On the End of Summer (A Camp Director Wife's View)

My husband is a camp director. Now this means different things at different places. What it means for us is that during the school year, he works full time in the office and hosting retreat groups (usually weekends, sometimes during the week). When there are retreat groups, he generally has to be on site (we also live on site). This is cumbersome, but doable. We've worked out a certain rhythm with retreat season.

But then there’s summer camp season. Summer camp season is a whole different beast. Summer camp season starts at the beginning of June (or so) with two weeks of staff training. Then…approximately 10 weeks of summer camp. Midday Sunday through Friday evening, my husband could have over 100 kids and adults (plus his staff) on site. His days usually begin about 7:30 a.m. (sometimes earlier, but rarely later) and last till…well, 7:30 p.m. if we’re lucky. Sometimes 9 easily. And then he’s “ON’ ALL THE TIME. HE can and has gotten calls at midnight, 4 am, you name it.

For all the load, and as much as retreat season is rewarding, my husband’s call and passion are really for summer camp. It’s why he does (and many do) what he does. It’s also the most draining part of our entire year.

As a pastor, I have busy seasons, for sure. But even the epic build up to Christmas (Easter is rarely ever as complicated and drawn out) lasts only a fraction of the length of summer camp season.

Today is the last day of summer camp for this year. THE LAST DAY! I’m a bit stoked. It has been a great summer for camp. But our past two summers have been some of the hardest ever. And that had largely to do with personal stuff, not camp. (The craziest year of camp was prob. Chris’ first or second summers—those were crazy, but at least everything else was stable).

Last summer, we were expecting our second daughter, whose due date was the day after camp would end. Being our second child, we were convinced she would come early. I was getting a new boss halfway through the summer, and so anticipated a breakneck pace to help her settle in before I went out on maternity leave.  It would be a crazy summer but we had a plan.

Well, you know about plans.

Two days after my new senior pastor began, my father died of a massive heart attack. He was outside gardening. Mary didn’t come early as we expected. She didn’t even come even remotely near her due date. Two weeks after her due date, my midwives had to start to induce me (fortunately I didn’t need Pitocin)—she couldn't wait any longer. We made it to the end of camp limping along. Later, my husband would admit he’d begun to be concerned about me – to stressed and anxious did I seem to him.

This summer, as we prepared for another summer, game planned my pastoral transition in the middle of the summer, going to a new church and being back on my own as sole pastor, we were busy with preparations. And, of course, there was summer camp. On the first day of camp, we learned that my brother Dan had taken his own life.

Needless to say, these past two summers have been long and challenging on a personal level. I’m happy to say they have been good summers for camp. Camper registration numbers continue to grow. Lives continue to be touched and changed and kids, youth and adults are learning about and growing in their relationship with God. It is a testimony to my husband’s passion for his work, skill at what he does, and love for his family that he’s been able to balance all of these things.

All of this, I guess, to say, while I love camp and especially the way it allows my husband to latch onto his calling and the gifts God has given him, it is also nice to be standing at the end of this year’s journey. For the next nine months we’ll get into a new routine…then we’ll launch back into another summer.

I pray that as we all enter new seasons – school starting back up, people returning from vacations (we never get to take a summer vacation!), fall routines falling back into place, I pray the year ahead is a good one. A year when we feel God powerful at work. A year when we get to be drawn into the amazing things God is doing. And yes, seasons of rest and renewal as well. Especially for those of us for whom the summer is anything but.