Despite the fact that the weather here in New Orleans has undoubtedly signaled the arrival of summer, I'm still not used to this whole no-summer-break thing. (You mean...I just keep doing the same thing I've been doing? Weird.) Regardless of what lies ahead in my summer, the beginning of the season reminds me of the countless camps that are beginning their busy season as school year happenings come to an end. On a more specific note, if you haven't guessed, I'm thinking about the two summers I spent working at Camp Grier.
If you've talked to me for more than five minutes, you've probably heard about camp. You have my apologies for the word vomit that usually happens when the topic comes up, but I promise it's with the best of intentions! It's just that Camp Grier is a special, special place. A modest Presbyterian camp nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina, it is an undeniable place of refuge for campers and counselors alike.
I only went once as a camper, I think, and word on the street is (aka Mom told me) that I criiiied and cried when my parents dropped me off. However hazy my memories of that half-week may be, though, they still exist, and they are fond ones. I remember being mildly concerned that bug juice actually contained bug parts, but that seems to have turned out alright. I remember being just a little terrified of the rope bridge that went across the lake, but according to my memory, I made it across anyway. I remember my counselors saying they were engaged. Retrospectively, I realize that that especially was probably false information. But hey, what's a summer as a camp counselor without a few falsified engagements?!
What I can say truly changed my life, all jokes aside and as cheesy as it sounds, is those two summers that I spent as a counselor. Yes, I learned the oh-so-classified secrets of bug juice and homesick pills (and I'll never tell!). But I also got to help scared kids across the rope bridge, watch homesick kids transform every week into the most enthusiastic campers, and build relationships with my fellow counselors that I'm quite positive will be around for a very long time. Sure, I don't do the best job staying in touch with people. But if you put a bunch of us in a room together, I'd venture a guess that we'd be just fine. And no matter how long I am physically away from camp, every time I step foot on that property it will feel like I'm home. Even as I do a less than stellar job of regularly talking to my former camp coworkers, and even as those same people head to different camps (or...gasp...grown up jobs) those people and that place will always be a part of me.
In just over a week, I'll have the privilege of speaking to the summer staff at Camp Grier about the YAV program. While being a presenter at staff training makes me feel weird and grown up, I'm excited for a couple main reasons. First, I'm excited because I'll take any chance I can get to run my mouth about the YAV program, and any chance I can get to spend time in the mountains. But second, and more importantly, I am excited because the time I spent on staff at Camp Grier and the time I've spent as a YAV are without a doubt two parts of my life about which I am most passionate. There is a direct correlation between the time I spent at camp, my time as a YAV, and my decision to pursue some sort of ministry in the future. I'm not saying that every camp counselor wants or needs to go on to be a YAV and then head off to seminary. But my time on staff at Camp Grier was incredibly transformative, and as exhausted as I was ("It may be week six for you, but it's week one for the campers!"), I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. And I think once you're a camp counselor, it's something you can never really get out of your system.
So, connections to the YAV program aside, I'd encourage you to keep camp ministries of all sorts in your thoughts and prayers, as they begin their work for the summer. And consider supporting them in any way you can, whether that's financial support, sending your kid, or working or volunteering there yourself. To the camps out there: thank you. Thank you for everything you do and for the lives you change. Have a safe and happy summer!
Love,
Allison
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| See you soon! |
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