Sometimes there are people that put words to feelings that you recognize but can't express. For many of us at Camp Gailor Maxon, we feel so strongly and passionately about camp. We live and breathe it, we are closest to our camp friends, and we count down the days between camps. It is an intense admiration and respect for something that is more than just the grounds, more than just the skeleton of a camp. It is the people, it is God's work that is done here. The connections that are formed, the spiritual development that happens, the renewal, the insight, the friendships... they are all the reason why we have people come back over and over.
Another counselor shared the following with me. A Camp I camper (high school age) had writtten this on her myspace page about missing camp and Winterfest. It is so interesting to read and realize that this place has such a power. As counselors we strive to make Camp Gailor Maxon as powerful an experience for our campers as it was for us. It is very assuring when we see things like this...
If I could spend the rest of my life in one place, with one group of people,
It would be there.
With them.
When I'm there, I'm alive, and I'm full.
That place works miracles and saves lives.
It makes people happy and gives them a glimmer of hope in dark times when they thought nothing would ever pull them through.
The people there are some of my closest friends and love me unconditionally.
So surely,
SURELY,
God is at work there.
For a place so worn and so old could not be that amazing and beautiful, and love could not flourish that much without him.
I live for that place.
I feel more at home there than I do in my own house.
I feel like I belong, like I can be who I am and who I truly want to become and I'll be accepted with open arms no matter what.
God's love thrives there, and I feel closer to him there than I do anywhere else.
Those people are my family.
That place is my HOME.
It's where I belong.
It's my escape.
That place,
is my Neverland.
I may be at my house,
but I'm really not.
Not in my heart, at least.
In my heart,
I'm there.
With them.
I love you guys.
<3
Camp.
Fest.
1 comment:
I had to leave another comment after reading what this camper wrote, because it's so true. And it doesn't really ever change.
It's been a little over 36 years since the first time I ever came through the front gates, and
I haven't set foot on that property in over 22 years, other than to have quickly driven through the grounds once on a trip home from Chattanooga several years ago.
But it's still home to me in a way no place has ever been, and I don't think will ever be.
Even with all I know has been changed/remodeled, and people come and gone - it still feels the same up there. And everyone that ever was there is still there in spirit.
It was probably ten or twelve years ago that last time I took a quick drive through the grounds. It felt the same entering the gates as it always did, the same leaving as it always did. That's a good thing.
You guys keep up the good work down there. It's obvious to me from the blog, the photos, and from what this camper wrote that you're carrying it all on perfectly. Thank you for that, it makes me happy to know it all lives on. :)
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