured me they would be fine. They all have those water-purifying straw things, and said they would just DRINK OUT OF THE LAKE.
THUD.
That's when I died.
All I can think of is: "25 YEARS OLD"...and, "DIED OF HEATSTROKE."
Logan came in the kitchen, and I was asking him if he wanted some bread...peanut butter, etc. He said, "I got a few things." He showed me a small Ziploc baggie. He had 2 plastic forks, some cashews, a granola bar, an orange...and 2 fried chicken strips left-over from lunch.
Mmmmm...that chicken is going to be good in 7 hours, son...after you hike in to your camping spot, set up, and pull it out for a snack.
Because, did I mention that it is 157 degrees outside? Well, it is. And they brought no ice...no ice-chest.
Patrick said, "we got some food to cook over the fire."
THE FIRE?
I begged them to please not burn down the mountain, and they looked at me like..."what could possibly go wrong?"
Jim asked if they wanted to take a couple of his fishing poles. He suggested that they could maybe catch some fish to cook over their fire. They just looked at him like he was crazy, and Logan started singing the "Let's Get Down to Business," song from Mulan. Remember the part that showed them catching fish bare-handed from the river?
Yeah.
And then they left...all 4 knuckleheads in one Jeep...and we haven't heard from them since. Which, I found a large Nalgene FULL of water on the table by the door. Left by one of them who assured me he would be FINE because he had a full Nalgene of water.
You know, for 2 days in the hot sun.
Ruh-Roh, Raggy.
And also, judging by the way one of the 4 parked their truck in the driveway...after being given SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS, and then backing up and going forward multiple times to try and get it right...well, let's just say, not sure how they're gonna make it.
Altho Jim assured me that knowing how to park a truck in a straight line, behind the vehicle in front of you, is not a necessary skill in the wild. Whatever. I'm still concerned.
And, second...the couple from my Sunday School class said about their daughter's trip to Colorado: "our son did a similar trip several years ago, and we never gave it a second thought."
And I thought, "WHAT?"
Because Logan and his friends have been constantly on my mind, and in my prayers, since they left.
But then I realized that their son probably stayed in a 5-star resort somewhere in the Colorado mountains...and my son was swinging in a hammock between 2 trees...at a park in northwest Arkansas.
Be near, Lord Jesus...be near.
"He will not let you stumble; He Who watches over you will not fall asleep." Psalm 121:3
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