Camp Sugar Pine
In 2003 I was awarded this brick for being focused on the kids in my care as a camp counselor at Timber Mountain. I’ve carried this brick with me to 9 living locations (counting dorms) since I last lived at Sugar Pine for more than a week in 2003. It grounds me and reminds me that I need to focus on the bigger goals in life through the small tasks — being a camp counselor is all a million small decisions to listen to kids mixed in with other decisions like telling them to shower and leading on hikes. Interestingly though, folks told me they selected me for the brick because I was able to not focus on some of the other non-ministry related things going on around me — which is good, but also helped me realize sometimes I wasn’t as empathetic to those around me as I could be.
More recently, my family and I were able to stay at Sugar Pine in part to get away from Wildfires in the Bay area. It was an amazing time for my daughters (4 and 6) to spend a lot of time exploring the woods, creeks and even the Timber Pool!
But back to 2002 and 2003… There was a song in the late 90’s by a band called the Newsboys called “Entertaining Angels” with a line “entertaining angels by the light of the tv screen”. The song allegedly came from Hebrews 13:2 which says “Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it,” — the idea that we can often find God in the quiet places after distraction. At camp, I often found the times when ministry happened best wasn’t even at the chapel service or cabin devotional times, but when talking with kids walking up the hill to food, or waiting on the dock for a canoe to become available.
There were some great times connecting with kids very different from me, as well as amazing times and lifelong friendships with staff. One particular story I will tell here. There was a group of boys from Oakhurst my first summer who for whatever reason I connected with more than usual. Maybe because it was around the fourth of july, probably also because they were older (most in sixth grade). But we had a great time with intense conversations and the following week I even got a gift in the mail — a burned cd with various songs we’d sung at camp or I would sing around the cabin (was the first time people let me know I often sing snippets of songs without even really knowing it!). I blurred out the kids name although we stayed in touch and are ‘facebook friends’ but haven’t talked in years because now I feel weird about it. But the point was, it was cool to receive something that indicated all of the attention we gave the kids lasted through the following week. After one week in 2003 of bonding with kids from Visalia, I even ‘babysat’ them for a weekend after many more home visits and becoming friends with the parents!
I ended up often working winters at Sugar Pine, went back to counsel for a week in 2006 when they had a counselor suddenly have to leave, and am still friends with several folks who live and work there! I hope to continue taking my family there now and into the future and support financially as we can!
