I watched as little children came to our picnic table to be checked in. Bags of medicine binging checked in to be given at exact times to campers. I watched as children had to be sent home because they had massive lice infestations. I listened as their foster parent complained because they were headed out on vacation; they didn’t have time to clean lice out. I watched as foster parent after foster parent high fived each other for seven days away from their children.
I watched the children watch this happen. Their eyes were the hardest things to look at. They had been hurt so many times. There were the few foster parents that really were sad to leave their children behind, but they knew they would have an awesome time. There were also the few foster parents that hugged their child good bye… just a little too long.
I saw the counselors sit nervously to really see who they would be spending the next seven days with. All they had to go on was one sheet of paper.
One sheet.
This sheet was supposed to give an idea of what the camper was like. What did they like, what they didn’t like, fears, concerns, medicine, allergies, etc. The problem with that one sheet was mostly lies. Foster parents don’t want to tell you that their foster child wets the bed every night because of night terrors. Foster parents didn’t want to give too much information out that might get their child disqualified from being able to go to camp. That might mean they wouldn’t get seven days without a child. That one sheet was really just… their name. Everything else may or may not be true. That includes the child’s birthday. It was up to nine people to decide what was true and what wasn’t.
Nine people.
There were nine staff members. Two directors. Two pastors. Two assistant staffers, two nurses, One head counselor. With us all together we made it happen. We laughed, we cried, we talked, we ranted, most of all… we became a family. A family with way too many crazy jokes. A family that now knows that it takes more than a Costco size of energy to keep up with it all. It takes love. We poured over the sheets that we had gotten, learning about each child and their needs. We read how some were scared of tall people. We learned that six times a day one camper would need medicine. We learned that some campers would become violent when they got angry. We paired each camper with a counselor. We knew that every match that we made was made for a reason.
Love.
When I watched every camper get checked in and the counselor be called up that had been paired with them… I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t think those campers would EVER say I love this person that I have known for seven days. I watched as the counselor awkwardly took the campers bags and lead them to their cabin. I watched the conversations that couldn’t really get started. I saw counselors trying to get their campers to say something, anything. It happened though, love. I watched as everyday one by one those campers and their counselors fell in love with each other. I watched as some campers adamantly pushed away, trying to make sure that their counselor would not love them. Slowly but surely a friendship was kindled through love.
Running.
From day one of orientation our counselors were warned that their camper may try to run. It’s a test. Do you love me enough to run after me? The easiest way for the campers to find out the answer, run. If the counselor runs after me then, yes. If the counselor doesn’t run after then, no they will let me go. It’s a very basic move. The problem is, if the counselor doesn’t run after the camper immediately… their friendship just started over. We watched as this happened. We watched as campers saw their counselor run after them. We watched as they didn’t let them go. We watched as campers would take off and counselors would take off and wrap their camper in a hug. The camper would be so excited that someone had chased after them that they couldn’t stop smiling. Mind you this was after a few days of the camper making the counselor run. The reward they got from this, both the camper and the counselor, priceless.
Counselors.
Our counselors are 14 on up and all volunteers. I watched them all tread into church for orientation. Some of them knowing what they were getting into, others unsure if they were in the right place. Those that had been through camp before started talking to those that hadn’t trying to explain the ins and outs. During orientation when the backgrounds of some of the children were given I looked at the counselors faces. Some of them were shocked. Some of them had heard it before. Some just looked bored. I learned a lot about each of the counselors at orientation. Some of them were there for the campers and others were there for themselves.
That’s when I learned that this camp isn’t just for the campers. This camp is for everyone that is involved.
I watched most of them shed themselves completely to show complete love to their camper. I watched as counselors prepared plate after plates of food for their camper before they even got to taste their meal. I watched as counselors teenage boys did crafts. Not because they wanted to, but because that’s what their camper wanted to do. I listened as campers were crying on their counselor’s shoulder, only to see that they were crying together. Just so that camper wouldn’t be crying alone. I watched as counselors took the blame for wetting a bed just so their camper wouldn’t get embarrassed.
Wet beds.
Wet beds were only the beginning. There really wasn’t as many wet beds as I thought there might be. That was the hold up. Many of the campers didn’t want anyone to know that they had wet so they hid the evidence in their bag or under the bed. This got a little sketchy when the weather outside was in the triple digits. So we cleaned laundry load after laundry load. Wet beds were only if they slept. The weather was so very hot that we had to constantly be making sure that campers were hydrating. This making a few more wet beds.
No sleep.
There was little sleep for many. Staff was up most nights well into the wee hours of the morning, discussing what we had seen, what we needed to change. Making the next day’s plans. There were many campers this year that did not sleep or didn’t sleep well. Some of the campers did not sleep unless their counselor was watching over them. That means we had counselors that were going without sleep too. Then there was the blessed heat. So what we have here is a simple Momma equation… -zzz (no sleep) + H (REALLY HOT) + H2O (lots of swimming) = Wah wah wah (crankiness).
Three times the Swim.
Every day of camp was in the triple digits. It was hot. Hot enough to mandate three times of swimming a day. Yeah. We were constantly in and out of the pool. All of our camp activities involved water in some way. There was the morning swim, afternoon swim/chosen activity and then the evening swim. I can’t tell you how many times we had water breaks, just to make sure everyone was hydrating.
Activities.
This year I was in charge of crafts. This may or may not have been a little dream come true for me. I love crafts so to be able to sit with kiddos and just craft. LOVED IT! I can’t tell you how many smiles I saw on those campers faces when they were complimented on their drawing or the colors that they had picked out. To watch as the counselors asked for help with doing the same design that the camper had made cause it was so cool. It was so rewarding for me to see the campers just want to create beautiful things and show them off.
Smiles.
I don’t think that I will ever be able to express the warmth that the smiles those campers showed brought to us. The giggles that they had were so joyous. The best smile that I got was from a boy that had drawn a cat on the sidewalk with chalk. It was a simple cat, nothing fancy. When he looked up and thought that he was going to be made fun of or tormented for it not being better, it broke my heart. I stepped back, hugged him and told him how beautiful his chalk art was. The smile. Pure. Pure love is what that smile was.
Hugs.
HUGS ran in abundance. It was the greatest. There were campers that when they checked into camp didn’t want to be touched. by day three they were running up to others and giving hugs. Hugs were at campfire. Hugs were in line. Hugs were given when they were walking. Hugs that came running up to you. Hugs. Hugs were the campers way of saying so much without really having to say anything.
Campfire.
Our staff member that did campfire is my new hero. She had a full week but she pushed through. Every night she came to that campfire and gave it her all. She planned out what songs and in what order. She made campers and counselor laugh and cry while singing and “having a cow”. I watched as campers and counselors grew together. Leaning on one another for love, support, and just a friend who wouldn’t judge what they had been through.
Together.
Campers and counselors were ALWAYS together. The magic of the camp is what brings all the campers and counselors together. Somehow at the end you were able to feel the faith, the hope and the love that each one of those campers and counselors had grown over the seven days. We had become a united family. Whatever was to happen or whatever was to come, we had that moment. We had our Camp O family.
Campers.
There will always be a place in my heart for all the campers that were at Camp O this year. I have their faces memorized. There were two little campers though… that I love to the moon and back. Samual and Louis were campers this year. Josh and I got to watch as they came out of their shell and grew to love their counselor. I was worried. I feared that they would be in the way. The thing is, they are the fourth generation to this camp. They are learning this camp from the ground up. To watch the love given to your child, it’s the greatest gift in the world. Louis could not stop crying for his counselor for weeks. Samual sang a song for his counselor. To watch them hold on to a love that was given to them unconditionally, I can’t even express how grateful I am for that.
Fears.
Walking into this camp I had many fears.
I worried that I shouldn’t go. Not because I was worried that I would do something wrong… cause I knew I would. I was worried that maybe someone better should go instead of me.
Turns out I was there for a reason.
I was worried that my children shouldn’t be there. I didn’t want to take a child’s spot that needed more than our boys.
Turns out they were supposed to be there.
I was worried that I would be in the way of Josh being a pastor.
Turns out I hardly saw him.
I was worried that I would have to face my past. Many of the situations that these children were coming out of were what I grew up in. Don’t get me wrong. I am at peace with my past. What’s done is done.
Turns out…
One of the staff members and I were sitting back monitoring a meal. Talking about how nice it was going to be for the afternoon swim cause it was scorching HOT. One of the campers and counselors came up. The counselor needed to talk to us. Sure. I’ll hang back with the camper. No. They wanted to talk to me. Oh, okay. We walked to a picnic table sat down and the counselor started to cry. Crap.
The counselor began to tell me about their background and their camper’s background. It was shockingly similar to what I had been through growing up. I started to panic. What is the best advice I can give to this person? How do I make this better? All I could think was… It’s okay, the healing starts now.
That’s when it hit me.
Sometimes you just have to let the healing start. That’s what Camp O did for so many people this summer. Broken hearts were filled with love. Broken spirits were shined. Chopped up lives were sewn together. The healing started.
It was a struggle on many different levels. There were moments were I had very well convinced myself that I should just pack up and go. Go home to an air conditioned home with a comfortable mattress. Just at that moment though a little hand would come rushing up and ask me if I could come look at a chalk drawing.
