Creation, Community, Christ, Camp!

Camp is a place that naturally immerses individuals into community with each other. 

Everything is shared. Bathrooms. Common space. Kitchen space. Dining space. Worship space. Simply put, you spend a lot of structured and unstructured time together. And then you add the spiritual bond you develop as you worship, commune, and sit in God’s Word together - needless to say, people can become very close in a short amount of time.

It’s now been almost 15 years since Beth and I met and started dating… at camp!

Here is part of our story (from my perspective, at least).

Beth and I met for the first time in 2003. I was part of a youth ministry team leading a youth event at her church. We remember having a conversation about marching band, even though neither of us remember each other.

We met for the second time at Camp Lutherhaven. ​

Beth had just completed her junior year studying abroad in France. Having travelled from Paris to Chicago and onward to Spokane in less than 72 hours, she was exhausted. I remember glancing over at her as she walked into the room and thinking, “she’s kind of cute”.

The next morning at breakfast, she was wearing a t-shirt from the lock-in. There was something that drew me to her to make the connection. As we were looking out of the Dining Hall window over Lake Coeur d’Alene on a clear sunny morning, we struck up a conversation about where she was from and our possible connection. I was really interested to learn more about who she was, but I didn’t really know if she was interested in me or not.

Neither of us had a whole lot of dating experience, so we didn't know how to “play the game”. We awkwardly and naively proceeded to spend time together. We made “excuses” to hang out when we could while cleaning bathrooms, debriefing the past day in staff meetings, playing music together (she brought her violin to camp and I had my guitar), or spending an hour off doing laundry.

It could have been a coincidence, but I am pretty sure that the rest of our leadership team knew that something was happening because Beth was suspiciously assigned to the program I was leading the second week of camp.

We decorated and hand-wrote letters back and forth to each other and placed them into each other’s camp mailboxes. (Yes, we still have them!).

Then, on one Saturday afternoon, I needed to run an errand to pick up Root Beer for the Camp Store (Trading Post). I asked her to go with me to pick up Thomas Kemper in Coeur d’Alene. We made a side stop for some ice cream on the boardwalk. This is actually a picture from that trip.

On the way back, I “accidentally” missed my turn onto Kidd Island to head back to camp. I don’t remember much about the drive between missing the turn and arriving back at camp… but I do remember telling her that I kind of liked her and whether she’d like to be my girlfriend. I think that she was just as nervous as I was. We didn’t have a script to follow. We didn’t read a book about how all of this was supposed to go down. We didn’t know if it was the right thing to do. . . but, we did it. We started dating.

Yes, camp is a place that naturally immerses individuals into community with each other. Everything is shared. Bathrooms. Common space. Kitchen space. Dining space. Worship space. Simply put, you spend a lot of structured and unstructured time together in a shared space. Then, if you add the spiritual bond you develop as you worship, commune, and sit in God’s Word together - needless to say, we became very close in a short amount of time.

One of our favorite places to go was up to Little Guard Lookout where you could see into Montana and even up to Canada on a clear day. It was on those drives up and down the mountain we’d share the dreams God had planted in our hearts. Beth dreamed about going overseas to serve in the Peace Corps (which she probably would have done if she didn’t meet me!). I dreamed about becoming a missionary in a far away place (which we were going to do right out of seminary - that’s a whole other story!). But, God had a different idea for us.

Fast forward to the end of summer. She came down with mono. I told you that everything is shared at camp! She went home to Indiana before starting her senior year at St. Olaf. I went home to Michigan for a bit before heading back to St. Louis. We continued to write letters back and forth. I remember spending all of my 500 minutes a month (for those who might not know or remember, we had limited phone plans back in 2006!). We would catch up on the day as she walked from orchestra rehearsals or when I was walking to basketball practice.

I proposed to her on Thanksgiving Weekend and we were married the following summer.

Now, that’s my side of the story. Beth may have other details. But, here’s the point…

Camp is a place that naturally immerses individuals into community with each other. Everything is shared. Laughter. Tears. Heartache. Joy. Bathrooms. Common spaces. Kitchen space. Dining space. Worship space. Your hopes. Your dreams. Your faith. Simply put, you spend a lot of structured and unstructured time together. Then, if you add the spiritual bond you develop as you worship, commune, and sit in God’s Word together - it is no surprise that new life-long friendships can be made and old life-long friendships can be deepened in such a short amount of time.

Wow! I don't think I realized how long that story was. . . if you've read this far, I'm curious to know how you might have experienced community at camp by making new friends or deepening existing friendships. Send me a note at [email protected].

Join Beth, the boys, and me at Lutherhaven Family Camp this summer on Lake Coeur d'Alene, July 11-16. Check out www.oslc.com/lutherhaven to learn more and register.