Saturday, December 20, 2014

Big Changes

There has been some exciting changes here at camp in the last few months. We have introduced the new design for the camp logo, made up of 4 parts to make a diamond with each part representing a piece of Frontier Lodge. The maintenance crew have been working hard since the beginning of December to give our Lodge a fresh new look with painting every room, including some of the ceilings. Along with the new paint they are finishing new trim so it matches in every room. It is looking really sharp, still more to be painted in the New Year which we are excited to see it all done.
I have copied the following from Frontier Lodge,
" Here at Frontier Lodge, we strongly believe in the value of changing lives through discipleship. As many of you know, this has been the premise behind Ascend, our three month Adventure Bible School. It has been running for the past six years, and we are so very thankful for the growth and change that has come through this program.

We truly feel that by sending out young leaders and followers with genuine hearts for Christ to live out their faith on a daily basis, change will happen in our broken world. Humble people with real love putting faith into action are a powerful tool in this fight for Truth. It is for this reason that we are excited to be partnering with Prairie Bible Institute to offer Explore, a wilderness-based leadership and discipleship program. We are very excited to see how God will use this partnership to move His kingdom forward.

 The Explore program will bring over 30 students to Frontier Lodge for four months of a year, with the rest of their school year being spent on campus in Three Hills. Our plan is to fold what has been the Ascend program in to our new partnership with Prairie and the Explore program. We are excited to continue to cultivate Kingdom leaders as we build on the foundation that has been laid by Ascend. "

This is really exciting for us, it means a busy season is coming in the spring to get ready for our fist semester with Explorer in September 2015. Three new cabins to accommodate the students, a bigger septic system, program logistics and other things to sort out. I will do my best to update with photos as the bigger projects get under way, Troy is excited to use the mini excavator camp got this fall to work on these projects.

As a family we want to say thank you for praying for us. Merry Christmas!


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Something Beautiful

I don't have much to say at the moment, processing and muddling through things that have happened recently. Since my last post our friends three year old daughter passed away and joined the angels in heaven. This has caused me to once again look at life a little differently. I do not expect to find the answer to why our friends now have to live without their precious daughter, or why someone else we know is raising three sons without a mother. It seems like we have been in a season of loss since this summer, lots of people in our lives loosing loved ones. We have been bearing the loss with them, each one hitting close to home causing us to grieve with more empathy for them.

I was recently Christmas shopping and came across a Christmas ornament that said "Every Life Leaves Something Beautiful Behind." I haven't been able to stop thinking of that saying, most likely because of the season we are in, bearing loss with people we care about. I cant help but think of the beautiful things each one has left behind for those they loved. Memories that bring tears, smiles, laughter. Each one a gift for us as we wait for the day we join them in heaven. 

With each one I have been encouraged by witnessing how through some unimaginable circumstances and loss each one is such a beautiful testimony of God's love and the love of His people. It has been amazing to hear of how people have joined together to support each of them through it and are continuing to do so, That is Something Beautiful too.



Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Empathy and Love

       It seems that my list of things to pray for keeps growing and getting longer with little being removed from it. These days it feels like we are in a season of loss and empathy for those we love.

      Right now almost every time I look at Liam I can't help but think of our friends daughter Sarah, who was born only one day after Liam and is fighting for her life. Sarah was diagnosed with Stage 3 Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in the middle of August with a large tumor that was from her heat to her trachea. Now she has finished her first round of chemo hoping the cancer would be in remission. It is not. The cancer has spread to her abdomen which she had surgery and a biopsy of that cancer spot. She has started another round of chemo hoping to send the cancer into remission. Sarah now is needing a bone marrow transplant because they have found cancer in her bone marrow. I can not even fathom what Adam and Jordana are facing on this road ahead of them in looking for a bone marrow match for their 3 year old daughter. I know there are many people praying for Sarah and I am praying that God will give this little girl a miracle of life!

      This morning I was feeling discouraged about prayer, it seems like many people are praying for a miracle and everything just seems to be getting worse. I found a old sermon on my ipod from Pastor Dan about Job's life feeling like that would be the appropriate one to listen to. Something that stood out to me was he mentioned that God is the same all the time, he is the same God in the good times and the same God during the bad times.

 My heart breaks daily for this family, I am encouraged and challenged by the strength not only of this family but also by the community that has surrounded them. Please continue to Pray for Sarah.

     

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

A Summer of Big Things

First of all I apologise for how long it has been since my last post, the summer disappeared before I realised it was over. A lot has happened over the last little while that I will do my best to try and share it with you.

As I mentioned in the previous post we moved into another staff house with a little more room for the kids to run around in, now that Mckaleigh has started walking I am really thankful for the extra room we now enjoy. Feeling really blessed and more at home here.

There has been some big things happen this summer that has me thinking a lot about life and just how short our time here on earth is compared to eternity in heaven. As a staff unit we has experienced lots of loss. Friends of ours had their five month old son go and be with Jesus one night. One week after that a staff member from a few years back was in a motorcycling accident and went to be with Jesus. While processing that a few weeks later a good friend of ours had his sister pass away from cancer and went to live in eternity with our God. Each one of these lives left big imprints on those who are left behind, I know they are all in a far better place than we are living here on this earth but it doesn't make the missing them stop. My life has been impacted by the family and close friends of these loved ones. Watching the mother and father of that sweet baby boy live their lives full out for God, wresting with it at times but just reflecting God and love to every one they come across in the middle of their grief and dealing with life with out their son. Our friend's sister who passed away from cancer I didn't know super well, more just through our friend, I think her absence impressed in my life the most. She was a mother of three kids and not that much older than me it hit really close to home. Being at her funeral I couldn't help but think what legacy I would be leaving behind when my time comes to join them in eternity with or Father. Will my kids remember me as loving, caring, and Godly? There are days I feel I have not been as loving and caring as I should have been caught up in the task at hand. I am still learning to let go of what I am doing and just pour more love over my kids. when my time has come to leave this world I want my life to have touched peoples hearts and reflect God to them. I am still processing and working it out into my day to day life.

A big prayer request I have is for one of or friends daughter who has been diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma. She has a big tumor that is touching her trachea and heart. Sweet little Sarah is only one day younger that our son Liam who turned three the end of July. Sarah has not been responding well to her chemo treatments and is now also having radiation treatments. She has been in the Children's Stroller since the middle of August and will likely be there for some time yet. Please pray with us for the Baker family that they will draw closer to God through this and for a miracle of healing for little Sarah

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Summer!

We are now into our second week of summer camps and are enjoying sunshine. I can't believe I am praying for rain but we have another forest fire that is around the Banff Park boundary. Even though the fire is far enough away that we are ok here at camp it is affecting our camp programs. The highway is closed around the Cline River, taking away one of our climbing sites, some mountain biking trails, and a section of the river we take campers on. Please pray with us that the fire gets under control and can be put out.

About a week ago we moved into a new staff house giving our kids some more running room and a place we can put a kitchen table big enough we can fit around it and enjoy meals as a family again. The kids are settling into our new home really well, Liam is loving his own room and Joelle is really excited about sharing a room with Mckaleigh. It seems every summer staff changes happen and we say good bye to staff moving on to new things. Our friend Conny moved back to Germany unsure of what is next but excited to see what God has for her and our friends Jesse, Sarah and their little girl Skye moved on to the lower main land in BC to join Arosha a Christian Conservation Organization. We are excited for them to be doing ministry in a place they can use their education and passion for Gods beautiful creation. We will miss them.

I have a few families on my heart right now. There is two families that were previous staff here at camp that are experiencing loss. One family had their five month old baby boy pass away one night last week, and a previous staff member was killed in a vehicle accident. Please pray for these families as they grieve the loss of ones they loved and praise that they are in heaven. There is another baby and family that is needing much prayer right now. Baby Jaeger who is just over a week old is really sick with an infection in his brain and is being treated at the children's hospital in Calgary. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors treating this precious little one. Prayer for his parents as they walk through this, that they will be a testimony of God as they are interacting with the staff at the hospitals. Here is a link to the mothers blog about this little baby. There is a few entry's about him so far. http://beautyinweakness.blogspot.ca/2014/07/wrestling.html

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Sea Side Adventure

With the completion of the third cabin it was a good time to take a family vacation. Inspired by what Joelle was learning in pre school we decided to take the kids to the ocean. In total we spent 10 nights in a tent (which the kids did amazing), and 3 nights in a hotel. We had lots of rain, good adventures and lots of fun! Here are some pictures from our vacation.

 
we are on our way!
 

 
The kids loved the ferries
 



we spent a lot of time eating in the rain but it didn't seem to bother the kids
 


 
Our fist day at the beach looking for shells and other wonders. The most exciting things Joelle and Liam found all week were the little crabs that were every where on the beach
 




Goats on the roof in Coombs, in the rain
 

Liam was up at 6am every morning....the girls were not
 



 
Another day at the beach before the rain
 


Mckaleigh LOVED eating the sand...she got really mad if you took her away from it
 



Waiting for the tide
 




 
Too tired from the big day Mckaleigh pulled Troy's arm over and fell asleep
 


We took Joelle to a castle in Victoria and she LOVED it!
 





 
Mckaleigh loves her Bugsy
 


Lunch at the Beach Hut in Qualicum
 







Looking for star fish on the beach (the only star fish we brought home from our vacation was a ceramic one that was made from a mould of a real star fish by a local artist)





 




A really awesome kid park we found in Parksville, a high light for the kids
 










 






The dark sand dollar is a live one and the whiter one is not
 


 Even though it looks like a nice hot day it was 14 degrees and windy so it was chilly
 


Back at the park
 


The new merry-go-round
 

Pizza in the park
 



Back on the ferrie
 


Liam loves the soccer ball from grandma Lynda and his frog from aunt Sandra Thanks guys!
 


 3 Valley Gap hotel, one of our new favorite places
 

The ghost town at 3 Valley Gap
 

Troy's favorite sign we found in the ghost town
 





glass bottle house
 





on a train car from the 20's
 



cold and rain didn't stop Joelle and Liam from having fun
 


 

The Enchanted Forrest