Summer Days

Staff Orientation is well underway.

I have to say, above anything else I might be feeling about this summer, I am extremely excited about my cabin leaders. God has definitely pulled together some incredible leaders to minister to these kids over the next two months. Its one of the youngest camp staff's I've seen...but also the most focused, spiritually strong, and energetic group I've ever seen pulled together!

I am struggling though with some personal issues. With being able to completely release this summer to God...with feeling apart of the leadership team and that I'm actually needed at this camp...with feeling a bit alone amongst a staff of 75...and as well as feeling drained from issues that are plaguing my heart and mind outside of camp stuff that I am having serious difficulty with just letting go (letting go is always the hardest part...)

So, for all of the above, please keep me in your prayers. I want desperately to be able to focus on the here and now...to be able to be used as God's servant to minister to my cabin leaders, and to the campers. I want to be able to let go of all the selfish personal issues of my heart, and have a clear mind and spirit to be able to handle all that will be thrown my way over this summer.

Campers come in 5 days...

Double Trouble

Happy Birthday to my beautiful twin sisters, Dionne and Donna, who have turned the big 21 today!!

You girls are truly incredible and add everything to my life! I honestly don't know where I would be if I hadn't had you by my side through everything! Thank you for being my best friends and closest companions through thick and thin! Love you two more then you'll ever know! I hope you both have a fantastic day!!

The Care Bear Countdown

Today I had my first adventure in Carealot.

You know..the place..in the clouds..with the Carebears. Well my 3 year old cousin, Joseph, has taken quite a liking to this quality childrens cartoon. In recent months he's even created "Beastly" (bad guy from the Carebears) as his invisible friend.

Anyways. Today at our family "Father's Day BBQ" at my Uncle Brad's house, Joseph and I took a trip to Carealot. We were just sitting on the porch steps, hanging out, when Joseph decided that the plastic tennis rackets we were holding, were now paddles. So..we began to paddle. I asked "where are we going?" and my cousin looked at me and said "No-Hearts castle!" (No-Heart is the ultimate bad guy on the Care Bears show, for any of you who were deprived as a child and missed out on this fantastic cartoon). We then proceeded to walk all around the back yard, continuing our paddling with our plastic rackets, until Joseph pointed up at my Uncles house and exclaimed "There it is! There's the castle!" So with the rest of the family sitting in the backyard watching us with confusion...Joseph and I crept up slowly to the house and went inside (we had to be very quiet and sneaky as all the bad guys were sleeping). Over the next 10 minutes or so we went to nearly every room in the house seeking out all of the bad guy crew, waking each of them up with some crazy yelling, streaming them with a "care bear stare" and then giving each other a high five with a hearty "good job!" This was definitely the highlight to my weekend, after a very long week up at camp.

Just wanted to also say, to my dad...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! You are a truly incredible man of God, and I am beyond blessed to have you as my dad! Thank you for everything you've given me in all aspects of my life throughout my 22 years, and for never giving up on me! I'm not sure how you've raised 4 kids like us, and lived to tell about it, but thank you for all the time, effort, energy and love you have poured into our lives! I LOVE YOU! Muah!

Only 6 more days until the camp staff comes up for orientation..yikes! Time is quickly going by, but as things are beginning to get organized and planned, I'm getting more and more excited for all that God is going to do this summer at camp!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my sanity while planning and getting ready for the summer! Please continue to pray for this camping ministry as it gets under way!

Blessings!

Action Alert

Last week more than 15,000 Canadians sent messages to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale prior to the G8 Finance Ministers Meeting on June 11th. Your efforts, along with those of people around the world, had an impact:

* The G8 Finance Ministers agreed on immediate 100% cancellation of debts for 18 of the poorest countries. It's a big step, but even more is needed to include more than 40 other impoverished countries.

* On June 13 a major committee of Parliament (Foreign Affairs) unanimously called on the government to achieve the internationally accepted aid target of 0.7% of GNI by 2015. The MPs also called for legislation ensuring Canada's aid is focused on ending poverty.

Please help NOW by contacting Prime Minister Paul Martin - before the G8 leaders meeting July 6 - to ensure that he hears tens of thousands of ordinary Canadians, MPs from all parties, and citizens worldwide calling for Canadian leadership. Progress has been made, but the Prime Minister needs to know that MORE MUST BE DONE!

Please send your message to Prime Minister Paul Martin today. Go to www.makepovertyhistory.ca and follow the three easy steps under "Click into Action".
Our next Action Alert will include ideas for July 1, the first global white band action day.

Start planning white band events for your Canada Day activities!

Thank you for taking action!

Liz Bernstein,
Campaign Coordinator and the Make Poverty History team
info@makepovertyhistory.ca
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca

Caroline

Woke up to this song this morning (yay Christian radio Z 100.3)....today will be a better day..

Where do I begin?
There's so much I wanna say
To make it easier
Tomorrow's on its way
Do you believe I wanna take your painful memories?
I know you wanna run away
And I know that you can't see tomorrow

Caroline,
Let me wipe away your tears
And give you life
Make you feel beautiful again

Caroline,
Don't throw it all way
I'm here tonight
To take away your pain

Yesterday is gone
And everything that made you cry
Has fallen to the ground

I'm here to bring you home
I will alway take you back
You havent let me down
I know you wanna run away
And I know that you can't see tomorrow

Caroline,
Let me wipe away your tears
And give you life
Make you feel beautiful again
Caroline,
Don't throw it all away
I'm here tonight
To take away your pain

And when your feeling all alone
And you can't go on
Remember I am here
And when you think you've gone to far
I'll meet you where you are
My arms are open wide

Caroline,
Let me wipe away your tears
And give you life
Make you feel beautiful again
Caroline,
Don't throw it all away
I'm here tonight
To take away your pain

The Summer Job Begins

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd write a quick one.

I got home safe and sound Sunday night from my travels out west.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and Dayla was just a gorgeous bride! I had an awesome time hanging out with good friends that I hadn't seen in ages, and it was such a privledge to be able to help with setting up, and then attending Dayla and Seth's wedding! All the pictures from the wedding and my Sask trip are up on my MSN Space so check those out! (link is on the right).

I am now up at camp, and already stressed out and feeling overwhelmed. Tonight was a long night, but I did have a wonderful surprise of chocolate milk and a bag of smart food to help cheer me up! (Thanks Ian!) I'm sure once things get a bit more organized and I feel more "in the loop" things will get easier. But please pray for me over the next 10 days leading up to the start of camp, as well as for the camp ministry itself!

Well, that's all for now as I should really head to bed as I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy day.

Blessings!

Apparently, I've been tagged....

The lovely Leslie Wiseman has tagged me...so here goes...

# of Books I own:

Wayyyy too many to count. I still have all my Fear Street and Nancy Drew books from when I was a kid!

Last Book I Bought:

Every Woman's Battle, Shannon Ethridge

Last Book I Read:

Shadowlands, William Nicholson

Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

-Bible
-LOTR, J.R.R Tolkien
-Chronicles of Narnia, C.S Lewis
-Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller
-Laugh Again, Chuck Swindoll

Tag 5 More:

Donna Halsey

Jessica "Sparky" Hynes

Strong Bad the 2nd

Paul Banfield

Heather Princess

Email Ralph Goodale

"There is no time to lose.

On the June 10th and 11th G8 Finance Ministers will have their last meeting before the G8 leaders meet in July in Scotland.

It is vital that they take crucial steps to enable the G8 leaders to commit to 100% debt cancellation, more and better aid and trade justice.

Right now across the world people are e-mailing G8 Finance Ministers to tell them to seize the opportunities of 2005.

Please send your message to Canada's Finance Minister Ralph Goodale today. Go to: www.makepovertyhistory.ca and follow the three easy steps under "Click into Action".

Thanks very much for being part of this global action,

Liz Bernstein

Make Poverty History Campaigner and the Make Poverty History Campaign Team info@makepovertyhistory.ca"

Barefoot Dancing

Yesterday we had Brooke's birthday bbq, which was some fun times! It's always entertaining to see a baby enjoy her first piece of birthday cake! Then last night Chantelle and I went for a walk through Wascana park and watched the sunset on the Lake..it was gorgeous! I added pictures to my MSN Space from both activities.

Today the sun is shining..and it hasn't rained! Finally! So I decided to take Dakota for a walk while Chantelle was napping.

I noticed that Dakota does something funny when she goes on a walk. While she is walking on the pavement, Dakota trots along very proper like alongside me (always on the left side for some weird reason). But the moment that one of her little paws hit the grass...she reverts to her energetic puppy form and begins leaping, rolling, and running in circles. So, as it was obviously becoming impossible to keep Dakota on the cement path that we were walking on, I gave in. I kicked off the sandals, turned up the volume on my disc man, and spent the next hour running and dancing through a field with a very enthusiastic 3 month old puppy. There is just something about dancing barefoot in the sun with some great tunes going that brings a smile to your face and just brightens up your day. Not to mention that it was great being secluded in the middle of a large field, as no one (hopefully) could hear me singing horridly out of key along to my disc man.

My song pick of the day for my dancing excursion was "No one like you" by David Crowder Band..I love it!

You are more beautiful

Than anyone ever

Everyday You're the same

You never change, no never

Everywhere You are there

Earth or air, surrounding

I'm not alone, the heavens sing along

My God You're so outstanding

How could You be so good to me?

Eternally I believe...

Some days you just need to just stop walking along the proper road, kick off the shoes, and dance around barefoot in the grass....

Only 5 more days till the wedding!

Land of Living Skies

So, I figured I should update, since I haven't posted since arriving in Saskatchewan.

Travelling from Vancouver to Regina, I had the experience of riding in the smallest plane I've ever been on. It seated about 40 people, had only 2 seats on each side, and you had to walk outside and go up little stairs that unfolded from the plane in order to get to it. I was scared out of my mind, but I had a nice gentleman sitting beside me who gave me some reassurances that we would survive the flight....and we did!

It is absolutely fantastic to be in Saskatchewan again! I haven't been here since last Feb, and was desperately missing this province...along with one of my favourite people in life, Chantelle! I've been doing a lot of relaxing, and just hanging out, which is nice. Everything is a lot slower paced then Toronto, and I love it.

It's been raining every day since I got here, which kindof sucks. But the skies are still beautiful and once the storm clouds pass, I get to see that beautiful sky underneath.

I have finally gotten to meet beautiful Brooke, Chantelle's niece, who is turning 1 this weekend. I'll get to go to a birthday bbq for her, which should be awesome. I've also gotten to meet the cutest dog I've ever seen in my life...Chantelles new puppy, Dakota. (if you go to my MSN space you can see a few photos of both Brooke and Dakota!)

Well, we're about to head out as we're meeting up with a friend for lunch..and then tonight, meeting up with another buddy of mine for coffee. Should be another fabulous day of crusin around to country music, and only 9 more days until the wedding!

Blessings!