Smile

How to make friends 101… SMILE!

That is what we teach at Greystone. From day one we encourage the girls to be aware of their facial expressions. No matter how awkward it might make us feel at first we tell the girls to smile when relating to each other. If you smile, you will meet more people and make more friends… simple!

That was the lesson at Breakfast Club this morning (a brief little talk that I give the girls every day) and it is a great foundation for the girls to build upon in their next two weeks at camp. I see it in the dining hall, on the lower road between classes, in the shop line, and while sitting in the pit… Girls smiling as they walk, sit, stand around… and as they smile, other girls are drawn close like moths to a light. As soon as we see that it works, we ALL end up smiling a lot and camp is flavored with a WONDERFUL light and happy spirit.

Visitors notice this fact when touring the camp. The sweet spirit of camp is hard to describe but it is as real as the facilities and program. With a sweet spirit, any camp will be a transformative experience (even if it’s facilities or program are lacking). It is the reason for our success and it is what we are most concerned with “getting right” at every session.

This year has been particularly good in this respect and I am very thankful to have one last session before returning to the “real world”. A Main Camp parent emailed me yesterday describing what she saw in her daughter’s camp experience… I could not say it better and share it with you (with permission).

In a culture that is so incredibly toxic and lost and leading so many girls and young women into lives of desperation and hopelessness, we have gotten a real glimpse of heaven – a glimpse of what God intends life to be like. And we feel like it is a STRONG answer to the culture –strong enough to last the months between her summers at Greystone.

And so, this long (hopefully not boring) email, is to just say, “thank you” and “keep it up”. God is working in that place in a way he is not working in many other places. In this lost world, it gives me hope to know there is such a place.

It is such an honor to have your girls at Greystone. We hope that their time here will be MUCH more than fun!