Maywood Christian Camp...
Where do I begin?
After completing my 25th year at Maywood (give or take...there were a few years where I could not go due to pregnancy or having a newborn), and seeing the joy in the eyes of the girls in my cabin when they experience camp for the first time... I am realizing just how much that place means to me!
Experiencing Maywood is a right of passage.
I have been everything from a camper, worker and counselor...and for the past three years, my boys have gone as campers too! I have enjoyed being able to witness the experiences that my children have had at camp...the experiences that I so fondly remember having myself so many years ago.
I thought about being mushy, and going into all the wonderful memories that Maywood has given me and my family. I thought about being funny, and telling all the hilarious tales of camp. The thing is....Maywood is the PERFECT blend of funny, emotional, spiritual, physical, and outdoors. It is a week, once a year that you will NEVER forget!
I think the best way to describe Maywood is by listing all the "firsts". Things that happened first and only at Maywood Christian Camp...
~sleeping in an un-airconditioned cabin
~showering in flip-flops
~cleaning a cabin and bath house to a retired fire fighters standards
~telling a joke in front of a hundred other campers to get mail
~learning buildings according to their Biblical names
~waking up to the "Bull Frog" song
~sharing bed with bugs, and bathroom with frogs
~picking a boy to take to dinner...and calling it Sadie Hawkins
~putting make-up on in the 90* heat, only to have it sweat off
~bringing cans of shaving cream to camp...not to shave with
~being paranoid about putting elbows on the table at meal time
~singing "Round the Mess Hall you MUST GO!" to an unsuspecting girl or boy
~having a "camp" boyfriend
~finding friends who would be pen pals for years to come
~having a ball field devotional
~watching friends become Christians
~non-mixed swimming....in a pool surrounded by a see-through fence
~having a snack consisting of soda and candy...and calling it "CANTEEN"
~eating apple sticks
~writing name on furniture and NOT getting in trouble for it
~having Bible class on a picnic table
~being hypnotized by Brother Jerry
~showering only to come out feeling dirtier
~sweating for a week straight
~giving the thought for the day
~making me think about my personal relationship with God
~listening and participating in some of the most beautiful singing EVER
~hearing a million knock knock jokes...and watching Brother Jerry laugh at every one
~seeing new cabins, nurse/director's huts being built at Maywood
~experiencing air conditioning for the first time at Maywood
~thanking God for a place like Maywood
These are BY FAR not the only memories...but if I listed every "first" at camp, I would run out of room. Thank you Maywood Christian Camp...for what you have meant to me, and for what you will mean to my children and grandchildren and so on....for years and years to come. There are so many children and adults, too many to count, that have been blessed by this wonderful place...and God willing, that number will only continue to grow!
...and of course, as always...there is much MOORE to come!
Air conditioning??? For real though?? Kids these days...
ReplyDeleteThis was a great list, Courtney! Maywood was where our friendship truly blossomed! I hope to someday go with our crew. It is a special place.
Thanks for reminding me of the super fun memories! Love you.