MOUNTAIN MEMORIES

A couple weekends ago my parents got to come visit me in Colorado for the first time since I moved here! I was SO excited they were coming, and from the moment my mama told me they were visiting, I started making plans. I really wanted to show them fun, new places in Colorado they had never seen, and taking them up to Eagle Lake where I'd spent a few summers, was at the top of my list.

In high school, after finding a brochure about Eagle Lake Camps, my parents flew me out to Colorado so I could spend the next two summers working at camp on Eagle Lake's CREW program. Those are summers that changed my life forever and for good. They were summers where I fell more in love with Jesus, I met some of my closest friends, and built relationships that have lasted throughout the years. After college, I went back to Eagle Lake as a CREW counselor for what I thought would be my last summer working for a camp. Little did I know that four years later I would be offered a job that would move me to Colorado and allow me to work for the camp and alongside the people that had so greatly impacted my life.

Even after all the time I've spent at Eagle Lake, my parents had never seen it, except for in pictures. So on Sunday morning, we hopped in the car, made a quick stop for coffee, and headed up the mountain. We drove through the meadow, my favorite part of that drive for the rest of my days, and made our way through the woods to camp.

My parents know the story of the Waldo Canyon Fire, but they finally saw just how devastating it was and saw first hand how gracious the Lord was in protecting Eagle Lake.

My first reaction to the fire still tends to be sadness. Sad that the beauty of perfectly green unburned trees is no longer there. But then I remember how faithful Jesus was in miraculously saving this special place and how he put a circle of protection around it, and that is the most beautiful thing. The scars surrounding camp will be there for many years to come, but they will serve as a reminder and a testament of God's incredible grace in saving the property and allowing his ministry to continue there summer after summer.

We hiked all over camp, around the lake, and through the woods, getting in the nature time we all so desperately crave. It was a gorgeous day I'm so glad I got to share with my parents. Thanks for coming to visit me, Mama and Papa McIlvaine. You are always welcome here.