Oooops

Well, it's definitely been way too long since I updated this. Let me abbreviate the past couple of months.

Lumber Jack and Jill was an amazing time. I had the best crew ever and a wonderful time carrying tubes with Gracie.

Going home was similarly nice. As a home-oriented person, two months felt like a really long time to not even visit. Then I found a seasonal job and left home for another month to work nights at Zingerman's mail order warehouse. I worked there and crazy people also worked there. It was an interesting experience.

I'm currently packing and preparing for another season of retreats and can hardly wait to get back into the swing of things at Barakel.

A Friend Comes to Call

This week, I was blessed by the visit of an actual person! See her? Way down there, right by the bright spot of orange.

This is Amanda at the bottom of the Thunder Express - her very first time on it.

This is Amanda almost all the way back up that very steep hill. She was a very obedient Thunder Expresser and always remembered to ring the bell to signal that it was safe for someone else to go down. We were the only people there, but it is important to maintain standards.

Amanda arrived Sunday evening and we optimistically ventured down to the waterfront for some star-gazing. This optimism remained unfulfilled, as the clouds covered most of the sky. Still, we survived going straight down the pathless hill behind my house with no injuries. That can only be a positive. Sadly, we also did not see the bear. I don't believe I will get to see it this fall. Maybe in the spring.

Monday is my day off. We spent the morning visiting the afore-mentioned Thunder Express and wandering through the woods. We made a brief stop at Crosscut Lodge, the most recently constructed building at camp, where we discovered a beautiful pile of mushrooms. Mushrooms are not usually what I think of when I ponder beauty, but the structured fragility of this casual heap is beautiful, in a way beyond standard aesthetics.

After Crosscut, we rambled down the old railroad grade to the north end of the lake. Clouds still blanketed the sky, drowning out the sun's rays and darkening the day, but gray is a colour too. It's a colour of contentment and serenity - of acceptance and calm. Shear Lake is lovely in every colour.

Amanda also discovered the perfect hiding spot.

I enjoyed every minute of Amanda's visit. It is great to be here at Barakel, but it can be lonely as well. Friends are scarce in the isolated Northern woods, especially ones who are unafraid of bears, beavers, and beeing beaten at Boggle. In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I did not win a single game of Skip-bo. She is the champion.

Amanda stayed even longer than I had hoped, not leaving until Wednesday morning. She took me to town on Monday, helped me with my work on Tuesday, and always claimed to be having a good time.

Last night, PG was talking to me about Amanda, "So, she is a true friend, then?"
"Absolutely."
Thank you, Amanda, for being a true friend, for being what I have been looking for since the first time I read Anne of Green Gables - a kindred spirit.

Men's Retreat I

Men began to arrive Thursday evening for this weekend's retreat. There was no food provided in the Dining Hall at that point, so they lit their grills and stood in the Boys' Dorm parking lot laughing and talking.

Last night in the Trading Post, men streamed in and out fairly steadily for the first forty minutes. The crowd then disappeared, most likely to their first meal/snack at the Dining Hall. I was then dismissed from the Trading Post, since there was no need for me there, and scurried around the lake to East Side to help serve the snack.

This weekend, reunions abound. There are about seven summer staffers from this past summer either camping or working, and another from my summer in '09. Also, Grace is here on fall break, as is Lydia. And Amanda is coming to visit tomorrow! Such fun!

Laundry

Every Thursday morning I rule over the laundry room with an iron whisk - although I suspect it is some other, less firm, metal, since even whipping starch into water sometimes feels as though I'm asking too much of it.


It's a peaceful place, the laundry room, full of nothing more challenging than keeping track of which cloths and aprons belong on which side of the lake. A handy Sharpie and masking tape help me with that task. I fold rags, starch aprons, and wrestle rugs in and out of machines.

The second Ladies' retreat went well. It finally stopped raining and everyone was able to enjoy wandering through the woods on Saturday and Sunday. I worked in the Trading Post most of the time. As a result, I witnessed closely the single-minded shopping rampage that flooded through the Trading Post. Ladies shop intensely when they are here. It will be interesting to see the difference in a couple of weekends when we will be having Men's retreats.

Today I found more mail from Jesus - another anonymous gift and a check with a pledge for support. This pledge brings me up to 35% of my monthly support. I am so thankful.

The sad part about being here this weekend was that I missed my mother's birthday. It sounds like they managed to have a wonderful time without me, as unbelievable as that is ;) Happy birthday, Mum!

Rain sifted steadily from the sky today, bearing with it the usual gray clouds darkening the skies. It was a day seemingly made for lingering indoors. But at Barakel there always exists a reminder of the beauty of creation.

Nine deer dancing on slender limbs across the false dusk of the field.

Only a hundred feet down the road stood Lee Brown, ready with his own exclamation of, "Did you see the deer?" Smiles, a dual moment of wonder. The delicate exquisiteness of God's creation and the compounded joy of shared delight.

Vans

Blue vans are a part of my Barakel life. The above van is the one that has been graciously granted to me as my "camp car." It runs, so far. But like all camp cars, it is not licensed for off-property trips.

This means that every Wednesday, when I do the mail run into town, I need to use another vehicle - the mail van. As shown below, it is blue. But it is not as blurry as that in real life.



On Wednesday, I mistakenly loaded the outgoing mail into the wrong blue van. The error, fortunately, did not cross into illegal territory. I realized something was wrong once I had hopped into the driver's seat of my camp car and tried to insert the wrong keys in the ignition. I briskly hopped back out, loaded up the correct blue van, and had an otherwise uneventful trip into Fairview.

Titles are like subject lines - I'm not good at either.

This weekend was my first officially back in Archery. It was amazing and fun - lots of friendly competition and mother/son bonding. This time was made even more exciting by a special visitor to the range.

It's Claire!

Claire and Amanda came up to be Big Sisters for the weekend. And to visit me. We went on a night-time hayride and had a wonderful story-time, enjoyed by everyone in the wagon, I hope. The stars were unspeakably beautiful. Jane Eyre was epically gothic. It was great to be able to spend time with the two of them. They stayed even longer than I had hoped for - until Monday afternoon. Because of that boon, we got to do some shooting - of pool and archery. Due to a Monday morning downpour, we skipped the Thunder Express this time. Hopefully they'll come back soon.

This past week, I also got a piece of very exciting mail.

Yes, it does say it is from Jesus.

When I opened it, I found my first financial support. God's timing never ceases to amaze me. That morning, as I cleaned Tamarack, I had been worrying that I was heading into my fourth week at Barakel and still had not received any support. Then this was waiting for me - Jesus mail - a physical reminder of God's providence.

Since then, I've received a pledge for 20% of my monthly support and an envelope from someone I've never even met. Praise be to God. I am so grateful for his care and for the people who choose to be used and choose to give.

New and Improved Blog - With Pictures!

I was told this week that I needed to incorporate pictures into my blogging. As you all may or may not be aware, cameras and I tend to have slight disagreements about the results. This relationship has been improved slightly now that I know how to adjust the white balance, but I still tend to be a rather blurry person in my photographic habits. Enjoy the pictures - however you can :)

This was my delicious and nutritious breakfast - a penguin full of canteloupe.

Many thanks to Amanda for the camera, Joel and Misti for the penguin, and Mama Betsy for the canteloupe. She is taking great care of Kathleen and I and brought us a bundle of fresh fruits and vegetables last night. Kathleen cut up the canteloupe and, with great effort, I managed to provide something for myself and actually got it from the refrigerator to the penguin. Scurvy = successfully avoided.

How was that for the first picture post? You got to see my breakfast! You lucky, lucky people.

Grandparents' camp flew by amazingly quickly. It was strange going from a crowded weekend like family camp to having so few campers. As I ran from Handcrafts to Archery to the hay ride, I felt as though I was seeing all of the same people over and over again. They thought so as well, I'm sure - they certainly knew my name by the time we had our lovely hayride together.

I can barely contain my excitement about this next weekend. West Side hosts Fathers and Daughters while East Side welcomes Mothers and Sons. I will be in East Side Archery. But that isn't even the most exciting part. Amanda and Claire are coming! They will be big sisters to the daughters and will run WS Archery and Handcrafts respectively. And they will also visit me and we will have a great time.

Grand Retreat

The thing about writing a blog is that it places a lot of pressure on me to be as entertaining as possible. Whenever something mildly amusing happens throughout the day, I make a mental note to include it in the next blog post. Then when I sit down to write the next blog post, my mental note has mysteriously erased itself and I am left with nothing to say. Or I just have a collection of random thoughts to share.

I saw Titus Brown carrying a piece of a dead turkey by one feathered wing. He waved it at me and mouthed, "Supper?"

Tonight at dinner, there were about fifteen campers and fifty staff. It seemed a little backwards.

Do two thoughts count as a collection? I think they must for tonight, because that's all I have. Handcrafts again this weekend :)

Family Camp is over

Family camp rumbled to a stop on Monday morning. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to leave the peaceful woods behind and re-emerge into the blinding sunlight glinting off of the traffic jam around them. I then spent a rousing day off doing my laundry and vaccuming my room. I am so much fun.

Handcrafts was great. I really enjoyed learning a new area and getting to spend time working with Marie again. She taught me many valuable things, such as how to start a gimp and how to embrace colour. I completed my first gimp and have begun my second, which I will be able to complete this upcoming weekend as I will be spending Grandparents camp (with only fifty-six campers!) in Handcrafts as well.

Wednesday was Bake Day and I spent a couple of hours scooping cookie dough and stacking cookies with the other staff women. Then I finally met with Phyllis and learned my weekly schedule. It was pretty much as expected, but there is some flex time in there that I will be spending doing random work. It'll be nice to have a routine, but a routine with some variety.

In other excellent news, I just got a call saying that there is a camp vehicle I can use. Maybe now I'll make it up to the office to pick up my mail.

Family Camp - day one

Families have been pouring down the road into the RV park all afternoon. A light sprinkle did nothing to deterr the eager setting up of tents. Extreme politeness characterizes these campers as they cautiously inquire about the exact boundaries of their sites and ensure that they are not intruding on someone else's space.

I stopped by and saw the first group of my relatives. The second group called the first while I was there to inform them of the extreme traffic in which they found themselves - slightly distressing to the first group, since the second had half of the supper with them. I callously abandoned them and went to the Dining Hall for my supper. It was there that I discovered the foundations of my GFS world had been shaken - the milk has changed. Country Fresh chocolate has been exchanged for TruMoo! The carton is confusingly blue and the taste is not the same. It's an outrage ;)

It's shaping up to be a great weekend. I will be in Handcrafts most of the time. I've never done Handcrafts before, so it will be an adventure.

I arrived (courtesy of my deluxe chauffeur [thanks, Mum]) late afternoon yesterday. By seven, I had undone all of my packing - convincing me even more that packing is evil - and begun settling into my room.

Step 1. Hang Dalek poster

Step 2. Hang castle art print

Step 3. Hang Alan Rickman poster

Step 4. Unpack clothes

Step 5. Find room for the multiplicity of extension cords I thought would be necessary.

Step 5. Notice ominous creaking from Alan Rickman.

Step 6. Duct-tape Alan Rickman's frame back together.

Step 7. Wage war against spiders in bathroom.

Step 8. Rescue Alan Rickman from falling in the nick of time.

Step 9. Give up on Alan Rickman and lean him against wall.

Step 10. Realize I forgot a wastebasket. Piles of trash seem less sanitary.

It was an interesting evening.

This morning I worked with Kathy in the Trading Post, organizing, stocking, and labelling. One small mouse ambushed me from the depths of a rubbermaid tub and then looked at me accusingly with its eyes while I carried the tub into the woods to release it. It should thank me for not using a trap. It's not my fault it thought that tub would be a good place to linger.

At some point today I should also be receiving my schedule for this weekend. Family camp is sure to be a busy time.

Packing

Packing and preparing is always an arduous endeavor. Nothing fits together as well as I expect it should. Wood Daleks are amazingly cool to have, but they're very unfriendly so refuse to nestle nicely down next to the sombrero man. Co-operation among clothing vanishes - socks, shirts, and acoutrements flee to opposite corners of the house and refuse to leave.

One more day before my time on seasonal staff begins. Camp is fun!

the beginning

Hello!

The heat of the summer is slowly fading from the Northern woods of Michigan as the Barakel summer camp season ends. I have been at Camp Barakel for fourteen weeks. Camp Barakel is a camping ministry that was founded in the 1940's. Over the past sixty years, it has grown from a summer camp for a youth group into a year-round ministry for children, youth, and adults – hosting more than 10,000 people a year as they proclaim the truth of God's glory. This was my third summer at Barakel. I had previously been a part of the YAPS program and a counselor. My official role this summer was as a member of the summer leadership team. Among other jobs, I supervised the East Side Trading Post, did one-on-ones with summer staff, and worked as Lee Brown's program assistant.

My duties were often behind-the-scenes, which sometimes made it difficult to see the smaller contributions adding up to a whole. Yet God continually blessed me with moments of glory – the dazzling sight of hundreds of campers spread out across the East Side with their Bibles in their laps, joyous singing with the summer staff, melodious voices raised in praise at chapel, and hope-filled whispers at firebowl of lessons learned and praises to God.

Seasonal staff are a group – or a couple of individuals- who stay at Barakel to work the retreat seasons but are not on full-time staff. The work will be similar to what I've done this summer. I will continue to work with Lee Brown as well as spending time running the laundry, ranges, Trading Post, and doing massive amounts of cleaning.

“Our mission is to give a thoroughly Biblical declaration of the glories of God among the entire Barakel community, with a view to gathering worshipers who magnify God through the gladness of radically obedient lives. All to the glory of God!” - Camp Barakel's mission statement