Today in camp, the atmosphere felt gentle. I am sure that maybe there is a better word for it, but at the moment, that is what comes to mind. It is quieter than usual; warm weather with a slight overcast and an occasional pleasant and misty rain (complete with a well timed and cozy feeling thunderstorm during rest hour). Both camps have had many trips out in the surrounding mountains, so at Chosatonga the dining hall only had 40 people for breakfast – and Kahdalea had not many more. It’s a point of pride for us that weekdays are tripping days and many of our campers are out exploring. A mostly empty dining hall is a good sign! Embracing growth and going outside of one’s comfort zone is huge piece of the camp experience. In fact, our very mission statement is inspired by Luke 5:4 where Christ commands Simon Peter to set out “into the deep;” our mission is to accompany young hearts towards God through adventure, friendship, and fun. The fact is that while not every adventure is off-campus, for most of our campers the call to adventure generally leads them off campus at some point! And that’s a good thing: as they test their skills and grow in confidence in small ways off campus on a trip here and their, they also build up the skillset to “bring camp home.” That is, they build up their character and confidence for that final trip at the session’s end where they have the opportunity to go home and keep living as the best version of themselves. Yep: we love adventure and what it teaches us. Let’s set out into the deep together for a catch!
You wouldn’t necessarily think that the weekdays are our calmest days on campus, but for the administration staff, at least, these are the times when we are able to rest a little. We take it slower as we enjoy the pleasant rhythm of a camp day, bouncing from activity to activity and measuring time by bell rings rather than a watch. Watches are, more or less, just too precise for this environment. Really, it is the weekends, when everyone is in camp, that things are most boisterous and we are really on our toes!
Now, that is not to say that we don’t still have some wild fun here no matter the day of the week! Wait until you see the pictures of Kahdalea’s Evening Program from last night – messy kickball always brings the hype and those girls truly jumped right in! And I mean it when I say “jumped in” – in messy kickball the bases are upgraded to kitty pools filled with oatmeal, jello, and shaving cream. It was a riot and there was plenty of opportunity for a deep belly laugh! At Chosatonga they kept it a little more tame (an unusual twist) with a game of soccer for the EP. 🙂
This week is Color Week! So evening activities often have one team winning for points. Overall, Red team is up a bit over the Blue team right now at Chosatonga (and I believe at Kahdalea too), but the game is very much in play. The competition has been keeping our midday meal in the Dining Hall pretty entertaining since we pause before announcements for a fun competition between a representative of each team: a relay race, trivia, competitive charades. The points will culminate this weekend at our Saturday co-ed!
As I am typing this (just a little before dinner) trips are pulling in from all over the place! Biking, climbing, paddling, backpacking. It is a joy to see these adventurers return. We will all be gathering soon and sharing about the week’s adventures in the dining hall where a Cajun night feast of Jambalaya awaits. I can’t wait to hear some stories and I will share a few highlights in a trip report tomorrow! Now I am going to sign off to check in with them and join in an EP of Bombardment at the gym for Chosatonga and Auction night in the Dining Hall for Kahdalea – as most of you can guess, you’ll find me in the gym!
God bless!
