There is a gift we give every camper the moment they arrive at Camp Highlander, and it doesn’t come wrapped in ribbon or tucked inside a trunk.

It’s a cabin unit.

It sounds simple — ten kids, five bunk beds, pegs on the wall for wet towels and energetic, fun counselors. But what that cabin actually is? It is a built-in family. A circle of people who accept you, who call you friend, who cheer for you at the Crow’s Nest, who see you when you’re quiet at dinner and ask if you’re okay. It is, for many of our campers, the very first place they have ever felt like they truly, completely belonged to something.

And belonging — real belonging, the kind you can feel deep in your heart — changes a person. And when a child feels included, valued, loved? Something extraordinary happens. Gratitude builds courage. Courage speaks truth.

Tonight after dinner, we saw courage to speak the truth in my favorite form: shout-outs.

If your child has been at camp before or you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I love shout-outs with my whole heart. I love them because they are not scripted. They are not rehearsed. Nobody tells these kids what to say or how to feel. No one asks them to get up to speak. They walk up to that microphone of their own choosing, in front of the entire dining hall, because what they have to say must be said. Because it is important to them!

The line for shout-outs stretched long. Every few seconds, another camper peeled away from their table, courageously joined the line, and waited their turn — fidgeting, smiling, rehearsing in their head, their whole face already lit up with whatever they were about to say. And when each one stepped up to the mic? They held nothing back. They spoke with confidence. With joy. With conviction about what this place, these people, this moment means to them!

Here’s the thing about kids - they don’t exaggerate for effect. Their exaggeration is their reality. They may be small, but their feelings, their experiences, and their perspectives are enormous. It’s not drama; it’s just their truth. And honestly? I love it!

Campers thanked their cabin mates for being the best friends they have ever had. (Read that again. The best friends they have ever had — and they met their friends 3 days ago.) They thanked their counselors for being the BEST and taking such good care of them. Some just gave a shout-out to what they liked at camp: archery, the cooking mom, volleyball, or their head counselor. Some thanked the kitchen staff for making the food so delicious. Others thanked activity counselors whose classes made them want to try things they never thought they could do. A lot of them just gave a shout-out to their cabin for being the “BEST cabin on camp!” But they all felt that way. How can they all be the BEST? Doesn’t BEST mean #1 in the real world? Only one can be the BEST, right? No, not at Highlander…here we can all have the BEST and that is something worth shouting-out!

There is something sacred about this season of childhood — this age, this window of time at camp when the world still feels full of wonder and possibility, when a brand-new friend feels like the most exciting discovery imaginable, when the biggest thing on your mind is whether there will be dessert at dinner or if you will dance with a boy/girl at square dance tonight. This is a precious season of growing up — old enough to feel things deeply, young enough to say them without hesitation.

Highlander is here to listen and to love them.

The friendships forming right now are growing every single day. I see two kids who were strangers on Opening Day now walking to activities side by side. I see a cabin full of girls who have invented their own handshake, their own inside jokes, their own language of belonging. I see a counselor dancing at square dance with her shy camper, glowing over her laughter and smiles. These are the moments that become memories. These are the friendships that become college roommates — the ones that started at camp.

Favorite Details of the Day

• Reflect at the Rock: Today Mac told a story about an echo. The lesson was what you put out into the world you will get back. If you want people to be kind to you, be kind to them. If you want to have friends, be a friend.
• Weather: Somebody pinch me! The weather has been amazing! Cool North Carolina mornings, warm summer days and crisp summer nights. We are so grateful!
• Meals: For breakfast we had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage patty, fruit bar with yogurt & granola. For lunch we had copycat Chick-Fil-A sandwiches (with cold crispy pickles too) and waffle fries, with a salad bar and sandwich bar. For dinner we had chicken fajitas with peppers and onions, cilantro lime rice, homemade guacamole and warm queso dip for our chips. There was a salad bar and sandwich bar as well. For dessert tonight, we had cinnamon and sugar churros…SO SO good!
• Evening Program: Tonight’s EP was one of my favorites - Square Dance! I love seeing all of our campers in their best western wear as they learn to square dance and line dance with their friends. It was so much fun!

This is what we mean when we say camp is a gift.

It is the gift of a week, where the outside world asks nothing of you. Where the only thing required is that you show up — to breakfast, to activities, for your cabin, for each other. Where you discover, sometimes for the first time, that you are enough. That you are loved. That you belong.

And when that gift sinks in — when it really settles into a camper’s heart? They stand in a long line after dinner, they wait their turn with a grin, they walk up to a microphone, and they say thank you.

Out loud.

In front of everyone.

With the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.

This is Camp Highlander - A Place Like No Other.