Unforgettable Moments at Church Camp
- Megan Landry
- Jul 24
- 7 min read
I have never been to a "real" sleepaway camp. I went to an overnight field hockey camp in high school, but that was not the friendship bracelet making, campfire singing kind of camp. It was more of a run, do drills, play field hockey kind of camp. I've always been intrigured by camp life (were any other millenials obsessed with the show Bug Juice??). It seemed so cool to go away for a week (or more) and do all kinds of activities. But if we're being honest, as the shy and timid kid I was, there's no way I would have been brave enough to do any of the activities.
A couple of years ago, when Zack and I first started going to our church, I remember vividly the day we had service when all the kids and adults who had just gone to camp were back. They called it Camp Sunday. Kids of all ages and adult volunteers were proudly wearing their camp shirts, and a video played sharing pictures from the week. I was impressed, and I knew that one day I wanted to volunteer. I love working with kids, I just don't often get the chance to do so between mom life and work life.
Last summer, I felt the tug even more when a friend from church, Danielle, popped up on Facebook during camp week. She had her two little ones with her (at the time, they were 3 1/2 and 5 1/2). Hmm. I thought. If Danielle brought her two littles with her, maybe I could bring Zack.
I knew that the church allowed a few "pre campers" (those under the 3rd grade year) to attend camp, but I didn't know HOW young they could be.
So around springtime this year, I planted the seed with our Pastor at Church that I would like to volunteer this summer, but that I would need to bring Zack. With Tom's work schedule, it would be too hard to be away a long time. After a lot of thought and conversations, I signed up to volunteer and agreed to bring Zack with me- but I said we would stay for only part of the week. Sunday-Wednesday. I thought that would give us a taste of what camp is like, without the commitment of the full week.
As the week got closer, I began to get nervous. What if Zack hated it? What if he wouldn't go off and do the activities without me? What if other kids were mean to him?
And, truthfully, I have been dealing with quite a bit of self doubt/low self esteem myself lately. I have been feeling like I do not belong anywhere, sad that I do not have a solid group of friends, and am often wondering if anyone really likes me at all.
So in a way, heading to camp myself felt like a risk. I sort of felt like 9 year old Megan in 37 year old Megan's body. Nervous, afraid I would be out of place.
It turns out, I really had nothing to worry about.
Zack was welcomed with open arms by kids and adults. The campers are broked up into age groups for most of the day. High school kids with other high school kids, middle school with middle school, etc. And then there is the group of "pre campers". You have to have finished 3rd grade to be a regular camper and attend without a parent. So anyone younger than that is in the precamper group. Zack was the youngest at 3 years old, and then we had a few in between and the oldest ones were 8. They were together for playtime, music class, art class, and swimming. I got to hang with them for some of the morning, and it was really fun to get to know them better. I knew the kids on a surface level from church, but got to see their personalities come out more during camp.
My absolute favorite memory of the precampers is when I took Zack down to the beach for swimming. They were all already in the water, and their sweet little faces were popping out of the lake, all of them cheering for Zack, so excited that he was at the beach with them. It was as adorable as you can imagine.
In the afternoon, when the pre campers were swimming, I was able to mingle with the older kids more. I helped with the elementary age cooking class and the high school cake decorating class. The adult volunteers led different activities, the two I just mentioned being only some of them. There was also archery, disc golf, guitar lessons, board games, friendship bracelet making, basket weaving, postcard art, photography...and I am sure I am missing a few more. Just like the pre campers, I really liked getting to know the kids of the other ages better, too.
After dinner, the kids meet with their Olympic teams. these teams were pre determined, and it's where the age groups all mix together to put together a skit for the taelnt show and do different games. The evenings were really fun to watch the big high school kids help out the smaller kids with the games. I really appreciated that the games were reltaively easy enough for all ages to do them. Zack's favorite was the shoe kicking competition.
After the games we did a campfire and sang songs. The seniors give a speech the last night of camp, and on one night they ask an adult volunteer to give a talk. This year, that volunteer was me. I talked about how I used to be shy, and didn't think I had much to say but that over the years I have found my voice. I encouraged all of them to use their voice, because what they had to say mattered.
By the time Zack and I left Wednesday evening, I was sad. I actually cried when we pulled off the road. I was not expecting such an emotional response (to be fair, I was sleep deprived). But I think my tears were a combination of exhaustion, gratitude, relief, guilt (for leaving when I could be helping), and maybe slight excitement to finally have a cell phone signal again.
So how did Zack do, you ask? I think he did great. He had fun, he bonded with some of the older kids (the high school girls in particular could not get enough of him). There were a few times he struggled being away from me. They called me from the beach to say he was sad and asking for me, so the next day instead of sending him swimming for a few hours without me, I just had him tag along with me for the classes I was teaching. Everyone was very flexible and understanding. He also liked doing some of the Olympic games but others he was too intimidated and sat to watch instead. I gently encouraged him but also did not force him to do anything he really did not want to do. My hope is that he slowly gets more comfortable to try new things.
He was also mostly very quiet, a few people even made comments about how they didn't think he talked. I laughed because with me, the kid never stops talking. He is just shy. The very sweet music teacher said he didn't talk in music class until the last day. I am really proud of the way he started to open up more. It is intimidating as an adult to be around a bunch of people you don't know, can't imagine how scary it was for a 3 year old.
The theme of camp this year was "God Moments". I certainly witnessed a lot of them at camp. From 6 year old Anson holding Zack's hand and guiding him through activities to seeing the adult volunteers give so much of their time and energy to giving these kids a fun, safe experience. The more outgoing kids reaching out to the quiet kids. The conversations shared at meal times.
Camp was not always perfect- there were tears, arguments, cranky attitudes. Some kids got sick or missed home stung by a wasp. It was difficult to discipline kids I had never met before. I did have moments of feeling like I was doing it wrong or feeling like I was an outsider, but I also had moments of feeling welcomed and happy to be making deeper connections.
So- will we go back?
Yes. Will we stay a full week this time? To be determined. So much will be depend on Zack's temperament and ability to be go go go go by next summer.
One last thing- I tried to always tell the other parents when their kids did something really cute or cool. I know how proud I am when someone tells me about Zack. So I told Danielle that her daughters Rosa and Sam are leaders. I told Karla that Julia and Maggie were extra kind to the little kids. I told Ashley that Anson's friendship to Zack meant the world to us, and that Elouise really is the one that cracked his shell during music class. I told Kirsten that Hannah was brave and smart and fun to hang out with in cooking class. I told Kim that Harmony was kind and sweet and protective. I could go on and on- there were so many cool kids at camp. And when I say cool, I mean kind. Loving, Inclusive. Joyful. To me, those are the coolest kids.
On Sunday, we will be reunited with all of our Church friends for Camp Sunday- the very event that drew me in a few years ago. And maybe our group will inspire someone else who is considering going to do it. It's worth it. It's fun, it's beautiful, and it's full of unforgettable God moments.
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