The Wondrous Week of Vacation

The next week we had a the entire week off because of the fair in Lynden. Just before this week the CEF director (Natalie) asked if I would be interested in directing again next year. My initial thought was “NO WAY! I CAN'T DO THIS AGAIN! I'M A FAILIOR!” (not every thing was going smoothly with camps and I blamed myself for a lot of it) but, of course that wouldn't sound very good so as calmly as possible I said “I'm not sure.” Well Monday I left with my Dad and brothers for a three day backpacking trip. As we hiked up in the fresh mountain air my mind also cleared from all the confusion and the battle field (yes ministry is a battle). As my muscles began to feel more and more tired my mind and spirit became more and more alive and refreshed. I felt as if I could do any thing in God's strength. As this feeling grew stronger and stronger the voice of conviction also grew louder. I knew that God wanted me to be open to the idea of being a camp director again. So I gave up on saying “no” and decided that whatever God wanted for my summer next year would be just fine with me.

After 3.7 miles of hiking we reached our destination. We set up camp on a small outcrop between two lakes and threw out our lines in the larger lake (well my dad and brother did) I sat on a log watching (they say I don't need to talk while I observe..but I'm not sure that's entirely true). While I watched I also prayed and worshiped the Lord for every thing that I could think of. That night we watched the stars as we drifted off to sleep (no tent way up in the mountains, it's too heavy to carry).

The next morning we rolled out of our sleeping bags, ate a good breakfast and wandered up the hillside. Bushwhacking our way through we came to a beautifully splashing waterfall. We scrambled up the rocks (yes at one point I got very stuck and my night in shining armor...ok my brother in dirty jeans) had to rescue me) when we finally got to the top of the waterfall I was completely exhausted but some aspirin helped to wake me up. We hiked up to the top of Sisters Bride where there was a rock ledge that we sat on and ate lunch. From the ledge we could see Mt. Baker clearly and feel as if we were almost parallel with the peek. We could also see Mt. Rainier down to the south. Then we headed down the mountain, we picked a different rout this time. Near the peek was a snow drift so we spent some time sliding down it. The menfolk say that I have a “certain style” I'm not entirely sure what that means...but they say it's funny.

That evening we decided to take a swim in the smaller of the two lakes that we were camped between. Oh, it was cold! As we sat by the fire afterwards I realized that every part of my body ached. Actually when dad asked what parts hurt I told him “Every thing but my nose” We slept extremely well that night.

The next morning we waited for our clothes to dry and then headed down the mountain. We took one other small hike and then went home to hot baths and warm beds.

The rest of our week off was rather relaxing. I worked in my garden mostly and relaxed much of the time. This week was such a blessing from the Lord. Near the end of the week Natalie and I got together to prepare for the next week. We had 38 children preregistered at the camp I was directing and had no idea how many more we might have. We redistributed all of the supplies to make sure that we would have enough. We also reorganized the teams so that I would have some extra workers to help in case we had too many kids.