CAMP

By definition CAMP is a place usually in the country for recreation or instruction often during the summer (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It’s interesting how my definition of CAMP has evolved.

My very first taste of CAMP life was tagging along each summer to a camp in east Texas, while my granddad directed a session. I would stay in the director's cabin with my grandparents, while my parents, aunts, and uncles were counselors in the girls and guys cabins.

When I was old enough to attend CAMP on my own, I made a paper chain counting down the days until my turn to be a camper arrived. For ten years, I went to different camps and learned different life lessons at each one. But, none compare to the lessons I learned at one CAMP in particular.

My freshman year of college came and I discovered there were many different CAMPs taking applications for staff members. There was one CAMP in particular I was interested in. Some friends’ older sister had previously worked there and from the few things I had heard about this CAMP SHILOH, it was the place I wanted to be most. I had never been there, I had never even been to the state where it is located, but I really hoped that would change. And it did.

I went to an interview in my college’s campus library one evening.  I definitely didn’t have all the right answers but I remember leaving thankful for the way God filled me with words when I wasn’t sure what to say and filled me with peace no matter what happened as I walked away.  A few days later, I received a phone call offering me a job to be a counselor at CAMP SHILOH. All the emotions that rushed through me in that moment paled in comparison to all the emotions that were to come. 

Two months later, in June of 1999 I drove to the DFW airport, boarded an airplane for an early morning flight, then climbed on a van, and finally stepped foot at CAMP SHILOH for the first time.  From the moment I went down that windy path for the first time I was never the same.

It was at CAMP SHILOH I learned:

-first impressions are often completely wrong.

-the importance of wearing closed-toe shoes at all times (the day I stepped on a snake tail after leaving the pool).

-how to correctly do laundry.

-to brush my teeth before taking a shower (so for one split second I was clean from head to toe before getting sweaty and dirty all over again).

-kids who have seen sewer rats by the dozen are scared beyond belief of tiny mice.

-“co-counselor” takes entirely too long to say (so we implemented the title “co-co” instead).

-there is no limit to how many times certain songs can be sung at a talent show.

-to double dutch jump rope and a whole new world of dance moves.

-taking your campers to pick the blueberries in the woods, and letting all consume as many as desired, may cause the cabin bathroom to have a line.

-why you should never swing a flaming marshmallow in the air.

-not too gather bark for fire starter from live trees.

-the power of forgiveness.

-a spoonful of kool-aid mix works great to reward good behavior and keep everyone hydrated.

-how much there is to learn from each others’ experiences.

-everyone doesn’t react in the same way to the same situation and that is a good thing.

-it’s not enough to think I know what I believe, I must seek why and be prepared to answer.

-to grow from my mistakes (instead of just wallowing in them).

-the hardest moments are the ones you will remember the most.

Because of CAMP SHILOH my heart knows more pain and more love.  I was changed for the better because of my experiences and the people I met. The lessons learned at a camp do not ever leave you; you take them with you forever. And that’s why somewhere along the way my definition of CAMP changed. When I hear the word it no longer has a generic meaning, I immediately think of SHILOH.

Annalee spent the summers of '99 and '00 as a cabin counselor, the summer of '01 as the activities director, and the summer of '03 as the nutrition director and art director.  After spending her summers at camp, Annalee began her teaching career in Abilene, TX where she taught for two years and then moved to Austin, TX where she taught for 3 years.  Annalee married in 2004 and quickly brought her husband Evan to visit Shiloh in 2005 so he could see the special place she would always hold in her heart.  Annalee became a mom in 2008 to Adelaide, who is now 3, and then to Graham, who is now 1.  Currently Annalee is a stay at home mom, a discussion leader for a Moms group at church, and one of the VBS directors for 3 year olds.