The past few days have been a blur. Since when did I arrive
at camp, then all of sudden (it seems) I need to turn around and leave again?
After building almost 40 campfires, cleaning countless plates and forks and
spoons, grilling hundreds of hot dogs and hamburgers, getting soaked almost
every day leading the kids in water games, and praying thousands of prayers, I
guess I lost track of how much time I had left here. Every once and a while
though, I would stop and look around at this place and think about how many
people have depended on this place for peace, faith guidance, and connection. I
can tell I’ve grown stronger in my faith, by listening to other people’s
perspectives and testing my own beliefs. I’ve learned more about my
denomination and its role in the world and how it differs from other
denominations. I’m very proud of the church I’ve grown up in and the churches
I’ve participated in at camp and around Iowa. I could go on and on, but I don’t
want to get boring.
As I prepared myself to leave camp, the interns went to
explore more of the campground through trails that have overgrown in the past
several years. We crawled under branches, got caught on thorns, and ultimately
ended up wading through a beautiful creek that ran through our property. I’m
glad I got to experience the parts of camp that I wouldn’t have been able to as
a camper or counselor. One other thing that was significant in my internship
was when I shared my faith story at campfire to the camp that helped form my
faith. I felt like it was what I needed to do for both myself and some of the
campers. Once again, I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to spend most of
my summer at church camp. Then I stopped home for less than 3 days to have a relaxing barbecue and desperately find a way to ride the Log Chute at Camp Snoopy (we failed). Now, on to the next adventure! Santiago, Chile.