Dear Friend,
“Would you two like to get away for a week this summer while we watch your kids?” Soren’s parents asked us on a memorable phone call in 2007. Pregnant, and with 4- and 2-year-olds screaming in the background, we just about fainted at the thought of some time away.
“Yes!” we answered (and every summer thereafter). And that’s how Camp Wego GG, the nickname of Soren’s hometown with initials for Grammie and Gramps tacked on, got started. Like storied camps that provide some families with a generations-long tradition, Wego GG is now a family treasure.
Thirteen summers later, we’ll soon be dropping the kids off at our 14th annual “grandparent camp.” Though Soren’s dad died in 2018, his mom is still hosting the 5-day camp for the grandkids. So, it seemed fitting, in the fourth week of the month, when we turn our focus to Level 4 of your Trinity House, Family Culture, to write about “Camp Wego GG,” one of the crown jewels of Johnson family culture.
“No Parents Allowed” is one of Grammie’s strictest rules, and our kids—even the teenagers—can’t wait for us to drop them off. Each year comes with its own theme, t-shirt (the grandchildren take turns picking the color), logo, song, and Bible verse. Each day is chock-full of adventures, crafts, fishing in the nearby river, activities, and late nights.
Each year’s camp theme, logo, and daily schedule are a surprise which the kids only find out about on the first morning of camp (the parents usually find out about it 5 days later). The color of the t-shirt—and the fact that there will be a limitless supply of ice cream—are the only things they know with certainty in advance.
“Peacemakers” was one year’s theme and “make me an instrument of your peace,” a line from St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer, was the verse. “Let There Be Peace on Earth” was the camp song that year. Another year, the theme was “One” and Romans 12:5 was the verse: “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” “We Are One in the Spirit” was the song.
“I feel they’re getting a better sense of who they are,” Ginger, Soren’s mom, said, in a 7-minute video with Awana CEO Valerie Bell about the camp, “where they came from, what kinds of values their parents were raised with, and they’re getting to know us a lot better. Throughout the year as we’re talking with our grandchildren, we hear them reference something they learned at a particular camp. It’s one of the best investments we’ve ever made.”
Ginger’s words can be an inspiration for every grandparent—and parent. As we move through this year from one uncertainty to the next, our little (and big) traditions and rituals of family culture are all the more valuable. They deepen our children’s bonds within the family, with the Lord, and with the body of Christ. If the days are beginning to blur and run together, perhaps now is the time to return to the drawing board and innovate a mini-camp, a day-trip, or even a tour de force work of love and creativity like Ginger and Tom’s.
“Grandparents need to feel comfortable about being open and being themselves with their grandchildren,” Ginger said recently, reflecting with gratitude on the 65 cumulative days she has overseen the camp since it began. “This is a legacy that we have an opportunity of leaving with them. It’s at your home, on your turf. I would encourage others to try it, to have fun with it, to bring faith to it, to build your family stronger.”
Maybe someday you’ll be the one who makes the call that leaves a young couple on the other end of the line speechless. Or maybe as a parent, you’ll discover or rediscover in this unforgettable summer of pandemic a jewel of your unique family culture. If every family is an icon and reflection of the love and interpersonal communion of the Holy Trinity, then our time together building family culture is a beautiful expression of this divine love. Whatever form that takes, we can give thanks for the gift of life, of family, and the priceless opportunity to share our faith in the gift that is each day.
Heaven in Your Home Toolkit
In remarks while in Philadelphia in 2015, Pope Francis memorably said, “Grandparents are the living memory of the family. They pass on the faith; they transmitted the faith to us.”
Check out these two inspiring articles about the Catholic Grandparents Association: “The Gift of Grandparents: How the Older Generation Helps Teach Grandchildren the Faith,” “On a Mission for Catholic Grandparents.” Be sure to check out this beautiful “Prayer for Grandparents” by Pope Benedict XVI.
Courtesy of Focus on the Family, here’s a write-up by Ruth Alewine Page of her Grandma Camp. “God loves our grandchildren and has a wonderful purpose for their lives,” she writes. “Here is one way we help them understand how valuable they are to us.”
Still in shock about how fall back-to-school will mean back-to-online-learning for so many of us? We found this Our Sunday Visitor editorial on “Resetting Expectations for School this Fall” helpful. In it, they counsel patience, charity, and healthy communication.
Tom Hoopes at Aleteia distills a step-by-step guide to sharing the faith: “Have You Evangelized Today? Pope Francis on our ‘Daily Duty’.“
Lisa Hendey offerse a thorough and insightful “Guide for Families Considering Home Schooling” at Our Sunday Visitor.
In “Kids Thrive When Their Parents are in Love,” Justin Coulson at the Institute for Family Studies touches on one of the ‘cornerstones’ of our Heaven in Your Home Workshop: weekly date night with your spouse.
Testimonial
“Visiting the cafe just gives me this peace in my soul…I strongly suggest bringing a friend for a brunch or taking your homework to the Cafe, to experience the peace I get when I go there for yourself!” – George W., Round Hill, Va., in a July 2020 Yelp review of Trinity House Cafe
Please Join Us In Prayer
- For the staff and ministry of Trinity House Cafe, and the recent Heaven in Your Home Workshop participants;
- For all individuals and families, that they might be open to God’s grace and imbue their homes with faith, love, and the peace of Christ;
- For unity and healing in our nation, and for wisdom for all public officials;
- For all those who mourn the loss of loved ones; for the sick, their caregivers, medical personnel, and all essential workers; and for the unemployed, and all those facing difficult financial decisions in these days.
In Christ,
Soren & Ever Johnson
Founders & Directors
Trinity House Community
Making Home a Little Taste of Heaven
