Shepherding the Journey
(scroll to the bottom for yesterday’s highlights!)
Falling Creek’s purpose states that we “exist to shepherd the journey of personal growth through love and adventure.” Everyone is on their own journey at camp, and we aim to support each individual in our community by meeting them where they are. We didn’t specify in our purpose that we are only shepherding the journey of campers - our staff are also on their own journeys during their time here. While the younger boys are trying new activities and seeing what it’s like to be away from home for the first time, the older staff are finding their leadership styles and taking on more responsibilities than they may have before. No matter where everyone is on their personal journeys, it’s important to know they’re not alone at camp.
Our Program Director Kyle shared this idea of being on a journey together during one of our Morning Watch times. He explained how when we travel through life, there are three big parts: finding your voice (physically at first, and then learning how using our words can build up or tear down), finding your path (or what drives you each day), and finding your people (initially your family and school mates, but this eventually becomes less based on relative distance and more based on who we relate to in spirit).
During this session, we have a great group of 1st - 5th graders. They are the closest in age compared to any previous session, so they are in similar phases of finding their voice. Kyle explained that a big part of finding your voice is learning who you are and what you’re comfortable with. “Some of you may have felt something we call homesickness,” Kyle said. “Homesickness is a person moving through a part of their journey where they are learning to be the most independent version of themselves,” he encouraged. He went on to explain how this growth and stretch outside your comfort zone happens for everyone, but at different ages - “some people don’t feel it until college when they’re 18-19,” Kyle said.
“It’s ok to miss home, while still standing up and making progress, plugging in, doing activities, etc. Let others help carry you when it’s hard to carry yourself. The communal aspect is so important in your journey. You’re strong enough and have what it takes,” he said. “Because guess what? On the other side of that phase, once you conquer homesickness, the size of the journey you get to go on gets bigger and bigger. I would have never left the house to go to 4 year college away from home if I didn’t at 12 years old have a really tough homesickness battle. But then I knew I could take on more adventures,” shared Kyle.
He continued by encouraging our staff, whose portion of the journey is less about homesickness, and more about self identity as they seek to find their path and their people. He reminded them that they aren’t supposed to leave college knowing exactly who they are or what they want to do. “You learn who you are over a long process of surrounding yourself with others, going through trials, having great successes, learning from failures, and sometimes by coming and spending ten weeks on a mountain with little bitty people and being reminded of what that section of the journey feels like. Being reminded of how important grace and kindness and all of those things are,” he said. “But if you’re feeling kind of wonky after four years of chasing a degree and you’re not sure what to do with it or what to do next, that’s just called young adulthood and you’re doing just fine.” Our staff may not realize how much their presence positively impacts the campers, who see them as mentors or older brothers. Campers are able to see their counselors moving forward in the “young adulthood” portion of their journey, and can learn how to act once they become young men themselves.
Kyle ended his Morning Watch message by reminding us that no matter where we are in our journeys, we can always be supportive for someone else. “At the end of each great phase, your voice empowers someone else to start a new journey. No matter how young or old you are, the part of the journey you are on right now can be used to help empower someone else on their path. Finding joy in this life comes from being right there among others and helping each other find their path,” he shared. “Whether we’re in our early 20s, or we’re not yet 10, camp gives us all something to latch on to and move forward with,” Kyle finished.
For our campers, there’s less than a week left in this session - our counselors will be encouraging and supporting them every day to continue pushing themselves, trying new things, and soaking up all that the camp experience has to offer! We had a big day yesterday as we jumped back into daily activities after the weekend fun. We’re looking forward to a terrific Tuesday today as we continue our journeys at camp!
Today’s trips will include a group of Betula boys heading to climb Looking Glass for 2 days, and a group of Tsuga boys going on a Melrose climbing day trip. In paddling, a group of Betula boys are leaving for 2 days of paddling on the Tuckasegee River, and in mountain biking, a group of Tsuga boys are heading out for 2 days of riding in Tsali. Some great adventures await!
Highlights from Yesterday at Camp:
- Yesterday was Monday of our 2nd week, and everyone has settled in nicely!
- We had a group of Sorrel campers climbing Gilbert’s rock in the morning, and Tsuga campers climbing there in the afternoon. A group of Betula boys paddled the Lower Green river while a group of Tsuga boys headed to Dupont for a day ride.
- We all laughed at the classic “Baby’s Got A Pain” skit at Morning Assembly.
- We enjoyed french toast, fresh blueberries, sausage, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and granola for breakfast.
- There were delicious BBQ chicken sandwiches with french fries, salad, and M&M cookies for dessert at lunch.
- Everyone loved the chance to enjoy free choice periods twice during the day - each Line is rotating through the Gym/Lodge, Docks/Lansports field, and Dining Hall/Tennis courts.
- Evening Program was Green vs. Gold Field Day!