05/26/2026
It's Tuesday, and time for another Share Your Story to celebrate 50 years of ministry at Sky Lodge.
Today's story was shared by Lee, who has LOTS of stories to share as he's been coming to camp his whole life. This one about an experience while serving on our summer staff has been one of his enduring favorites. Here's what he shared:
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"One of my favorite memories at Sky Lodge was the summer I worked with a group of boys who quickly became my best friends.
During that summer, on one of our outings into town, we stopped by the garage sale 'store' which we called the Weekend Store, as the owners sold various random items out of their garage on the weekends.
While we were looking around, we found some plastic necklaces with random words on them such as 'What?' [We talked to the owners and they just gave us all those necklaces for free. ..As the summer continued, I had many funny exchanges with people whenever I wore my 'What?' necklace]
Well, 2 big things happened that summer that impacted my life.
First, those boys I worked with became my best friends and we were all groomsmen in each other's weddings years later, and still continue to this day to get together and have great times.
The other thing was that , later that summer, the owners of the Weekend Store wrote up an article in the local newspaper about us boys and how nice and respectful and fun we were, and how we worked at Sky Lodge. They said they didn't know what to expect from a group of teenagers walking into their garage - they thought we'd probably be up to no good. Instead, we were well behaved and they just had such nice things to say about us.
We were able to represent Sky Lodge in such a positive way that impacted this couple. Knowing that by just being fun and kind and respectful could make a difference in someone's life and that they noticed the difference meant the world to me.
We didn't preach or intentionally try to share our faith or joy - we lived it out while interacting with them and I believe we made a positive impact for the kingdom that day - as mere high school boys."
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Lee's story is a great reminder that the way our lives are shaped by experiences at camp has continued impact even when we leave the grounds. How cool that he and his friends got a glimpse of the impact they left!
Stories like this don’t just happen by accident—they’re cultivated. Our Zone Summer Staff program helps create the kind of environment where friendships are formed, character is shaped, and faith is lived out in everyday moments.
We still have a few open weeks in July for High School Crew and some summer-long supervisor roles. The link to apply is in the comments.
Come be part of shaping more stories like this!
