Member Spotlight

What is something God taught you through Deer Run?

Simplicity.  Stillness.

I am a goer and a doer.  I’d much rather clean the whole house and throw a party for 100 then sit on the couch and read a book.  The spiritual practices of contemplation, prayer, reading, and meditation are ones I have to actively work on but not when I am at camp-they come naturally.  There is something about that place that offers permission to set aside your worldly priorities and focus on the most important one we all have: to know and love Jesus and share it with others.  I appreciate Camp’s simplicity.  When this world is pushing for bigger, better, flashier, Camp stays true to letting kiddos use their imaginations and creativity to create memories.

Camp also taught me how to weave intentional spiritual disciplines into my everyday.  As a child, I absorbed, not by any intention of my parents or my church, but that spiritual things were reserved for Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night.  At Camp, I saw spiritual things bleed into a ball field.  I saw faith-building conversations happen over Skittles on the canteen porch.  I witnessed kids soften to Jesus while on horse rides.  We started our morning with a short intentional time to set the day.  We prayed in between games and meals.  We heard a message from a guy who ten minutes later we were chasing through the woods and dunking into creeks.  We stopped at 4 o’clock no matter what was going on and worshipped in a way that felt authentic. Now I am a 40-year Christ follower, wife, mom, daughter, sister, and friend who tries to incorporate the spiritual rhythms that Camp established in me.  Nothing too huge, just small ways to make sure we lift our hearts from this crazy world and refocus our eyes on Jesus multiple times a day.  I’m a firm believer in Alexa routines and iPhone alarms despite Shane’s strong distaste.  In the morning worship songs tell us when to brush our teeth.  My phone alarm goes off at 7:25 to remind me to pray the Lord’s prayer together in the car.  I have reminders to pray for my husband.  At 4 pm Alexa sings the books of the Bible rap.  At 6 pm Justin Timberlake sings “I Got This Feeling” from Trolls and we have hugtime (surely hugtime is in the Bible somewhere 🙂 At 7 pm the songs we have prayed over our kids since their birth play.  At 8 Alexa reminds us to gather on the couch for night devo which sometimes is deeply profound and other times is a naked four-year-old singing Jesus Loves me at the top of his lungs while we laugh.  Camp taught me Jesus is everywhere.  He is in the car.  He is at school.  He is on the soccer field.  You can point to him in every interaction you have and every task you take on.  You can also balance worship, silliness, learning, and fun in your day just like Camp does with theirs.  When he is who you have built your life around then bringing your focus on him hour by hour is a habit that blesses your day.  Those practices are to deepen my knowledge and relationship with him.  He doesn’t require those of me.  He gives me those as gifts to walk closer to him.

Why do you think Camp Deer Run is important?

I wish we had a couple of hours sitting over coffee to answer this one.  We are called to be different than the world we exist in.  The older I get the more connected I feel to the scripture that reminds us this is not our home.  I believe Camp has also been called to be different then this world and is succeeding.  Camp is important in this time in history because of the counter-cultural ways it functions.  I appreciate that Deer Run has held tightly to scripture and not fallen for the narrative that flashier is better.  I also believe Camp to be a beautiful example of what discipleship looks like.  Many believe mentoring looks like a person who has it all together formally teaching another.  Jesus tells us differently.  He reminds us to walk with people in the mundane of life and use our struggles as a testimony for others.  I appreciate the discipleship that my kids get from the college-aged students at Deer Run and I appreciate Ty’s discernment in choosing who those young adults are.

Why are you a monthly donor?

When a place impacts you and those you love on such a deep level you want that same gift to be passed to as many people as possible.  I want Camp to be in a healthy place for my kiddos, their friends, and all those to come. With the decline of people attending church, it is more important than ever to have places outside the walls of a building that spread the Gospel.  Camp is just that.  On a deeper level, I watched my grandparents, my parents, and then my in-laws give to camp.  It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be able to continue that.  I do think it is worth mentioning that donating to camp can come in other ways besides finances.  What gifts, talents, and services can you offer to camp to offset costs they have?

How is camp relevant to your life now?

I’m laughing as I type this on my front porch watching Shane play soccer with the three boys (none of which have shoes on) and our daughter painting rocks next to me to add to her fairy garden…we strive to have a home that mimics what Deer Run does.  A simple place where kids feel safe to be themselves all the while infusing little lessons about Jesus along the way.  Shane and I’s first interaction back in 2001 was teaching PeeWees about what faith meant.  Here we are all the years later doing the same thing we were doing back then-teaching little kids about faith.

Shane and I love Deer Run and will always champion it.  We’ve contemplated going to med school to become nurses so Ty will let us come back out to camp for 2 weeks.  🙂  We hoped our children would love it as well (and we did our best to expose them to camp early and often).  However, watching your children fall in love with Camp on their own and choose for it to be a part of their faith journey is incredible.  Getting to swap stories about the same rec hall laughing at the same silly skit you saw is priceless.  In the same breath,  I strive to daily teach them about Jesus as well and I can only imagine the joy that will come when they choose a relationship with him on their own.  It is the tiniest glimpse of what the Lord has to feel when one of his children chooses to dedicate their life to walking in his will.

Do you have a favorite camp memory?

Too many to count.  I loved being on staff.  My favorite summer was 2002.  I had just graduated high school and was headed to Abilene Christian.  Being on staff at camp was a fantastic launching pad for managing your time, being a leader, serving, and finding authentic friendships that had Jesus as your first thing in common.  I met Emily Tyndell that first week and we just clicked.  We staffed together in the same group the majority of that summer and the shenanigans we came up with as we led girls will always be my favorite.  We did a lot of cabin Bibles together.  On Thursdays, we would walk around and put “camp in a bottle” so they could take camp home with them. Each piece of camp represented something – sand from the volleyball court, toilet paper from the bathhouse, we even put a bit of water from Killi Creek.  I bet those things got moldy so fast!  We told our campers we were synchronized swimmers and would do performances for them.  We then proceeded to teach synchronized swimming at every swim time and quick dip.  For 4th session outcamping, we convinced everyone that we had ordered McDonalds and turned the mess hall into a jungle gym of sorts.  Looking back we lied a lot (I’m sorry Ward-kids don’t do this) but boy did we have fun.  Emily lost a high school friend that summer and I’ll never forget patting her back as she sobbed in her bunk during hour off.  I took her to the funeral that weekend.  I remember Emily thanking me in the middle of the funeral for coming with her even though I didn’t know the girl.  It was one of the first times I realized that being a part of an authentic, Christ-centered community meant showing up.  Show up in the good times, the bad times, the small moments, and the huge ones.  I learned that summer what a friendship should look like and taking care of your people (and letting them take care of you) became a pillar of my faith. Community is where the tangible hands and feet of Jesus are felt.