Christmas morning 2002. The Christmas story has been read from the Bible. Breakfast has been eaten. Presents have been opened. Four little pajama-clad children are handed an envelope that sends them on a scavenger hunt and ends with an invitation to the inaugural summer of Kamp Kannecomova.
Kamp Kannecomova was the brainchild of my grandparents, Mimi and Pop, to spend an extra week of fun each year with their four grandchildren. At the time we ranged in age from 5-9 years old, and we showed up at their house with our bags packed, full of excitement. “Welcome to Kamp Kannecomova!” they sang in excitement when we walked in the door. And just like that, we were off!
Mimi and Pop had thought of everything – each camper was given a custom shirt for each day of camp. They had our names embroidered on them and featured a little emblem that represented what we would be doing that day. For us, this was the coolest thing ever, and for them, this was a way they could keep track of four crazy kids in case we wandered away from the group.
We had mail time every morning with breakfast, where somehow, letters from our parents, full of encouragement and I love yous, magically appeared. Then our snack bags were handed out for the day, and we got our start!
Mimi and Pop have always been the strongest pillars of faith and an example to our entire family, so it only made sense that they prioritized our faith at camp as well. We had Bible time each day where we listened to a short devotion and prayed together. We even had a camp memory verse that we all learned together, as well as a cute little camp song.
Each day was full of pre-planned activities, and we were tasked with documenting our time well. We all received disposable cameras and a little scrapbook to keep our memories in. We spent countless hours at the dining room table with glitter glue and markers and tape making our scrapbooks something to behold. Which of course meant that Pop spent countless hours at the Walgreens photo counter getting numerous cameras developed and purchasing even more because we went through them like candy.
That first summer, we went to a Native American History Museum, to the Pink Palace and the Children’s Museum in Memphis, and even to watch a Red Birds game! Nothing that we did was crazy or expensive – we stayed within an hour’s radius of my grandparent’s house and had the week of our lives.
At the end of the week, our parents were formally invited to the Kamp Kannecomova closing ceremony. During the ceremony, we recited the week’s memory verse, gave a rousing rendition of the camp theme song, shared our scrapbooks page by page, and even put on a little talent show! The audience was riveted. And then it was time to pack up and head back home so Mimi and Pop could sleep for the next week and a half.
As we grew up, finding a week available in the summer became more and more difficult. Kamp turned into a quick weekend instead of a full week, and when we got to junior high and high school, it slowly stopped altogether. But what didn’t stop was the reminiscing. Every single time we are together, we regale the group with the hilarity of that time my cousin and I got stuck on a roller coaster at an amusement park or the time we got my photos developed and discovered a random stranger had taken some selfies on my camera at the Children’s Museum (don’t worry, I put them in my scrapbook for the memories).
The eldest camper is almost thirty, we are all married, and there is even a baby on the way this year. We’re trying to talk Mimi and Pop into a Kamp Kannecomova weekend reunion so we can relive the magic of that first summer.
Creating a legacy of faith for your family that can be passed down is as easy as starting your own “summer camp”. Don’t wait for the perfect time — start today, imperfectly, and remember the reason that you’re doing it.
Here are three tips to help you kick off your own legacy summer camp:
1. Don’t overcomplicate things.
One of our favorite days in the first year of camp was when my grandparents took us to the recycling plant to donate the aluminum cans that they’d collected for the past year. We put bags and bags of cans in the back of Pop’s truck, watched them get crushed in the giant machines, and then split the money from recycling them and go on a Dollar Tree shopping spree. We couldn’t have received more than $8 each, and it was just the coolest thing ever. I still remember what I bought with my money – it was a set of fake piercings so I could pretend I had a nose and eyebrow ring. Sorry, Mimi and Pop.
Our scrapbooking supplies were just sketchbooks from the craft store, sticker sheets, and markers. We used our disposable cameras to document the days, and that was it. There wasn’t anything fancy about it, but we will cherish those books forever.
2. Focus on the lessons you want to pass down.
Each year our camp was centered around a theme that bled into everything we did – the activities, the Bible study and memory verse, and the education. In our second year, along with our daily Bible time, we had etiquette lessons. You might be thinking that wrangling four elementary-aged kids, three of them boys, to teach them about etiquette is a daunting feat, and you’d be right. But you better believe that today as adults, we all remember how to set a table and what side of the street the boys are supposed to walk on, because of those lessons.
One summer, we all got matching aprons with our names on them, and the focus for the week was teaching us skills in the kitchen. It culminated in baking a cake together called a “Scripture Cake”. I’m not sure where Pop found that recipe, but it was perhaps the worst thing any of us had ever eaten. We sure got some laughs from it, though!
3. Keep faith at the center.
No matter how many fun activities we had planned throughout the day, Bible time was always first on the agenda. And there was no question that you would find us in a church on Sunday morning. One year, the six of us walked into a little country church, and the attendance doubled to 12 people! We once attended church in what used to be a dinner theater in Branson, and there were sinks at the end of each row. To our horror, Mimi and Pop even sometimes encouraged their little, introverted grandchildren to attend Sunday school with a classroom full of strangers, but we are all better for it! They showed us over and over where God was, and still is, on their list of priorities, and He always came out at the top.
The years go by, and we’re all grown up, but we will never stop remembering our sweet summers at Kamp Kannecomova. Whether you’re inspired to start your own “summer camp”, or these stories gave you ideas for a different type of activity, don’t let another summer go by without instilling the legacy of faith and family in your children and grandchildren. They will always remember the sweet times and cherish the lessons you pass on to them.
This article is by Jordan Sears and is featured in Everyday Faith Magazine.
The brand new SUMMER issue of DaySpring’s Everyday Faith Magazine just hit newsstands!
From cover to cover, you will find stories and articles like the one above that will inspire hope, prompt reflection, and encourage you for the upcoming months. There are beautiful tear-out prayers to share cards, scannable QR codes for bonus goodies, and exclusive Summer Planning Calendars tucked inside!
Everyday Faith magazine will help you know and share God’s love in fresh, true, and inspiring ways. Pick up your copy wherever magazines are sold and at DaySpring.com. This article is just one of many featured in Everyday Faith magazine, which, by the way, is perfect for reading on your lunch break, taking on vacation, or gifting to a friend.
And to help you do just that, we’re giving away FIVE sets of magazines — one for each winner and one for them to give to a friend! Leave a comment telling us to whom you’d gift a copy, or about your own Kamp Kannecomova-style memory, and we’ll draw five winners.
Listen to today’s article below or wherever you stream podcasts!
I would give a copy to my sister to inspire her to start a camp for my five year old!
My parents used to keep the grandkids in the summer too. While they didn’t organize a “camp,” they did plan lots of fun activities, including taking photos and making scrapbooks. My mom passed away last year, and my now grown nephew brought his scrapbooks to share with the family. Such sweet memories.
Every summer my daughter and son in law take a short vacation together. With three boys 9, 6 and 3 this year, there are always disputes. So the first year we instituted Team MUTBAM. An acronym for “mommy used to be a M……” (her maiden name). We had team meetings any time there was a disagreement. Next week they are mine again and this gave me new ideas for the Team!!
I would love to read this magazine:)
Team meetings! I love this!
I would give a copy to our dear niece, a mother of a four, six, eight,& eighteen year old, who is a model of devotion to faith, family, community, social work as her profession,
and fun!
I’d love to share a copy the magazine with my daughter. She has three children ages 20, 15 and 10. Inspiration is always welcome!
Hello,
I am a grandma to 19 and great grandma to one. I love the idea of Kannecomova and my grands have come over a lot for overnights in our home. Maybe one of my children will start something with their own grands. I would love to share this magazine with one of my grandchildren who are starting out with their own new family. God has been good to me and given me 51 years overseas, (Peru), and many other “children” and “grands”.
Wow…I’m so thrilled to read this story! I have fond memories of going to Church Camp!!
Appreciate this article and
I will cherish this idea for Summer Camp at Grandmas and plan to use it when we have some grandchildren!
In the meantime I’m forwarding this article to a friend who’s a pastor’s wife in south Texas.
Also to my Aunt Joyce a missionary to NorthPole Alaska who has lots of grandchildren!!
God bless you! Thanks for the opportunity to maybe win a subscription!!! Blessings B
I love these magazines, and since I recently retired I now will have time to read more! I would love to win this, thanks for the opportunity.
I would probably share a copy with my mom. I very much enjoyed the summers with my grandparents and I’m so glad I did now that they are no longer with us. I would spend weeks with my grandparents in West Virginia and Ohio. I loved going to Goodwill with Grandma Smith. 🙂 Such fun memories! Grandma Wampler would let me help her pick up cans. I do not have children of my own but I teach children on the side and try to be involved in their lives as much as I can.
I love this story it’s so sweet and reminds me of my grandparents growing up!! The legacy they passed on to me if what I’m trying to pass onto my family; faith love tradition. I’d love to be a contestant for the magazine and to give one to my beautiful mother who is our rock and carrying on our legacy to our kids!
We recently moved to another state. I met a lady in my new church who has 3 grandchildren. She has taken each child individually for a special day and overnight with her. I would like to give her a copy of the magazine and introduce her to this story. I think she would love it.
I would love to gift the magazines to my daughter-in-love and another soon to be daughter-in -love. They will be the mammas to my future grandchildren. There’s no greater calling than to pass the legacy of faith to the next generation.
My daughters, one with 4 children the other 7 children.
I would love a copy of the magazine and I would gift the other magazine to my friend, Catherine, whose family goes to my church.
My favorite grandparent camp memory is going to to my grandparents house in NJ for a week while my parents and brother went to Europe. We didn’t do a whole lot of exciting things but it was special memories: playing cards with my grandpa, going thru the stash of mini powdered donuts Nana had, going with her to a yard sale, playing with my cousins nearby.
Grandmas always have/had the best treats.
I love this so much! Our grandchildren are grown now, but we are preparing to be snowbirds to Texas to be with our great-grands this year. I would love to use these ideas to build our relationship with them and share our faith. When I was growing up, we lived in Michigan and we spent a couple weeks every year in Tennessee with my grandmother. We had great times with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. And we have wonderful memories of spending time with Granny just doing what she did – walking to the market, breaking beans on the front porch, making biscuits and chocolate pies, cobblers, hanging out the wash …
I would gift a copy to my bff who does many special things for her grandchildren and blesses me to be a part of some of them.
I remember summers at my grandma’s house. My sister and I and our three cousins would stay. Mind you, she lived across the street from us, but it was still great fun. Would love to win copies of the magazine for myself and my sister. Blessings to you.
The camp sounds like such a fun idea that I’m going to keep in mind for if I ever have grandchildren I would give a copy of the magazine that contains to my sister probably. She would likely pass it on to her daughter or our other sister.
I love this summer story! We are heading this summer to Iowa to see our 5 grandkids. We are so excited! Jordan the memories you shared about Kamp Kannecomova are so inspiring. I can’t to put your ideas into memories.
We’ve always had a lot of fun together. Camping, fishing, sledding, museums and cooking. We had opportunities to talk about God’s creation of mountains and lakes and critters. Read Noah’s Ark and pray for kiddos that weren’t having as much fun camping or being “not so kind” at the playground. The kids are older now so your piece is perfect timing. We need a bit of inspiration…so a copy of Everyday Faith magazine will definitely…
“help us know and share God’s love in fresh, true, and inspiring ways”
Congrats on the release everyone. Blessings sisters \0/
I would gift a copy to my sister .
Aww, such sweet memories. One of my best friends sends her daughter to “Granny Camp” each year and it always sounds like such a great experience, that I want to go too. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive to be great!
I would love to receive a copy of this magazine. I am a grandmother of 2 boys (8 and 2) and we are always on an adventure! The oldest who is now 8 looks forward to coming to Mimi and Papa’s house for sleepovers, spoiling and fun. I am always on the lookout for new things to do with them! I would gift this magazine to myself and cherish every page.
Thank you for sparking my creativity with new memory making ideas with my grands!
Memories of time at my grandparents are my fondest. I’d give a copy to my mom I think.
Camp Kannecomova sounds like it was so much fun. I can just imagine all the special memories!
I’d love to win a set of the new summer Everyday Faith Magazine. I’d share my copy with my mom after I read it and share the copy for a friend with my friend Jan. Thanks so much for this opportunity. 🙂
The times that I, my sister, and my 8 cousins are memories that I will always treasure. My grandmother was an angel! She was just the best! She and my grandfather made faith a major priority. I still have my grandfather’s Bible with his notes and handwriting that he would use to teach a Sunday School class. My grandfather had a farm and raised cattle, pigs, and chickens. He raised cotton. He had big silos where all of us would hide while Easter eggs were hidden by our parents. They did not plan special outings for us, but we loved the daily things. I loved this article! I have two granddaughters that are 7 and 5. They come for sleep overs and we do crafts, Mail Box Club lessons (faith based), read, have tea parties, make special treats, and other various things. However, I love the memories that a camp theme would build. I would love the magazine and I would gift the second one to my dear friend who is a pastor’s wife. She fairly recently moved to an area where she can spend time with her granddaughters. Thank you so much for offering and for the joy this article gave to so many. Blessings
After listening to the camp story I am so encouraged to do that this summer for my great granddaughter and great grandson Thank You
I love this article !! I have two granddaughters coming in a few days, this gave me great onspiration. I love the Everday Faith magazine.
Jordan,
You had wonderful grandparents who loved on you all. Sounds like you had plenty of fun in the summer. I would love to leave a legacy of faith to others around me.
My gift would be to a dear friend.
Blessings 🙂
I would give a copy to my daughter.