Mini Week

Every summer, we have a "mini week" for week 5.  The 4th of July always falls during this week, so we plan the camp week around this.  This summer, mini week was only Sunday-Tuesday since the 4th fell on a Wednesday.  During week 4, I knew that I was not going to be able to be a counselor on site during the mini week, even though there is nothing I would rather do.  I had an impending deadline for my final portfolio for my internship and I knew that I would not be able to finish if I had to be with campers 23 hours a day.  So I asked to be put on work crew.

Normally, work crew is quite a few people and it is hard manual labor for some, and office type work for the others.  This week, however, there were only three of us total.  I got to weed whack for 4 straight hours with the rest of my crew, Cami and Ryan.  That afternoon, thankfully, they needed someone to make sno-cones for the campers.  Cami and I gladly accepted the offer.  The next day, they needed someone to work with a church group that was coming in for the day, again, gladly accepted.  Each morning and evening we did our own worship with the rest of the staff members who were not counseling and we got to eat our meals with this group as well.  Work crew was great bonding time.

The best part of mini week was the fact that I was also put as the health care staff for adult campers with special needs.  Last summer, I worked at this site during mini week as a counselor and it was nothing short of incredible.   I was so happy to see so many familiar faces back at the Sjogren Center.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to not only serve on health care staff, but also to interact with all of the campers at Sjogren.  

Gosh darn it, camp just leaves me speechless.  

Week 4

Updates as promised.

Week 4: York, Nebraska.
Fan-freaking-tastic.  I sadly have no pictures to show from this week, but for a good reason I suppose.  I was so completely invested in this awesome community that I never got my phone out to snap any photos.  My host parents, Pastor Terry and Jill, were pretty darn incredible.  Once again, they were one of those couples.  It was impossible to leave their house as the same person.

They were an older couple, and their love for each other was so precious and inspiring.  Sometimes I think I know what love should look like, then I meet an incredible couple like these two who show me that I should never settle for anything less.  That I should be with someone who still looks at me the same way 50 years later.

Not only was their relationship with each other precious, but so was their relationship with God, with their congregation, and with these two strangers whom they welcomed into their home.  Every morning they would make us breakfast, and wait for us before eating so we could share our meal together and do devotions before starting our day.  They made the best breakfast too--sadly I forgot what they called this delicious creation.  It was a bowl full of dry oatmeal, plain yogurt, apple and banana slices, chopped almonds, raisins, and wheat germ.  Mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Besides Terry and Jill, I got to spend the week with a wonderful, wonderful counselor, Caitlyn.  She and I bonded a lot and worked really well together.  I am so thankful she was sent with me to York and I look forward to continuing our friendship.

Now the campers--the campers were the most polite and well-behaved children I have ever had in three years at camp.  You don't always get that at day camp.  Sometimes the kids at day camp have known each other their whole lives, they are in the same class, on the same baseball team, go to the same babysitter, etc.  So they know each other a bit too well and are sick of each other.  Not these precious children.  They got so into Bible study that we would go over time every day.  How cool is that?

One girl I will always remember is Hannah.  Hannah wears a back brace for scoliosis and was very shy at the start of camp, and couldn't participate in a few activities because of the brace.  She never said she couldn't do things because of her brace, though, she just sat there quietly and said she didn't want to play.  One day, I sat with Hannah at lunch and started asking her about her brace.  I told her that I had to wear a back brace all through high school.  As soon as I mentioned this, she broke out of her shell.  (Funny, because her friends call her a turtle--the brace being her shell.)  Let's just say she opened up.
The first things she asked me:  "Did your pants always fall down?"  "Did your mom have to tie your shoes?"  Yes and yes, kiddo.  It gets better.  The next day, her mom thanked me for making Hannah feel comfortable in her brace.  Mentally comfortable that is.  It is next to impossible for those things to be physically comfy.  Hannah even wrote a rap about her "shell" and shared it with me and we had a special little bond the rest of the week.

Overall, York was fantastic.  Too good to be true, almost.  I am so incredibly grateful for the blessing these people have been in my life.

Coming soon to a blog near you

Summer updates:
-Week 4: Day camp in York, NE
-Week 5: Mini-week at Carol Joy
-4th of July break
-Finishing my internship class
-Thoughts on the rest of the summer

Currently scrambling to finish my final portfolio that is due today.  Tonight, I plan to organize camp things, spend time with the fam, have some much needed TAWG, and finally, sleep!

Balancing act

Working in good old York, Nebraska this week.  Absolutely wonderful so far.  My host parents are fantastic, the counselor I'm working with is doing a great job, and the kids are pretty much the ideal campers.

Of course, this happens to be a 4-day session instead of the typical 5-day session.  I am so bummed that this  is the one that is cut short.

So far, the biggest pain of my summer has been my online class.  I have been using camp as my required internship and there is a class that must be taken along with it.  It has been a lot more work than I expected.  It has been really hard to find the balance between sacrificing the quality of work I put into my internship (camp) and sacrificing the quality of work I put into the class.  With the way camp works, it hasn't really been possible to put everything I have into both.  I have always chosen the internship over the class, which seems like it should be the most important part anyway, but my professor thinks otherwise.  

To sacrifice pouring my whole self into camp would be the real failure to me.  Read any post I have about camp and you will know that this place means more to me than words can explain.
I finally get to spend a few days on site next week, and I had to tell my boss to put me on work crew, when there is nothing I would rather do than counsel.  My final portfolio is due next week and if I am counseling, I won't have the time I need to finish my papers.
In the mean time, I'll be giving my all to the kiddos.  After all, that's why I'm here.

Week 3: Country livin'

Last week, I was in Cook, Nebraska.  Living the country life.  I did day camp at Cook last year, so it was really nice to go somewhere familiar.  The counselor I brought with me was great, our coordinator was wonderful, and our host families were incredible.
I loved living the country life.  It is so peaceful and beautiful and the people are all so friendly.  I've always known I could never be a "bigger than Omaha" city-girl, but I never thought I would want to be a "middle of nowhere" country-girl.
The couple I stayed with are those people you learn so much from just by being in their presence.  They're the ones who don't even know they are making a big impact on your life.  Dean took us to the farm, showed us where he grew up and told us stories from way back when.  He taught Lynnea and I how to drive a tractor and we fed the baby calves.  He also took us to work at a food bank one night.  That was a wonderful experience.  I never realized there was such a need in these teeny-tiny towns.  The food bank is open on the third Thursday of each month and they give several boxes to each family.  We served 231 people that night.  I saw some of my campers there getting food, and it was really good for me to see where they come from.  Yet another experience that makes me feel blessed beyond belief.

Hollis

My first week of day camp coordinating took me all the way to Hollis Renewal Center in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  This place is known for being basically the best day camp ever, so I was pretty excited to be sent down there.
The kids at this camp were incredibly wonderful.  Every single one.  The coordinator here always extends the invitation past the churches and into the inner city (Kansas City) transitional homes and development centers.  Many of the kids came from great families who were really involved with their churches, but the other half came from centers in KC.  At least three of the kids in my group came from a center, and I was told that they live in the most drug and crime filled neighborhood in KC.  Broke. my. heart.

Hollis has trails, worship sites and campfires, so it really wasn't that far off from my home at camp.
Instead of living with host families, we lived in a little cabin in the woods.    

I always know that I am going to miss the kids when I go home, but these kids I cannot get out of my head.  It makes me so sad knowing what they have to go home to each day.  I wanted to bring them back to Carol Joy and let them live there all summer long.
Perfect first week of my real job.

The Springs

Even though I am a day camp coordinator this summer, I had the privilege to stay on site Week 1 and work at The Springs.  (aka my favorite) It was wonderful.  

That week, I felt joy that I had not felt since being there last summer.  Camp Carol Joy stole my heart two years ago, and it's safe to say I'm a goner.
Week 1 was incredible.  I had one camper who cried and cried the first two days.  He just plain hated the outdoors and did not want to do anything but sit in air conditioning and go home.  Throughout the week, I got him to try new things.  This kid ended up loving the high ropes course, swimming, adventure hiking, and adventure canoeing.  His parents did not believe me when I told him the things he had done.  The best part is, he totally loved every minute of it.  He thanked me countless times for taking him adventure hiking. 

Awesome, awesome things happened on this hike.  This is when my group really bonded.  I had a camper who got really frustrated and upset about being hot, tired, sweaty and dirty.  During this adventure hike, she had to walk across a short log over a tiny stream.  She missed her step and went straight in the mud.  Let me tell you, I was waiting for a meltdown.  We all were.  Instead, she started giggling.  Pretty soon, my whole group was crying from laughing so hard.  

As we kept hiking, we saw a friendo (friendship bracelet to you non-camp people) hanging from a tree.  I didn't think anything of it, but one of my girls asked if it was a prayer tree.  When I told her it was not made for that purpose, she asked if we could change that.  So my little village of middle schoolers gathered around, everyone holding onto the friendo and they each prayed.  Holy moly.  I melted.  God is so great.

And then, another smartie said "You know, it's kind of like we are discovering God's Kingdom out here."  The theme for our summer is just that--"Discovering God's Kingdom".  These moments when the campers make connections like this just put me completely in awe of God.  

I could not have asked for a better way to kick off my summer than to spend the week at camp with these incredible kiddos.