Today began as all Sundays at Illahee do: A late wakeup bell, and hundreds of campers meandering their way to the dining hall for donuts, cereal, and breakfast casserole. Adorned in their PJs, some holding their favorite stuffed animal, they sat around tables, recounting stories from the first week of camp. Our bodies are tired, our hearts are full, and our legs are sore from a great game of Capture the Flag. (Red won)
Campers and counselors from Heigh Ho (mostly 6th and 7th grade) and our CITs (rising 11th grade) led worship today. Reading prayers they had written and scripture they had selected, they helped us explore the idea of “seeking God’s kingdom first.” The CITs elaborated, saying that they most easily see God’s kingdom in the relationships they have formed with one another at camp. They encouraged the rest of us to seek out true friendships and to work to maintain them in the many months between summers at Illahee. Judy Anne Jackson, a Junior Counselor and phenomenal singer/songwriter, played for us, and we all left feeling recharged, centered, and hopeful for another great week at Illahee.
In the midst of a delicious fried chicken lunch, our table was swarmed by a group of Hillbrook and Heigh Ho campers who had found a way to make my day. They presented a lovely Father’s Day card for Gordon and me. Every camper from cabins 1-20 carefully signed it. These girls teach me every day how to be a better dad and stepdad, and I need all the help I can get. After all, Gardner and I are expecting a baby girl on December 1st of this year!
Our afternoon continued with an extended rest hour and a camp-wide event called “The Pine Tree Cup.” I brought this program to Illahee three years ago as a modification of something I had participated in as a camper at a small camp near Oxford, North Carolina. We called it the “Run for the Roses,” but the premise is the same. Every camper is a part of a team traversing the entire camp in a nonstop relay for eternal glory. This year, the Orange team, made up of cabins 2, 19, 11, and Pine Branch, won. It’s no wonder that two of our most competitive and athletic counselors, Mary Louise and Omega, were the team leaders. Win or lose, we all concluded the afternoon with a line dance party in the driveway.
We finished the day with a cookout and campfire. Campers enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers, many came up for what Illahee girls often call “dessert dogs,” meaning an extra hot dog for dessert… yum?
Campfire made for a great ending to a great week. Songs were sung, stories told, and skits enacted. It felt as if campers were sitting closer to each other compared to last week, leaning into this community that is only seven days in the making.
While the embers faded to ash, we grabbed each other’s hands and sang that old song about our faithful Pine Tree.
It made me think of the verse that Harper so eloquently read at worship this morning:
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers,
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on God’s law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
When we were picking scripture on Friday and these verses from Psalm 1 were read, Harper’s face lit up, saying “Tree! Just like we’re supposed to be like our Pine Tree, right?!?”
I always love it when a sermon can be so short and arise from the soft yet enthusiastic voice of a middle schooler.
Day is done, and the girls are giggling their way back to cabins, with a chorus of crickets and bullfrogs echoing through the hemlocks.
Lucas