A Heap of Fun: Rolling Thunder Family Camp
Emily Shields
This summer, we’re turning the blog over to Emily “Heaps” Shields, who is serving on our camp crew as our office support staff and all around amazing helper. She’s got a ton of skills, and one of them is telling THE best stories. What better person to tell you the little beautiful details about what camp is like during the summer? We’re calling this summer of Emily “A Heap of Fun”… enjoy!
Confession. Last week, Luke, Suzie and I listened to the ‘12 Days Of Christmas’ as we worked away in the office.
Look, don’t judge us. Sometimes we have music playing in the background, serenading us onwards in our various tasks. And in this particular moment in time, there happened to be a song playing that had Christmas-y vibes, and it sparked a conversation, and then Luke and I bonded over how early we start listening to Christmas music in the year, and then Suzie announced that it was Christmas in July! (And if that explanation isn’t good enough for you, and you’re still questioning our song choice, it was the most refreshingly genius version of it ever.)
Then I got thinking, you know that ‘joie de vie’ most everyone seems to have around Christmas? The kind that expresses itself in children and adults alike skipping with glee inside their heads? That’s exactly how we all felt as our very first campers--in well over a year, I might add--arrived for Rolling Thunder Family Camp!!! As Camp Crew, we’d been busy preparing for their arrival for two weeks, and the year-round staff had been preparing for people to be on camp premises in these weird times for months. So, you can just imagine how exciting it was for all of us to finally see vehicles make their way up the camp road!!! We all cheered through masks, and waved with gusto.
There were five families who joined us for the week. Most had been to Beacon before, and I can imagine for them it was just as exciting to be back at such a treasured place. Plus, they were the first official campers [to do allll the things] in the new Lighthouse!! AND to eat under the dreamy dining tent as well. #braggingrightsforlife
I’ve never been to a family camp at Beacon before, and you know what? I’ve been missing out! It was really encouraging knowing that these multi-generational families had intentionally set aside a week to retreat into nature in order to learn from God’s Word together; play and adventure with each other; and just have fun creating memories together! I am definitely looking forward to the other weeks of family camp here this summer.