Real Friends
The Breakfast Club thought for the day was on making new friends. Making friends is the most important camp goal for most of our campers and we think it is one of the best parts of the camp experience. Friendships made a camp often last for decades. We think it is because these friendships tend to be more “real” than those made outside “the bubble”.
Real friendships have a lasting foundation rooted in Christ’s love. For instance: rather than connect through brand name “trendy” clothes (connections that arise from pride and exclusivity) we connect through genuine smiles and overflowing kindness. We have DMCs (Deep Meaningful Conversations) and have fun simply playing and laughing as we include others in the fun. These bonds grow with time and are deeply felt and genuinely real. Since they blossom during a brief time at camp, these connections are easily re-established even after an absence of months or even years. Camp friends are real friends and we are so happy to see them developing!
Yesterday I briefly mentioned resilience as a character trait that grows at camp… it’s worth reinforcing that point, for the girls are ALL developing this wonterful skill (and perhaps learning it is a good thing). There are no perfect experiences, no perfect people, no perfect ANYTHINGS. We are constantly having to adjust to the “lack” of this world. The “bad” of this world will always drag on our emotions but we can overcome these feelings with a sense of perspective. No matter how many bad things we face, there are just as many good things for which we are thankful.
Resilience is a hallmark of most great experiences. It is always a character trait of a great leader. It is always a character trait of a joyful life. It shows perspective and is a mark of wisdom, but it is not the way we are naturally wired. I am sure all of you are aware of our tendency to have a “negative bias” in life. We can’t help but dwell on an insult or fixate on mistakes. Criticisms have a greater impact than compliments, and bad news frequently draws more attention than good.
The reason for this (as many of you know) is that negative events have a greater impact on our brains than positive ones. Psychologists refer to this as the negative bias, and it can have a powerful effect on your behavior, your decisions, and even your relationships. Camp is a place where we swap our negative bias with a positive bias. Those who live life in this way are resilient individuals. They engage in new and difficult situations with confidence and a smile; making the best of every circumstance no matter what.
It starts with waking up (clap your hands and say it’s going to be a great day) and continues at Breakfast Club (the joke is always important… I will share the jokes this year so you can ask about them if you want). We enjoy Morning Assembly (dancing to fun praise music and a quick devotion), AND ONLY THEN do we go to classes. A big chunk of time is spent on getting our attitudes right… and it works.
Camp is a place of enormous positive energy, a place marked by kindness and love, a place of smiles and meaningful conversations. In such a setting, we become more resilient. It is a wonderful reason to send your children to camp! I wish all children had this opportunity… it can change a life.
Breakfast Club Joke: Skunk family with baby skunks named “In” and “Out”. “Out” found “In” quickly because IN-STINK.
MENU
- Breakfast: Pancakes and Sausage
- Lunch: Roast Beef Sandwiches, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Dinner: Pork Chops, Cheese Ravoli, Apple Sauce
WEATHER
- Sunny, 73 degrees, chance of rain
Might as well talk about lightning… for NC has the second-highest number of lightning strikes of any state in America (Florida is #1). We have prepared the camp to be a safe place in a storm. Things like:
- A great lightning detection and warning system (Perry Weather) that lets us know if a storm is about to hit. We have found it to be very accurate.
- Lightning Rods on our tallest trees… we have grounded the biggest trees around the lower campus. Thus, when lightning hits our trees (where lightning usually strikes) it is immediately routed through a thick cable into the earth and is not a problem.
- Protocols… we seek shelter when a storm blows in.
Most of the time, these storms last about 20 minutes and provide a great time to play games and get to know each other. These unexpected moments often end up being a favorite memory from the summer!
Thank you for checking in! I hope you are having a GREAT DAY!