More Than Pretend: The Power of Play and Purpose

I’ll never forget the first time my daughter had to have surgery.

She was two. Shy. Stuck to my hip at all times. Even a routine check-up at the pediatrician was a full-on meltdown moment. No sticker or lollipop could convince her that strangers in scrubs were safe.

She needed tubes in her ears, and the idea of putting her through a hospital visit, let alone surgery, was terrifying for both of us. So the night before her “big day,” I came home with a plan and a costume: a glittery pink cape, a matching mask, and a declaration that she was a superhero now.

Superheroes are brave. Superheroes face the scary stuff. Superheroes don’t cry when they meet the doctor... they twirl in like they own the place.

And y’all, it worked.

That shy little girl transformed into a bouncing, giggling, high-flying hero. The nursing team caught on quick, and by the time we rolled into pre-op, even the doctor greeted her with a smile and a “Hey there, Wonder Woman!” As they wheeled her away on her little hospital bed, nurses made flying noises down the hallway, and my two-year-old sat straight up, arm outstretched in full superhero mode, soaring off to surgery.

That day, she wasn’t pretending to be brave. She was brave. The costume just gave her permission to believe it.

Pretend play gives kids a bridge, a way to face things that feel too big on their own. Whether it’s a doctor’s office or a dark front porch on Halloween night, pretending helps them step into a version of themselves they might not feel ready to be yet.

And while Halloween gives them one night to play pretend, camp gives them a whole week to discover who they really are.

Camp Is Where Pretend Becomes Real

Halloween lets kids try on courage. Camp helps them live it out.

At camp, kids don’t have to perform, fit in, or filter themselves to be accepted. They show up with all their weird, wild, wonderful selves, and find out that’s exactly who God wants.

We don't hand them a list of rules. We hand them a harness, a paddle, and a marshmallow on a stick. We give them space to ask big questions, to laugh until their stomachs hurt, and to hear, for maybe the first time, that they are loved just as they are.

Camp isn’t a timeout from real life. It’s real life, with the volume turned up and the masks turned off.

Real Faith, Real Friends, Real Fun

Costumes fade. Candy runs out. But the things kids experience at camp? They stick.

Let’s give them more than a moment of pretend. Let’s give them a place where their purpose comes alive.