Jumping Back In

   It feels so strange not to have a post filled with stories this weekend!! But I must say, I have truly enjoyed my week off. I spent the week truly relaxing and not worrying about anything. I was able to sleep in most of the week- which felt amazing. Kicking back, going shopping with my mom, doing lunch and pedis with a couple of girlfriends, spending the last half of my week with my two nieces- cooking, going to a water park, nails, sleep over, a birthday party for a camper,  yep its been a full week but one of the most relaxed I've been in months. I can't believe its already over. As much as I've enjoyed being off, I'm ready to get back into the routine and being with my second family- my coworkers at camp- we've truly become like family this summer. I love them all so very much. But most importantly I am ready to get back to my campers. I miss the crazy buzz of activities and the ongoing excitement from the campers. We only have five weeks left in our summer and I am recharged and ready  to go. I know there are still challenges to overcome but I'm ready to face them head on. That's all for now, but at the end of the week I can't wait to share with you more stories from my Paradise.

Week 3

Sorry this is later than normal, I've been catching up on some much needed relaxation. Spearhead counselors have the week off due to Camp Courage (a camp for cancer patients) using our facilities for a week. So I've enjoyed having the last few days to truly relax and not having to rush through my weekend. Although, if I were completely honest, I am already missing camp. It was strange not to be there today for our pool party and dance party. I missed dancing so much I downloaded some of our line dances tonight!!! Is that dedication or what?? LOL 

This past week has probably been our hardest week so far. With 91 campers (which is capacity) all our counselors were challenged to the max. But I can honestly say, I was very impressed with them. Most of our campers were higher maintenance campers than the last few weeks. (-meaning they just need closer watch over) Our counselors were pushed harder mentally, physically, and even emotionally. I was so impressed with them. They certainly showed their 212 attitudes and pushed through the week. It was an awesome week filled with laughter and fun. 

I made a new friend this week. A camper that has been a camper in the past but for the last few years has chosen not to come to camp, but this year she changed her mind. She's an older lady but completely there mentally. She cracked jokes right and left and was truly funny. She had to have a lift to get her in and out of her wheelchair, and a lot of help with everything. Her week started off a little rough because as she told me, her counselors didn't know how to take care of her. She felt she may have made the wrong decision about coming. I explained to her that her counselors were still learning and she just needed patience and walk them through it all. By the end of the week she was begging me to get her signed up for the rest of the summer!!! Sweetest lady I've met in a long time. On Thursday night I was walking around the dinning hall when she and her counselor called me over. She then handed me a card she had made- hand painted even. Inside were some of my favorite verses from the Bible. The funny thing is, she had no idea they were my favorite. But here she is, encouraging me. I was like, wait this is backwards!? Shouldn't I be the one doing the encouraging?? But I gave her a big hug and thanked her a million times. A treasure I will keep forever.

I was able to get 3 full nights of sleep this week!!! First time since staff training week! It felt so good! The first night i was up till 4:30 am trying help a camper get tired enough to go back to bed. She had fallen asleep but woken up about 1:30 am and decided she didn't want to be quiet or go back to sleep. So she, one of her counselors, and I sat outside and talked until she was tired enough to go back to bed. All in a night's work I guess. :)

My girls got really creative with their cabin themes this week!! Going to check cabin clean up was a lot of fun this week! One cabin had the theme of African Queens. One day they sent me on a Safari to find pictures of jungle animals the campers had colored. The next day they had a stream for me to rest beside and relax- even had my bathing suit waiting for me. Here, they had a refreshing drink for me to sip on while I checked their cabin... waiting beneath a homemade palm tree...

Another one of the cabins had the theme Candy Land. So cute! Everyday they sent me on a trip on an actual life size game board. Leaving me cards to follow and candy at the end of the trail...here's a few things they did:

It was such a great week. But I think I will enjoy my time at home with my family just relaxing and gearing up for the rest of the summer! Thanks for stopping by and catching a glimpse of my Summer in Paradise!!!

Week 2

This week most everything was pretty much the same in the structure of camp but with different and even new campers. Two of our new campers this week were two young girls with autism. Their counselors were amazing and took both girls in and loved them both with all of their hearts. I'm so proud of how those counselors handled their week. One girl, Lindsey was very very sweet and happy all the time and very energetic. The other, Lauren, was more the "typical" autistic girl you kinda expect to see. Repetitive in her speech, if she didn't like something you said be prepared for a slap or hit, or even bite. Her counselors walked away from the week with a few scratches and maybe a couple of hits that left their heads spinning a little. But still, nothing could shake their love for her and their drive to want to help her.  On Tuesday we took them up to the Challenge course we have at camp. It consists of two zip lines, rock climbing tower and another tower to climb up to get to the zip lines. We had no idea if one or either of these girls would even attempt to climb, but it was worth a try. I went up with Lindsey to take pictures and see how she did; she began to climb what we call the "Taco Net"... (Because it’s a net that looks like a taco shell). With the patient kind soft voice of her counselor directly behind her and my reassurance from the outside of the taco net Lindsey began to climb. Five steps forward two steps back. Five steps forward, two steps back. I continually encouraged and coached from the ground as she climbed and as she listened to her counselor. I cried as I took pictures, knowing this was not exactly what I had expected. Though Lindsey is generally very obedient, I wasn't sure she'd do what we were asking her to do. Unfortunately I was not there to witness Lauren climb, but when it came time for her to climb; she took to the net like a spider to a web. She climbed the net in no time hooked up to zip line and was back down in no time, all the while continuing to talk about going to see "Mousie"... the mouse at Chuck E Cheese her favorite place on the planet. I was amazed to hear how far she had gone and done.

The next day I was hanging out with another one of the girl cabins. Their activity for the afternoon was riding bobcats- outdoor terrain vehicles. (Favorites at camp) I hopped on with one of their campers and off we went into the woods. We went up and down hills hit a few bumps but we were enjoying every minute of the ride. On the way back the camper I was with began saying things like; “Let’s just get through this rough patch and everything will be alright.” She wasn’t scared, just stating facts. I listened to her and began really thinking through what she had said. How often do we hit “rough patches” in our lives and yet do not look at them as if they will soon be over- we just have to get through them. At times we walk around with a “woe is me” attitude because life isn’t how we wanted it to be. Yet here is one of my campers putting me to shame because she has a better outlook than I do. Let’s just say I’m improving my attitude from day to day now.

Thursday night a camper was praying over our meal, and said “Thank you for Camp Spearhead and for a place for people to come if they don’t have a family or feel like they don’t have one. Amen.” This was said by my sweet friend Dhiren. Dhiren is one of my all-time buddies at camp. He calls me his “Narly Cool BFF.” He gives the best hugs I’ve ever received in my life. They are literally suffocating, but I tell you what, they are so nice when you just need a pick me up. I love having him at camp and I love his outlook about camp. He just lost his mom last November and his dad has also passed away. His life over the last few months has been rough I’m sure. But it doesn’t stop his positive attitude and great bear hugs. I can tell when I talked to him that he still hurts about his mother’s death but what an encouragement he was to me when he thanked God for a camp like Camp Spearhead.

Every day, my co-lead, Eddie and I do what’s called Cabin Clean Up. We go around and score each cabin on cleanliness but also on creativity. I had the biggest laugh on Thursday morning when I walked in a cabin to find myself on a scavenger hunt. The theme for the scavenger hunt went along with the theme our Administrators gave us during staff training week- Always being 212 degrees. Water boils at 212 and we are encouraged to keep enough energy going to be 212 at all times-giving it all we have. If you’re at 211, you’re not quite there yet, but at 212 so many things can happen at the boiling point. So I was sent on a scavenger hunt through this “212 cabin” at the end of the scavenger hunt, this is what I found:

On the back the door this is what they said. 

Needless to say, they received full points that day.

Other cabins left me sweet notes throughout the week on mirrors or on the countertop to let me know they loved me. Checking cabins have become a very fun activity for me.

I realized over and over again this week why we are at camp. Why we do what we do. We push and encourage our campers beyond what we expect possible- such as helping them climb towers, be there for them if they need a place that feels like family. This is why we do what we do. We love them so unconditionally and want to hand them the world. And I think in some small way we do. We let them win battles that sometimes they are never given the chance to even try to fight. I love my job. I love what I do. This is my summer in paradise.

Week 1

How did I become so blessed to be apart of such an amazing place? I seriously thought I'd have more time to write during the week, but it was a crazy first week so it didn't happen like I wanted, so here is the highlights of the week. Monday morning you could just feel the excitement at camp as staff awaited the arrival of our first week of campers. As campers arrived, the excitement only grew. If you've never experienced Camper Arrival at Camp Spearhead just let me give you a glimpse; a camper pulls onto camp and is directed to pull up under an awning where counselors gather and wait for campers to arrive. As campers get out of their car, you'd think you were at a red carpet event with counselors being the paparazzi, yelling greetings and reaching for hugs. The cool part about this event is that we are not trained to respond to campers in this manner. It just happens naturally. One of the many things I love about camp. Later in the afternoon we had our weekly pool party- a big highlight at camp. we stuff about 100 people into a pool that almost can't hold that many people and have a BLAST! It wasn't long into the party that i was thrown into my first "incident". I looked over at a lifeguard stand only to see a female camper sitting on the concrete trying to undress herself and two of her counselors trying to keep her clothes on. I run over to the situation and begin getting the information about the problem. Come to find out the poor woman's home failed to send a bathing suit for her and though her counselors were fine with her swimming in her clothes, she just didn't fully understand. To her in order to go swimming you take off your clothes... just common sense. I sat behind the camper and began talking to her calmly and sweetly. I wasn't sure she was hearing me since she was still yelling at her counselors. After what felt like 20 min (in reality it was probably only 5) I asked her counselors to let go of her. They looked at me like i was crazy but I asked them to trust me. They did and almost immediately the camper merely adjusted her waist band and put her shirt back on. She wanted nothing to do with her counselors so I asked them to walk away. I began talking with the woman and encouraged her to jump in so she did. It was so funny to watch her laugh over the fact that she was in the pool with her clothes on! She had a blast after that. I thank the Lord the event didn't get any worse than it did. Later in the week this camper found an empty wheelchair and deemed it hers. It was hysterical to watch her the rest of the week insisting on wheeling herself around everywhere but yet insisting on being independent. She didn't want any help from anyone. Randomly tough her counselors or I would find her getting out of the chair and dancing to some music or walking across a room to retrieve something she wanted. One morning her counselor asked me to check on her since she had been in the bathroom a while. I walked in and called her name but received no response. Called her several times and at no response I knew I would have to peak into the stall. I don't like doing that kind of thing because I like giving campers as much personal privacy as I can. But i had to know what was taking so long and why i wasn't getting a response.I looked in, and found the woman chugging milk!!! I about rolled on the floor from laughing so hard. She then stuffed the carton in the little trashcan in the stall and proceeded to exit the stall. It was so hilarious. I fell in love with her this week!

Tuesday went pretty well full day of programs from Tie-Dying to Dance Class to Clown Shows. 

Wednesday pretty much the same until that night when another camper became distressed and began threatening her counselors and cursing. I happened to be in the cabin making a nightly round to ensure all was well when she began. We eventually had to remove her from the cabin and to another building. In the end the camper, her counselor, and I spent the night in the Med Tech office on the hospital beds to make sure she had fully calmed down and that everyone would get some sleep. She didn't fall asleep until close to midnight, her counselor and I not too far behind that. Out of pure nature her counselor and I woke up every hour just to make sure all was still well. Let's just say I had 2 cups of coffee the next morning. But we never had an incident with that the rest of the week. 

Thursday dawned bright and beautiful. Everyone excited about the highlight of the evening: Talent Show. What a Talent Show it was. If you've never been to a Spearhead Talent Show, please let me encourage you to join us one Thursday night at 7:30. You won't regret it let me assure you. I love giving campers time on stage to do their own thing and hearing ear piercing cheers from their peers and loved ones. I love being apart of this place. Even through its ups and downs, this week was truly Paradise.