To my wonderful campers,

You all are likely too young to even be reading this let alone be on this site, but who knows, maybe one day, one of you wonderful little goobers will find this letter of love I leave to each one of you. I find myself thinking about and missing every one of you. I can’t help but reflect on the memories that filled my summers and how much of an imprint you left on my heart.

You created an ever-changing atmosphere as each one of you arrived from the earliest hours of the day to the later of the evenings. Each moment, smile, laugh, and hug was cherished and stored away in my heart.

You all changed me much and taught me more than I could have ever imagined these past summers and I’m so grateful.

You taught me patience, which is something I pray often that God will teach me, so I can honestly say you were an answer to my prayers.

You helped me learn to be better at giving grace towards others but also towards myself.

You revealed to me how even a small act of kindness and love could spread so quickly, so vastly, just like the watercolors all of you over saturated on your crafts, a never-ending flow of colors and beauty.

You made me smile when I felt like crying, and when you were crying you let me comfort you and wipe your tears.

Oh, how it broke my heart to see some of the families and home lives you came from…for the Lord truly broke my heart for what breaks. I know some of you, yet so young and undeserving, come from hard lives and painful homes…but I thank you, thank you for letting me get to know you, for letting me in when it was so easy to push me away. Some of you took time to soften up, took time to adjust, but slowly yet surely I was able to see each of your true and beautiful colors.

The colors the Lord so uniquely painted you with, for you my campers are so loved, loved more than I have the capacity to love you, loved by the One I tried to reflect to you daily… yet failed at times, this guy, this Jesus loves you so much my child and I pray that His love will continually be revealed and reminded to you throughout your lives.

I pray that as you grow and progress in life, as the overwhelming excitement of receiving a gold star or choosing from the prize box starts to fade, that you will always be able to see the joy in the seemingly little things. My darling campers this is the biggest thing you taught me, sometimes it's not the big and dramatic things of life that bring joy and happiness, but often times it’s the small and simple things that leave the lasting impression, that brings about the smiles that make your face hurt.

It was the things you guys didn’t even realize you were doing that always brightened my day from the precious hugs you gave when I was having a difficult day yet you had no idea, or a toothless grins and giggles coming from the boys table as you gossiped about which girl you were going to date, even the way you goofballs ate your snacks so meticulously always left me shaking my head in laughter. Your sense of wonder and laughter was beyond contagious, along with your colds and germs but I won’t go into that.

How I miss you all. How I know time is passing and each one of you are growing more and more each day, into the person you were meant to be. And as I sit in front of this drawer I think about who you might be in the future, how you’ll impact this world. Will you remember me? If not that’s okay because I’ll always remember you,

I’ll remember how much of an impact each of you had on me, the capability each of you had to make me smile…even right at this moment…in front of this open drawer. A seemingly ordinary drawer, yet it’s so much more for there are things in there that holds the power to make a grown woman cry and smile and the same time. It contains the beautiful masterpieces you all gave me; from the cards, letters, and drawings, each one unique and beautiful just like you. So campers, thank you. Thank you for changing my life for the better. I love you all, keep your heads up and those smiles bright.

Love Always,

Coach Sarah