By Emma, One-Year Volunteer Corps and AmeriCorps member
Hello! It is time for Blog Post #3! First, I will begin with some songs that remind me of Kentucky.
Found - Chris Renzema
The Mountain - Steven Curtis Chapman
So Will I (A Hundred Billion Times) - Hillsong United
I am writing this in March, and I have been a volunteer for nine months (two during the summer, and seven as a long-term.) Time really does fly by when you are having fun!! We are officially having residential camp this summer, and that makes my heart truly so happy. I can’t wait for all the campers to come back to the mountain after a long four summers away. I am obviously passionate about Camp Shawnee, so planning for Camp 2022 is the best feeling in the world. For this blog post, I wanted to share why I think Camp is so special, in the hopes that my words might reach someone who would be interested in volunteering as a counselor with us!
There is nothing more magical than waking up on a Monday morning, waving to all the campers as they arrive on the school bus, and getting settled into your teams. The feeling of learning everyone’s names, making your team flag, and learning camp songs literally can’t be beat!
We have been working hard on creating a schedule for Counselor Orientation, and I can’t wait for newcomers to experience all the magic that comes with learning how to play Gaga, singing “If I Were Not at Camp Shawnee,” and tie dying camp shirts together.
Camp is truly the place where I connect with God the most. The lyrics to one of the songs I mentioned above (The Mountain by Steven Curtis Chapman,) says “My faith is strengthened by all that I see, you make it easy for me to believe up on the mountain.” This basically sums up how I feel about camp. The last song I mentioned, So Will I by Hillsong United, says something similar in their lyrics. The song says, “I can see Your heart a billion different ways. Every precious one, a child You died to save, and If You gave Your life to love them so will I.” These lyrics have resonated with me since I heard them for the first time in 2018. “If you gave your life to love them, so will I,” is my unofficial motto as a camp counselor. All the campers really want is for us to love them, and it is our job to help them have the best week of their summer!
I say all of this to express how happy I am that we have the honor to hold summer camp again this summer. I am so ready for whatever the next five months hold!
