Here We Go...

It all began in the summer of 2008. Now, this was before we had wireless internet and decent cell phone reception in Northern Minnesota. This was when I’d have to literally write everything down by hand which was something I was too lazy to do, due to the mere minutes of free time we’d have throughout the day, spaced randomly, yet beautifully like a candy-sprinkled donut. I had a spiral-bound journal with old world maps on the cover and pages with lines on one side and graphing paper on the other, as if charting the ever changing murkiness of the lake was my new quest.

Due to all of the above reasons I did not start a blog chronicling my everyday activities, thoughts, and observations and will have to give summaries of my entrance into camping ministry as well as my entrapments.

Since I was not keen on the idea of living at home another summer after my second year of college, I applied to work at Big Sandy Camp. I was hired as the Crafts Instructor and began my first and best summer of camping ministry. I realize it was probably my best due to the fact that it was my first and having no previous summers to compare it to, was blown away that a job could be so life-changing.

Here was a job where people cared about each other, where people never took themselves too seriously, were never too important to wash dishes or mop the floor.  Here was a job where silliness is encouraged, where hands are held, where playing games and putting on skits is all part of the day. Here was a job where you could get into a deep conversation in five minutes while checking your mailbox in the kitchen.

This job gave me the ability to adapt and to accept new challenges. It gave me lifelong friends that I still keep in contact with. It gave me a renewed spirit and blessings through faith, no matter how it is different for different people.

These are the good parts.

These are the most heavily weighted parts.

Which is why I guess I stay in this ministry for the time being.

Because there are the not so good parts too.

The unpredictable schedule. Late nights and super early mornings. Drama. Stumbling through your own grapplings with faith. Annoying campers. No free time. Wondering if the outside world even exists anymore. Demands. Demands. Demands.

And the list goes on.

But comparing this list with the one I mentioned before brings me back to my current position: Camp has too many good things for me at this point in my life to even think about leaving this ministry.

The good outweighs the bad. And, if I’m honest, the bad isn’t all that bad. It’s petty stuff, really, when compared with the depth of that well of goodness.

This is how I camp to be a reluctant camp staffer.

Let the adventures begin.