For me, Sonlight is thickly woven in the tapestry of my life. I had volunteered at Sonlight in 2002 and fell in love with the location, the hospitality, the mission and the life of camp. When my husband finished seminary in 2005, we had our plans aligned to spend the summer at Sonlight before moving on to a “real” job for him and whatever would come next for me. God’s plans were for us to be in the best place we could be for what that summer would bring.I was diagnosed with cancer days before we were to start training. I remember sitting at a picnic table with Mary, Winston and Tim (then Summer Camp Director) and laying it out: my summer plans had been usurped by chemo. I had no idea what that was going to look like, beyond being sick for much of the summer. I remember them saying that they understood, no matter what we needed to do for it to best for us, but they’d love to have us stay and work around it. Stay we did.
That summer I remember laying in the trailer listening to kids and to the woods. Falling asleep to campfire songs and sometimes morning worship music. Stacking lots of grilled cheese sandwiches and filling a LOT of water balloons, and banquet night dishes. The staff that summer supported me 100% as I fought for my health- and if your reading this, staff from 2005 – I thank you! I finished chemo the week that camp ended.
Everything came full circle in 2009 when we were back at camp for a week to volunteer. Emrys a speaker for the High School Camp and me doing whatever I could do with a 6-month-old in tow. I was healthy, whole and had my daughter along for the week.
In 2010 Mary called and asked if I was interested in their Registrar position. Of course! Now, I get to be a part of Sonlight year round from my home in NY. On the rare occasions that we get to travel back to Colorado, it is such a blessing to go back to a home-of-my-heart!
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Sara Tyler