As many of you know I volunteer to be a High School girls youth leader at my home church, Redemption Church here in Gilbert, Arizona. Every year in June we take hundreds of kids on a five day Summer Camp to San Diego where we stay on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University.
This year we chartered ten buses full of youthful exuberance and made the trek to the ocean where we all played games, sang songs until our voices were almost non-existent, and stayed up way too late every night laughing and sharing our lives with each other. Not only is Summer camp a way for me to get to know each girl in my group a little bit better to see how I can be of help in their lives but it also gives me a chance to unplug from the electronic world and not be completely tethered to work.
As the broker/owner of a real estate brokerage I can't ever completely lay down my business responsibilities so I did take an occasional phone call and answer some emails in the little down time that we have at camp. However, I was able to focus the majority of my attention to the very reason I was there and that is to dig in and get dirty in the the lives of students who may not come from the best home life, or have been dealt the best cards so far in their experience.
My group always gets together for a picture in front of the outdoor Greek amphitheater on campus and this year was no different. See if you can find me!
After an exhausting five days and a long car ride home last night there was much laundry to do, a house to clean, and groceries to be stocked in the empty refrigerator but it's a small price to pay for having such a great experience every year.