This summer of 2016 I traveled to the great state of Wisconsin and was a camp counselor at a camp called HoneyRock. It was a life-changing season for me and created a space in my life to reflect and grow to be the person God was calling me to be. One thing that I’ve shared with people already was that serving as a camp counselor was an honor and a privilege. It was so awesome to see God work in me, the other counselors, the campers, and the rest of the community that was present at HoneyRock. An activity that impacted not only the campers but also the counselors was an activity called cabin reflection. Cabin reflection is a time and space where people get to share how their day went. This manifests itself in three sections: the “Wow”, the “Pow”, and the “How”. “Wow” is something good that made you happy during the day. “Pow” is something bad that made you sad during the day. And “How” is how you saw God during the day. Yes, I know the language was very basic in how I explained Wow-Pow-How (bearing in mind that we had to explain these concepts to children who were in elementary school), but there is a certain power in simplicity that gets ideas across to people. With Wow, Pow, and How now explained, I am going to share the Wow’s, Pow’s, and How’s that I went through during my HoneyRock summer of 2016.

Wow’s

1) THE LAKES WERE BEAUTIFUL. I gained a new appreciation for the beauty found in God’s creation. Right beside HoneyRock is a beautiful lake. There is something so peaceful about looking out on the water with green trees in the distance and the sound of waves beating on the lake shore. Not only were the lakes beautiful, but the sound of loons added so much more fullness to the Midwest experience.

2) THE ACTIVITIES. Aaahhhh! So many fun things to do! There was canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, biking, paddleboarding, improv, and swimming. Even though I didn’t get to water ski, I was still able to hang off a pole (called a boom) which was attached to a boat and fly across the water like superman while the boat revved across water.

Pow's

Even though pow’s are supposed to make you sad, the challenges that met me at HoneyRock helped me grow (and some actually were fun). Here were some of them.

Wilderness trip related things.

A special thing about HoneyRock is that we do trips in the wilderness. We pack food and other materials and hang out in the wilderness for a certain amount of time. Some difficulties were having to poop in the wilderness, getting bit by mosquitoes, and carrying heavy backpacks.

How

A big way in how I saw God during the summer was in my fellow counselors. They reflected Christ’s love so well in their lives. They were so ready to serve each other, so ready to encourage one another, and so willing to help each other out when they saw each other struggling. It was such an honor, a joy, and a privilege being able to see God work in them and to serve alongside them.