The Journey Toward Self Discovery
At sleepaway camp, no matter if you are 10 hours from home or just down the road, the feeling of homesickness affects everyone. Even as someone who works at a Summer Camp, there is always a sense of missing home and missing the comfortable nature that being at home provides. However, homesickness is one of the most beautiful things to work through. It is within that struggle and hardship that one can really come to find out more of who they are and how they are uniquely loved by those around them. I always tell kids that the fact they are experiencing homesickness and missing mom and dad is a good thing. At Camp Huawni, we love homesickness because of what is on the other side of that struggle.
This past Summer, I had the opportunity to walk alongside a couple boy campers struggling with these feelings. As the session began, things were off to a rough start for them. Homesickness was all they could think about and it seemed that all they wanted was to go home. As I sat with these two boys at different times, we got to know each other and we were able to form bonds that stuck. While it still seemed like the world was coming to an end for them, it wasn’t. And it didn’t. Throughout the next two days, there were a fair share of ups and downs. But as they built rich relationships with their Huawni counselors, processed their feelings, and were able to get outside and be a kid, they slowly embraced more of the Huawni spirit and more of who they were.
It is within that struggle and hardship that one can really come to find out more of who they are and how they are uniquely loved by those around them.
Loving despite hardship is what makes Huawni so special. Because it is what’s on the other side of that hardship where one finds out who they truly are. I believe that Camp Huawni is one of the top rated Summer Camps in Texas for that reason. With the relationships that a small Summer Camp provides, the love your child receives at Huawni is special because we get to pour into them, love them where they are at, and love them for who they are becoming. That’s where the journey to finding their true significance and purpose begins.
- Billy Martin, Men’s Staff Director
