Camp Firefly

The entire first year of battling leukemia with my daughter was traumatic. Her reactions to chemotherapy were inconsistent at best. A little over one year into treatment, I reached a breaking point.

We’d almost lost her several times. I finally asked for help. If you know me, you know exactly how hard it was for me to admit I was drowning.  I no longer felt emotionally or intellectually capable of handling Alex’s care. The struggles felt insurmountable.

Then…we were offered an opportunity to go to a camp for families in situations like ours.

We had not applied for the camp.

We didn’t even know it existed.

The camp is called Camp Firefly.

 

Kirk and Chelsea Cameron started the camp. My family was very hesitant. My husband and I had seen some statements from Kirk that made us nervous. Alex has been and still is on her own unique faith journey. In addition, my daughter is very typical of most teens…If you push her in one direction, she will go the other. Taking her to a “Christian Camp” had the potential to be harmful to her spirit.

I need to mention here, that I am calling it a Christian Camp at this point in the story. That’s what I thought it would be. No person affiliated with the camp EVER…to this day…calls it that. We were never asked about our faith. Their criteria was simple. 

Is the child well enough to enjoy camp? Do the parents need it? 

We decided to go, mostly because we were so tired. We also figured that the Camerons were famous enough that they wouldn’t be there except for maybe the last day to take some pictures.

Picture in your mind what you envision a camp for kids with cancer to be. Really…take a few second and really get the image.

• How many kids do you see? 10? 20?
• What kinds of activities are there? Arts & Crafts? Swimming?
• How many staff? All interns? High school kids?
• What are the facilities like? College dorm?Scout Camp?

 

What we expected was probably very similar to what you imagined. I imagined 10 – 15 kids. I figured there would be a zoo trip, swimming, crafts, nature hikes…I pictured something like the room above. And I remembered fondly (some not fondly) the boys that worked at the scout camp near where I grew up.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. To start with, the Camerons weren’t about a “photo opp”. They Cameron family was just there. They were on vacation and we were along for the ride. They greeted us off the bus, carried luggage and helped to situate families from the minute we arrived.

There were only 4 families. The most they ever have is 6. There isn’t any paid staff, except for food and lodging. It is just the Cameron family and a few close friends. The week was amazing, in the true sense of the word. The Cameron family embodied God’s love in a way I had forgotten existed. From the very first day, Chelsea bonded with my daughter and ensured that she had a wonderful time. They all but washed our feet. They did everything possible to remove all stress from our lives for the entire week, all without mentioning their faith…unless asked.

I have many more stories from that week that I will be sharing. But what I can tell you now is that our week with the Cameron family changed how we approached our lives, the cancer and our faith. We are forever grateful for that week and the Camerons.