Camp Attitude = Life Changing

There is just no way I can post about Camp Attitude and not shed tears. Tears of joy, peace, faithfulness, contentment, sadness to say "see you laters" the last day, tears of gratefulness for all the families we met, friendships made, relationships strengthened. But most of all tears of extreme awe of what God showed me within the first 24 short hours of being there.

Camp Attitude is a camp tailored for children and adults with special needs. The opportunity to attend camp no matter the diagnosis, mild or severe. They provide families and those disabled or diagnosed with a disability a chance to live a normal life. To dance, swim, swing, ride horses, boat, jet ski, play in the river, fish, play lazer tag, hot air balloon, crafts, play games and socialize. It gives parents a chance to just relax and not be on call every second of every day for 5 days. Ron and I spent a lot of time quiet and in awe of the beautiful people we met. Some with physical struggles, some mental, some really severe, some less. People come from all over the United States to come and enjoy these activities at Camp Attitude with their children.

I felt myself desiring to connect with all the campers, the parents and siblings and now that it's over I feel like Ron and I missed out on really taking time out for him and I. Yet we don't have any regrets. We did play card games with a few others and that was SO fun. We did meet and visit with almost all the parents there. Because of our card game experience we literally went and bought the game Dutch Blitz hours after unloading the car. Thanks Rob and Angela. :)

TJ was one of several kids diagnosed with autism/autism spectrum disorders. It was nice to share stories, offer hope and recieve hope to and from others.

How camp worked:

We arrived to a sea of "buddies" and "servants" (as they are called) to unload our car all within minutes, to our cabin. We played and enjoyed meandering around. I think a lot of us parents were feeling out the camp, hesitating, wondering if it would be a match or work out for us with our child with special needs. Long story short. IT WAS AMAZING! Buddies are assigned to each special need camper. From breakfast to bedtime the buddies were on duty to serve, love, play and enjoy our special needs children. Moms and dads got to socialize, take time for themselves, and just BREATH. The buddies are mostly high school and college age young adults VOLUNTEERING their time to serve the families there. For 4 1/2 days we had breaks from the running, chasing and redirecting TJ. His buddy Dean did that with and for us. He literally followed and chased Tj everywhere. He took him to fish, ride the horses, swim on lake day, helped with meals, keeping him seated or running after him when he got up. He was so awesome. A true blessing to TJ and for Ron and I to not be so overwhelmed all day with the yuck of autism and severe adhd.
The girls were assigned a sibling buddy named Laura. She was such a gem and blessing to us as we saw a quiet love for our girls as she just simply spent time with them. Listening to them, swinging, whatever it was she was there. They held her hands and smothered her while she kept a serving and loving heart. She was a huge blessing to the girls this week as they often get the short end of the stick with attention as we struggle to just get through the day with TJ. She meant more to us then she will ever know.
The camp is 100% running on the generous giving of others. There are no paid staff. Each person there is a volunteer. Giving up a week, some 2, 4 and 8 weeks, to serve. With no pay!

I surely can't blog today on our whole experience. It will take several posts. But I can say this, Our lives were flipped and totally changed. For our whole family. I always wanted to serve and work with special needs but didn't end up persuing it. Now we feel called to serve and help Camp Attitude in some way. We have no idea what it will be. But we are called.
Here are a few photos from our week. If you are on FB you have seen a lot and read a lot more on there regarding life changing moments I had. I will blog later on that for sure.

I will leave you with this that I learned. Special needs kids and adults are BRILLIANT! They are smart! Their brains are functioning and working. So next time you see someone in a wheel chair, walker, moaning or screeching, jumping or clapping, don't think pity on them. Say hello with confidence and treat them as you would anyone else you walk past. That is all they want. That is all their families want. Us as parents want. For people to love them and intereact with them like anyone else. To be tolerant of the physical movements and impulses they may have. I can't wait to see where and how God will use me/us as a family. But I hope it happens fast and soon. I am craving all the amazing camper kids I met. I miss them SOOOOOOOOOO much. And one of my favorites, Jacob I missed getting pictures with him and his family. He was so loving, witty and TJ LOVED him.

Tj's friend Wyatt

 Tj was super fond of Lucas. He would take pictures of him, clap with him, laugh and smile. They would get one another all excited. It was awesome! They definitely had a connection!

 On the boat with their buddies.

 Tj playing lazer tag. The rain didn't stop us!

 Pre lazer tag game. It was parents against Campers and buddies! We won!

 TJ bowling one afternoon.

 Servant shirts. How cool is this?

 Buddy shirts!

 Camper shirts! We all recieved one.

 Wyatt's buddy Val. KK really connected with her. Val and Wyatt were quite popular. :)

 Us during the talent show. TJ sang his favorite childrens worship song from church.

Thanks Val for the photos off your camera. Camp Attitude is incredible. If you know anyone who would benefit from this place please check them out and share their website. PLEASE  pray on how you can support. They have some needs as basic as reams of computer paper to camera equiptment, computer stuff and construction jobs. If you have these abilities and can offer a donation of time, money or items,  PLEASE do. Thank you for considering helping a place that is forever a part of us and our family. http://www.campattitude.com/