Happy Camper

The following is a list of all the reasons The Little Ocho is not cut out for church camp:

1. She doesn't do well in large groups of complete strangers. She tends to withdraw and wait nervously for the nightmare to be over. Our camp had about 170 kids and around 50 camp counselors, most of which she didn't know.

2. She's irresponsible. Camp requires that each child keep up with their own stuff. She's been known to lose one of her shoes inside a moving vehicle. Keeping up with stuff is not her spiritual gift.

3. She needs a minimum of 10 snacks per day. Campers were not allowed to bring snacks nor was their an allotted snack time during the day. If you wanted one, you had to buy it from the camp store. She spent most of her money on a stuffed animal on Day 2. (see #2)

4. She's high-maintenance. She needs at least 20 minutes of shower time, 15 minutes of hair-combing time, 10 minutes of picking-out-my-outfit time and 20 minutes of I-can't-find-my-shoes time. Campers were allowed 3 minute showers and around 10 minutes for everything else, including finding their shoes. (see #2)

5. She's not competitive or outdoorsy. She likes the pool and she'll take an occasional nature-hike, but most of her hobbies include air-conditioning, a comfortable place to sit and absolutely no girl-boy interaction. Camp requires a lot of outside activity. Like games. With boys. And if you're fair-skinned and prone to at least 10 mosquito bites everytime you face the daylight, you must apply your own sunscreen and bug spray. Plus, you usually have to wear shoes. (see #2)

So, given all of this you can understand my reservations. I wasn't totally convinced she was ready.

But her best friend Morgan was going. And our brand new children's pastor (and our good friend) was going. And his lovely wife (and my good friend) Beth offered to make sure she was her camp counselor. And 2 of the most beautiful, responsible, spiritually mature and all-around most-awesome teenage girls ever (Shout-out to Molly & Hannah!) were the other counselors in her cabin. Obviously God had made provisions to cover all of my fears. So we signed her up and spent an entire week worrying and wondering.

Would she dare to speak a word to anyone besides Morgan and Beth all week? Was she burnt to a crisp after day one? Had she already contracted Lyme disease by day 2? Was she walking around all week with only 1 flip flop? Had she been forced to hold hands with a boy during a game and fled the scene crying, never to be heard from again?

Yesterday I waited anxiously in our church sanctuary to see what would greet me. What I saw was a huge smile, a freckled nose and a sweet hand holding a beautiful necklace. She'd used the money not spent on stuffed animals to buy me a present...sniff, sniff. Yes, I had a moment.

She looked taller. And older. And happy. Really happy.

She talked non-stop about her new friends Emma, Megan & Julia. She talked about how fun Molly and Hannah were. She talked about how glad she was to get to know Ella, Kaitlyn and Caden better. She talked about the team games and Bible study and her time alone with God. She said her favorite part was worship. The food was "not terrible...except the mac & cheese and the omelets. They were terrible." She talked about her only regret of the week (she was too shy to ask Molly to braid her hair). She talked and talked and talked. Then she said she can't wait to go back next year.

But the first thing she talked about was how responsible she had been. She was proud to report that she didn't get sunburned once and remembered her bug spray every day. And the only thing she lost? One sock. ONE SOCK!

This morning things have been a little different at our house. The little girl who usually gets up at 6:00 crawled out of bed at 7:30. After breakfast (and more talking about camp), instead of turning on cartoons, she sat on the couch with her Bible, a notebook and a pen.

Her first camp experience turned out to be a week she'll remember forever and has changed her for the better in more ways than one. Thanks to everybody who worked so hard and poured so much into our kids!


Side note: On the last day, each child was given a paper plate award. Due to the extraordinary efforts of Handiman, The Entourage and myself, The Ocho was presented with this:

She racked up 8 letters in 5 days! And one of them had cash in it. (Of course, she only sent one letter from camp and none of us were the recipient. Figures.)