Week 8: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edenton, NC

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

On the first night of Week 8, every camper from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edenton received a small heart necklace to wear for the week—a reminder of the invitation before them: Put a Little Love in Your Heart.

Borrowed from the old Jackie DeShannon song, the theme quickly became part of the soundtrack of our week. We sang it, but we also wondered together:

If love had a color, what would it be?

What does love smell like?

What does love sound like?

And maybe most importantly, what does it mean to love quietly?

Those questions followed us off the worship pavilion and into our days.

Each morning before breakfast, campers grabbed stadium chairs and scattered across the Ridge for personal devotion time. With camp unusually still, everyone found a place for Scripture, prayer, and their own thoughts. Before we circled up for our breakfast blessing and started the day, there was quiet.

Maybe love sounds like that sometimes.

Of course, with this group, love could also be pretty loud.

Music was everywhere. The Rev. Melody Perdue led us throughout the week as worship filled with voices, instruments, laughter, and songs that often continued long after worship officially ended. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” became our refrain, and yes, even “Rocky Top” made a few enthusiastic appearances.

But one song carried a much deeper meaning.

One evening at worship, the youth presented Glory Ridge with a generous donation in loving memory of Clay Willis, a former youth leader and beloved member of the St. Paul’s community whose life had deeply shaped so many. Clay’s wife, Kim, and his son, Clayton, were moved by the sentiment, and fellow camper OR Harris offered a beautiful rendition of one of Clay’s original songs, “Cool Creek Water.”

For a week spent asking what love sounds like, perhaps we had an answer right there. Sometimes love sounds like remembering someone well. Sometimes it is an old song given a new voice. Sometimes love keeps singing.

Those little heart necklaces went everywhere with us as we continued finding answers to our questions.

At Amanda’s home, love looked a lot like work. One crew started Monday tearing out an old deck and hauling debris. Before anyone asked, campers noticed trash scattered around the yard and simply began picking it up. Demolition soon gave way to construction, with adults teaching young people to measure, saw, drill, and problem-solve. By Wednesday afternoon, there was a brand-new deck—and a group of campers who could say, We built that.

At Ms. Hazel’s, love looked like weed eaters and wet shoes as campers tackled thick, rain-soaked grass. At Ms. Kittie’s, it meant helping clean and organize a bedroom, but also knowing when to put the work aside long enough to sit, listen to stories, and simply enjoy her company.

At Walnut Community Center, campers painted a walnut stencil on the food pantry walls, pruned overgrown trees and shrubs, and gave the basketball court some much-needed TLC.

And at The Lord’s Harvest, love looked like pulling weeds from a potato field Glory Ridge volunteers had helped plant earlier in the summer. There was something satisfying about returning to work begun by other hands—one group planting, another tending, and someday someone else gathering the harvest.

Other acts of love were less predictable.

Campers offering random acts of kindness found themselves helping people at a local laundromat. There they met a couple and learned they had been living without running water for more than a year. The encounter stayed with them, a quiet reminder that love often begins simply by noticing.

Another crew arrived at the animal shelter just as it was dealing with a large influx of animals. There were dogs to walk, kittens to hold, and nervous animals who needed someone willing to sit nearby and be patient. One of the sweetest sights was watching frightened dogs slowly relax until a few felt safe enough for full-blown zoomies.

Apparently, sometimes love looks like sprinting in circles as fast as you possibly can.

Later, campers helped with a free community veterinary vaccination clinic made possible through Dr. Chris Ford and local partners. Families came with beloved pets in tow, and our volunteers stepped in wherever needed. It was another kind of worksite, but the purpose was much the same: notice the need, care for your neighbor, offer what you can.

Back at camp, love often smelled like whatever Brian and Erica were cooking.

They fed us delicious meals throughout the week, welcoming tired campers back to tables where food turned into conversation. Jigsaw puzzles took shape in the dining pavilion at night. Card games got surprisingly competitive. Singing broke out in the kitchen. Alumni staffer Abby Watson returned to the Ridge and enjoyed the gift of spending a week alongside friends from Edenton.

There was adventure too. A whitewater rafting trip traded saws and drills for paddles, rapids, splashing, and plenty of laughter.

Through it all, Gary brought the kind of joyful leadership that encouraged young people to jump in, try something new, work hard, and not take themselves too seriously.

And then there was Mary Scott’s van.

Some camp stories are probably best left to the people who were there.

By Thursday evening, our questions about love had become much less theoretical.

During worship, staffer Trish Harwood shared part of her own story. She spoke about serious health problems that nearly took her life and a season when she found herself far from the relationship with Jesus she had once known.

Then she told us about young people from Glory Ridge who loved her.

They showed up. They cared. They made room for her. And through the love she experienced from them, God began drawing Trish back into relationship with Jesus.

For a group that had spent the week asking what it means to love quietly, her story offered an answer we didn’t need to explain. Those young people could not have known what God would eventually do with their kindness. They simply loved her.

And God did something with their love.

Thursday night continued around the Eucharistic table, where we received again the love at the center of our faith—the love of Jesus Christ, given freely for us and shared with one another.

Later, candlelight passed from person to person as campers offered prayers of gratitude, hope, and thanksgiving. If love had a color that night, maybe it looked like warm candlelight spreading through the darkness.

Then, in wonderfully Glory Ridge fashion, reverence gave way to a talent show.

Musicians, comedians, and performers took the stage. Gary unveiled an unforgettable gummy worm talent—which requires no explanation for those fortunate enough to witness it. Lucy Rand shared an original song born from the encounter at the laundromat. Moved by the couple living without running water, she gave voice to something the group had been carrying all week: an awareness of need and a desire for love to become action. In the days that followed, campers and staff began working together to help address the family’s water situation.

Throughout the week, campers had also quietly prayed for a “Secret Saint.” On Thursday night, identities were revealed with the exchange of specially painted rocks. Simple gifts that said, in their own way: I’ve been thinking about you. I’ve been praying for you. You mattered to me this week.

And then we sang.

Long after Thursday evening might reasonably have ended, the songs continued. Nobody seemed particularly interested in being finished.

Maybe that was the answer we had been looking for all week.

What color is love? Maybe candlelight.

What does love smell like? Dinner waiting after a long day—or wet grass, fresh sawdust, a potato field, and occasionally a shelter dog.

What does love sound like? A quiet morning prayer. A table full of laughter. “Cool Creek Water.” Voices around the Eucharistic table. Friends singing late into the night.

And what does it mean to love quietly?

Maybe it means picking up trash before anyone asks. Sitting beside a frightened dog until it feels safe. Pulling weeds from something someone else planted. Cleaning a bedroom and then sitting down to hear Ms. Kittie’s stories. Praying for someone who doesn’t know you’re praying. Preparing another meal. Remembering someone we miss. Writing a song because an encounter at a laundromat will not let you go.

We came to Week 8 wearing little hearts around our necks.

By the end of the week, we had discovered them just about everywhere—in the work, laughter, music, our neighbors, and one another. And most of all, in the love of Christ that had been there all along.

Put a little love in your heart.

Then go see what God does with it.