Excellence for Glory

Why strive for excellence?

Most of you strive for excellence in your lives, your girls do likewise, so do we. Why work so hard?

This is a question that is good to consider, for the answer will provide the foundation and therefore the ultimate quality of all that work.

Camp has one purpose: the Glory of God.

We want to be the best camp anywhere, BECAUSE we are a Christian camp and we deisre God to be Glorified by our efforts. The Directors make facility improvements, determine policy and administer details not for the bottom line but for our ultimate purpose of Glorifying God. The Counselors pour themselves into the long days with abandon not for fun but for God’s Glory. Even the kitchen and maintenance crews work for a higher purpose than personal pride or a paycheck at the end of the week. It is a big deal.

This driving purpose is why Greystone was founded in the first place. Dr. Sevier was at the top of his career as a minister (Pastor of 1st Presbyterian Church in Augusta… The President of the United States visited his parish and ate dinner with the family). He gave up the “Personal Glory” for a higher calling… to start a girls camp. He never made any money at this and never expected to do so. His daughter did not find this to be a lucrative job either (fortunately her husband was very successful outside of camp and could support her “hobby”). My Parents did not run camp as a simple business but as a matter of the heart. Margaret and I have followed in that tradition. Throughout the years, God has blessed camp in a variety of ways… when we Glorify Him all the other details just seem to fall into place.

The girls embrace this purpose in various of ways… at each age and with each girl, the message impacts differently. A young camper will not feel the “glory” in the same way as a 17 year old; but it is just as real. All will experience the “mountaintop” this week. Life is good.

Yesterday, in the midst of the now typical afternoon rain, Margaret and I visited the Art Show. The talent of these campers is amazing and most certainly Glorifies God. We are made in God’s image and God is a very Creative person. The glory of His Creation inspires our creative efforts and as we make art with skill, we feel the warmth of His Pleasure. Make sure you check out your camper’s projects (if she took a fine arts class). See if you are not impressed!

It is sunny and warm today, but the afternoon showers are still possible. To assure that we have the very best Derby Day possible, we are bringing in some really big tents. Gervais and his Kitchen Crew has been working for days on this big presentation… basically a super nice buffet picnic served by the riding rings. We will feast on Prime Rib, whole salmon, fruit and cheese, a wonderful pasta station (three kinds of pasta salads), omelets cooked to order, tiramisu, cup cakes, bread pudding… the list goes on. We serve on linens with silver chafing dishes. The fancy punch is served in plastic champagne flutes, the plastic plates are of a high grade as are the plastic utensils. It is an evening of quality in every way: excellence coming at the end of an excellent summer. We all dress in our finest and watch the horse show while munching on wonderful food. Afterwards we adjourn to the theater, to enjoy the Senior Play Production of “Little Women”. A wonderful evening.

We will Live Stream the play starting at 7:00 tonight. It is a long 2 hour production, we are very excited about seeing it! Another example of a large group of campers and counselors working very hard at a very big project for a very long time. The results are quite stunning… certainly Glorifying!

The days are jam packed with work and with fun. The pictures should be good! Thank you for your support.

Jimboy

THE JOKE: A neighborhood bar had a wonderful mascot dog: a cute little dog with a big bushy tail. Everyone loved the dog and the dog was very proud of his bushy tail. One day, the dog’s tail was accidently caught in the door and had to be cut off. The bar owner decided to mount the tail in the bar, complete with a little plaque that celebrated the sweet little dog. In the fullness of time, the cute little dog died and as he approached the Pearly Gates Saint Peter gave some bad news. As heaven was a place of perfection, the sweet little dog could not enter without his bushy tail. The sweet little dog quickly said that he knew exactly where to get it and Saint Peter gave permission to return to earth at midnight for exactly 3 minutes. The sweet little dog returned to the bar at exactly 12:00 as the bar owner was cleaning up after a long day. The bar tender was very sad when he heard why the spirit had returned, for he was legally prevented from helping. He said with empathy: “You see, I can not Re-Tail Spirits after Midnight!”