Camp Anticipation
Camp Anticipation
Guest Author: Anna Huebner, MRO Assistant Director
Spring is my favorite season. I love to watch the flowers grow and I enjoy the process of planting my garden. With spring comes the anticipation of another summer at Moose River Outpost. If you ask any of my lab mates, they’ll tell you camp is something I have been anticipating for a while! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to drive up MRO’s three-mile driveway with my windows down, listening to the familiar crunch of the dirt beneath my tires. I can’t wait to sit on the dock with a cup of iced coffee watching the mama loon and her babies swim by with Boundary Bald in the background. I’m looking forward to reuniting with some really dear friends, some of whom I haven’t seen since camp in 2019, and to meet our new staff and campers that will join our MRO family this year. I can’t wait to teach kayaking again, to laugh around a campfire, lay on the grass and take in the stars, and to play some Grogan ball and Polish ping pong. If you can’t tell yet, there’s so much I’m anticipating about camp right now, and, if you’ve been to camp before, I’m sure you know this sense of excitement that I feel.
As I’ve reflected on this idea of anticipation, I’ve been reminded that the Bible tells us over and over again that we, as Christians, should be living in anticipation. But instead of living in anticipation of something like camp, we should be living in anticipation of something so much greater: heaven. The more I read the Bible, the more I see that this world isn’t it; there’s something so exciting and so, so good coming. Philippians 3 describes our citizenship, or our home, as being in heaven. One day we’ll be home, in a place with no more pain or tears and where every ounce of our beings will be satisfied just by who Jesus is. We’ll see face to face the One we’ve longed for, for so long. Can you imagine? Seriously, pause for a second and just think about what heaven will be like. I’d say that’s worth living in anticipation of.
So, my challenge to myself and to you as we get ready for another summer at camp is to live in anticipation. Look forward to the people you’ll see and the things you’ll learn at camp and the crazy games we’ll play. And when you feel excited about that, take a moment to pause and remember that, even after all the good that camp is, God promises that the best is still yet to come. Live in anticipation.
Editor’s Note: It’s not too late! You can be a part of camp this summer, we’ve still got room! Here’s the link to register https://www.christiancamps.net/enroll/ And then you’ll know exactly what Anna is talking about when it comes to anticipating camp!
Anna is a chemistry graduate student at the University of New Hampshire. When she’s not in the lab you can find Anna hiking in the White mountains or out in a canoe somewhere. She’s returning for her seventh year on staff this summer and will be seen wearing Chacos any chance she gets! You can find her on Facebook or email abh1019@wildcats.unh.edu