Lessons in Faith: A Mother + Daughter Story

At Summit, we love seeing how God uses time in His creation to shape hearts. Today, we’re honored to share a story from one of our volunteer guides, Sarah Pylant, whose experiences through Family Camps and Mother + Daughter Retreats reveal how — even when we’re doubtful — God moves and meets us where we are.

“ I realized that… she was listening. She was learning. She had absorbed lessons about Servanthood, Wisdom, and Action — the very heart of what Summit is about…”

I wanted to share a story about how Summit has impacted our family. In all honesty, I’m really telling this story for my daughter…

Out First Summit Experience

Our first experience with Summit was attending one of the Family Camps. We only knew a couple of people going — more as acquaintances — but we were excited for a weekend of camping together as a family and getting to know the Turners.

That weekend turned out to be such a gift. We loved the time camping almost as much as our kids loved racing around on their bikes with the gaggle of other kids. The bonds formed that weekend were very special. We learned about our relationships with Jesus together as a family, picked up some new-to-us camping gear recommendations from Summit, and came away refreshed.

Serving Together

We joined the next Family Camp in more of a volunteer role — our family mainly served as an extra set of hands. That experience was a blessing not only for us as parents, but for our kids as well. To have the conversation with them that we were there to serve and help others. Their acts of serving may have come in the form of throwing water balloons at each other, but hey, we all have to start somewhere.

The next few Summit experiences became more focused on me as a mom and my relationship with my daughter. We attended two Mother/Daughter Retreats, and I later joined the Women’s WILD Retreat. Each time, I decided to go for different reasons, but every single time, God met me exactly where I was — even in the hard moments — and grew my faith.

Growing in Faith

The biggest growth for me then came through those Mother Daughter trips. My daughter was always happy to be there, but whenever the silly games or group sharing started, she would tighten up… or run away. That was hard for me, especially knowing how talkative and capable she usually is. It took a lot of deep breaths — and encouragement from the other moms — to let her process things her own way.

By the second retreat, I thought things might be different that she was a year older… but alas, the same. Thankfully, our Summit guide, Leslie, discerned what was going on and lovingly gave Hazel a role during the games, instead of making her feel pressured to participate. That small act changed everything. Leslie’s little nudge gave Hazel purpose, and empowered her rather than shut her down. When we weren’t in a group, she bounced around freely, and when we gathered back together she was quiet, but I knew she was listening. By the last day, she even participated — just a smidge — but it meant the world to me.

Faith in Action

Now that you know a bit about our experiences with Summit, be encouraged by what happened next..

Coming out of the Mother Daughter campout, I worked with the Summit team to launch a new experience that would allow us to invite more people into the outdoors more regularly, for an hour or two - Local Hike Series. God nudged me to take a bigger step — to guide a family hike. It was my first real “leader” role, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. There were last-minute details to sort out, and the idea of being “the guide” felt new and stretching. As we packed our backpacks, I surprised myself and shared these feelings with my kids. I didn’t realize why those words came out until right before the hike.

Just as we were arriving, my daughter handed me a note.

Handwritten note from our guide-in-training.

Reading it calmed my fears and brought so much joy. In that moment, I realized that even when I’d been frustrated during those earlier retreats — thinking maybe we weren’t “getting” as much out of it as I’d hoped — she was listening. She was learning. She had absorbed lessons about Servanthood, Wisdom, and Action — the very heart of what Summit is about, and here she was living them out.

I am grateful for this moment, and I am also very grateful for the Holy Spirit forcing me to pause and connecting the dots for me. Hoping we all can not only learn from our kids, but also get out there in the outdoors to pause and see what we can hear.