The First Time is Always Special

It's funny how you live by a place for 23 years but never really experience it. Such was the case a few weekends ago as we stayed at Lake Joy Campground, the first time I had ever stayed overnight there--15 years after moving away from my hometown!

Sure, I had been to Lake Joy for an occasional day trip, to fish. But I had never swam there, had a campfire there, slept there, used the bathrooms--all that good dirty camping stuff. Not until my brother Brian selected Lake Joy as the site for this year's annual Engelke Family Campout.

It was a weekend of many firsts. First time to go paddleboating on Lake Joy...

First time to go sliding into a lake...

First time for Ally to swim out to "the dock" all by herself (life jacket too, of course)...

First time for Cy to conquer "The ROCK"...

First time for Shae to swim out to the rope (life jacket too, of course)...

First time our kids had their very own swim goggles, which Paige wore everywhere, swimming or not...

First time staying in an awesomely nice camper!! (thanks to our awesomely nice friends the Dreckmans!!)...





First time Ally got to play volleyball with the "Big Kids" (her high school cousins)...

First time to go fishing off the dock...

First time to go bowling outdoors (thanks to Uncle Brian's ingenuity)...

First time for Wynne to snuggle with her godmother for a whole weekend...

First time Cy's hilarious antics were appropriate and appreciated in the extended family setting(during a rousing game of Campfire Charades)!


Camping is always a laundry/packing/food prep hassle, but it sure is fun. We didn't do anything extraordinary, just an ordinary weekend at an ordinary local, hometown lake. But those little "firsts" made it extra-special.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.--Philippians 4:12