God Hears

I skimmed a book called "How many times do I have to tell you?" once. Her premise: The things we say to our kids are the things God wants to say to us.

I've actually said this to my kids. "How many times do I have to tell you not to open a closed bathroom door without knocking?" I say. I said it the first time, too. It's the kind of situation where you find yourself ranting.

But most of the time I try to say things that are calm, succinct, and memorable. When I remembered that God was my Father, wanting to say the same things to me, I began to write some of them down. Imagine me saying these to my kids, and God saying them to you.

"We don't make messes and walk away from them."

"We don't chew on things that aren't food."

"Have you listened to yourself?"

"When you're obeying, you're not doing anything else."

"Just wait, and don't ask questions. I'm still working on something else."

"Thank you for telling me it's hurting."

"Come sit by me."

"Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?"

"When there's a car coming, don't pull against my hand."

"Quit trying to explain and just listen."

"We don't walk away until the job is done."

"Don't distract yourself."

"Say 'Okay' and obey."

"Don't even look at things that aren't yours."

"It's all part of the treat."

"You are not the policeman in this house."

Fisher Bay 2023

Enjoy an excerpt from a letter to a friend about my Summer.

Dear Friend, Monday, Aug. 28th, 2023

It's been a hot minute since I've written - I'm not actually sure when was the last time. Certainly my whole camp season has gone by since. I just got home on Friday. The first week of July was eclectic - it began with family camp at Fisher Bay on the Canada Day weekend. We (Avril + I) were supposed to stay at the camp for a few days after that, setting it up for the summer, but there was a thunderstorm with a tornado, and the power went out in the whole area, so we had to come home. That meant 5 days at home (more than I'd had consecutively in ages), which God graciously filled with bees. My hive swarmed three times in three days. I suited up and shook them into boxes, bravely at first, but getting more knowledgeable and comfortable, until by Saturday I was quickly and deftly setting up a new hive, transferring a swarm to it, and inspecting and expanding another, in about an hour. Just in time too. We drove up to camp that afternoon.

My, O my do the weeks ever blend together! This I do know for sure: the first four weeks were a block of sprinting energy. Imagine - me! But I was - I was running everywhere, laughing at everything, competitive and clever, always up for a game of anything, able to get up early and stay up late. I barely slept - never got sleepy, laid in bed thinking a mile a minute, and got up in the mornings still feeling ready to wrestle a bear all day. How I kept going I don't know.

The fourth week was coming off of Field Day. Suddenly I came down with a fever, laid down for one day, and took the next morning slow. I thought I was going to be recovered and okay, but as the campers started to arrive for the oldest teen week I started to get an earache. With one thing and another I was sick the whole week. It was all I could do to smile at my campers, remember people's names, and be in the right place at the required time. Every minute I wanted to be lying down, resting my headache. It took half an hour and a 'bracing cup of tea' to loosen my voice every morning.

That week I had a camper named T. One evening I neglected my duty to go to the Dining Hall before Chapel and grate some onion juice to treat another earache which was starting. I tucked a ziplock of grated onion in my hoodie pocket and realized with a quick headcount that T. was missing. The search revealed nothing. Myself and the leadership had about 10 minutes (an eternity) of uncertainty before she was discovered lying unmoving under a bush near the road. I crawled in and lay down beside her, whispering under her drawn hoodie how much she was loved. It took a bit of coaxing and a lot of listening (though I couldn't hear very well) before she got up and came back to the cabin. My co-Cabin Leader had nervously taken the devo in my absence. I laid down on the bed, snipped a hole in the corner of my plastic bag, and gingerly dripped the onion juice into my ear at last.

After that week I couldn't imagine doing anything ever again. I stayed home for two days just to recover, and arrived back at camp midway through the 5-7 age, feeling very quiet and detached. At the end of that week the older kids who had been interested in growing their faith from the summer arrived, and we had three days of sessions, canoeing, and intense questions from the girls in devos. We were almost done. A whole summer of camp coming to a close. I began to look forward to a good home shower, sleeping night after night in my own bed, and looking through all my pictures and notes from the summer. I would have a whole week before I went back to Nannying.

After breakfast on the last day, our director mentioned that Gimli Bible Camp needed girl Cabin Leaders next week. I sweated. The Lord had opened the possibility of working at another camp in my mind. He had made my personality to not need recovery or preparation time. This, then, was for me to do. I phoned home. I phoned Gimli. And instead of packing up to go home, I carefully packed everything to make the move to a new camp for another week.

Sincerely,

Celeste

Go to the Fisher Bay Bible Camp youtube channel to see highlight videos with pictures and footage of each week. Avril describes a day at camp in pictures here. Thank you for thinking of and praying for me this summer. I'd love to tell you more detailed stories in person.

New Bees

The family I Nanny has dove headfirst into... Beekeeping! Enjoy this morning's hiving session.

This is my Father's world

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees

Of skies and seas

AND BEES

His hand the wonders wrought