Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.
"Tell me when to go home!" she yells, through hands cupped in a bullhorn around her mouth. It's Tuesday evening: camp-wide kickball in the field. She's never played kickball before, but she loves a chance to play with the Big Kids. As a six-year-old first-time camper, this is a magical moment: standing at third base, looking home, she's asking the opposing team to tell her when to go.And they do. No one seems to mind helping the other side gain a run, but everyone seems to enjoy sharing the enthusiasm of that very first week in a camper's life.
I've seen Caroline Furnace through many eyes over the years, as a counselor, a volunteer, and a chaplain, but this is my first time looking through a parent's eyes. Now I saw my daughter being cheered on by the campers who call this place "home." I saw in my kid a reflection of thousands of children from decades of summers, each one finding this home where community cuts across teams - where we (to borrow from this year's camp t-shirt) "form unity" that lasts lifetimes.
When Jesus stood on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, coaching a new friend when to run home safe-and-well, who would have guessed those holy words would still echo by a creek at a camp this hot, beautiful summer? But when I watched them cheer her home - when I heard them all shout "Safe!" - when I saw them celebrate her coming home, I so clearly heard Jesus' voice among them.
And from this home, I too will go back to my friends and tell them what the Lord has done. Again and again and again.
-Rev. Joel Neubauer (St. Mark, Yorktown), Counselor (2003, 2007), Summer Camp Chaplain, (new!) Board member
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