The beauty of these flowers reflects the generosity of friends who pop by...delicious muffins, special words, communion, fruit baskets... at a time when I should be thinking about endings, I am celebrating friends.
Smiley:
Why are fish so smart?
Because they swim in schools!
**********
We thought we had found our new normal.
We were all dealing with our grief of losing Candace in different ways. I missed her terribly even in the little things -- the annoying things - like Candace and me fighting over socks, but I found that I could distract myself the way most men do by burying myself in my work at Camp Arnes, which was continuing to satisfy my creative side as well as my ministry side.
Wilma was still grieving, but had found full time work as the western regional editor of the Mennonite Reporter which was challenging and fulfilling as well.
We did freak out when Odia - now a budding teenager - started to attend, MBCI, which meant she had to travel the same route that Candace had taken the day she disappeared. It aroused all kinds of irrational fears in all of us, so we moved. It wasn't a well thought out move - we just moved to an affordable house on Hazel Dell which was close to a school that Syras could attend as well.
Our church had a few issues and since we were in avoidance mode, when the conflict presented itself, we looked for another church and started to attend McIvor MB church. There is nothing like a good sermon once a week and those hymns that made us cry. We continued to gain comfort as we settled into their solid biblical teaching.
Life was doable. We were developing a routine when... I received a telephone call from the interim director of Camps with Meaning (CMW) wondering if we could meet.
I was intrigued. Of course we could meet. We were all in the same business!
We met, and without too much of an introduction, he invited me to the position of directorship…. I was stunned and strangely excited.
Next to Camp Arnes, Camps with Meaning was one of the largest camps in Canada , well known. It wasn’t just one camp but three camps, three gorgeous camp sites… run by the Mennonite Conference.
The first and largest site was Camp Assiniboia nestled in a mature river bottom forest and meadows on the banks of the Assiniboine River southwest of Winnipeg
Camp Koinonia was located on the shores of Lake Max, the largest lake in what is now Turtle Mountain Provincial Park in the southwest corner of Manitoba.
Camp Moose Lake is near Sprague in the extreme south east corner of Manitoba, also on a beautiful lake with clear water and a sandy bottom.
It was a heady offer, full of potential, creativity and honor. The only draw back was that it was the General Mennonite Conference camps.... If you know anything about Mennonite dynamics, for me it was a little like crossing enemy lines. We had been taught as children that the members of the General Conference were all sinners because they smoked and danced... all of it silly.
Now we saw them as solid God-fearing generous leaders in practical theology with their support of MCC etc. Wilma was already working for their denominational paper. For me as a conservatist, traditionalist at heart, it was a bit of an adjustment.
But we took the time to process it - saw the opportunity and then resigned from Camp Arnes. Dave Loewen gulped a few times and then wished me well. He could see it as an important opportunity.
When I met with the CWM board, they were very clear about the reason they were interested in me and that was mostly for promotional reasons.
The conference owned these three beautiful sites which remained under utilized - almost empty - mainly because people didn’t know about them..
It felt as if my giftings were being recognized.
My other main contribution was to introduce a staff training program. I fashioned it after the Leadership Training Program that had been designed by Lily Loewen at Camp Arnes. An orientation program that started the summer which set the tone for the whole summer. It too was well received.
I did have to adjust my philosophy of camping. Camp Arnes was known for their emphasis on adventure - challenging campers to accept Jesus as their savior.
Camps with Meaning's philosophy was to nurture each child with an invitation to faith by role modeling and by using aids taken out of nature and biblical stories. Even though it was different, I saw it as good.
All of this took training, planning and programming. I remember spending the day at Camp Koinonia devoting an entire day to do just that. We were in a spacious dining room surrounded with large windows which gave us the feeling of being outdoors.
No sooner had we started when we noticed two adorable camp brats (our term of endearment for the staff children) moving furtively around the yard and forest areas.
We learned from the Koinonia director that their child's goal together with another camp brat, "two 8 year old boys" had woken up that morning and decided that they were going to hunt something with bow and arrow that day, kill it, cook it and eat it. They were not going to eat anything else until they had accomplished this feat!
Reminding me of my own farm years, growing up and wanting to be a "real man"! The squirrels and rabbits as targets for the hunter! I saw these two boys doing the same, replicating the skills of the hunters, trying to move through the bush without a sound!
As the day went on, we watched the boys crouching and moving slowly around the yard, not one animal or bird in sight. However whenever the boys were out of sight, the rabbits, the birds, and the squirrels would hover and re-appear around the building, even a big racoon waddled across the yard. All of the camps living creatures knew how to avoid the little hunters scouting the grounds.
By supper, the two boys were famished….
The Camp director took pity and offered the boys some help. He took them down to the lake… to the dock, took out a pot – and scooped up a few minnows for them.
He then helped them build a fire. Though seldom spoken about - and certainly never bragged about, minnows from clean water sources are actually safe to eat! They are rarely the first choice, but they are considered easy prey.
Then it was instruction time and we all learned that to prepare minnows they must be gutted which can be done with the help of a knife, or in extreme cases, can be done by squeezing out the waste matter with your fingers. Once gutted and cleaned, minnows can simply be tossed into a frying pan covered with oil and fried to your liking.
Then the director served them to the boys but the boys couldn’t bring themselves to eat them and opted out for wieners in-stead.
We all smiled… this was the beauty of camping.
With relatively little effort - a little advertising - we were able to turn things around and see remarkable growth in all three camps. It was all very satisfying - so satisfying.
It all felt so right... so wonderful... and then....
Smiley:
Why are fish so smart?
Because they swim in schools!
**********
We thought we had found our new normal.
We were all dealing with our grief of losing Candace in different ways. I missed her terribly even in the little things -- the annoying things - like Candace and me fighting over socks, but I found that I could distract myself the way most men do by burying myself in my work at Camp Arnes, which was continuing to satisfy my creative side as well as my ministry side.
Wilma was still grieving, but had found full time work as the western regional editor of the Mennonite Reporter which was challenging and fulfilling as well.
We did freak out when Odia - now a budding teenager - started to attend, MBCI, which meant she had to travel the same route that Candace had taken the day she disappeared. It aroused all kinds of irrational fears in all of us, so we moved. It wasn't a well thought out move - we just moved to an affordable house on Hazel Dell which was close to a school that Syras could attend as well.
Our church had a few issues and since we were in avoidance mode, when the conflict presented itself, we looked for another church and started to attend McIvor MB church. There is nothing like a good sermon once a week and those hymns that made us cry. We continued to gain comfort as we settled into their solid biblical teaching.
Life was doable. We were developing a routine when... I received a telephone call from the interim director of Camps with Meaning (CMW) wondering if we could meet.
I was intrigued. Of course we could meet. We were all in the same business!
We met, and without too much of an introduction, he invited me to the position of directorship…. I was stunned and strangely excited.
Next to Camp Arnes, Camps with Meaning was one of the largest camps in Canada , well known. It wasn’t just one camp but three camps, three gorgeous camp sites… run by the Mennonite Conference.
The first and largest site was Camp Assiniboia nestled in a mature river bottom forest and meadows on the banks of the Assiniboine River southwest of Winnipeg
Camp Koinonia was located on the shores of Lake Max, the largest lake in what is now Turtle Mountain Provincial Park in the southwest corner of Manitoba.
Camp Moose Lake is near Sprague in the extreme south east corner of Manitoba, also on a beautiful lake with clear water and a sandy bottom.
It was a heady offer, full of potential, creativity and honor. The only draw back was that it was the General Mennonite Conference camps.... If you know anything about Mennonite dynamics, for me it was a little like crossing enemy lines. We had been taught as children that the members of the General Conference were all sinners because they smoked and danced... all of it silly.
Now we saw them as solid God-fearing generous leaders in practical theology with their support of MCC etc. Wilma was already working for their denominational paper. For me as a conservatist, traditionalist at heart, it was a bit of an adjustment.
But we took the time to process it - saw the opportunity and then resigned from Camp Arnes. Dave Loewen gulped a few times and then wished me well. He could see it as an important opportunity.
When I met with the CWM board, they were very clear about the reason they were interested in me and that was mostly for promotional reasons.
The conference owned these three beautiful sites which remained under utilized - almost empty - mainly because people didn’t know about them..
It felt as if my giftings were being recognized.
My other main contribution was to introduce a staff training program. I fashioned it after the Leadership Training Program that had been designed by Lily Loewen at Camp Arnes. An orientation program that started the summer which set the tone for the whole summer. It too was well received.
I did have to adjust my philosophy of camping. Camp Arnes was known for their emphasis on adventure - challenging campers to accept Jesus as their savior.
Camps with Meaning's philosophy was to nurture each child with an invitation to faith by role modeling and by using aids taken out of nature and biblical stories. Even though it was different, I saw it as good.
All of this took training, planning and programming. I remember spending the day at Camp Koinonia devoting an entire day to do just that. We were in a spacious dining room surrounded with large windows which gave us the feeling of being outdoors.
No sooner had we started when we noticed two adorable camp brats (our term of endearment for the staff children) moving furtively around the yard and forest areas.
We learned from the Koinonia director that their child's goal together with another camp brat, "two 8 year old boys" had woken up that morning and decided that they were going to hunt something with bow and arrow that day, kill it, cook it and eat it. They were not going to eat anything else until they had accomplished this feat!
Reminding me of my own farm years, growing up and wanting to be a "real man"! The squirrels and rabbits as targets for the hunter! I saw these two boys doing the same, replicating the skills of the hunters, trying to move through the bush without a sound!
As the day went on, we watched the boys crouching and moving slowly around the yard, not one animal or bird in sight. However whenever the boys were out of sight, the rabbits, the birds, and the squirrels would hover and re-appear around the building, even a big racoon waddled across the yard. All of the camps living creatures knew how to avoid the little hunters scouting the grounds.
By supper, the two boys were famished….
The Camp director took pity and offered the boys some help. He took them down to the lake… to the dock, took out a pot – and scooped up a few minnows for them.
He then helped them build a fire. Though seldom spoken about - and certainly never bragged about, minnows from clean water sources are actually safe to eat! They are rarely the first choice, but they are considered easy prey.
Then it was instruction time and we all learned that to prepare minnows they must be gutted which can be done with the help of a knife, or in extreme cases, can be done by squeezing out the waste matter with your fingers. Once gutted and cleaned, minnows can simply be tossed into a frying pan covered with oil and fried to your liking.
Then the director served them to the boys but the boys couldn’t bring themselves to eat them and opted out for wieners in-stead.
We all smiled… this was the beauty of camping.
With relatively little effort - a little advertising - we were able to turn things around and see remarkable growth in all three camps. It was all very satisfying - so satisfying.
It all felt so right... so wonderful... and then....
“A waiting person is a patient person.
The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full
in the belief that something hidden there
will manifest itself to us.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen
The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full
in the belief that something hidden there
will manifest itself to us.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen
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