Summer Camp- The Beginnings

June 1^st recently came around and besides all the happy anniversary remarks to my cousin on facebook, the birthday reminders, graduation pictures and engagement photos, I was reminded of a very pivotal moment in my life that started on June 2^nd, 2012.

I had just arrived home from a semester at Bible College. I had just said goodbye to my friend Steven, who went to be with the Lord a year later, my best friend had just told me she was engaged and my cousin was getting married! It was a crazy year. My cousin, my best friend and I didn’t know it then, but my childhood friend, all would be married that year. They all now have adorable little kids who I love to pieces but that is for another story for another day. The very first of June was my cousins wedding and it was magical. I always waited for that day. We talked and dreamed about it as girls and then I got to watch it unfold before my eyes. It was perfection. The next morning, already wrecked with emotion, I found myself sitting on a plane headed for Florida, the “Sunshine State.” Late that evening, Mr. and Mrs. Pritt picked me up from the airport and we ran through a McDonalds drive through. It was dark so I couldn’t see a lot of the state but I did see big poles shaped into a Mickey head as we passed nearby Disney. That night I settled in their guest room on the lakefront of Camp Gilead. The next morning, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the lake and I sat on the covered porch and did my Bible Study. It was amazing. I was so blessed to be there. Mr. Pritt joined me and pointed out a swimming creature in the lake. It went from beautiful to terrifying as that afternoon that “swimming creature” was an 8ft gator they pulled from the lake! And then they had the audacity to tell me I would be swimming in there all summer and do life-guard training that weekend???? UHHH???? SAY WHAAAATTT?????? (really it ended up being fine, despite my Kansan freak out moment. But I'll explain that later on.)

That afternoon Mrs. Pritt showed me to Cabin 5. I walked in and saw pink letters on every bed. I found mine at the back of the cabin and opened it up to read a letter from none other than a Jamie Simmons. Little did I know the adventures that laid ahead of us. In fact, I barley saw her that Summer.... I didn't really know who she was until that Fall. But again, that I'll explain that later. I soon met Mama D or D'Anna, the girl head counselor that year. I love that girl to pieces. She did a fabulous job. Training week was incredible! There became a bond between us counselors like nothing else. It is a neat phenomenon, when you go to a new place where you no absolutely no one and yet suddenly they are your best friends, your family.

There are so many memories from that year of camp I could hardly begin to count them all. I do vividly remember practice witnessing with Caleb Jones (we were super hard on each other), and being attacked by Myles with a bucket of slime (that was exciting....) I also remember being asked by Lauren if there were people in Kansas.... KANSAS CITY!!! (only Camp Gilead people will get that....) I wore a different wig for every Wacky Wednesday and collected the beginnings of my I <3 Camp shirts. And yes, I swam in a Floridian Lake. In fact, I passed my waterfront life-guard training successfully! Over the course of the next three years I would swim across the lake and back both width and length. And I never once encountered an alligator. 

I am so thankful for where God has brought me. The ability to be able to be used to further His kingdom and be a part of raising up the next generation of leaders blows my mind daily! This year I will be a part of 8 weeks of camp at 8 different CBM Camps in 5 different States. Camp Gilead wasn't the first camp I worked at but it was monumental. God used that Camp to train me, prepare me, and lead me to where I am today.