Daily Devotion

Camp Luther                                                             Lutheridge Camp & Conference Center
66 wooded acres along the shores of Lake Erie  160 acres in Arden, NC
Stunning view with sensational sunsets               Scenic, mountain setting    
Hiking trails, sport fields                                         Hiking trails, canoeing, rock climbing

Monday, July 20, 2020

The Five Senses of Camp – Sight

I liken that attending a week of summer camp to an immersive experience, similar to a semester studying abroad. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study abroad in Oviedo, Spain the spring semester of my junior year in college. For five months, I was surrounded by a different language, new food, flamenco dancing, art, you name “it” – “it” was different. I left Spain with a greater appreciation for people who speak multiple languages, taking a true day of rest each week (NOTHING is open on Sundays in Spain), world history and the influence of the Catholic church.

My first time I attended a Lutheran camp was in 2012 at Lutheridge, located in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina. This was an immersion experience for me and has been each time I go back (8 consecutive summers). I spend a week surrounded by a Christian community defined by their music, camp language (PB = Pioneer B cabin unit, not Peanut Butter) and inclusive actions towards all.

When I look around at camp, I see people forming and strengthening relationships. I see God in the beauty of the natural surroundings of where camp is geographically located. I see the joy in families getting to spend time together. I see my kids smiling at new friends they have made and hugging old ones from prior summers. I see love.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

When the realities of COVID-19 safety protocols and the true duration of this pandemic really set in, summer camps had to make the really tough decisions to remain closed for the summer. While I think I knew that announcement was coming throughout the month of April and into May, it was still difficult to hear when it was officially made. A summer with no camp? And not only did I have to sit with my own sadness about not going to a place that refills my spiritual bucket each year, but I also had to tell my kids that we were not going. At the young ages of 10, 7 and 4, my kids have only known summers complete with a week or two at Lutheran summer camp.

My family knows that we can bear a summer without going to Family Camp. My family believes that we can endure a summer without seeing old camp friends. My family hopes that next summer will include a week at Family Camp. So, in the meantime, we look for love in the midst of grieving the loss of summer camp. We see this love in the gift of sun tea brewed and shared with us by our neighbors. We see this love in family hikes a little closer to home this summer. We hope that you also see love surrounding you and strengthening you as we endure this time a part together.

¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

What has strengthened your faith these last few months?

What gives you hope as we navigate new ways of engaging with community life?

When have you felt loved recently?