Some of you already know that I go to a camp just above Nashville for two weeks every July, but many of you may not know exactly why or what I do there or how the whole thing got started. Here is a brief history of how what I do became known as "Kathryn Kamp." :)
In 1980, Joe Goodman, who lives in Adams, TN, which is about 30 minutes north of Nashville, started a Christian camp called Coldstream Christian Camp. He originally wanted it to be a relaxing place for pastors and missionaries but eventually the use of it broadened to other areas including two weeks of childrens' camp each summer. In 1993-ish, the middle of Joe's three daughters, Melissa, married David Brown and after finishing college, the new couple moved back to Adams to eventually build a house on the Goodmans' land.
Most people who know me also know the Brown family and know that I have known David since I was three, that I grew up across the street from his family, and that his younger brother, Michael, is one of my two best friends.
In highschool, I went to be a counselor up at CCC a couple summers in a row. I had a blast each time but then college came and my summers got busy with work. Finally, the first summer after graduating from college, I was free and able to go back to help out at camp. This time, instead of being a counselor, I somehow landed the "cushy" job of staying up in Melissa's beautiful, *air conditioned* house, taking care of her four children, who were, at the time, too young to go to camp. It seems that each year that I have gone for the past 5 years, more children have been added to my list and somewhere between the second and third summers, the children started referring to my babysitting them as "Kathryn Kamp." Somehow that name stuck. Now I officially do a "camp" every summer for two weeks and usually follow the same theme that "big kid camp" uses.
This years' theme was Amazon Expedition and for the first week, I had three kiddos.....
Kailey, Tug, and Evan in our jungle room. We used a VBS program from the Creation Science Museum and learned about the 7 C's of creation: Creation, Corruption (Adam and Eve eating the fruit), Catastrophe (the flood), Confusion (the tower of Babel), Christ, Cross, and Consumation (when Jesus returns and makes all things good and new again). 
This way cool slide was a huge hit during both weeks of camp! It brought some much-needed relief to the afternoon heat!
On Thursday, the last full day of camp, I usually plan a special activity. For the first week when I just have the smaller children, a trip to Chucky Cheese works well. They earn pompoms all week (those little fuzzy balls...) for doing chores, not complaining, being kind to one another, etc. and however many pompoms they have by Thursday afternoon is how many tokens they get to spend at Chucky Cheese.
Kailey, Tug, and Evan all loved this blue screen - you could see yourself on the TV screen! :)
The second week of camp I had all the girls who had been down at "big kid kamp" the week before, bringing my total to 11 kiddos! :) I actually LOVE having that many kids around - there is always someone to play with, always someone to help with a chore, always a bigger kid to run get a band-aid for a little kid's scraped knee.
Many people who know me well have heard me say that I would love to have twelve children. Well, here's a glimpse of what my dinner table would look like if I did! Only mine would have to be even bigger than this! :)
Kaitlynd and Jax
Bethanie and Evan
Claire and Claudia
Laurel and Emily
(For those of you who know the Brown family...can you tell which of these are Brown kids?? :)
Ok, this was one of the coolest parts of camp this year! This chinook helicopter from Ft. Campbell came so that the campers could talk to some of the soldiers and see the inside of it. Being there to watch it land was an incredible experience! It kicked up a dust storm that made it's way across the field towards us, snapping the flagpole, blowing the baby pools (used for games) up against the building that I am standing in, shaking the cars, and even blowing the back window out of one guy's van!
After camp was over, Michael and I stayed for the weekend to spend more time with David and Melissa and kids. Saturday afternoon we went for a swim in the lake. Well, let's rephrase that...the kids went for a swim. I did not. I like to see the bottom of what I'm swimming in! :} (Yes, I'm a pool snob now...) :)
Three of the boys who came to Boys' Camp were friends of Kailey and Tug's family and when asked what one boy's birthday wish would be he said he would wish to spend one more week with K and T's family...and so his wish was granted. :) A couple of them had been at camp last summer when Michael and David had helped them all make fishing poles out of bamboo and the boys came back and told Michael they had used them all year long and would he take them fishing again? Fishing being one of Michael's favorite activities, he was happy to take them so while the little kids were swimming, we went around to the other side of the lake to fish. Malik (not sure if that's the correct spelling...), the boy in the blue shorts, caught 18 little fish that afternoon! I loved watching Michael interacting with these boys. He was so patient and kind in helping them bait their hooks and taking the fish off, even though it took away from his own fishing time. I definitely believe he has chosen the right profession (being a teacher), no matter what other people tell him!
Michael, after a long, hard week of camp, ready to go home and crash...and prepare for another trip down to florida later this week! But that's another story...
I love being at camp, even though most of the time I am up at Mel's house running my own "kamp". I believe in the ministry that Mr. Joe started the year I was born and I love to see where God takes it year by year. I would not want to be anywhere else during those two weeks of summer! The people who work there are awesome and have a heart for the children who come to camp, many of whom are from broken homes and need a little extra love and fun during their summers. Some moments are stressful (just ask Michael...he can tell the stories better than I can since he was with the campers all week) and things don't ever turn out like any of us had envisioned, but I know everyone would say all the stress and frustration of those moments is worth the lives of the two girls who asked Jesus into their hearts, or any other seeds that got planted.
I will enjoy whatever this next year brings, but I will be looking forward to next July when I will again drive down the country road off of Exit 19 that will take me back to Coldstream Christian Camp for two (possibly four??) more weeks.
