A VCBC Summer by Erica

After over two months of being away from home, it's weird to go from reading this blog from afar, to writing a blog post from the comfort of my own home.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time away from home, matter of fact, I loved my many weeks at camp this summer. That's what this blog post is about after all!

To start off, a little explanation. I spent my summer at Village Creek Bible Camp (or just VCBC)  as head lifeguard. I had a great team of lifeguards to hang out with, including my dear little sister Anna.

The Summer Theme was Frontier, hence the wonderful old time pictures 

(Andrew, Andi, Chrissy and Jay - some of the lifeguards I worked with this summer)

The summer was full of great speakers, wonderful God moments, and more often than not, crazy fun activities. Much of my camp experience was centered around the lake and the dishroom! Being a lifeguard we had to report to the dishroom at 7:15 every morning for breakfast dishes.  Being the great dishwashers we are, we got through dishes pretty fast and had the rest of the morning for free time. Then after lunch we hiked up to the lake to well, lifeguard! All afternoon would be spent up at the lake.

 (Anna and Kim at the lakefront)

In between turns on the lifeguard stand we hung out in the Guard shack and did safe, mother-approved things like burning hand sanitizer and catching mice in ice cream containers. A favorite thing was the Guard Snacks we kept at the lake. We had an abundant supply of Freezees and Chocolate Animal Crackers all summer long. 

A great thing about camp is the unique opportunities one gets to enjoy. 

(Many fun camp people "raving")

For example the lifeguards hosted a Rave in the Guard shack. We used high powered black lights, a couple strobe lights and pumped some German techno. It was exhausting and totally fun. 

 (Erica, Anna, Kate and Elizabeth)

During a weekend day off, a hipster weekend was hosted. We hit up the local Goodwill, found some great outfits and had a great time. A bonus was that we accidentally went to a Nordic Fest! It was fun to rediscover some of my heritage. (25% Norwegian) 

 (Kate, Elizabeth, Aaron, Jonathan, Kaylee, Anna, Erica, Nathan and Ben)

During one of my last weekends we decided to get up and watch the sunrise. The main problem being that the sun rises at 5:53! But we dragged ourselves out of bed and up to the lake for a morning swim and a beautiful sunrise. 

(Ehh, Way to many to list!)

Somewhere along the line, someone had the crazy idea of a huge group date. We all got dressed up and went to Lacrosse for dinner at China Star (the guys paid :) and Riverfest. It was a fun evening and Jay (middle front) outdressed us all in a tux. 

My main reason for this blog post is to encourage you, go to camp or send your kids to camp! Growing up, camp played such a great, influential role in revitalizing and strengthening my faith. It was great to find a community of kids my age and of my same faith. Even if you think you're too old to go to camp, there's always a way! VCBC offers Family Camps, which are a fantastic opportunity for entire families to experience camp together. (Follow this link to check out Village Creek's great camps.  http://villagecreek.net )

Even better than attending camp (in my humble opinion) is working at a summer camp. Yes, I know, I'm a little biased but it really is a great experience. I've learned so much about work ethics, living in a community and developing healthy friendships at camp. I've been challenged and I've grown so close to God throughout my times at Camp. As a counselor and as a lifeguard I've been able to pour into campers and other staff and feel the happiness that comes from being a help to others. Camp has a way of changing people, and it's always for the better. 

So find a camp that works for you. I've worked at two different camps in my short lifetime and found them to be almost polar opposites, but equally amazing in their impact. Find a camp that caters to your style, one could be more outdoorsy, another could be much more of a suburban experience. Either way, find somewhere that allows you to explore your walk with God in a positive setting.