Calvin Crest, Part I

Last weekend Rob, Jill, Natalie, and I headed up to Yosemite Valley. Destination: Calvin Crest.

I started going to Calvin Crest the summer after fourth grade. I went every summer until I was 17, for increasingly long periods of time. The summer after my first year of college I spent my whole summer there, on staff. There are two places that I hold sacred, Whitworth and Calvin Crest. Without Calvin Crest there would have been no Whitworth. Without Whitworth there would be no Rob. Thinking of a life absent of these things makes me feel unwell.

I have not been shy about sharing my faith here on the blog, but I understand that isn’t what some people like to read about.  This post is pretty faith heavy. If that isn’t your jam, spend some time here!

Last month, on the way home from Big Bear, I asked Rob if he held anything sacred. I knew this trip to Calvin Crest was coming up. I knew that it would bring me a welter of memories and feelings and probably tears and I wanted to get him ready. We talked about faith and memories and growing up and.. music. Music has always held a special place for me. Praise and worship music is where I go to meet God, and it wasn’t until this past weekend at camp that I came to understand exactly why.

If you have ever gone to summer camp, you know that having to leave at the end of the week is always at the back of your mind. For me, even when I went up for a month at a time, knowing that I was going to have such an intense experience and then have to go back to a day-to-day routine was hard every single time. I was always hunting for a way to take camp home with me, to take my experience home with me. Music.

Music still can take me back to my camp experiences from over ten years ago. More importantly, it can bring me to my knees in a matter of seconds. In worship I am able to be open and vulnerable with God, the way I first was able to at camp. Rob seeing me experience this enabled him to understand me and my faith in a way that I had been unable to convey up until this point.

This weekend did not disappoint. I mean, really…

More to come, next week.