Sunday 1
It is the 4th of July AND it is our first Sunday… so which gets priority?
All you old Greystone Girls know the answer… we do what Dr. Sevier taught us and keep the Lord’s Day! This allows a better camp experience too, for the routines of camp are much beloved and the girls would be disappointed if we did not have Stumblers (our Sunday morning running club), a leisurly buffet breakfast, time for long showers, camp worship time, long rest hour, and a concert on the lawn. Yesterday was an incredible celebration of Independence Day and the memories of that party are like a warm blanket to our hearts. So Much Fun! So Much Laughter! It was amazing and it has prepared us for what we expect when Sunday comes around. We love Sundays, which have been updated in some very nice ways this year.
Stumblers no longer takes place on the track under a blazing sun… 15 laps providing lots of time to talk in what is not the most scenic of settings available. Don’t get me wrong, I love Stumblers… but it was so crowded and it was so hot and almost impossibe to keep track of the laps. Now we run the River Trail, one of the most beautiful and interesting settings in the area. It is a real treat for the eyes and for the heart! Features include:
- Farm Barn: Garden, Freeman Creek, Sheep, Goats, Chickens, Pigs, Pony’s, Horses, Minature Horses, Cows, and sweeping vistas of our river pastures (the biggest open fields in camp).
- Hidden Lake: a large lake that is only partially visible from our front campus. This area teams with wildlife, the star being the Bald Eagle who has assumed the lake as his territory. Also of note are the otters, beavers, snapping turtles, blue herons, wood ducks, mallards, and Canadian geese.
- Camp the trail has been cleared next to Lake Edith, providing an unobstructed view of the entire camp from across the lake. Very few campers have ever seen this view before and it is a wonderful aspect of the new trail.
- Green River a Class 2 trout stream that is the primary water source for Lake Summit. It is a beautiful river, very deep and flowing steadily next to the hidden lake and the back pastures. Most girls have never seen this side of camp, it is amazing.
- Outback Pastures are a series of pastures that occupy the high ground next to hidden lake. The trail follows these pastures back to the Farm Barn by the backside. The views are amazing, very different from any other place in camp.
By the time we complete our 1.75-mile run/walk, we feel lucky to be alive. Such a beautiful world, such wonderful people, such a wonderful place… it is a great way to start the day!
We are no longer doing Sunday School (with nightly devotions and morning assemblies the girls get lots of that already), which allows us to focus on our church time. It will be an appreciated moment of the day. There is something special about church at camp. Our community is very tightly bound together and already is achieving a sense of its unique composition as a group. This year we seem to be particularly close, an effect of the new structure and the pandemic times. The Holy Spirit is using this time to heal and to build… I think our Sunday worship times will be particularly powerful because of this fact. We will post our sermon later today, you might want to do a virtual sermon as a part of your worship day! Reid is a wonderful minister and is already getting requests for cabin Question and Response times (a wonderful way for girls to ask hard questions with their cabin mates).
Tonight we will have our first summer concert. With warm temperatures and no chance of rain, it promises to be the perfect ending to a perfect day.
Thank you for checking in. Anyone reading this post must be a true camp fanatic. Your support and prayers are MOST APPRECIATED!