Live By The Code: Servant's Heart
Today, we’re focusing on Servant’s Heart, as we continue our series on the Falling Creek Code. The four values that make up the Code are Positive Attitude, Servant’s Heart, Moral Compass, and Warrior Spirit. Living by the Code is what we strive for as members of the Falling Creek Community, teaching and modeling these values through our activities and interactions every day.
Servant’s Heart means treating everyone with respect, making friendship a fine art, following the Golden Rule, and taking initiative to help others. At camp, we’re fortunate to have so many supportive people making up this community, who are all willing to jump in and help out. Earlier in the session, Carson Skidmore, the Betula Linehead, shared a Morning Watch message about how we can go much farther than we thought possible if we have the help of others. He described how Falling Creek can help you try new things because the support of friends makes you feel more secure.
Our counselors are great at sharing their Servant’s Hearts to help boys succeed and learn new skills. Down at the Yak Shak yesterday, Rex and Jack were teaching boys how to roll in a kayak. Rex is a paddling counselor this year, and Jack is one of our DASH members. Both are former campers, returning to camp as staff members to serve others this time. They’re now bringing the camp experience full circle, taking the initiative to help younger boys have the same great experiences they had as campers.
Why did Rex decide to return to camp as a counselor? “In part, because of my mom,” he said, “She reminded me how much fun I had at camp. I thought about a lot of the counselors that I had, especially paddling counselors, who I still think about today. They made a big impact on my life, and I wanted to make a big impact on others lives too.” Rex has been displaying his Servant’s Heart at the Yak Shak when teaching skills, while guiding boys down rivers on trips, and when caring for the boys in his cabin.
Jack just arrived last Sunday to serve for 5 weeks on the DASH team, the group of rising college freshmen in the transitional summer between camper and cabin counselor. His Servant’s Heart is what brought him back to camp to teach other boys the same lessons he learned at their age. “Actually, all these guys are getting their kayak rolls way younger than I was when I was a camper,” he said as he helped JP practice. As JP rolled himself back up in the kayak for the second time, Jack gave him a fistbump. “Yeah! Let’s go!” he exclaimed, genuinely excited for JP’s accomplishment. Jack is a second generation camper, whose parents met at Falling Creek - his dad was head of paddling and his mom taught water skiing back when it was an activity at Lake Summit. He’s continuing the legacy through his impact this summer as a first year staff member!
Beyond the incredible counselors, there are many people at camp that work behind the scenes and model their Servant’s Heart when no one is watching. It takes a lot of people to keep the wheels turning at Falling Creek, and no one could keep up the daily operations of camp alone. Our facilities team is one of the groups who serves the camp community behind the scenes. As Director of Facilities, Doug Smathers’ role is to oversee the many facets of maintenance that 900+ acres of fields, forests, roads, bodies of water, and structures require. Doug is leading the team of three, who continually work to make improvements to our program and setting, our aesthetic, and our high standard of safety in activity areas. Simon Wilson is a facilities manager who is behind the scenes every day, making sure camp continues running smoothly. From vehicle issues to plumbing, blacksmithing to landscaping, he knows how to do it all, and has been part of the Falling Creek team since the early 90s. Simon ran our horseback program as head of the barn for many years, and still lives on camp property to help care for camp’s 19 horses during the offseason. Thomas Cason is another of our facilities managers, who we were so fortunate to have join us this past winter. He brings an incredible positive attitude to everything he does, and is a talented runner and experienced coach. His favorite jobs are the ones that require carpentry skills, though he can do it all!
Our kitchen team is another great example of daily Servant’s Heart, since freshly prepared food can so often be something we take for granted. Led by our Director of Food Services, Diana, the kitchen team is up preparing breakfast early each morning, long before the wakeup bell rings. They’re also cleaning the kitchen and getting it ready for the next day long after dinner has finished! Diana is joined by our chefs, Dee and Brandon, as well as our kitchen staff and DASH crew. No one could be happy without their hearty, healthy, delicious meals!
Though you could argue that helping camp is just part of the job for these teams, they help the community with a level of kindness and service that goes the extra mile. Roles that are out of the spotlight can often feel like thankless work, but we are eternally grateful for each member of our camp community, and the many ways they display their Servant’s Heart each day. Later this session we’ll be finishing our series on the FCC Code, highlighting the ways that Warrior Spirit can be seen throughout camp.