Camp

About two months ago, maybe not that long, hubby and I and another couple went to an overnight adult volunteer training session for a local youth camp.  It is a camp I had heard about for years.  It is a Christian camp and a bunch of our church kids go and a bunch of homeschool kids we know go.

Every year during the summer the question would come up "Are your kids going to camp?"  And the answer was always "no."  The thought of my babies being away from me for a week was not my idea of a good time.  There were a lot of other reasons as well.  But I won't go into all that right now.  It just wasn't the direction we were taking as a family.

But, then this training came up and a few people that I know very well, who are very involved in the camp, encouraged all of us to go.  So we did.  Our thought was, we would find out first hand info about the camp and if our children go to camp, then we would go as volunteers.

We learned so much that weekend about the vision of the director and the camp.  He has such a heart for "high risk" kids and those who are underprivileged and don't come from good homes.  His goal for every camping session is to have 25% "high risk" kids.  What an awesome mission statement.

His second goal is to challenge teenagers to be responsible and grow in their personal relationship with Christ.  All of his cabins (and some covered wagons) are staffed with teens who have gone through extensive training.  Many of which have been involved in the camp for 6, 7 and 8 years.  He encourages sharing the gospel, service training, responsibility for others, being great role models among a multiple of others things that grow really great teenagers.

Well, this past weekend the camp had its gearing up for summer session and my friend and I decided to register the older girls and sign up ourselves to volunteer.  As the day of departure approached, my friend and I were not real confident about what we had signed up for.  It has been along time since I had been at camp!

The camp was great and seemed to be run pretty well.  The girls enjoyed themselves a ton and definitely want to go back in the summer.  My friend and I got to see what goes into running a camp and how much hard work it is.  We now understand why the teenagers are the counselors because the energy needed to hang with a bunch of kids all weekend is out of this world!

I knew quite a few of the counsels.   So that was neat.  I recognized the name of a couple of campers so that was cool too.  There were a few things I am still not quite sure about.  But, all in all, it was a positive experience.

We still are not sure if the kids will go for a week.  If they do, I will be there.  The camp needs the volunteers and I like just being around.  I hardly saw the girls because I was busy doing other things.  But, I feel one of the things the camp could use a little more of is adult/parent involvement.  They have a lot going on there.

Anyway, I am glad I went.  I am glad we let the girls go.  And, who knows what we will do in the future.  One day at a time . . .