I just finished my 25th year of summer camp. That’s right, 25 years of summer camp! Even at 35 years of age, I can honestly say summer camp is hands down my favorite week of the year.
My world changed when my dad took me to Camp Shiloh on Delta Lake in Rome, NY in 1993. I had been to 2 other Christian summer camps prior to Shiloh, with that year being my 3rd new summer camp in as many years. It was just me and my dad that summer; nobody else from my church came. He counseled at the Junior camp simultaneously being run while I was a camper in Senior camp. I didn’t know anyone; not a soul. In fact, we arrived early because my dad had to go thru counselor training. I remember walking the grounds and sitting in my cabin, before anyone had arrived, thinking to myself, this is gonna be a long week. I even remember the awkwardness as my cabin mates began to arrive, and we went to our first meal together. I didn’t think I was gonna like Shiloh very much. But I was dead wrong.
That particular week, and each week I’ve had the privilege of spending at Shiloh, has dramatically changed and impacted my life. I can honestly say the course of my life was altered because of summer camp.