Spirit Animals

Kelly Hannah was our assistant cook the summer of 2012. This is a sweet picture of her taken by Brandon Sawaya. Kelly is currently serving as our office administrator. Call the office and say hello; she loves booking trips.

During the summer I spent as assistant cook in base camp just one of the things I learned about myself was that my spirit animal is a seal: one of the many kinds of animal friends that coexist with us at base camp and around the inlet. Like a seal, I am extremely curious, but shy at first. Once I feel safe and comfortable I am friendly and playful. That summer my understanding of myself, my view of God, and my love for those around me changed so much, but so did my appreciation of the seals who shared their home with us.

My first interaction with my spirit animal is entertaining now, but terrified me at the time. It was my first morning in base camp, and I was determined to start the summer with a swim to the rock just off shore from The Point campsite. I dove into the freezing inlet and immediately regretted my decision. But I took a few deep breaths and, stroke by stroke, made my way towards the rock. Halfway there, something caught my eye that made me freeze in mid kick. Just ahead of me was the smooth dark shiny head of a seal. His head was still and his eyes stared directly at me. My heart tried to leap out of my mouth as I tread water but I stared right back. It felt like hours we stayed there with eyes locked, probably with the same combination of surprise, curiosity, and fear. On my part I was terrified that the seal would think my feet were fish and decide to make a meal of them. I waited, and I stared, and nothing yanked me from below. I kept breathing and watched my morning swim companion. He kept breathing and watched me. Finally I turned back. It was too cold and frightening to risk being eaten or getting sick, and besides, I needed to make my way to the barn so I could dry off, warm up, and help get breakfast ready.

Later, as I cut fruit and prepared coffee for breakfast I asked Elisa, the head cook and a former kayaking guide, about seals. Elisa had worked for two summers on the water, she'd have to know if there were killer seals roaming around. She laughed when I told her about my encounter. "No, seals aren't dangerous. They're just curious and playful: like dogs, but they live in the water." Whew. That helped. I was not the biggest fan of the seals at the time, but at least I knew they wouldn't hurt me. As the summer went on, my new aqua-canine friends continued to join me as I swam. I grew comfortable with them watching them play a sort of hide and seek around our watery front yard, or seeing them from a distance as we boated between base camp and Malibu club on laundry days.

Close to the end of the summer, the staff spent a Sabbath day at Malibu Club. I went to the outer dock to read and bask in the sun. I was sad that the summer was almost over, and asked God to help me carry the experience home with me. I had made amazing new friends and with whom I had gone through busy work days, lazy Sabbaths, bed time stories, theme parties, bible studies, and a lot more. Personally I had grown a lot as well. I learned the importance of regular prayer, the necessity of rest, how to give up my own desires to serve others, and how to root my identity in Christ rather than what my own insecurity or or the opinions of others. And then there was the beauty of God’s creation. No matter how many pictures I took or how many ways I tried to describe it in my journal. I didn't want to forget anything but I knew I could not fully bring home the feeling that setting inspired in me. As I sorted through these thoughts before the Lord, I lay on the dock embracing the sun's warmth with my feet resting in the water.

Suddenly, I noticed a strange silence. Then, out of nothing arose a loud, steady breathing that surrounded me. I opened my eyes to see who it was: maybe someone on a run come to say hello? Strange though, since I hadn't heard footsteps. Then I realized the breathing came from the water. Directly in front of me, 20 seals floated. 20 pairs of those wonderfully curious and penetrating eyes floated above 20 pairs of gray-white whiskers. They stared at me as I stared back, in awe of how close and how still they were. I moved to get up for a better look, and as quickly as they appeared, they vanished through the blue surface into their world.

When we asked one another, "What is your spirit animal?" wewere having fun, just one way to get to an understanding of the core of each other's character and personality. As we progressed from being staff to becoming real brothers and sisters in Christ, we helped one another realize the ways in which we have been uniquely created by God. That summer was an amazing time of growth in confidence. I learned to cling to my identity before God. Thinking of that last visit from the seals is always a precious reminder of how I grew and what I learned that summer.