Adventure: Essential Skills: How to Pack a Backpack
A backpacking trip on your own might sound intimidating. If you remember the six Ps (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance) and take a little extra time to thoroughly prepare, you’ll be off on your adventure in no time. Let’s start with Dave’s packing list! If you followed the packing list above and gathered season…
Junior Counselor: What is a Junior Counselor?
My first summer at Chosatonga I was a Junior Counselor (JC) “Dad”. Much like the JC’s entering the program, I didn’t know exactly what all that entailed. I knew being a JC Dad had something to do with leadership, came with a few added responsibilities and extra privileges, and most of all came with the…
Gratitude: Learning about Thanksgiving from Abe Lincoln
Isn’t it a great thing that the United States of America has dedicated an entire day to dwelling in gratitude? President Abraham Lincoln, the American President who established the Thanksgiving tradition as a day of national permanence, could have opted for a more cynical view as he led a divided country in the midst of…
Encounter Faith: Magnifying God’s Love
I want to share a short story written by my grandmother, Sue Dominick, on how we have the chance to magnify the love of God. Grandma was a faithful woman who was married for 57 wonderful years, raised seven children, was constantly involved in her church, started a Christian bookstore and endured life’s hard and…
Gratitude: Bloom Where You Are Planted by Hanna Draddy
My mom always told me from a young age to “bloom where you are planted”. In other words, don’t focus on what could be or what may be if I were somewhere else or if I were someone else, rather focus on what is right in front of you. Recognize the real power you have…
For Parents: Inviting our children to become ‘dangerous to darkness’
A common thread to pick up in conversation among parents of young children is how to protect and preserve children from the influences of the world, and how to keep them safe in the midst of the melee of human existence. This, of course, is a natural and good desire. However, one must examine outcomes…
Seek Challenge - Grow Grit: 3 Ways To Teach Your Child How to Handle Hardship
“Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life.“ Viktor E. Frankl It is difficult, to say the least, to observe your child…
Encounter Faith: Take the Time to Pray
Many of our campers and staff ask how they can grow in prayer away from Kahdalea and Chosatonga, so here I offer a few brief reflections on a sub-tenet of one of CKC’s core values, “Take the time to pray”. The author, monk, and mystic Thomas Merton was once asked what the single most important…
For Parents: Reflections from our Parent Survey
Thank you so much to our camp family for the support of another incredible summer. We could not be more grateful for the trust of our camp families and the character of our wonderful staff! Our parent survey results are coming in, and we share our parents’ excitement with how this magical summer unfolded! Here…
Gratitude: Wedding Parties and Winning Combinations
Each summer is so different. Different counselors, different campers, different themes, different games. It’s a good sort of different, a different that makes it more comfortable to be uncomfortable. As someone who has been coming here to Kahdalea since I was eight years old, change can be difficult. Now, being in a position that encourages and welcomes…