The sunlight hits your face as you squint and roll over. You accidentally roll into someone else and scoot back a bit. “Good morning, it’s time to wake up!” “Already?” You think. You sit up to see the sun’s rays filtering through the trees and the sleepy faces of your fellow campers. Happy Home in the Woods morning. It looks like some kids are walking back with something. It’s breakfast: bagels, peanut butter, cream cheese, milk, cereal, and grapes. You all sit on logs around the firepit and sing grace before eating. You are about to get up, when your counselor asks everyone to stay seated around the firepit; you’re going to have Morning Watch. “Where’s DJ?” someone asks. “It’ll be just us this morning,” your counselor says. She asks how you have seen God in nature? “The stars.” “The lightning bugs.” “The little frogs.” As you go about your day today, she challenges you to look for God in other people. Look for the moments when people are kind, honest, hard working, giving, and selfless.
Then off you go packing up Home in the Woods. You struggle forever trying to roll up your sleeping bag, ‘til Macey comes over and helps you. Then you all fold up the gigantic tarp. You walk around the campsite looking for trash. Robert offers to carry the trash you found. Everyone gathers all of their things in their arms to walk back to the cabins. You can’t figure out how to carry your sleeping bag, pillow, and Puppy all at the same time. Patrick says he will carry your pillow for you, and Mary’s pillow, Jenna’s blanket, and Deon’s backpack. Wow. CITs are so strong!
Willie Jack is more than a fictional character in a story. And much more than a scary old man meant to keep you up at night. Willie Jack is the spirit of Camp Alta Mons. At one point or another we are all Willie Jack. When we decide to be helpful or take extra time to benefit someone else, we are Willie Jack. Much of the magic in camp is in how we serve one another and how we give without expecting anything in return. It is that moment when you offer your stick to the kid who couldn’t find a good one. And when you agree to walk down to the bathroom with a friend who is scared. And when your counselor keeps reading until they are sure everyone is asleep. The way you give doesn’t have to be big or grand. What matters is why you choose to give.
We call this way of living servant leadership. Modeling after Jesus, we want to lead others by serving them. John 15:13 says it this way, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” It is our hope that at camp, campers have the opportunity to give love and receive love in this way.
In our stories, Willie Jack goes on journeys plain or exciting, but in the end it is his honesty and hardwork that carries him through. When we say we saw Willie Jack walking around, we mean we saw the person who collected tinder for everyone’s Home in the Woods site or created a new fun Winter Camp activity. Willie Jack doesn’t just exist in a story. Willie Jack is inside us all.
This week for your Camp @ Home challenge, we challenge you to do a good deed for someone! It can be for a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or a stranger! Big or small, doesn't matter what it is, but find something that you can do to make someone's day brighter and kinder. Share your story with us by sending us a picture, video, or message about your good deed! Share it with us by using #AltaMonsCampatHome and emailing it to program@altamons.org
Then off you go packing up Home in the Woods. You struggle forever trying to roll up your sleeping bag, ‘til Macey comes over and helps you. Then you all fold up the gigantic tarp. You walk around the campsite looking for trash. Robert offers to carry the trash you found. Everyone gathers all of their things in their arms to walk back to the cabins. You can’t figure out how to carry your sleeping bag, pillow, and Puppy all at the same time. Patrick says he will carry your pillow for you, and Mary’s pillow, Jenna’s blanket, and Deon’s backpack. Wow. CITs are so strong!
Willie Jack is more than a fictional character in a story. And much more than a scary old man meant to keep you up at night. Willie Jack is the spirit of Camp Alta Mons. At one point or another we are all Willie Jack. When we decide to be helpful or take extra time to benefit someone else, we are Willie Jack. Much of the magic in camp is in how we serve one another and how we give without expecting anything in return. It is that moment when you offer your stick to the kid who couldn’t find a good one. And when you agree to walk down to the bathroom with a friend who is scared. And when your counselor keeps reading until they are sure everyone is asleep. The way you give doesn’t have to be big or grand. What matters is why you choose to give.
We call this way of living servant leadership. Modeling after Jesus, we want to lead others by serving them. John 15:13 says it this way, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” It is our hope that at camp, campers have the opportunity to give love and receive love in this way.
In our stories, Willie Jack goes on journeys plain or exciting, but in the end it is his honesty and hardwork that carries him through. When we say we saw Willie Jack walking around, we mean we saw the person who collected tinder for everyone’s Home in the Woods site or created a new fun Winter Camp activity. Willie Jack doesn’t just exist in a story. Willie Jack is inside us all.
This week for your Camp @ Home challenge, we challenge you to do a good deed for someone! It can be for a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or a stranger! Big or small, doesn't matter what it is, but find something that you can do to make someone's day brighter and kinder. Share your story with us by sending us a picture, video, or message about your good deed! Share it with us by using #AltaMonsCampatHome and emailing it to program@altamons.org
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