Hidden Treasure | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Hidden Treasure | Previous Challenge Entry
By sue armstrong
11/14/06
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HIDDEN TREASURE

Jill never expected that taking a summer lifeguard job at a music camp would connect her with a part of her past she’d always wondered about. Haltingly shy, she wondered if she’d ever make sense of her insecurities about herself and about life.
She’d taken the job to buy herself some time and get away from her mother’s nagging about deciding on a college.

The camp was on 90 beautiful acres in northern Michigan. As soon as she arrived there was a flurry of activities getting everyone settled in their appropriate cabins. At last count, there were one hundred students enrolled for the eight week camp. The staff consisted of a camp director, six instructors, twelve counselors, a cook and her assistant; and of course, Jill, the part-time lifeguard. She felt very intimidated around the other staff, and particularly the guitar instructor, Jason. There was something ominous about him, there was sadness or something she couldn’t quite put her finger on that made her uncomfortable.

Jill had been around musicians most of her life due to the fact that her dad had been in a band most of her life. That is, until he had a heart attack and died two years ago.
Ever since then, Jill’s mom seemed focused on what Jill was going to do with her life. That was a problem because she didn’t have any idea what she wanted to do. There was one thing she’d inherited from her dad and it wasn’t musical ability. She liked music a lot, it seemed to soothe her soul when she felt lonely or on edge.

It was on the third day of camp at a staff meeting that Jill ended up assigned to a task force group that was in charge of putting together the graduation celebration for the last night of camp. It took her most of the meeting before she spoke up at all. It had always been hard for her to imagine anyone would be interested in her thoughts. Her dad was the only one she’d ever really been able to talk to about anything more than surface things. She’d decided before coming that this was going to be different. No one knew her here and so it was a great place to come out of her shell, so to speak. The people in the group had listened and responded to her ideas quite well. It produced a growing hope that maybe she really did have value and could enjoy herself in social settings.

Sitting in her lifeguard perch in the afternoons gave her plenty of time to think and dream. Most of the students were good swimmers and she only occasionally had to remind some of the guys about the rules regarding rough-housing with the equipment.
Even though they weren’t the typical high school jocks, they still had plenty of energy to burn after grueling hours of music practice. Most of them were training to compete for college scholarships in a year or two, and then hopefully on to professional careers. She felt a little inept when she heard them talking about their plans in great detail. It always left her wondering what was wrong with her that she didn’t want to “be” something.

After chapel service on Sunday, Jill felt challenged regarding the message. It had been on facing your fears in life. At lunch she decided to face her uncomfortable feelings regarding Jason. He was sitting by the window so she joined him. They talked for over an hour. From then on they were lunch buddies.

Looking back on that summer she realized her initial uneasiness around Jason was because he reminded her of her dad. She came to appreciate his melancholy personality, and became adept at getting him to open up. She’d even made him laugh several times. Those were her favorite memories about her dad too, imprinted on her heart forever.

Jason became a good friend. But more than that, God used him, and the time at camp to help Jill realize she had a lot to offer in life. She wasn’t musically inclined, and that was okay. Her dad had hidden his fears behind his music and she had done a similar thing, hiding behind her shyness. But that summer, with God’s help and inspiration, there began a melody in her heart that hasn’t quit.

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