Monday, 21 July 2008

"Until We Meet Again"

Home.

It's such a strange feeling being home from camp now. Now I REALLY don't know where I belong anymore. Ludington? Holland? Tustin? Somewhere else? And even worse, I don't know what I want to do with my life. I have a Bachelor of Music, Magna Cum Laude, from Hope College, and I don't know how I want to use it anymore. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Going to camp was such an adventure. I wasn't sure how I felt as I drove off to Tustin the first time. I thought at first that maybe I should have applied to Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp and spent a summer of absolute insanity working with Ross, Maren, & Ashley. That would have been fun, for sure. But I have absolutely no connection to Portage Lake. Center Lake Bible Camp is where I needed to be, even though I really knew absolutely no one except for Dan Wagner, or D-Wag, as we call him. I had to be introduced to absolutely everyone, except him, Don Cochrane, and Duane Whitley. Everyone else was a complete stranger to me.

Staff training was so much fun, though. It was like coming back to college and starting over. I made a ton of new friends, we went through the camp activities way too fast, and I barely had a chance to tell the family that I was enjoying this way too much. And then...

The campers arrived.

"I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!"

I've experienced that feeling too many times to count. I felt it during field placements, my junior recital, probably a few concerts, and student teaching. But like those as well, I actually was. And so was everyone else. I was blessed to have the chance to work with different people every week. It really was a counseling smorgasbord this summer. Looking back...

Week 1... Junior Camp with Casey in Fox. Pastor Ryan Huebner, speaker.
Oh Casey Butler... I was sort of hoping I'd get to spend a week with Casey, and I got him first crack out of the box. Casey and I hit it off right away. I once quoted the infamous "EVIL!!!!" from Ross Reynolds to Casey, and he folded in half from laughter, so I knew this guy was the real deal. In addition to everything I learned about camp counseling from Mike Johnson during staff training, Casey helped teach me what it means to counsel both with humor and with discipline. I always knew he'd back me up and that I could back him up. He also knew the repertoire of camp stories really well and helped teach me those. Oh Grampa C-But... I'm going miss you very much and a lot. Even cooler: I had a camper get saved! It was out in a red canoe on Center Lake!

Week 2... Pre Camp with Jon and Simeon in Bear. (No scheduled speaker).
Pre-Camp is short for a reason. A very good reason. These little munchkins can only handle a short dose of camp before they start to get lonely for home. Or before they go crazy. And the camp staff can only handle them for a short time before they also go crazy. This wasn't the easiest week, to be honest. Poor Jon had a freshly-broken collarbone and wasn't feeling so hot between the pain and the medications to keep the pain in check. Simeon, a CIT, works amazingly well with campers, but there's the whole thing of not leaving a CIT alone with campers. So I had the fun job of effectively counseling Pre-Camp alone with some assistance here and there. I did learn from Simeon how a little humor goes a long way and that a quiet approach still works remarkably well. Especially with needy, clingy campers like the ones we had. Oh Pre-Camp.

Week 3... Junior Camp with Craig in Bobcat. Pastor Aaron Bolduc, Senior High speaker.
Who could forget Bobcat cabin? Everyone's eyes were glued on Bobcat during High School week. High School week is insane enough because of all the extra programming, but this ridiculous cabin made the camp week a bit more spicy. Craig was just the co-counselor I needed to get through this week. No playing on the worship team. A cabinload of kids who liked to argue and wouldn't listen to boot. Craig made sure I kept both feet on the ground and prayed with me when I really needed it. He has a certain personal touch with campers that I sometimes lack, although he showed me that there are some times that you have to admit defeat. That was hard, but like Don taught us during staff training, it might be better to send a camper home as a kid than to see them sent to somewhere a lot more unpleasant when they're older. The lessons learned from being sent home from camp can be significant. Craig reminded me of that.

Week 4... Junior Camp with Chris in Fox. Pastor Ken Nichols, speaker.
Back to Fox, I was the first DIFFERENT counselor Chris had all this camp season. He was looking forward to this week, although this was a challenging week as well. I initially thought this week would be easy with such a small number of campers and a group of kids that initially got along. But as things wore on, the nonstop fighting and drama with the junior high girls really was upsetting. But the cool part I saw with Chris was that as a counselor, you really have to stick to your guns when dealing with these campers. Never, ever back down. It's hard, but it works. And they didn't really have a bad week, in all honesty. In fact, during this week, one of my campers and I had one of the best spiritual conversations I had with a junior camper that didn't turn into a conversion. It was really cool.

Week 5... Junior High Camp with Isaiah in Chipmunk. Pastor Troy Gentz, speaker.
Camp is LOADED with over 200 campers. This week, all the male counselors are working with CITs in the cabins, with the exception of Chris with Wookie next door in Squirrel. I suspected with such a high volume of campers that I'd have a CIT, and I knew exactly who I wanted to work with. And I got my wish-I couldn't have been more thankful to have a CIT like Isaiah. The boys were hilarious, although we had a little bit of turbulence along the way. Honestly, I have to chalk it up to mistakes I made along the way and junior highers acting like junior highers. The really cool thing was that Isaiah and I definitely grew together as friends, brothers in Christ. I really liked sitting down with him at the end of the day and looking Isaiah straight in the eye and asking, "How are you REALLY doing?" talking about it, and then praying together. It was like a miniature Bible Studs, especially after another camper came to Christ. Isaiah and I went absolutely crazy outside the cabin when I told him. It was glorious.

-Intermission, staff exuent for weekend of mayehm in Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, & Mackinac Island-

Week 6... Junior Ranch Camp with Jesse in Buffalo. Pastor Scott Gardziella, speaker.
There are male Ranch Campers! I told Don that if there were male Ranch Campers, I wanted to be their counselor. I got my wish. This week is very full down at main camp, and all the SMTs are out in the cabins with the counselors this week, except for the ranch, where Jesse and I are together (the only senior counselors paired together) and Chantel and Sara are together (a senior and junior counselor). I saw in Jesse possibly the most laid-back and quiet, yet direct method of counseling I've ever seen. It contrasted with my personality, to be sure, but I know the campers bonded with him and I learned from him, like Simeon, that in some cases, less really is more. And depending on the mix of campers, junior campers don't need quite as much attention as I gave them. An important reminder for teaching and for parenting. I love the Ranch. And I got to ride a horse, too! If only Charm hadn't tried to eat along the trail...

-Postlude, staff exuent to Michigan Adventure for evening of madness at the water park and amusement park-

Appendix... with various staff.
We came back to find the first rental group already at Center Lake. I settled down for my first and only night at High Point and went to sleep. In the morning, after very little sleep, I almost decided to not go to church until Andrew asked me if people could take my car to Temple Hill Baptist in Cadillac. I sadly informed them that it was also full of stuff, and then decided I should go to church. We made it in a blistering 15 minutes (shhh), and then a detour through Taco Bell back to camp. The best part: Munchkin party at the Delancey house! I wish I could say I won but I didn't. Thankfully, it was as cutthroat as the playing in Ludington, and the kinds of sneakiness and treachery I've learned from Jordan and Steve served me greatly. Unfortunately, I had to leave after that, but not before a little bit of golf cart racing and saying good-bye.

Good-bye. Good-byes are really hard anywhere you are. They were really hard at Hope College, and they were really hard at Center Lake Bible Camp, too. I'm never sure when I'll see people again, and that feeling makes me a little sick inside. But, as I told a very exhausted and sad-looking Isaiah as he was about to leave, "Remember Isaiah: it's never 'Good-bye.' It's 'until we meet again.'"

And it's true. And it's a beautiful thing. We will meet again. We may not know the day, and it may not be on this earth, but because we're in Christ, I know I can rest assured in these friendships I've made at Center Lake Bible Camp, that I WILL see them again. Because they are in Christ as well.

"Until we meet again..."