Retreated

Whoever decided to call them "retreats" obviously never attended one. The sole purpose of going to retreat is to "encounter", so I propose we call our next one the 2nd Annual NABC Women's Encounter.  All in favour, email Ruth and see whether she will go along with it.

With expectations high, bags stuffed with nibbles, bible, notebooks, and PJ's, 30 or so women boarded the bus Friday at noon. Rachel had prepared delicious box lunches for us, enabling us to barrel right through to Chilliwack for our next pick up. Now just to set the record straight, the Bethany group were my bet for " most boisterous " group, but those gals from Chilliwack were not letting any grass grow under their feet either.

After a 2nd short stop in Hope to collect the last few ladies, we headed up the Coquihalla Hwy. Just outside of Hope the landscape began to change quite dramatically.

By the time we neared the summit we were in the middle of a real snowstorm.  The mountain sides were white and drifted snow formed curls over the edge of the rock  formations that edged the highway.  What a change from the trees at home. We arrived at Green Bay Bible Camp about 15 minutes ahead of schedule so had time to wander around and check it out before registration and room assignments.

I hardly recognized the place! When we left Westbank in July of 1985 there were vineyards, orchards, and campgrounds surrounding the GBBC. Now, mega dwellings, complete with circular towers on the corners border up against the cedar hedge on the North side of the camp.  The South side is not much better, condominium apartment buildings have erupted and all but obliterate any view until you walk right down to the beach and pier.

With registration pack in hand, Tina and I set out to find our room, luckily for us it was the 1st room in the Lodge building, perfect for someone who is as navigationally challenged as I am.  A surprise was waiting in our room - no bedding, no towels, no pillow - guess who totally forgot to bring her bedding?

A short walk down the hall with palms outstretched, calling out "Spare Bedding, spare bedding ,  anyone have some spare bedding?", netted me a king sized sheet from Michelle from Trinity in Kelowna,  shown in the pic on the right, and a pillow from Ruth, plus a blanket and towel from the Long Tall Man from Texas who I'm sure has a name but it escapes me at the moment. He's also known as the Camp Director.

Friday evening session we got to meet Donna Carter, the guest speaker.  She is truly a gift from God. Her messages were spot-on in meeting the needs of the ladies present. She stretched our thinking and encouraged us as individuals and as churches.  After circle prayers we retired for the evening. For me that meant laying quietly in my bed while Tina slept.  Just like my Brownie Camp days, I cannot sleep the first night at retreat and judging by the sounds from upstairs and down the hall, I am not the only one.

Saturday afternoon Heidi S. had arranged for several of us to go to the Village at Smith Creek extended care home. The home is built on the land that our home backed onto when we lived in Westbank. We moved to Westbank in December 1975, when it was a rural area of vineyards and orchards, and looked like this. Beautiful !!

The extended care home is one of the Baptist Care Homes, and occupies the area once filled with white wine grapes, seen in the photo, stretching the full width of the picture, from behind the 2 houses in the foreground, all the way back to the 4 white homes in the center of the photo. Our house was the 4th one furthest right.

As volunteers we were to assist the residents of the Village at Smith Creek with their afternoon social activities.  What FUN!  I met a gentleman who not only shared his ice cream sunday with me, he regaled us with tales of his youth. He played multiple instruments, violin, guitar and piano and also played in an orchestra.  Now stricken with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, he was still gracious, welcoming and a real joy to be around.  I can only pray that I age as gracefully.

Did I come home rested - NO, did I come home uplifted - YES, will I go again next year ?  Definitely!

Snip Snip Snip

That is the sound of apron strings being cut. Honestly, I thought they were all cut by now, however, my daughter's latest adventure brought more to the surface. 

As you see in the photo above, she was born a normal healthy Canadian, who got itchy feet and in 2006 decided to pack her bags and move across the ocean to reside in Scotland.

This past winter a close friend of her's decided that a milestone birthday required a milestone trip, so their group of 4 friends decided to do the Trans Siberian Rail journey from Vladivostok to Moscow.  they were to be gone from April 9 to 25th and would keep in contact via the internet as they moved from city to city.

My last contact with her, mere hours before leaving her flat in Edinburgh, was to say she had a 4.5 hour layover in Moscow where she would meet up with her travel companions. She was sure she would have lots of time to seek out a wi-fi spot and drop us a line.

Moscow is a relatively short flight from Edinburgh, via Amsterdam, so I expectantly fired up the computer the next evening ready to read all about the trip. Upon opening my email I saw everything BUT  her name. Now the apron strings started to twine around me; had she missed her flight? did the customs folks in Russia take issue with her documents? had the plane never made it...shudder? Motherhood is wonderful but stressful at times.

After fervent prayer I shook off the "what if's" and began packing my bag to head for a ladies retreat in the Okanagan.  You will never guess what we talked about - are you ready for this? Drumroll Please ! " Giving up Control " What Divine Hand sent me to the place where I would find peace from God's word and the fellowship of ladies who understood. It was a "God thing",  to be sure, not just mere coincidence!

Sunday morning at Green Bay Bible Camp I signed onto the camp computer to find that she was safe and sound in Vladivostok, but her luggage was not. Evidently in the great frozen wastelands of Russia there are not a lot of wi-fi signals drifting around but there is a lonely suitcase with all her clothing in it.

Is it ok to pray for a suitcase? I think so, feel free to join me if you do too.