Reflections

Camper time

Erin

For the past 8 (really 11) weeks we've been holed away in this little place off of Tecumseh Bend Rd., sacrificing sleep and personal time to give the kids an experience that they will never forget.  It's a show, with several people behind the scenes giving their all and setting up all the "moments".  Often times, it's the unscripted moments that are the most special.  The times in the barn aisle before classes begin and you're just sitting there talking and chatting about life, sometimes about horses but not always.  Maybe it's waiting on horsemanship to show up and you start to have a random conversation while in a stall with a camper.  It's those moments between the bigger moments that the kids will remember forever.  How the activities themselves aren't always what they'll treasure but how you took the time to talk to them, act crazy and show them that it's okay to be themselves and that they don't have to fit into a mold that school and society want but to be the person that God meant for them to be.

Me and a camper

Donica and Rebecca

Donica

April

And who helps make that happen?  The counselors.  We, as full time staff, are here to help the counselors achieve a greatness that they didn't know existed.  We are here to support them, to help them grow as a person, to foster the seed within them.  When we help make them better people and when they grow, they will only make the experience even better for the kids.  They will be happier, stronger counselors who will then be able to go on and pass on the love to the kids.  I hope I have done that with my staff this summer.  I hope they have grown as people.  I know I saw them morph and change since the first day they arrived.  They arrived quiet, unsure, and hesitant.  I saw a wild zany Erin emerge while Naomi's, her British partner, sense of humor cracked me up.  I saw them working together, each supporting one another and filling in each other's weaknesses with their strengths.  Then the partnership of April and Rebecca and how they almost morphed into one person.  They were a strong unit that the kids just loved.  April's smile is the sweetest thing I've ever seen (and her crazy faces on trail rides were a riot!) and Rebecca is one of the most patient colt instructors I've ever had.  Donica's creativeness was unmatched for mounted trail obstacles and Celyn rose as a leader, taking the lead in getting the job done.  I couldn't have made it without them.  We endured heat and dry weather, kids who weren't always the most motivated to move and lacked some on the listening skills, and have, so far, made it through 24 early morning trail rides.  One more week to go.  2 more early morning trail rides.  5 days of lessons.  And 6 more periods of clinics.  They can do it.  We can do it.

Erin

Rebecca!

Karissa

April

Sharkbait!

Steven

My barn staff have been working hard for the past 11 weeks of the summer.  Getting up early and tacking up horses to get the horsemanship barn ready to go after chapel or getting up early to tack up Lake Village horsemanship while also taking pictures for the early morning trail ride.  Teaching clinics, moving horses, instructing upper levels of equestrian camp, bringing horses in and out of the barn, sweeping and picking trails, walking miles of trail rides, tacking and untacking horses countless times, completing chores day in and day out, reading parent letters, and doing whatever else we ask for the good of camp.  Are they tired?  Yep.  Do they want a break?  Yep.  But they too have been integral to the workings of camp and without them, Amie and I couldn't do it.  This show takes all parts working together to make an awesome, unforgettable experience for the campers.  I hope that everyone has changed somewhat over the summer for the better.  There are times where I wish I could have done more for them.  We all had our rough patches over the summer, where we lose focus, get tired and worn down, and just want to be done.  But we always push through.  I care about each and every one of my staff.  I really do.  There's no one that didn't pull their weight, that were the bad egg among all the good ones, that were not a joy to be around.  So to Erin, Naomi, Donica, Celyn, Rebecca, April, Steven, Rachel, Sarah, and Karissa.....thanks for a great summer.  Thanks for your sacrifice.  I hope you got so much out of the experience.  You may not realize it now, but when you are home, you may realize how much God changed you while at camp.  Take the love of camp with you wherever you go.  Be third always.  Love you all.

This is how we all feel!