FUN by Sarah Christy

[Editor's note: Sarah Christy is a member of the camp's Board of Directors. She and her husband, Boyd, are very active with camp activities and instrumental in its founding. She and Boyd are one of the reasons the camp is so successful.]

by Sarah Christy

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Whenever I am talking to someone about stroke camp the first word I use to describe camp is FUN.  As sister to the executive director, Marylee Nunley, I have been involved as a volunteer since the first retreat was held.  My husband, Boyd and I had participated in church camping for many years, so we had lots of experience with FUN.  Stroke camp has many opportunities of education, relaxation, fellowship and everything we do is important.  One of the benefits of being at a weekend retreat is the feeling of being away from all the structures and expectations of life.  For a weekend you can relax and enjoy life without so many responsibilities and one of those ways is to laugh and smile. 

Keeping a sense of humor is one of the ways that we survive to challenges and disappointments of life.  Coping with stroke isn’t easy and if you can remember to smile and laugh at the humorous moments it helps. 

One of the ways we insert some fun and laughter is having a skit at the end of every meal.   I am married to “Mr. Skit Man.”  He loves to clown and make people laugh and smile.    He taught me that doing skits isn’t acting.  It is clowning.  As I have done more and more skits I have learned to embellish the script with my own personality.  Our favorite skit of the 2012 camp season was the story of two ladies who had just arrived in heaven.  So we put on our angel wings and halos and had a conversation:   the two ladies greeted each other and inquired what they had died of…..the first lady said she had froze to death…the second lady told the story of dying of a heart attack.  She was convinced that her husband had a girlfriend and she came home looking for her….she ran all over the house upstairs and downstairs searching and searching….she got so exhausted that she dropped over dead of a heart attack….the lady who froze to death delivered the punch line  “well, if you had looked in the freezer we would both still be alive”.

Besides the formal programming, we also like to do some FUN camp games like relay races.  This past year since our theme was “going on a cruise.”  We had a “Tommy the Tourist” relay.  At the Living Springs camp that is held in Lewistown , IL, the heart of farm country, we always have fresh corn on the cob for one of our meals.  So we figured out a way to help the cooks by having a corn shucking contest.  At summer camps we will do water balloon games, hayrack rides, and other activities that bring back FUN memories of earlier times.

As we start planning for our tenth season of stroke camp we are planning on lots of FUN. 

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Thank you Sarah for all that you do for our camps.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

My greatest wish is that you will enjoy this time with family and friends, and remember this greatest gift of all that God has given us.