Today is the day. TEAM DAY! The campground is a rainbow of colors today with all of the campers donning their team day shirts. There is excitement in the air to get all of the day’s festivities underway, which includes dodge ball, the always-rowdy pep rally, and the obstacle course. The obstacle course is taking a new spin today due to park rules prohibiting the mud fest that typically comes with team day at MSC. We hope the campers will really like the new method.
As has been the trend all week, today is going to be extremely hot. Forecasts call for a high of 105 degrees. Staying safe and keeping cool and hydrated has been of the utmost importance to everyone here this week.
In thinking of things to write on this blog, it’s largely been on the general activities of things going on here: meals, sports, singing, the weather, etc. As a staffer and former camper, I want to take a moment and say how amazing camp is. If you have been a camper or have children who have been here before, you might say that it’s redundant to say this. Camp always has some amazing results, and those results come from the campers.
But each year continues to be unique. Each year, a new combination of campers creates a whole new environment at MSC. No two years are alike. The feelings you get while you are here are familiar like family, but also fresh and intriguing like trying a new food. It’s an impossible-to-replicate concoction of relationships, competition, spirit, and fellowship that does not exist anywhere in the world.
Just this morning at breakfast, a first year camper, yes, a first year camper said to me, “I wish camp was three weeks long.” I was impressed to hear that she enjoyed camp so much after 4 days, but isn’t that the popular opinion of camp? The night before camp sometimes keeps people up, sleepless and ecstatic when they pull into Shakamak State Park. Likewise, the Saturday of camp, endless hugs are given out and people leave, already waiting for 51 weeks to pass. Last year campers stressing to up-and-coming kids to make the most of their time here because they know how much they will miss MSC.
Someone wise made a good point a while ago: Camp is so special because it is the closest thing we get to heaven on Earth. Spending such good times with Christians is unlike anything in this world. To be away from the world and all of its worries and problems breathes new life into those who really embrace the MSC experience.
As an outsider, a staff member/former camper, I truly hope that the campers here in this the 30th year of MSC, are being refreshed. I hope that they are making this year special for them. I hope that the campers who will continue to come build on the traditions here by forging new experiences and relationships. I hope that the weights and struggles of the world are lifted from all of their shoulders, if only for 6 days.
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