the green spot blog

Nearly always - when I write about our little Sparks or Jr. Explorer campers - that's how I describe them: Little but Mighty. There are very good reasons that I do. These are campers who are generous, caring, truthful, excited, and energetic. Not at all to say that our other age groups aren't - but there is a little extra dose of all of that in these little ones. They can imagine the world as a better place and will act on it - one little act of kindness at a time. Sparks and Jr. Explorer camps are our slowest to fill - most often because parents are bidding their time, gently asking their young ones if they would like to come to camp. Put yourself in their shoes... Child (with big, giant doe eyes): What's camp?  What am I going to do there?  Are you (my parents) going to be there?  Do I know anybody? Will I like the food? I mean...I only like KD and hot dogs...Will I get KD and hot dogs? How long? Like how many sleeps? Can I stay with my sister or brother?...

In the last week I have been struck by something I want to call wild blessings of simple gifts. I'm calling them wild because they've just really encouraged me in what we do here at camp and in all honesty...it sounded good in my head. :) PC: Tammy Hanratty I'm going to tell about the two examples of these blessings and how regular people have decided to bless camp out of their own means. The first one was from a parent who called in to pay for their child's camp last week. As I wrapped up the details to do the payment - the parent stopped me and said that it wasn't just her child's camp that they wanted to submit payment for. The parent took a moment to explain that for the last couple of years they have had to apply for our Campership Aid Program so that their daughter could come to camp. They talked about how it was a Godsend that they were able to still send their child to camp even though the finances weren't available at the time. The parent s...