Tecumseh...where the stars shine bright,
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And the leaves are green,
And I am third,
Tecumseh...it's a special place where I understand the meaning of the word...LOVE.
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God is all around, and I know that He cares,
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He is most important to me...
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And all of the other people are second only to Him,
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It's great to be third and feel so free.
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With a smile on your face,
And not a worry in the world,
And a rainbow of colors in the sky.
You can be who you want to be,
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This is where you can live your dream,
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It doesn't matter if you laugh or cry.
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But the greatest treasure of all is the glow that we feel,
When a child reflects our love in his face.
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A family we are, in the hands of the Lord,
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We all feel His presence in this place.
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Tecumseh...where the stars shine bright and the leaves are green,
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And I am third.
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Tecumseh...it's a special place where I understand the meaning of the word...LOVE
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Oh, Tecumseh. Land of unit cheers, zip-lines, friendship bracelets, candlelight devotions, Crow cabin, level two skills, lunch loudness, being THIRD, wobbling across the suspension bridge, Songfest, chapel, extra blob time, REST HOUR!!!, sleeping in hammocks, gaga and carpet-ball, trading post, opening and closing campfire, costumes, hobo dinners, bareback clinic, relationships...I can't sum it up. Not with pictures, not with descriptions. But the 'Tecumseh Song' which just captioned the pictures above does a good job of capturing what Camp Tecumseh means to a lot of people. For me, growing up in a community of loving Christians, I've always had support and been surrounded by love. But I'm one of the few who is given such a nurturing environment year round. Camp Tecumseh is where many people feel closest to God because He's the center there and that's not the case with very many places in the real world. While this summer made me realize I'm a lot more selfish than I'd like to admit, my hope and prayer is that God can use my weaknesses to His glory and continue to work in the lives of children I came in contact with so that they too can take the Camp Tecumseh's 'I'm Third' motto of God, others, then myself, into the world with them.
'Being third' and sharing God's love with those around me wasn't always easy and many times my motives were so off. By the time we reached the end of the summer I felt like a complete failure and thought of how I could've been a better counselor and friend. Sometimes I still look back with regret that I let selfishness take over so often and that I got in the way of myself. Yet in all my mistakes, God is able to do beautiful things. No, it's not an excuse to mess up and do things my way, but there is consolation in trusting that God is the one who will continue to work in the hearts of the people I interacted with. So trust Him I must and trust Him I will.
At the beginning of the summer during staff training we slept under the stars in hammocks and did some star gazing as well as my first bead devotion. The bead devotion took place every Friday night of summer camp in the individual cabins and consisted of reading the Sagamore Creed which describes several traits of a respectable person: initiative, friendship, trust, responsibility, faith, and joy. Each person would have the opportunity to pick an attribute he/she'd like to work on in the coming year and then receive a bead as a reminder to be intentional about growing in that area. During staff training I chose the trust bead and pinned it to my backpack. This summer I had many opportunities to trust God and others as there was a lot of NEW happening. And since that pretty much sums up our whole life--ever changing and full of questions--I'm sure it's an area that I'll be working on until the day I die.
The 2015 Summer Camp has officially ended at Camp Tecumseh, but the memories will live on. There were times I felt insecure or frustrated at camp but I have no doubt that it's where God placed me for the summer. He taught me so many lessons...about trust like I mentioned above, about how He has made so many unique individuals that are all precious in His sight, about the complex world He created. I'm thankful for the wonderful young ladies that stayed in Crow cabin and the talented kiddos who improved their riding skills at the Equestrian Center. I was blessed to work with an incredible team of counselors, directors, and barn friends who were a great example to me during my first year ever at camp. People have asked if I'll go back and while I don't think I'll return for a full 9 weeks next year, I hope to go at least for a few. After all, it's Tecumseh.
A special place where I understand the meaning of the word...LOVE.
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