Love Camp!
Anybody who vaguely knows me, knows that I love camp. Every summer for over 50 years I have spent a significant portion of my summer at camp. My well worn line is, “My parents dropped me off at camp, and I’m still waiting for them to pick me up…but I’m just fine waiting!”
I have been a camper, counselor, camp director, executive director, construction project manager, capital campaign manager, board member, volunteer, mentor, adviser, consultant, coach, and dish washer. As such, when people ask me what prepared me for whatever I have done in my life, my answer is always the same, “I was a camp director…my first language is camp.”
The reality is camp has not only shaped my life, it has and continues to transform it. Ever since my first camp experience I have been feverishly motivated to share the camp experience. From driving a van for 10 hours with hyper kids to crawling into septic tanks, from listening to kids giggle at 3 in the morning on a camp- out to washing thousands of dishes – whatever it takes to provide the transformational camp experience.
You see, I learned three critical things that left an indelible mark on my life. First, I am a beloved child of God, uniquely created in God’s image. Second, I am uniquely gifted by the Spirit. And third, those gifts are to be shared. Creating a community, a container that creates a space for folks to live into embracing these three things is the transformational secret sauce of camp.
And once folks experience camp they often say, “I wish I didn’t have to go back to reality.” My son responded to this sentiment at his last campfire, “What if camp is reality and we just need to share a little more of it in the world?”… Imagine a world where everyone knew they were uniquely created in the imagine of God, uniquely gifted by the Spirit and passionately shared their gifts with the world – and – affirmed this in every other they met person.
Love Camp!
BP