Catching Up (camp days)

As a 9 year old child, I began attending a Christian camp called New Life Island (NLI). NLI is an island in the Delaware River. I loved going there as a camper and I knew that as soon as I was old enough, I would want to work there. So when I turned 15, I began to spend my summers on staff at NLI. My first 2 summers, I worked in the kitchen: washing dishes, cutting vegetables, etc. The following 2 summers, I was promoted to Assistant Cook. This was an interesting and always exciting experience. While I was on staff, I had the opportunity to work with some very great people, and always had an amazing experience so that I was never ready for the summer to end. They were always a spiritual and social high for me.

It was at NLI as a young teen that I surrendered my life to God. I told God that I was willing to do whatever it was that He wanted me to do and that I would go wherever it was that He wanted me to go. I had not much ideas right then what that may involve, but I wanted to follow God in whatever it was.

I envied the counselors in their getting to work directly with the kids and every time I got to hear about decisions being made for God it was always so exciting to be a small part of but I secretly kinda wanted more. I didn't know how that was possible though because there was no way I could ever be a camp counselor.

Well, toward the end of my second summer as the Assistant Cook, the camp director came to me and asked if I could help them out by filling in a week as a counselor (since there were more boy campers coming then they had the counselors to cover). With much fear and in trepidation, I said yes. The nervously anticipated week came and went, and I was hooked. I LOVED counseling. I came back the following 3 summers as a counselor and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

I loved building the relationships with the campers I had, and even had the privilege of continuing many of them on beyond the week at camp to follow-up visits to their homes, hanging out with them, emailing, and talking on the phone. I saw and experienced God changing lives through me (definitely not because of anything good that I did or was, but because He is good!)

This brings me to the end of my college years, so I need to go back and update you on my college years in the next post.