Lilies

    “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”

-            Matthew 6:28-30  

       I don`t like my clothes.  Most of the time I feel uncomfortable and dowdy in what I`m wearing, and I`m never sure how other people seem to just put clothes on every morning and look amazing.  A factor of course could be that I don`t like spending money on clothes, so when I do go shopping it`s usually at Value Village and even then I usually end up buying yet another funny graphic tee from the boy`s department.  I`ve always said that if you can`t be the “pretty one”, at least you can be the “funny one”.  

     Anyway, enough back-story.  I have been wanting some new clothes (well, to be more accurate, I wanted an entirely new wardrobe)for YWAM.  I prayed that God would help me find some new clothes that would help me feel more confident.  I went shopping in Naniamo (our version of “big city shopping”, haha), went to Value Village, and continued wearing my old clothes.  I resolved that I should stop worrying about my clothes and just learn to be content.  

     Then, at dinner yesterday night, one of my friends came up to me and told me she had some hand-me-downs for me.  I was stoked.  Free is even cheaper than Value Village!  She came over, and brought me a milk crate of clothes.  Shirts, shorts, pants, and sweatshirts.  An entire wardrobe.  

     Every piece fit.  Every piece looked good.  Every piece was the greatest piece of clothing I have ever owned.  No joke.  It was my dream wardrobe, all packed into a milk crate.  I was/am beyond elated!  

     As I was trying the clothes on, she told me, “Yeah, I just felt the Lord telling me to give you some clothes.”  

     I was amazed and overtaken by love from my Father.  He knew I was discouraged by my clothing, He knew I could get over it... but instead of leaving me alone, He prompted a friend (who just happens to be the same size as me!) to bless me with a new wardrobe!  This is crazy love!  

     I woke up this morning and was excited to get dressed.  That never happens to me!  And as I pulled on my new flannel shirt, I felt like God Himself was hugging my shoulders, reminding me that He loves me so much He even takes care of my clothing needs... so I can surely trust Him for the important things in my life too. 

Trust and Obey

  

    This past week here at Camp was staff retreat.  We of course, raced to Woodsman as quick as we could!  Some of our good friends, who also happen to be staff at Camp as well, were at Woodsman as well, so it was almost like a mini-family camp.  We had so much fun!     

Jumping off the "Sandy Beach Cliffs"... I`m the one in yellow... haha...

Julie and I after our epic, Sandy Beach- Woodsman swim (2km, approx?)

Z and I enjoying the beautiful water

     Everyone has been put back to work now, and family camp is in full-swing!  We have been enjoying some great music and sermons during chapel, fun meeting other families at the park, and of course, eating lots of Dave`s delicious food.  Tonight he is preparing the popular "fancy dinner", where the kids eat mac n`cheese (still delightful, since Dave makes it from scratch!), and then go out with babysitters so the parents can have a delicious three-course fancy dinner in peace and quiet.  Before staff retreat last week we had Single Moms Camp, which ended with a five-course seafood fancy dinner.  That camp was smaller than this one, so Dave even arranged for it to be plated, and did hand-made pasta.  Seriously, these are the foods he cooked for me when we were dating, and I married him for them!  haha... but for real, he is a fabulous chef! 

    Dave`s Mom was staying with us and volunteering in the kitchen for the past six weeks, and she left on Friday.  We had just enough time to change the sheets before Dave`s sister arrived yesterday and will be with us for the week, along with his grandma, and Aunt and Uncle who arrive tomorrow.  Never a dull moment this summer!  With less than three weeks before we move, I have already packed basically everything up... I can`t even make tea for my guests!  I`m not feeling like a very good hostess, but I`m sure they`ll all understand. 

    We sold the last of our stuff this past week.  Everything that is left in our house will be given away to friends or the thrift store right before we leave.  We`re eating out of Tupperware, we have no table, and I have tape over doors and cupboards so that we remember what areas have been emptied and cleaned already.  The emptiness of our house is a testament to the Lord`s faithfulness.  I prayed that we would be able to sell our things, and bit by bit, it has all gone.  Even things I thought might be hard to get rid of, like our piano, I prayed, and two days later, it was sold... and for more than the asking price! 

    God has been answering even the smallest prayers; for example we went to Value Village the other day to drop off some stuff, and I prayed on the way there that I would be able to find a pair of jeans that actually fits and a modest dress that I could wear during the DTS... no problem, I found both.  It blew my mind... I have been hunting for a dress like this for months, but apparently I forgot to pray on other shopping trips.  We wanted to sell our mattress, which was almost brand new, but I figured that we`d probably end up giving it away since nobody wants to buy a used mattress from a stranger... turns out God was way ahead of us and used our mattress to save some friend`s of ours some money on a great bed- and we got a fair price for it!  I am so excited watching God sell our stuff, provide for our financial needs, and keep our car running just  well enough that I think we`ll be able to take it to California. 

   In all of these provisions, I hear what God is saying to me... and it is a very personal and beautiful message.  He is not deaf to my other prayer.  The prayer I pray every day.  Just as He has heard my prayers for simple things like jeans, or to sell my piano, or to keep my car on the road... he has heard my prayer for a baby.  He has not answered that prayer yet, but I can feel His comforting arms around me, His whisper in my heart saying, "See how I have cared for you in all of these little things... now wait for me to care for your greatest desire too." 

      "You whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.  Even to your old age and your gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you.  I will sustain you and I will rescue you."      -Isaiah  46:3-5 

Woodsman Week 2

Woodsman style "Cinnamon Dulce Latte" made by me, the ex-Starbucks barista.  I haven`t lost my skills.

      There are few things that measure up to the hype.  Y`know that I mean, like those things you get all excited about, but them you actually do them, and you are like, "Hmmm... well, that was a waste of time/money/brainspace."  Going into these two weeks out at Woodsman, that was my fear:  that I would be disappointed. 

     I wanted to feel like part of the team, to have fun, to cook edible food, and to spend some time with the Lord out in nature.  I wanted to have the best two weeks of my summer.  

     Wish granted.  

My cooking partner, Julie, using the grill like a boss

     Julie, who is also married to a staff member at Camp Homewood, and I had decided months ago to cook together at Woodsman.  She and I are the kind of friends who like to do something when we`re together, so we figured this was the perfect bonding experience for us... and it was!  Between us, we have four little boys, and Julie`s husband wisely arranged for us to have two babysitters (camp CITs) to help watch the kids while we cooked.  It worked great, and allowed us to have some great talks during our food-prep times.  We both are very organized, tidy, and efficient, so our kitchen ran smoothly all week.  It felt so great to be part of a team again! 

We had two babysitters out to take care of Julie and I`s kids (Z, and two out of three of her kids pictured here)

Z and I`s tent

    Z and I spent one night in a mouse-infested tent... where I basically stayed awake and read a book all night while mice poked their heads up right by my bed.  Morning could not come quickly enough!  Thankfully, when the sun rose, we were able to switch tents and spent the rest of the week sleeping soundly. 
     The only other times I encountered mice were one evening when a mouse walked right by my feet... so I killed it.  I`ve never killed anything before... and all I could think about after was how it probably had a family... so there is a good chance I will not be a hunter ever in my lifetime.  The next encounter with a mouse was in the cooktent, when a mouse fell into a bucket and was stuck.  We considered having me kill it, but decided to let it be free... so I was sent into the brush to release the poor creature.

Z standing on the dock, the swimming dock can be seen behind him in the water.

Z playing toys by the water`s edge.

    Free time at Woodsman was spent swimming, boating, jumping off rocks/docks, and more swimming.  Z took a nap every afternoon, so most days I would sit by the tent and read and journal during that time.  Once in a while the babysitters would have pity on me and let me go swimming during naptime, but the afternoons were so hot that they were usually already in the water by the time I got Z down for his sleep.  He and I would go swimming for a short while after his nap every day, then head back to the cook tent to prepare some delicious supper. 

Happy Campers eating supper on our "woodsman formal night"... which mostly involved everyone using ferns as hats/skirts/etc. 

My boy and me in the cook tent.

A view of woodsman from the water.  The tents are all hidden in the trees.

Tim, woodsman`s resident jack-of-all-trades, helps Z drive the party boat

    Today is the first Sunday in two weeks that I`m not heading back to Woodsman.  I`ve gotta say that I`m pretty sad about that.  I think it was probably the best two weeks of the entire time I`ve lived on Quadra! 

    Now I`m on to finishing the organizing for YWAM... we`re leaving in less than 5 weeks! 

Woodsman Week One!

Moma and Z cutting strawberries for shortcake

   So, after all my big talk about not enjoying camping... I signed up months ago to cook for two weeks out at Woodsman Camp (which is a part of Homewood where my husband is the chef).  It is a "primitive" camp on a gorgeous lake, where all the tents and kitchen, and biffys and fire pit are already set up for us.  Setting up the camp takes a a large team of people a few days to do, and is a ton of work, but once its set up it all works perfectly.  As cooks we had a grill, elements, and even an oven!  Plus running water and hot-water on demand for dishes... this is GLAMPING at it`s best!  (Translation:  Glamour camping.) 

Shannon trying to find something in the "fridge".

    My sister Shannon, and my Mom arrived on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday we were on our way!  The woodsman maintenance guy, Tim, drove us out in the big white truck, then helped us load all the food into the boat and get it organized in the kitchen. 
   (Re-cap:  For my Mom and Sis to get to Woodsman, they took 2 busses, one skytrain, two ferries, a mini-bus, car-ride, truck ride, and a speed-boat.  Shannon would want everyone to know how much travel was involved in this trip.  haha)   

Tent 1 doing the dishes

      Once we got the food organized we did a tour of the camp to find a tent for Shannon and Mom.  I had brought Z and I`s stuff in a day early and chosen a good tent.  Unfortunately, the tent they chose had a mouse which was greatly disconcerting to Mom... Shannon slept through it... she also slept through most breakfast preps... but that`s another story... haha... 

Breakfast time in the cook tent (it was chilly until around 10am, so everyone wore sweatshirts)

Making pancakes on the first morning. 

Z and Auntie Shannon hanging out in the kitchen

Z was the cleanest kid at camp!  I did his laundry every day and bathed him too! 

Bracelet class

    I had brought a bunch of bracelet-making stuff, thinking that it would keep me entertained (which it did), but one morning the boys I was sitting with were commenting on my bracelets and wanted to buy some from me.  I told them we could just have a class and they could all learn... so we cancelled an activity block and about 15 of the boys came and made bracelets or learned how to braid.  It was so cute watching them sit so still for so long!    
    The only other time they sat still was for whittling time around the fire.  Swords was about all they made!  Typical boys! 

Z and his bestie, Dan.  

     Dan and Z`s conversation at every meal:
 
     "Z, everyday."  -Dan
     "Everyday."  -Z
      "All day."  -Dan
      "All day."  -Z
      "Dubstep."  -Dan
      "Dub. Step."  -Z

Well, it`s better than Jacob teaching Z to say, "Mommy, I want a tattoo."  

Whittling time around the fire, and on the far side you can see Z and Dan playing "dumdumditty" on their knees.

Z and I`s tent site, with the hammock that I napped in most afternoons

Mom knitting to her heart`s content.  She sat by the tent during naptime so Shannon and I could go swimming while Z was sleeping.  We went swimming every day at least once!  :) 

The last meal... Taco Salad. 

Waiting for the bus to go back to camp.  It`s all over! 

    I have the laundry done from the week, and it`s re-packed into a box.  This week I`ll be going back out and cooking for a girl`s camp, with the help of another camp wife.  I can`t wait to get back out there!  I already miss my Mom and Sister though, it sure was a good bonding week for the Climie gals! 

    As Mom kept saying, "Only good memories." 
   (Que the music for "Time of My Life") 

Bacon in the Rain

Okay, so here`s the deal.  I don`t like camping.  I like the IDEA of camping.  I like thinking that I am the sort of girl who is at home in nature... but let`s be real.  I am afraid of nature.  I like my warm, comfortable bed at night, in my house with the door to keep the critters out.  I blame my Dad for these feelings... he hates camping too. 

Now, just a bit of a back-story on me.  I should love camping.  My Greatest-Of-All-Time childhood memory is of the summer when my family lived at a campsite to save money.  Everyone at the church thought we were homeless and kept showing up to have hot-dog roasts with us.  We bathed in a Rubbermaid tote (could be where my love affair with totes came from), we rode bikes all day, we ate granola that my mom made by the bucket-full once a week at a church-friend`s house (they thought we were homeless too).  But anyhow, we saved a ton of money and had a BLAST!  I should LOVE LOVE LOVE camping.  But anyhow, to be fair, that was like, 19ish years ago, and maybe I`ve changed a bit. 

A very bad photo of our camper as a child.  I`m the kid in the middle on the right hand side.  

Then again, in my teens I went for three consecutive summers to Florida for two weeks for The Lord`s Boot Camp.  It was camping in the jungle, waking up early, running an obstacle course at 5am in the rain, working hard all day, and sleeping on a slat of wood every night... then going overseas for a month and doing more of the same as a missions trip.  I went three years because I loved it SO MUCH!!!!  (www.teenmissions.org for more information or to send your troubled teens into the jungle to get some character just like my parents did to me!)  Again... I should love camping. 

But even after this kind of a background... I was not prepared for Camp Homewood Outtrip.  First of all, I had never left Z overnight, and I wasn`t sure that I wanted to... but on Monday morning we had prayer group as usual and a few of the girls came.  We got talking after prayer about trusting God, and could we really rely on God to take care of the things we care about the most.  I of course was thinking of Z, and how if I`m really honest with myself, I don`t trust anyone to take care of him.  I don`t trust Dave, and when it really comes down to it, I don`t trust God. 

After we had talked about trusting God, the subject changed to plans for the Outtrip, and I realized that I needed to go.  Not because of any love I have for camping... but because I needed to give God a chance to show me that He can take care of Z without my help.  Plus, I have a huge fear of being outside at night, and I knew that I needed to trust God through that too... so I figured, "Okay, God, let`s do this.  I have got to learn to trust you to care for my family and for me in situations that scare me." 

trying to start a fire in the wind

Only three hours later, I was on the bus with my team of 7 other girls and we were off to Open Bay (it`s a secluded camping spot in the forest near a beautiful ocean bay, with a nice little river flowing past).  I felt more secure, knowing that at least if something happened in the night, that it was possible to come and find me, since Open Bay is only about an hour from camp.  It was the oddest feeling as our bus driver, Darryl, dropped us off and drove away at the trail head.  We would not be picked up till 11am the next day, and we had to "survive" till then. 

Yvonne took this photo of (left-right) Emma, Julie, Bella, Katie, Me, Kristin, and Melissa

First order of business was to set up a shelter to sleep in.  The clouds were threatening rain, and the ground was already damp, so we quickly pulled out our tarp and got to work.  Turns out we had no idea what we were doing... even though everyone had been very opinionated during the building process.  Our team was comprised of almost all first-born/only child females... haha... plenty of opinions about everything! 

Sleeping area.  My spot was the black sleeping bag under the peak of the tarp

We enjoyed the rest of the day once the tarp was up.  I went swimming with a couple friends, and then we gorged ourselves on the copious amounts of food my husband sent along with us.  We had a sing-along, discussed many topics with the fiery passion that only a first-born can bring to a conversation, and went to bed early.  The rain had held off, and we were all in good spirits as we "went to sleep". 

View of the campsite from the tarp

Except I didn`t go to sleep.  I just laid there.  I could hear everyone else sleeping, but I never drifted off.  My mom used to tell me that if you can`t sleep, maybe it`s because you need to pray for someone.  So I prayed.  I prayed for everyone I could think of, and then I made a deal with God that if  prayed for everyone else in the tent that I could go to sleep... but apparently he didn`t agree to the deal... because I stayed awake.  What struck me though, was the immense peace I felt.  I was basically alone in the dark, in the woods, under a tarp that barely even covered us.  Normally I would have been terrified... I mean, heck, I`m scared to go to our chicken coop in the dark and that`s IN our backyard!  I thought about Z, and instead of the usual bombardment of a million terrible things that might happen to him, I just had an image of him asleep in his warm bed (jealous!).

 I was at peace, and I knew that it was God who was keeping me from being afraid. 

At 2am it started raining for real, and pretty soon everyone was awake while our tarp flooded.  We all sat huddled together in the only dry-ish spot and leaned on each other since there wasn`t space to lay down anymore.  We sang songs (Justin Beiber!), and wondered what all the other teams were doing at their tent spots (7teams in all?)... and eventually got up at 5am, bundled in everything we could.  Then there was the desperate, but successful, attempt to get a fire started in the rain, which involved holding a towel over it to let it catch... and there was me, cooking bacon in a tiny pan, so tired and grumpy that everyone was making a wide circle around me.  (Melissa:  Good morning Shawn!  Me:  *glares at the bacon* I hate camping.)... yeah, sorry about that Melissa... but eventually the rain let up, we all ate enough carbs to spike our blood-sugar, and we played a game of "I Never", which is always good for a laugh.

Bella makes some perogies

Relief is the only word to describe how I felt when Darryl pulled up in the bus.  We piled on, and got to tell our horror stories to the other teams, who had had marginally better trips than us, so we could feel cool for having "suffered".

I really bonded with the girls on my team, and it is great to feel like "part of the group" this summer with the staff.  Heck, looking back, now that I`ve had some sleep, I would gladly go on outtrip again.  And I think more than anything else I realized that I can trust God to take care of me and my family.

"Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  -Joshua 1:9

The toilet

A Month of Lakes

     I have been having too much fun to update this blog.  In the past three weeks, I have visited more lakes that I have in the past two years; been swimming, hiking, cliff-jumping, and camping... plus had a huge garage sale and sold basically everything.  Thankfully we still have a couch, which I am making use of right now, although I sold the tea-kettle, and hear no end of complaints from our prayer team guys... apparently they can`t handle tea out of a soup pot for the next two months.  TWO MONTHS!!! I know, you read that right, it is now less than two months before we head off to YWAM.  Seriously though... I`m not sure my life could get more fun that it has been this month! 

      

 Let me tell you a few stories... 

       One week we went to Woodsman three times.  It became a ritual, Z gets up from naptime at 3:30pm, then we`d put him in the car, along with some supper, towels, and our friends Juno and Jacob, and we`d be off to the lake.  Melissa is another friend here at camp, who has a car, so she started filling up her car with friends every afternoon too, and we`d all go together.  Melissa was a fearless swimmer, and convinced me to stop being afraid of the water... so a bunch of us did a long-distance swim (maybe a km round trip), and swam to a different island where there is a cliff to jump off.  Melissa again challenged me to stop being afraid by jumping off the cliff first... then I did it!  Me, Melissa, and another friend, Ryan, jumped off at least three times each before we swam back to the Woodsman beach to dig into our healthy dinners of yogurt and cookies. 

      Z and Dave stayed at the Woodsman beach and played in the shallows the whole time.  Thankfully Dave doesn`t swim much, so I get to be in the water the whole time while he bonds with his son.  Works out for everyone.  

     Another week we got adventurous and started looking for new beaches and lakes to swim at.  We found quite a few... who knew Quadra was so big?!  

     We explored Morte Lake by ourselves, and I had to brave the water alone while Dave and Z played on the shore.  That lake was full of salamanders, which were quite easy to catch.  I put some in Z`s bucket, but he was scared of them and wanted them to “go away in the water”.  

Z getting ready for hiking. 

Then came our Newton Lake trip.  It deserves more space/pictures than the rest because it was more epic.  Our friend, Matt, really likes hiking, and so when we were all planning yet another Woodsman day, he said, “no, guys, I know a really good lake instead.”  So we all agreed, and packed a lunch and drove almost an hour to the trail-head for Newton Lake.  He said it was a 45min hike... which was untrue... especially since some of the girls were wearing flip-flops.  Haha...

Dave took Z in a carrier most of the way to the lake, but Z was determined to hike by himself for at least part of it!

After about 50+ minutes of walking through beautiful, serene woods we came to the lake... and discovered that Matt`s perfect swimming spot just happened to be on the side of a cliff.  I came into the clearing and said, “This trip was clearly planned by a single male.”  Nevertheless, we set up camp and Dave and Z got down to work playing in the mud, while I went swimming, praying that Z wouldn`t fall of the side of the rock face.    

The lake was AMAZING though, and we got a good distance swim in, by swimming across the lake to retrieve a log to play on.  Look closely at the center of this picture... that`s us swimming.  

The Newton Lake crew.  (From left to right:  Dave, Me, Melissa, Curtis, Annika, Jacob, Matt, and Roxanne, ... and Z, of course.)  

We got back to the cars in a lot less time than it took to hike into the lake... since it was DOWNHILL the way back... and loaded up into Bruce and Bessie (Yay for 1999 Toyota Corollas!), but not before Z got in a potty break.  

 

I had been thinking that this week would be a nice quiet week at home to prepare for Gramma`s arrival (She`ll be staying with us for July, yay!)... but then I decided to go with the gals on the overnight camping trip to Open Bay... 

Next blog post:  Bacon in the Rain, and other outtrip adventures.