Church Camp!!

1WORD sang at our church camp a couple of weeks ago, and we are going back tonight to sing again.  There is something about church camps that give me a feeling of nostalgia.  I think for one thing, it's just thinking about all the people who went there as kids, passed through, spoke there, sang there, were baptized there... people who have since passed on.  The other night when we sang, it was for 6th-12th graders.  I never feel old until I'm around these kids because it seems like yesterday my friends were the ones going off to summer camp, and we were crazy teenagers.  I just don't know where the time goes. When I was a kid,  I was always a homebody.  I never even experienced camp. I know, what a loser, huh? :-)  Now, as an adult, I'm kicking myself because I see how much fun these kids are having.  But noooooo, not Jewels. I couldn't stand the thought of being away from home, and my best friend who was my next door neighbor for a whole week because we played together EVERY SINGLE DAY. And my goodness, a week to a kid is like an eternity.  I was always super shy back then, too, so it was hard for me to be social...still is as an adult sometimes. Our church camp was not limited to just my church as it is here. We did not have big churches in Illinois.  Surrounding churches came, so the thought of spending a week in a cabin with a lot of girls I didn't know scared me to death.  I just knew I could never survive for a whole week with a bunch of girls screaming and carrying on. :-)  So I never went.  But in 1996, I experienced camp for the first time when I lived in Mt. Carmel, Illinois.  I went as a counselor, stayed in a cabin...the whole shebang.  I had a blast even though it was hotter than blue blazes, it was just a blast...especially dealing with the drama of some 6th and 7th grade girls.  ;-)  But even then, I didn't stay the whole week because one of the girls from my church got pretty sick, and I had to bring her home on Thursday (I believe).  But even so, I finally felt like I had reached a milestone that most everyone else had experienced at one point in their childhood....church camp. I fought the heat, the sweat, the bugs, the drama of girls, the crying because a boy didn't like them, the camp food...I did it! I came, I conquered!! So what if my first taste of church camp was when I was 23...I did it, and it was awesome!! Plus some of those guy college counselors were worth the view. ;-)   If I could rewind time, I'd go to camp as a kid because I think I really missed out on some fun and making new friends. Some days, I miss the simple days of childhood, the summers of playing outside until dark...no homework, no teachers...just carefree.  Oh yes, if I could rewind time, I'd go back to the summer of 1985, and I would be going off to church camp with my friends...not sitting at home missing out on all the fun. :-)