A Typical Week at Summer Family Camp

Written by Amy Chalupnik, who camped at Mount Carmel as a teenager and returned 17 years later with her family.

Download story as a PDF (106 KB).

I knew that I would have a good time. If nothing else, reliving some good childhood Mount Carmel memories would be enough for me. It was my DVD-obsessed kids and my modern conveniences husband I was concerned about.

Seventeen summers ago, I was a bleach-blond bikini-clad teenager, sharing a spider-infested Mount Carmel cabin room with my younger sister. (Okay, I only saw three spiders that year, but to me that meant there was a great possibility for more…hence the “infestation”.) Now I am a black suit, ladderclimbing banker with two laptops and a cell phone, a six-day-per-week working spouse and two energetic young boys who love V-smile electronic learning systems.

But my parents had given our family a Mount Carmel gift certificate toward the cost of a summer stay, and I did not want to waste it. Waste not, want not, right? So I did my research on the internet website (didn’t use that 17 years ago!) and crossed my fingers as I reserved a new cabin for one of the summer family weeks. Maybe less spiders, I thought, and maybe walls that didn’t have tiny cracks in the wooden siding that you could see the lamplight through when it was a dark night.

And yet I questioned. Would we be able to handle the boys tramping through our bedroom on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night? (Shows you that I was recalling cabins of the past!) Would my husband Jason enjoy the morning study? For that matter, would I? The Youth Chapel was no longer my option. My memories of “the adult study” consisted of a lot of talking, some writing, and coffee break. (Although I do drink coffee now, so I figured that would be a plus.) Will we keep the tradition of singing and praying at the Prayer Chapel on the first night? Will the youth program be as fun for my Tommy and Danny, as it was for me? Will the beach be as rocky? Will the preacher be inspiring? (Honestly, I had decided that I’d even settle for “somewhat interesting.”) Even as the van was piled with everything imaginable, I wondered.

The slow, amazed smile that appeared on Jason’s face as we walked into the red cabin and the kids running to claim matching beds said it all. I need not have worried. “I thought you said it was rustic!?! This is great! Cozy, spacious…” We raced to dinner. And there was no punch card, no chain across the doorway, no creaky floor—visions of the old dining room flashed through my head as I looked around at the beautiful stone fireplace and wonderfully modern facility. And then Sonja took the mike and gave the welcome and a rundown of the activities to come. “Some things never change!” I thought happily. “Announcements, announcements, announcements! A terrible way to die!” (Luther Lurseth would have been proud.)

We sat near the back for our first adult morning session—pleased that we were trying this together and giving us the flexibility of ducking out if we “needed to” so. A religion major in college, I figured surely I could handle a lecture. But what a lecture, what a teacher! I saw what my parents used to get so fired up about after the morning discussions! Paul Maier was incredible—witty, intellectual without being condescending, and with a powerful perspective on the defending Christianity, the Bible and the historical references to the existence of Christ. (Faith without historical basis is certainly enough--but since there is proof, how much stronger can one be in one’s faith?) The youth program, while wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable, did not have this depth and challenge of the mind!

The “Water Olympics,” the evening worship, the talent show—there was so much the same. But there were so many changes too—good changes, modern changes without losing the core, without losing “Jesus Only”. And beyond that, this summer I was seeing Mount Carmel with my children, not as a child. And did they have fun? Oh my, yes! Our four year old Danny just named “going to camp” as one of his favorite things to do with his family! He and big brother Tommy cherish the colored and beaded sticks they made, still beg to play Monopoly (the board game with paper “money” and the little metal figures), and proudly wear the “I got hooked on Mount Carmel” t-shirts that Grandma and Grandpa bought at the MC Bookstore.

So, will we go again? At the end of the week, Jason was asked that question by friends, family, and Mount Carmel staff. “Yes, absolutely!” was his immediate reply. “It was Amy’s family tradition. But now I think it will be ours—a new yearly tradition for our family. Can we get the red cabin next year?”

And for me—was it just good memories? It was more than I had ever hoped for, much more than a child-turned-adult returning to Mount Carmel. It was the best of what I remembered and the best of modern Christian family vacations. And I was reminded of these two simple rules: 1. It is more important to be calling on God, rather than calling on my cell. 2. It is more important to be connecting with family, rather than connecting with email.

Re-living? No, re-centering. Thanks Mount Carmel. See you next summer!