HIGH IDEALS & HIGH PRAISE -> HIGH ROAD TO LIFE

The week before Camp opened was Orientation week for the staff.  This was work week; preparing the facility and preparing the people who would be taking care of 400 kids throughout the summer.  I would begin the week with my vision of what I wanted the camp season to look like and what I expected from each member of the staff.  I believe that once people know their place in the world they have entered, once they are given the tools to work with, and once they see what their work is suppose to accomplish, they will become invested in the process of the program and will do their best to help make it a success.

I am not a “dummy down” advocate.  I put forth high ideals and then work hard to have them realized.  I believe people feel good when they have accomplished something worthwhile, especially when the work is difficult, especially when they may fail at first and then get up again and keep trying.  There is something in the human psyche that wants to hear “well done”, first from ourselves and then from others, especially those we are working for.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success, both internally in their self esteem and externally in their every day dealings with the world around them.  It isn’t about empty pride and arrogance; it’s about working hard and knowing you have produced something good. 

That seems to be a pattern God puts forth.  After He created the world He stood back and declared it “very good”.  When Jesus was baptized and beginning his mission on earth, God spoke from heaven, saying He was “well pleased with His son”. Jesus completed his mission while hanging on a cross, and said “It is finished”.  The work was done; the goals were accomplished; life was ready to be lived in fullness and abundance by Jesus as he returned to his Father, and by those who believe in him and follow in his ways.  His ways are not easy; they are high ideals and will be met in the end with high praise, “Well done faithful servant.”

I started our first Orientation meeting by telling the staff what I wanted the last day of camp to look like.  I wanted every camper and staff member to love camp; I wanted every camper and staff member to have learned new skills, both activity skills and life skills; I wanted every camper and staff member to know how to live well with others, in a group, in a community; I wanted every camper and staff member to become good stewards of all they had learned and experienced over the summer and to grow into good leaders, in their schools, communities, and the world.  These were high ideals to be sure, but goals that could realistically be met.

I worked at this camp for twenty-five years.  I was around long enough to see the fulfillment of year upon year of these high ideals being implanted in generations of campers, as they grew into being staff, and parents, and responsible citizens in their communities, and in the world.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success in life.