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BRIEFING:
Our briefing is really more of a final preparation to the start of camp. We assign people to last-minute tasks that need completion, share encouragement that we are experiencing (or needing), and take time to pray together before campers arrive. One last thing we do before we dismiss is allow one of our Program Coaches to bring his famous "no more mamas, no more daddies, Eagle Lake!" chant. It is true after all that soon there will be no more parents on our property allowing kids to, under the guidance of their counselors, to take autonomous steps toward knowing Jesus, knowing themselves, and knowing the others in their cabins.
BRUNCH/PUMP-UP:
Generally, when you get past the rhetoric of cliches there is a profound meaning the has gotten lost in translation over the years. Enter Sunday brunch at Eagle Lake. Every Sunday we gather to eat and socialize once more before we are swarmed with children and every Sunday we hear from someone about the staples of Sunday attitudes. I will list them in order of relevance and then dissect what the cliche actually means:
Eagle Lake Cliche #1: The first 3-5 minutes of a child setting foot on our property make or break the first 3-5 hours, which can make or break the entire week.
Translation: First impressions are important and impactful, especially those of a child. If they see tired, moping counselors they are far less likely to connect right away. If they see energy and feel loved, important, and safe right from the start, any walls or reservations they brought with them surrounding the experience are broken through far more easily.
Eagle Lake Cliche #2: Check your calendars people, you're tired. It is already the 6th week of camp. The people respond in unison, "1st week!"
Translation: Even though we have run the program identically five times in a row before today, and even though nothing is going to change this week, none of the kids coming up the hill today have ever experienced this program this summer. What might be rote and mundane to us is a thrilling discovery for every child preparing to enter the gates of our property.
Eagle Lake Cliche #3: Enthusiasm is...Contagious!!!
Translation: When you are tired, worn out, concerned about personal issues going on back home, etc., your level of excitement will rub off on kids and fellow staff. This is when it is time to leave all that at the door and give yourself to the kids your are entrusted with this week. Enthusiasm can be hard to muster, but you set the tone for the kids and staff around you.
CHAPEL:
Our first activity as a staff is Chapel on Sunday mornings. A recap of the weekend, thoughts on the previous evening's Bible studies, and praise and worship outline our makeshift church in the forest. We have a different speaker every week as well. Today we heard from Mike Jordahl, one of the leaders of the Navigators' Collegiate ministry. He spoke from John 17, a parallel of our Bible study, and how we are here to do 5 things with the kids we have every week: show them God, give them the Word, pray for them, be fully with them, and protect them. For our counselors, this is such a simple encouragement in the midst of a long summer. For our staff to know that they have but 5 simple tasks to accomplish is the simplicity that will help them finish the second half of the summer very well.
