Paulhaven Part 1

There is a quirky band that goes by the name “They Might Be Giants”.  Perhaps you’ve heard of them.  In the chorus of one of their more popular hits they sing “make a little birdhouse in your soul”.  It’s a sweet little song that I have always enjoyed listening to.  Now after returning home from Paulhaven camp 2012, the song has new meaning for me.  And I have a birdhouse in my soul. 

I first attended Paulhaven camp in July of 2002, ten years ago.  I was a new youth director and I was excited to be going to a Swedenborgian summer youth camp that I had never been to before.  Rev. John Maine was the camp pastor and I came to Paulhaven as a teacher.  I remember pulling into the camp thinking how do the kids survive for a week in this camp up in the middle of nowhere with no hot water and electricity?  And by the end of that week back in 2002, my answer arrived.  They don’t survive, they thrive!  Kids don’t need luxuries like power.  They get all the energy they need from the spirit and enthusiasm of fellow campers at Paulhaven.  Kids don’t need hot showers.  They receive love from caring campers to keep them warm.  I was astounded by how much the staff was able to accomplish in a camp with so little material to work with.  They had heart and soul unlike any I had experienced before.  Spirited chapel services, delicious and fun meals (like eating with utensils on Spaghetti night), loads of recreational play like soccer, softball, volleyball and a ping pong tournament, a beach outing, evening campfire sing alongs, a fantastic closing dance party, and of course, camp crafts.  And in 2002, we made birdhouses.  I made a birdhouse love shack.  Bright red and purple with a heart on the roof and the French word for love, “amour”, painted in green on the front.  A place like Paulhaven with this much love needed a love shack for the birds.  I secured my birdhouse to a sturdy birch tree, snapped a picture of it, and drove away from this little caring camp community in the woods.  Goodbye Paulhaven 2002.