Kanuga changed the trajectory of my life when I was a teenager, and it has given my own children that same stillness and place of hope when everything about the world seems chaotic. I need it as much today as I did back then.

I was a sheltered teenager when I began summer work at Kanuga, and I learned so much about myself and the person I wanted to be by being, working, worshiping, and living at Kanuga for three full summers. I always had the goal of giving my future family the Guest Period experience that I saw so many families embrace.

Kevin and I were able to do that, beginning in 2007, and it is the one week of the year we always prioritized. We did not have any extra money back then, but a week at Kanuga was important to our family, and we made it part of our lives. This is our 20th consecutive year attending GP1. So many of you, my fellow guests, are now part of our family's fabric, and we consider many of you extended family to us. We have watched our families grow and change together. We feel like a constant in each other's life, and we pick back up each summer like we never left off. In between those times there is birth, death, loss, family separation, moving, marriages, divorces- all the parts of the human experience. Seeing each of you, year after year, with all of our changes, gives us such a sense of peace.

I give what I can because I love this place so much, and I hope that on this Day of Giving, you'll give what you can, too.