Week five was very eventful, especially for Syd and I. We tried to find the balance of spending time with our family and soaking up every moment we have left with our friends. Syd and I feel so supported by our family and family friends and it's a treat to have them here to experience the place we love so much. It was so nice to have our parents in camp to do a bit of debriefing before we head home this Sunday.
Last Wednesday was a great night for dancing since we we had 61 high school and junior highers and 20 college students. It seemed like we were so busy dancing with as many campers as we could. It made for a fun night! Last Thursday some campers and staff had an epic belly flop contest and about 150 campers watched from the beach. Spontaneous activities like that make me love camp. I love how it wasn't only staff and young campers participating but people of all ages came together and had a fun time doing something silly.
Sadly, we said goodbye to our week 5 campers in preparation to welcome our staff's 7th and final week here on the island. It was especially difficult to say goodbye to our loved ones as we watched them leave on the boat, but we are so thankful they were able to come. On Saturday night our staff put on our 2nd annual (revived) CBS Staff Coffeehouse. The Coffeehouse is a time where the staff can perform a talent of theirs, either individually, or in a group. It originated several years ago and the staff stopped doing it until it was revived last year. We had duets, quartets, science experiments, dancing, short plays, and an a Capella group. There's nothing more special than watching our kitchen team, facilities team, office team, and program team bond over watching our friends get up and showcase their gifts. After coffee house, we played Grey Wolf: A night game that is a mix between sardines and tag. This game, which was introduced to our staff last year, is such a thrilling game filled with screaming, laughs, and lots of running!
On Sunday we welcomed our final week of campers. These past few days have been filled with a lot of "lasts" but we are really feeling God's presence. For our Sunday Evening small group, our group meets at Greg and Wendy's house which is built on the cliff. As we sat on their porch which overlooks the rock jetty, a huge bald eagle flew above us about 25 feet above our heads. It's moments like those that remind me how beautiful God's creation is and how he specifically designed us to savor it.
Whether it's participating in a belly flop contest, hosting a coffeehouse, or playing a night game, I love seeing how we come up with random things to do in order to keep ourselves entertained. I appreciate this cove because it's a place where we can slow down and focus on what is important. One may say there isn't a whole lot to do here, but this place is designed for fellowship. When we are here we are celebrating what God has designed us to do: to live in a community that spurs you on without distraction.
The women on staff have been reading a book called "10 Things for Teen Girls" by Kate Connor. I've been challenged by her words this past week. She writes "You are enough because God declares you so. This is the great scandal of the gospel. You are more sinful than you could dare to imagine, and you are more loved and accepted than you could ever dare hope. God doesn't love you because you are enough; you are enough because he loves you. This is God's story. His love makes you enough" (Connor). There are times where I don't feel like I'm enough for my campers. I'm tired, and I sometimes feel as though they aren't hearing what we say. But what Kate Connor says in this passage reminds me that I am enough because of what Jesus has done for me. I need only to be still and let him work. God has done some great work in my heart this summer and it's not because he only speaks to me at camp, it's because I take more time to listen.
Be praying for our staff this week that we finish this race strong and we can enjoy every moment together.
-Shel
