love of camp, est. 2006

So, I’ve been keeping a secret from many of you.

As of late November 2014, I have been accepted as a counselor at The Wilds of North Carolina! WOO-HOO!

Some, if not many, of you know how big of a deal camp is to me. Ever since going to the elementary/middle school level of The Wilds North Carolina, Junior Boot Camp, in 2006, camp has been inscribed on my heart. It is hard to accurately describe. As we arrived at the heart Blue Ridge Mountains, little did I know how my life would change. To be honest, the first half of the week was miserable. I had never been away from home for so long, so far away, with nobody I knew. I got three bee stings, never seemed to know what was going on, and cried so much. By the end of the week, however, I did not want to leave. And every year since then, for five days in the summer seven years in a row, I was the happiest I’ve ever been.

Since that first time breathing the mountain air, sleeping in a room full of sweaty campers, sitting outside in the misty morning studying Bible verses . . . I knew that I was made for camp. I’ve dreamed about returning as staff since 2006, eventually to be a counselor but I would have been happy to work in Cool Beans or as a waitress. Anything to be there.

Not only has camp or The Wilds affected my mindset, but also my spiritual life. I accepted Christ as my Savior there when I was fifteen. I took steps in my faith and learned more how to study the Bible. Many of the foundational principles for my very life were placed there. And now, I have the opportunity to help at least 70 of my own campers, possibly more, as I go to serve there this summer.

This is an enormous answer to prayer, and a blessing beyond what I could have planned. God has orchestrated this in ways I certainly never could have on my own! The devil is doing his best to discourage me as I prepare mentally and spiritually for this summer, and I would so appreciate your prayers.

So there’s the update! I leave late May; and, while I wish the next two and a half months would fly by, I know there is much to do before then! I shall keep you posted!