by Rev. Monica Lewis, Minister to Children, Students and Families
Two years ago, my daughter and I loaded up our car and headed to the YMCA of the Rockies for our first Christian Community Camp. She was 2 years old at the time and I had no idea what to expect from the experience. Not many people eagerly anticipate the experience of taking a vacation with about 100 co-workers – and that’s kind of how I pictured it in the beginning.
If you’ve never been before, it’s so much more than that. As a staff person it’s true that we’re working while we’re there. It’s not all vacation. We do what we can to provide a meaningful experience for everyone. We lead a vespers service each night. We take the occasional injured person to urgent care. But oh my gosh… there’s way more!
When you go to community camp: You’re living for a week in a beautiful location. You’re with people who understand that the reason you’re together is a relationship based in faith. People take care of your children. You get to sit out on the deck at night and wear a sweatshirt in August! You hear stories about the history of generations of people going to camp. You bond in ways that you’d never expect. You see people that you may have only before seen on Sunday mornings eating breakfast in their pajamas.
I’m eager to spend the week with so many members and friends of the church. I’m looking forward to learning more stories about everyone’s lives – about why it’s important to them to live a life of faith together with our church family. And I’m ready to watch my daughter interact with teenagers, grandparents and other children – and to know that the reason she’s doing that is that Jesus calls us to live with and know one another in intentional ways…Jesus calls us to know what we each look like in our pajamas.
About 100 members and friends of Country Club Christian Church will be experiencing Christian Community Camp near Estes Park, CO July 30-Aug. 6.
2017 camp dates are June 3-10.