Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The Island life.

I've been sitting here trying to upload some pictures onto here, but am not successful. I hate Macs! Anyway, sorry for the lack of visual images, but I will still attempt to highlight a few things that have been going on here.
I can't believe I'm almost half way through! It's going far too fast. Whenever I am at Capernwray Harbour, I always want it to last forever. It's my favourite place in North America, and definitely in the top five list for world favourites.
In case you don't know, Capernwray Harbour, Thetis Island (one of the gulf islands in British Columbia) is where I am for 6 weeks at the moment. It is where I spent a year at bible school in 02-03, and this is my third summer on staff. I am working with the teenagers, in six consecutive family camp weeks. I work with a great guy, Dan Bjorn, from Germany, and we make a good team and balance each other out pretty well. We've had some wonderful and interesting kids to spend time with, teach, and learn from. We get to do lots of high energy activities with them such as ropes courses, the screamer (a 40 foot pole that you climb to the top of and jump off for a trapeze), overnight campounts under the stars and lots of water sports and swimming. It's absolutely stunning here, surrounded by mountains and ocean and forest. I love the staff that I get to work with, and in many ways this is my spiritual reference point, and so to be back here is really allowing me to clarify my mind and heart.

Some highlights from the past three weeks:

*When a 7 year old boy peed all over me after I told him he had to wait a minute before going to the bathroom.

"When Amie (one of my BESTEST friends) and I went for ice cream at the marina and met Derek: the guy who knows EVERYTHING. (seriously)

*When Sam crashed the golf cart into a window and it fell out of the wall and smashed everywhere.

*When I am whizzing around on the speed boat with my hair flying everywhere, soaking up the sun and the beauty.

*When Katherine and I saw two seals mating in the water.

*When I get to sit on the end of the dock alone and watch the sun set.

*When we went to Victoria and flew one-hundred-dollar kites.

*Spending time with people here, like Amie.

*When 6 year old Deseree decided to walk down the dock with her eyes closed and walked straight off the edge, caught on camera by her father.

*When kids from previous summers come back and are really excited to see me.

*When I played Mafia for the seventieth time with last weeks group of teenagers.

*When I eat Bear-Claw flavoured ice-cream.

*The phosphoresence. (AMAZING. It is a chemical reaction in the ocean at night, and when you stir a stick in the water everything sparkles and shimmers like magical golden fairy dust!! You have to see it to believe it. It's incredible)

There you go...a few insights into summertime on Thetis Island...pictures to follow soon.

Monday, July 10, 2006

A prayer

"Stir in me the songs that you are singing,
fill my gaze with things as yet unseen.
Give me faith to move in works of power,
making me more like Jesus.

Then one day, I'll see him as he sees me.
Face to face, the lover and the loved.
No more fears, the longing will be over,
there with my precious Jesus."