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Patience...

I’ve been struggling with what to write about for this blog posting. As a younger camp staff, I often felt like I didn’t have any stories to share at fireside, but then I realized that I might have more than I think. With this blog post, it was a similar situation. Then, just this morning, I had a moment that I thought would fit perfectly.

I think I wrote last time that I’m a student in translation at St. Boniface College. Most of my classes are in French, but I had to take one English class this year. This particular class was all about how to write university-level essays. I’ve been told that I’m pretty good at writing essays (and I have the marks to prove it), but I really don’t like it. I never feel like my thoughts get organized quite the way I want them to and I often feel like I don’t make a lot of sense. So, this English class was not one of my favourites, mainly because we had so many essays to write, and they kept getting longer every time.

Well, in this particular semester, I got really busy with a bunch of things, which resulted in me falling behind with some of my homework. For me, essays are bad enough at the best of times, but they’re even worse when you have to catch up on them later. To make a long story short, I finally got to the point where I had three essays – including my final research paper – that were so late that I’m still surprised that my prof didn’t just fail me in the course. And no matter what I told myself or what motivation I gave myself – including the whole “you need to pass to get your GPA up” talk – I just couldn’t get going on these essays.

Finally, I decided I just couldn’t do it all anymore and I decided I was going to do the other two essays, but not the research paper; I didn’t really have a topic, not much research and I was running out of time, and I didn’t know what else to do. I went to talk to my prof to tell him what I had decided and he managed to talk me back into doing the research paper. He helped me get my topic sorted out and to just generally get back on track and refocused. And I felt a whole lot better after I’d been to talk to him.

Now, you may be wondering, what does this all have to do with God? Well, some of the qualities that my professor showed are like what God does for us. One of my friends said recently that God “never stops believing in us, no matter how hopeless we feel.” My professor did the same thing. When I was ready to give up and lose a huge chunk of my course mark, he helped me see that I could still get the essay done. Before the situation got this bad, I had also set up deadlines for when I was going to get these essays in, but I never managed to make it and I was really starting to feel like I was letting my professor down. But he was patient and still let me keep trying. God does that for us too. No matter how many times we might feel like we’ve let him down, he still loves us and encourages us to keep doing our best. The important thing is to always remember that God is always with us and will always help us out, no matter how bad things get.

-Megan Friesen (Camp Counselor extraordinaire...Camp Assiniboia)

So much to write about...

I feel like for this entry I have SO much to write about.

Easter has passed, the new Christian year has begun (or at least I think that is how the year works!), but also I am writing my blog entry from the city of Bangalore in India. This is a huge trip for me. Many new experiences, many new challenges. And despite the fact that I am in a country where there are very few Christians surrounding me, I am feeling extremely close with God.

All around, lots to write about.

Today I am choosing to write about something that one of the woman that I am staying with has told me. She had just crafted my travel companion and I one of the most delicious meals I have ever tasted, and she looked at us and said:

"When you give a person money, he askes for more. When you give a person nice things, he askes for more. Even if you give a person nice clothes, he askes for more. But once you give a person enough food, they will say 'no more, I am full. I am totally satisfied. Food is the only earthly gift you can give to satisfy a person."

This is a woman who loves to give food to guests. She takes great pride in her cooking, and will give everything until you are satisfied. This woman showed me a glimpse of Jesus. In my reflections of Easter, I realized that this is similar to what Jesus was doing for us. Food is the only way to satisfy our bodies, just as Jesus is the only way to satisfy our spirit. At Easter Jesus has given us the ultimate gift, Himself. Jesus has provided us with ever lasting life, and satisfied our spirit. We as Christians can be full of Gods grace, and satisfied with the love that God has showed us with Jesus.

Dustin (Nature Instructor Camp Moose Lake 2009......SPD @ Camp Moose Lake 2010)

Countdown till Summer !

If you're like me, when I was younger, you're counting down the days till summer, and also counting down the days till camp starts! Its been a long winter, spring is in the air and you can just feel the anticipation. Its like the whole world is just waiting to "spring" forward into a new year of growing.

When I think of nature, and trees, and outside, I think of camp... and then promptly start missing camp. It seems like camp is a world away, I mean, I can't remember what I did 2 weeks ago, let alone 7 months ago. Some of the friendships I made at camp have fallen by the wayside, maybe sometimes I'll facebook them, or tell them about my latest farmville score, but for the most part I've forgotten a lot of what camp was. I don't remember the sound of the cottonwood trees blowing in the wind, I don't remember the feeling of the lake at Koino (I do however remember the awesome game of broomball I had at Moose Lake a few weeks ago! :) The point is camp seems very far away right now, and I'm here to say, hang in there!

I see signs of spring everywhere. I see the sun melting the huge pile of snow in my front yard. I can feel the trees just waiting to send out their new leaves. I even see more people out... its like as soon as the temperature goes above zero people come out of their holes they've been hiding in and welcome a new season. I was woken up by birds yesterday! If spring is here, then summer is right around the corner.

If you're at all like me then you're totally sick of school by now. Whether you're in grade school or post-secondary you've been in school for what seems like an eternity. I'm ready to be done with late night essays, projects, homework, reading and all those other things. I'm ready for a change, and good thing that change isn't too far off. I'm ready for the intense refreshment of summer!

So here's my challenge to you (whoever you are). Take the time to think back on camp, think about what it was, the things you did, the nature out there... then think about the people you met, and if you can, get in touch with one or two of them, and remind yourself and them what camp was like. After all, camp is only a little ways away.

-John Neufeld....Camp Assiniboia Bible Instructor 2009

PS. March 19=100 days until the first week of summer at Camps with Meaning!

Just feel.

Recently I had the chance to participate in some interesting conversations regarding the Camp Assiniboia forest. Many of you know of the feelings I had expressed regarding the forest—feelings of fear (of the forest being destroyed years from now), feelings of respect (for the forest and for the people who spoke up about the issue), and feelings of frustration (for those who just would not listen).

Recently I have also had the opportunity to listen to an Aboriginal elder as he teaches one of my university classes. He emphasizes that there are four parts to each person: the physical aspect, the mental or intellectual aspect, the emotional aspect, and the spiritual aspect. So often when approached with an issue we focus on the mental part. Again going back to the forest issue, I found that people would only listen to me if I had something intelligent to say, some reasoning behind my feelings.

This has brought me to wonder, do we as people of God emphasize the mental aspects of ourselves over the emotional and spiritual aspects? Yes I agree that we need to think things through and come up with logical solutions but perhaps it is equally important to also pay attention to our feelings and our intuition.

I feel beauty and truth often through song and especially when this is set in a natural setting like camp. I hold on to those firesides outside at riverside (for Camp Assiniboia). I am filled with a deep connection to a community all singing the same thing while also feeling connected to God as an individual.

I encourage everyone to remember that while yes study and learning is important, it is equally important to express and engage in activities that strengthen you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It’s okay to just feel.

-Stephanie Ens -Integration Coordinator 2009 (Day Camp Director 2010)

Only Connect!

I was watching an episode of “Joan of Arcadia” when I first heard the E.M. Forster quote “Only connect!” I forget the full context, except that Joan was trying to make her mission from God more complicated than it really was. Sometimes God asks us to do big, scary, things. Sometimes it’s more it’s a little more straightforward.

This fall I got to reconnect with a family I used to babysit for years ago. By chance our paths crossed, and I re-met my two girls, who were now nine and eleven! They were so old. It was lovely and awkward at the same time, because of course I remembered them better than they remembered me. But then the older sister told me something special. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I often made up silly stories for the girls. The older sister told me that she wants to be a writer, too! And not only that, but she always remembered my stories as one of the things that encouraged her to be a writer. I’d had no idea.

In my life I’ve moved between countries, neighbourhoods, and schools. I meet interesting people all over the place, some who I keep in contact with, and some, like at camp, who I only meet for a week. And that’s OK. Some people, God puts in our lives for a little while only, but that doesn’t mean that relationship was a waste of time. I’ve also realized I can become friends with people I used to dislike. (If you’re curious, ask former Director Gabrielle how we first met!) This is especially hard. I am not always good at swallowing my own words. But when God helps me connect with people I haven’t seen in a while, or never thought I’d see again, it reminds me that God wants to give us as gifts to each other. And what a great gift it is! Forster’s quote ends with these words: “Only connect…and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”

--Kelsey Hutton, former Assiniboia Bible Instructor

In the Little Moments...

The Disraeli Bridge is the gateway that looms between North Kildonan and the downtown, Winnipeg. Actually, it is two bridges; two very steep bridges, and to me, a winter cyclist, these bridges are obstacles that I dread. I look forward to them just about as much as you would look forward to a very difficult test, or getting up for school on a Monday, or getting your teeth pulled without having your mouth frozen first. I don’t often stray that far from my cozy niche in Osborne village –all my friends live close-by and the bike ride to CMU (where I go to school) is quite flat (though very icy these days). No, I don’t often have to face the monstrous Disraeli. But, the other night, the great and terrible bridge became unavoidable.

I am part of the Mennofolk committee: a group that supports young Manitoban artists that are somewhat connected to the Mennonite church. And we hosted a show at Sam’s Place, which incidentally lies just beyond the Disraeli. I thought about taking the bus there, but for whatever reason I chose to don my three pairs of socks, long johns, big black balaclava, and coat of many layers, and have a pleasant bike ride in the minus 30 degree weather.

By the time I reached the Disraeli, my toes were slightly numb, my legs were burning from the cold, and my eyelashes were coated in a glassy layer of ice and frost that made them feel heavy when I blinked. I was cold (obviously) and I was getting tired. Still, I pulled out my last reserve of energy, and I pedalled as hard as I could, uphill, against the wind. It felt like it took fifteen minutes to get up the bridge- my thighs ached, yet I kept moving them rhythmically, pushing and pushing the pedals until I finally made it to the top.

Once I was at the top, I could see everything: the big dark sky and the river and buildings far in the distance and bunches of trees. I was in the city, but it felt like I was out in nature, alone and free.

And then began the descent downhill. If you have ever pedalled fast while going downhill, you’ll know how I felt. I was going so fast I was almost worried that I would lose control. The cold wind was refreshing in my face. I felt like I was the fastest person in the world; I felt like I was flying.

This gave me momentum, therefore, the second uphill on the next bridge wasn’t so bad, but the second downhill felt much the same as the first. I was flying again, like some strange bird with crisp white frosted eyelashes and wisps of hair.
This whole bridge endeavour took no more than five minutes out of my life; and yet, I have chosen to write about it in this blog as if it were one of the most important things that has happened to me since camp. And, you must be wondering: what does God have to do with any of this?

Well, I have little moments like that all of the time; moments when I have a huge feeling of joy or freedom so deep that I can barely describe it. And in a few days I often forget about them, or store them somewhere in the depths of my memory. But it is in these little moments that I see God the most. Just a small thing, like biking down a bridge in the middle of winter is beautiful to me. And I feel like all beautiful good things come from God. Often, it seems people look for big meaningful moments to experience God, but I think that it is in those little moments, in the moments that I glimpse something small of wonder and beauty, that I see and feel God the most.

-Amanda Abrahams, 2009 Camp Moose Lake Bible Instructor

The future....and God's way.

What are you going to do after high school? I remember this question well. I graduated from high school last year, and I remember the feeling of 'what am I going to do next year' so well. The way I normally make my decisions is by process of elimination, so near the beginning of Grade 12, I knew some things I did not want to go into, and I knew one career path I would for sure not take. I was positive that I would never go into engineering.

By about February of last year, I had pretty much decided what I would be taking in university, when one of my friends asked me why I wasn't going into engineering. Even though I had a bunch of good reasons why I didn't want to take engineering, I couldn't get that question out of my head for the next week.

I was even more confused about my future than before, and I really did not know what to do, so I prayed a lot, and pretty much begged God to tell me what I should do next year. I went to a tour at the university to help me, and I had to decide by the next day if I wanted to go into engineering. I came home from the tour even more confused than previously. I didn't feel that God had really told me anything at all, and I was sitting at the computer ready to send an email to switch into engineering, but I did not know if I wanted to send it. My mom said something to me which helped me make my decision. She said “If you don't send that email, will you regret it?” And I knew I would, so I sent it and felt instant relief. And I knew God wanted me there.

I am loving university, and the courses I am taking. Everyday I am reassured that God wants me here, in engineering. I do not think I could enjoy anything else at university more than engineering. Personally I see God a lot in science. When I learn more about the world, and how stuff works around me, I can't help but think how amazing God is for creating all this. Because a lot of my classes are science based, I see God everyday in my classes. I am constantly reminded how much I enjoy what I am doing, and that this is not at all my doing, but completely God's doing.

I have to make some more important decisions for next year, and somehow I am not too worried about them. I know I am where God wants me to be, which is one of the most amazing feelings in the world, and I know that he will continue leading me as long as I am willing to follow. I have no idea what my future holds, but I am so excited to see what is to come, and I have learned that not listening to God, and trying to make my own plans doesn't work so well.

So my encouragement to you is God has such an amazing future in store for all of you. If you are trying to make decisions about your future, definitely look into your options, but make sure you ask God, and pray about what you should do. Even if you think you know what you want to do, pray about it, because God may have an even better future in store for you. If you think you might really dislike the way He is pointing you at the time, in the end, it will be better than you could have ever expected. So many times God has completely changed the plans I have made for myself, and I now know that God's way is truly the best way.

By: Melanie Dyck – Camp Moose Lake