As you can see from the photo above, my oldest son is back to being himself while body surfing in the ocean this weekend.  We missed that smile all last week.  We all needed to see that spark of happiness and joy return (even if it was for one day).  Here's a recap of what happened at camp:

First, let me explain that the camp my son attended is a Christian camp, but not our churches camp.  We actually go as a church group along with three other churches.  The camp provides the leadership and the church provides the camp counselors who sleep in the tents with the kids.  Anyway, half way through my sons camp the camp president called us (12:30am) to tell us that our boy made a science experiment that cause 22+ kids to get sick - some were taken to the hospital for observation.  We were told that he was solely to blame for making the drink and making the 22+ kids drink the grass/mud water.  Well, our hearts sank.  This was not like our child (science experiment was, but not the drinking thing).  Nothing added up to the story we were told.  When asked to talk to our son, we thought it was wrong that our son was right there as we were on the phone, being kept in the president's quarters until  after 1am ( He has never been up past 10pm in his life).  Anyway, we talked to him and he explained the story to us and named the boys who were trying to blame him.   We, of course, explained that to the president, and he seems understand the whole story.  In fact, he assured us that things would be taken care of in the morning and that we would be able to make contact with our son throughout the day. We warned him that we were worried, as parents, of the repercussions from the boys involved.   When our son didn't call the next day, we figured all was worked out.  We tried to make contact with the director, but never heard back.   Although it was tempting to go right up and get him, we trusted that things were  fine and our son was protected.   We were praying hard, but my husbands philosophy is "No news is good news" - at least we thought.

Come to find out, my son still had to take the blame for making the drink in the first place and apologize to the 22+ kids.  Our son took the hit for 4 other boys who are non-homeschooling boys, tough, and bullies in their own right.  Being that these kids knew that my son told on them, they threw sticks at him, rocks, names called.  One even threatened his life!  WHERE WERE THE COUNSELORS???  My son said that these boys (one in particular) would jump out if bushes when he would go to the restroom and threaten him.  My son told the counselors (camp staff, not our church staff) and even asked to call home twice, but he was denied. 

Of course, we jumped on this and made the appropriate phone calls.  We had meetings and so forth.  We wrote letters and made contact with leaders...  we did everything we could.  Despite the many apologies that came our way, my son fell into a depression.  Scared to attend church, scared to be alone, scared to talk to people.  However, he became a little more secure when we shared that the boy who made the threat would not be at church any more.  BUT he quickly became discouraged when one his friend (of  that boy) confronted my son at church this morning and said: "Thanks for trying to kill me."  Thankfully, my son stood up to him and told him to back off.  This is the kicker...  I WAS THERE! I wasn't right by my sons side, but not far from him.  The children's director and myself were watching out to see if the boy (who made the threat) was going to appear and not paying close enough attention to the other three boys who were his friends.  Thankfully, it didn't seem to set my son back from the progress he made, but talk about guilt and sadness for the mama!    Needless to say, it's not over!  We started the process all over again today with the church and once again was assured that this boys family would be brought into a meeting and talked to (just as the other bully). 

It's been a crazy time in our life this last week.  In retrospect, we would do a few things differently.  However, we are learning to lean on Jesus and trust that He is in control and knew exactly what was happening and was right there with our son.  Now, we are acting out of how we think we should, but it's hard.  Along side with my son, we are working on forgiveness and are seeking God the best we can.  We are praying as a family and walking our son through difficult conversations/healing.  It's taking time, but we are confident that our sweet little boy will once again show his smile and not feel like he has to look over his shoulder.  As a mom...  well, I want to take these little boys who are causing all the trouble and turn them over my knee!  If this had happened in public school...  well, we all know what would of happened!  Why is it so different in a church???

Thank you again for your support.  I hope this helps you understand better the situation that we have had to deal with this week.  I could appreciate any advice, wisdom, and/or encouragement you can offer.  Thanks.