Blog, thy name is neglected.
So sorry for those of you who were in the habit of reading this and somewhat enjoyed it. If you are still out there.
My summer was the busiest to date. Not only did I have two weeks of residential camp, an eight day canoe trip and GIFT carrying through the summer, I visited a friend, my sister was here for two weeks, started working with churches in Fort Frances to get a youth ministry started and I started dating. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.
Let me back up.
At the end of June I took some time out to be refreshed by visiting my good friend Megaan in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. We drank coffee, had a girl’s night out, met some of her friends and mostly spent a lot of time talking. She also cut my hair. Thanks Megaan for the great time! See you soon!
Shortly after getting back my sister arrived with the two cutest kids in the world! Besides hanging out with my niblings 3 of my cousins came for a few days with their kids. Then we did what Rempel’s do best: talk and drink coffee. (Rempel is my mom’s maiden name) It was good to connect with family I rarely see.
The next two weeks were a flurry of getting ready for camp. Painting the backdrop (which I don’t have a picture of, unfortunately), collecting saddles and other western memorabilia and getting ready for games. One game included painting over a hundred pounds of rock. Fun times.
The weekend before camp our youth group went on a camping trip. (again, no pictures…sorry) The weather was good, the water was better and I would say after burning a few hundred dollars worth of gas to pull wakeboarders and tubers, we all had a pretty good time, even if our pancakes got rained on.
Then off to camp. Set up went surprisingly quick, which is an answer to prayer. Not a good thing to be stressed out when kids come. Both weeks were great. We had good weather, great speakers and fun kids. The first week I was in a cabin with 24 other girls, 3 of which were counselors. Highlights from that week were: seeing girls I’ve counseled taking on leadership in the cabin, even leading campers to Christ; watching the skit they put on for the Variety Show at the end of the week; reading "Jane Eyre" to them; and the nightly ‘good-night’ hugs.
For teen camp I had a cabin of 9 girls with a fellow counselor. To be honest, these girls got the shaft this year. I was fairly emotionally and spiritually spent at this time. I did not give them the spiritual leadership I usually do. I praise God that He is bigger than my weakness. Despite that…it was a good week. We had a band from BC out to do the music and the speaking. They were such an encouragement to all of us. Stirring the fire of passion for God.
In the middle of all this I’ve been talking to some pastors in Fort and, together with a team of people passionate about telling teens about Jesus, begun working on developing youth ministry in Fort Frances. We’ve had meetings throughout the summer to plan. Our kickoff was a BBQ in mid August to get the Christian teens of Fort Frances to connect and meet each other. Thirteen teens and 7 adults showed up. We ate, did ice breakers, played ultimate frisbee and gave ourselves a name: FYG (pronounced "fig" or "F-Y-G": Fort Youth Group).
During that time, something pleasant and unexpected happened: Derek Enns, my good friend of seven years, and I started dating. God’s timing is pretty crazy though. We were dating less than a week when we had to say goodbye — for a year. Yeah. Derek is now in Korea teaching English to adults. And we’re figuring out how to make a long distance relationship work. Sounds crazy but it’s definitely been a God thing so who am I to argue with His timing? I just ask for lots of prayer!
The last time I saw Derek was when he left Muskie Bay Resort, where I started my last adventure of the summer: canoe trip. We had a whole gamet of weather thrown at us. Some days were lovely, some windy and cold. But spirits were high. It was a group that worked well together without any major outbreaks of tension. Favourite memories here would be: the gibberish game (I have no legs, see, see?), being serenaded daily and the calm of paddling through God’s gorgeous creation while having meaningful conversation.
And there you have it! My summer journeys. Thanks for thinking of me if you did. And now…on to the school year!
the.happenings 