laurel lake camp - probably the first of many

the pennsylvania conference of sda are closing down laurel lake camp effective january 31, 2011. i don't know if it is public knowledge as i haven't spotted this notification on facebook or twitter which are the two media i consider to indicate what is public and what is not. since the readership of my blog is consituted of my mom and my gina and they both know then i feel that it is safe. i realize that this doctor name is connected to my blog and perhaps i should be careful of the words posted here and this blog is even public domain.
but i need a public domain to assure that i am heard, maybe only by myself or maybe to be sure that God knows in case he is a visual learner like me (i know my personification is inaccurate but it does make Him more real) - i feel like the closing of the youth camp is a statement, a statement that says the youth of pennsylvania conference are not valued by the church leaders. it's a statement that says until you turn 14 years old and hit the 9th grade and can head to BMA, you don't matter to our church leaders-and really until that point is your salvation a factor?? and if you don't go to BMA due to either distance or financial hardship, then you probably don't need evangelized to. because BMA is cost effective and laurel lake is not. nothing against Blue Mountain Academy, the institution that educated and won the souls of many of my dear friends - i would likely be very upset if that were closing as well, but laurel lake is tied to my salvation and for that i am livid - i am intolerant of the idea that the place that formed who i am is no longer deemed cost effective.
two days ago i became a doctor, a seventh-day adventist doctor who graduated from loma linda university and recited a physician's oath that went like this:
"Before God, these things I do promis.
In acceptance of my sacred calling --
I will dedicate myself to the furtherance of Jesus Christ's healing and teaching ministry.
I will give my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due. I will impart to those
who follow me the knowledge and experience that I have gained.
The wholeness of my patient will be my first consideration.
Acting as a good steward of the resources of society and of the talents granted me, I will
endeavor to reflect God's mercy and compassion by caring for the lonely, the poor, the
suffering, and those who are dying.
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life. I will not use my medical knowledge
contrary to the laws of humanity. I will respect the rights and decisions of my patients.
I will hold in confidence all secrets committed to my keeping in practice with my calling.
I will lead my life and practice my art with purity and honor; abstaining from immorality
myself, I will not lead others into moral wrongdoing.
May God's kingdom, His healing power, and His glory be experience by those whom I serve; any may they be made known in my life, in proportion as I am faithful to the truth.

these words were not recited at any other medical school in the country -so why was i at loma linda reciting those words? part of the reason was that my mom went to loma linda and i admired her intelligence and her compassion - i wanted to be like her, part of the reason was God's leading me to that school, but how had i gotten to medical school? how did i find my calling in pediatrics? i am not being overdramatic when i say it was at laurel lake camp.
because of laurel lake camp, i spent every free weekend of the school year working side by side with my parents from 8th grade to graduation day - in these weekends i not only had lessons on serving others, but more importantly on hard work and responsibility. these weekends also afforded me something precious, concentrated time with both of my parents who worked hard during the week (although they were always available to me) - the third thing is that it offered me something besides the streets of a small town on the weekend nights. it is huge to spend that much time with your family these days and it wasn't ever forced, allison and i never begrudged the camp for the hours of our youth we gave. we worked there in the summers and learned even more responsibility. i learned my strengths and weaknesses as a leader during my years as counselor and assistant pool director - these lessons led me to succeed as a leader in medical school.
it was at laurel lake where i first had the strength to tell my parents that i was being sexually abused when i was eight. it was at laurel lake that i was put in a cabin with ginny kafferlin who is still one of my dearest friends. it was at laurel lake that i won my first pie eating contest and fell off my first horse. it was at laurel lake where i met the corbin sisters, two of the most amazing counselors to effect my life. it was at laurel lake that i fell in love with Jesus as a staff member. it was at laurel lake that i met gina who inspired me to run a marathon and then another, followed by another and then probably another. it was at laurel lake that i always planned to get married, in the grove past the pool.
without my parents, i wouldn't be where i am today, but they can't take all the credit because without laurel lake, i wouldn't be who i am today. more specifically, without laurel lake and ed, wendy & john eberhardt, i wouldn't be where i am today. my parents gave me the tools to succeed, ed & wendy saw my potential and made it possible for me to work there (as did john who needed a babysitter). it was during my summers working there that i first heard "love song for a savior" by jars of clay and i realized that i really did want to fall in love with Jesus - and so i did.
so really laurel lake is why i am a christian physician - if not for that place and the influences there, i probably would have never seen the opportunities in the community of adventists and adventist education and so i would have gone to a state university (even though my parents would be disappointed) - from there, i am sure an east coast medical school would have seemed the wisest choice and although it is possible to be a phenomenal christian physician without going to loma linda (i know several of them) - it's not as easy and i'll be the first to admit it may not have happened for me.
so for all these reasons and more, i will cry the day that laurel lake closes, and until that day i will continue to tell people what that little place means to me - and probably long after.