Putting On the Mom Hat
Sure, I’m a working mom! Although, don’t all moms consider themselves working moms? I prefer to think of myself as a mom who also works outside of the home. Thankfully, my office isn’t far from my house, maybe at most, a commute of 800 steps. I have always considered myself a mom, first and foremost. As a mother of two boys, or should I say two men, now ages 22 and 27, I have shared many proud moments, while undisputedly, there have also been challenges along the way. These challenges help you to delight in the proud moments you are blessed to be a part of throughout the years. More recently, I’ve enjoyed watching Betsy grow in her role as a mom, secretly knowing that she is just beginning to experience many of her own proud moments with Owen.
As a camp director, there have been many days, sometimes multiple times a day, when I need to take off my director hat and put on my mom hat. There are times when a camper is away from home for the first time, having issues with friends, or struggling with a personal goal she has set for herself at camp. As a mom, I know these challenges help to build resilience in our children. There are more times than I can count when I have been overwhelmed and tremendously proud of campers and staff who have overcome obstacles and reached their desired accomplishments. Their perseverance helped them develop the talents and skills they needed to obtain their goals.
Many of you know me well enough to know that I can be brought to tears rather easily. Honestly, I’m happy to say I inherited this trait from my dad! I even had a CMW dad tell me he knew I was about to cry in Chapel because my nose was starting to turn red! It turns out his camper told him that’s how everyone knows I’m about to tear up. So, I guess I’m not really fooling anyone when I wear my sunglasses! This brings me to the real reason for this blog. As a mom and camp director, I need to once again express to our young alumnae how proud I am of their accomplishment last fall. Our first ever “Young Alum Challenge” on social media was announced in October; we challenged our young CMW alumnae to give $5,500 to the Annual Fund in 55 hours. This represented the cost of a campership in the 2015 Main Session. We were thrilled to see that our young alumnae were up to the challenge! In 55 hours they gave a total of $8,405. This is enough money to send one camper to 2015 Main Session, and almost enough to send another one to the June Session too!
As I’m reviewing the young girls who are applying for our 2015 camperships, I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of you who pulled together and gave so generously. To put things into perspective for our more seasoned donors, this young group of donors included not only young professionals, but college students, recent college graduates, unpaid interns, and high school students who just last summer were campers! To quote a few statistics, 29 % of the donors were in high school or college; 41% of the donors were in their 20s (10% of these graduated from college in May 2014); and the remaining 30% were in their 30s. Camp challenges us to live a life of service, and what a service you all have done for the girls who may not have otherwise been able to attend camp this summer. I am tearfully proud of your generosity and the fine young woman you have become.
There were touching posts on social media during the Young Alum Challenge. Sara T. Davis wrote, “Just donated the proceeds of today’s tutoring session to the challenge in honor of the good times and the years of adventures with my sister!” Alex Ervin gave because in her words, “I gave back to the place that has given me so much over the last decade. I’m so thankful for everything Merrie-Woode has done for me and so many others.” Laura Gill said, “I gave for the counselors who helped shape me into the person I am today.” And Amanda Ochoa posted, “I gave to light that tiny spark in another person’s life!”
Along with your own moms, dads, and the extended CMW family, I humbly thank you for being the next generation of generous and supportive Merrie-Woode women. I’m blessed at the close of each camp session to read Dammie’s Prayer aloud, “God of the Hills, grant me Thy strength to go back into the cities without faltering, strength to help my neighbor who has no hills to remember. God of the Lake, grant me Thy peace and Thy restfulness. Restfulness to carry the tired one whom I shall meet everyday…” Thank you for continuing to live out these deeds in your daily lives.