We’re in the full swing of things here at camp. Saturday we finished up a few different half week camps, including our developmentally disabled camp, which is always one of my favorites. As we move into our first full week of camp, it’s always a
time of excitement. Monday, I began the LT Bible study in James, and I’m both excited about that and nervous all at the same time. One thing that I think will be a big challenge is getting some of the staff to move beyond the expected/Sunday school answers. It’s an awesome opportunity to invest in their lives and by that investing in the lives of the campers.
The week prior to camp is always dedicated to staff training, and it’s always a hectic time getting everyone oriented with how things run here and what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. For the first half of staff training I was also helping at my church’s vacation Bible school, which was an awesome time! It also helped me to even more closely remember how vital it is to make the most of the time that we get to spend with kids, both here and at VBS. For most of them, they are only here for a week out of the year. That’s one week out of fifty-two that we can try to make an impact on, but that can also be easily wasted. I want to try to remind the staff of that often, because it is so easy to get caught up in the routine or get too consumed by exhaustion (emotional, mental, and physical). It’s a time to refocus on why we are here.
On Saturday I took some of the staff to town to Fred’s and a couple of other places. On our way back, it was requested that we stop at True Blue. They know me too well, and know I would gladly stop. Just imagine a fifteen passenger van pulling up to a coffee stand. I think there were at least eight orders out of the fifteen. I’m so grateful for Jena (yes, she’s spells it just like my sister Jena), who owns True Blue, as she very patiently and happily took our orders. She told me today that she enjoyed me yelling to the staff behind me for their orders and money. Got to keep things organized and focused to that large of an order. I'll just say that I am so grateful for True Blue and how I pretty much
run on their coffee.
Sundays are often our program and office staff’s longest days. My day began with driving our staff to my church (which I was super excited to be able to go to my church yesterday). After church, I brought them back to camp. From then on it was one thing right after another until midnight. Registration day is probably my favorite day of the week. This summer I get to help Teressa at the front tables signing in kids. It’s a great opportunity to interact with the kids about their initial excitement for coming to camp.
One of my roles here at camp is being the Waterfront Director. It’s been a transition over the last year, and this winter I will be taking courses to be able to instruct our lifeguarding course. During the summer I supervise the lifeguards, fill in lifeguarding if need be, and work to ensure the safety of the campers in our waterfront areas. Over the last couple of weeks, this has been one of my main focuses, especially with getting new staff oriented with the rules that surround the waterfront. Then comes the staff swim test and swamping canoes. I felt sort of bad for the staff this year as even I won’t get in the water unless I have to save someone. It’s rather brisk this year, and we’ll just say that some of our staff were less than thrilled about having to get in the frigid water. One of the most hilarious groups to swamp their canoe was full of some of our newest lifeguards. One's from Florida, so she was not even remotely keen on intentionally tipping her canoe. It took her about five seconds to scramble back in the boat. Another got out of the boat when it hit ground and was absolutely disgusted by the lake floor (which is terribly muddy at that point. Eventually they pulled themselves together enough to get the canoe out and empty it of water. Anyways, I thought I’d share a few photos of that time with you.
All in all, the beginning of summer is an exciting and exhausting time. If you think of it, please be in prayer for the staff here as they interact with the campers. Prayer for the work teams traveling here in the next few weeks would also be much appreciated. We love so much that there are people who want to come help us with work projects and for our staff who volunteer all summer to spend time with campers.