“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

After a challenging year, Hearts of Hope Camp and Teen Retreat finally happened this past weekend.  It’s difficult to put into words what an amazing experience everyone had, you have to BE there to fully know the joy, the richness, the transformations in healing that take place.  First time volunteer Ann Tunheim expresses it beautifully - 

Albert Einstein once said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” I’ve heard that quote a few times, most recently from my mom who has it hanging in her office at work.

This Saturday that quote came flowing through my mind, and God revealed to me the truth in that statement. I spent this past weekend at Camp Courage near Clearwater, MN. Nick has been bugging me for years to join him in his mission with Children’s Grief Connection, formerly Camp Amanda. I finally gave in, and after two cancellations this year, I made it to an actual camp this weekend. I have to admit, I was incredibly nervous on what I would say to these kindergarten and first grade students assigned to me as their camp counselor. I had no clue how to counsel grieving children.

Then my first camper, Natalie, arrived. She held my hand the moment her dad left and didn’t stop holding my hand until he came back to get her the following day. To recap the weekend, I went swimming fully clothed (you would think my co-director husband would have informed me that this camp had a pool or just maybe I should have read the packing list), went way out of my comfort zone to talk to family members and children who had loved ones die, trampled through wood-tick, raccoon infested woods (without screaming), managed to get five young girls to sleep, managed to convince those five young girls that my sound machine sounds GREAT, and came to realize just how much I love Gods children.

I had an Aha! moment when I was in the cabin with our group and little Natalie was passing me notes telling me that she wanted to cry, that she missed her mom, and that she loved me. I realized just why God tells us the greatest command is to love him with all of our heart and next in line is to love our neighbor as ourselves. I told God on Saturday that it is in fully serving others with no care about myself that I truly feel alive. I’m not going to lie, that doesn’t happen often. But when it does, I feel freedom like I’ve never felt it before. I feel like I have found my purpose. I encourage all of you reading this blog to go do something this week that is completely selfless. Ask God for direction on what he wants you to do, and listen. You will be blessed!

Grace Under Fire

Apparently Ernest Hemingway coined the phrase “grace under fire” when he was asked to define ‘guts’ or ‘courage’ by the infamous Dorothy Parker in an interview back in 1929.  The phrase accurately describes the weekend at our January session of Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat.

I am always amazed yet never surprised at the level of commitment and support our volunteers give throughout the year but never more than at an actual camp session.  January 2010 will go down in our history as a shining example of “grace under fire.”

The weather forecast on the Thursday prior predicted temperatures above freezing and possible rain throughout the weekend; late Sunday night would bring a drop in temperature and turn to snow.  With our October camp being canceled due to an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, our volunteers from FDLIC in Abilene, Texas flying in and our highly anticipated Polar Plunge fundraiser scheduled for Sunday afternoon – and yes a little bit of ‘we’re Minnesotans we’re used to this stuff’ I made the decision to go ahead with camp. 

It was a gloomy but balmy Friday afternoon drive up to Little Falls for our volunteers. Early in the evening it began to rain, causing volunteers to scurry across the wet parking lot to the conference center for our volunteer training. After a fun, informational evening, anxious for our campers to arrive we went out to our cabins to find …ice – everywhere - covering everything. The temperature had dropped in a few short hours and all the rain turned solid on the road, the walk way, even on the snowdrifts.  Volunteers precariously made their way across the parking lot to sleep through a wind-howling night.

By Saturday morning as Mike and Judy Dahl tried to make their way across the parking lot to ready the gym for our opening circle they were turned back – they could not walk upright across the parking lot!

Here’s where the “grace under fire” comes in – as the Lake Beauty facility staff announced the plow trucks were being pulled off the county roads and this was the beginning of three days of winter storm warnings and possible blizzard conditions the volunteer staff were gathered together to determine the cancellation of this camp session for the safety and well-being of our camper families and our staff.  A very disappointing but responsible decision now required communication; there were no doubt several families making their way to camp despite the road conditions– most returning from the canceled October session. Volunteers divided up the camper applications and immediately became a ‘call center’ relaying information to and from families. Most families were relieved to hear they could get off the roads, some were within miles of camp; they were invited to continue to the camp facility, join us for lunch and meet the staff.  Six families accepted the invitation; ten children got a ‘taste’ of what the April camp session would be like and are anxious to return.  Through it all, our volunteers jumped in, packing things up to get our equipment ready to head out before roads got even worse while simultaneously putting things together to make the experience for just those ten campers one they would remember – all the while still deeply disappointed that the weekend was over before it started.  A second camp canceled, bad road conditions (or runways) to consider and still they persevered, remaining supportive and upbeat.

And it doesn’t end there…

•    Despite the snow blowing everywhere, the long treacherous road home ALL our volunteers stayed after families left and camp was packed up to watch and cheer on the handful of Polar Plungers =  “Grace under fire.” 

•    You’ve lived your entire life in the warmth of the southern Texas sun, you’ve never been anywhere under 45 degrees and you are in northern Minnesota in January in swim trunks plunging into ice cold water = “Grace under fire.” 

•    You’ve never been to a camp but you’ve made the t-shirts, seen the website and your good friend has just died leaving a young son behind, you can’t get to the Polar Plunge but the $1500 in pledges you’ve gathered the past weeks makes you go to the nearest open water and plunge in anyway = “Grace under fire.”

•    Nineteen men and women, 20 year olds and 58 year olds stepped up to the dark hole in the frozen lake and jumped in, on a dare, fueled by pledged donations totaling near $10,000, with the cheers and shouts of their fellow volunteers while a blizzard develops around them = you may say “crazy” -  I say: “Grace Under Fire.”

 

Written by Coral Popowitz, Camp Director.

Our brave plungers who raised over $10,000!

Coral Popowitz (Camp Director) & Colby Whitmore

Katie Petschke




Sue Peterson

Mike Davies

Pat Baxter & Colby Whitmore (again)

Rex Johnson, Steve Popowitz, Nick Tunheim, Steve Popowitz (again), Colby Whitmore (again), Kathy Jacobs, Kevin Combest, Mike Davies, Rex Johnson (again), Roxanne Storms & Brian Alnes (Lake Beauty Bible Camp ED)

Colby Whitmore (again) & Steve Popowitz (again)

Jason Bexell with Chickenmoose prints all of our camp shirts. He planned on
attending our first annual Polar Plunge, however, with the weather he
didn't make the trip. Raising over $1400, Jason was determined to make
good on his word!!

January Camp...Cancelled

Although it was a difficult decision, it became very apparent that in-order to ensure the safety of our campers, camper’s families and volunteers we needed to cancel Hearts of Hope Camp and Teen Retreat. 

The weather was treacherous from the 1/2 inch of rain that fell Friday evening to Saturday morning and more still coming making traveling less than desirable.  Two of Lake Beauty’s staff, who drive to the facility multiple times a week, ended up in the ditch on their way into work this morning.  The forecast was telling us that we could expect another 2-5 inches of snow on top of the 1/2 inch of rain we had already received.  Along with freezing temperatures, it was a recipe for disaster having families and volunteers on the road on Sunday.

We are so thankful for our dedicated volunteers who were there and ready to serve in any way possible and for supporting the difficult decision of canceling camp.  Our hearts are heavy for the children who did not get to experience camp, but we are happy they are home safe and sound.  All campers will be invited to our April camp which will be held on April 17-18th near Maple Lake.

The good news is, we still did the first annual Polar Plunge event and raised well over $7500 to-date, with expectations of reaching $10,000 when all the donations are received.  Each and every FDLIC Texan (with the exception of the two pilots who had to leave for the airport to prepare for their flight back), took the plunge, some of them more than once, it was quite an event!  Photos coming soon!!