Little by little it goes

We had a really nice lunch out today,

vegan fare and great lemonade!

Well, today was up and down.

I am still having some throat unhappiness but am working on 

various things to make it better.

***

Those who have read my blog along time, will know that

years ago, shockingly nearly 20 now, I worked at a Bible Camp in 

Connecticut.  A place I loved deeply and remember every grain of sand,

every thing is so clear and so loved in my memory.

I found out of it's ending and an astounding new beginning there. 

I wrote the following two things about it. 

God works in mysterious ways! I worked at Mountain Lake Bible Camp from 1995 through 2000 and was profoundly influenced and shaped by my time there. Anyone who knew me either at Calvin/RBC/TWU during that time knew I worked there, the camp was my first spiritual home and when Aunt Elaine died in 1998, I felt like I lost my spiritual Mother; the loss of her was one of the hardest things I ever went through, though God brought fruit out of it.. The first seeds of what became my later decision to become an Orthodox Christian were laid in these years. To learn that this camp is going to become an Orthodox Christian Camp is incredible. I will do my best to add my prayers for this new venture and also for the ministry that Uncle Al's son is going to do (I remember meeting him years ago, he has Aunt Elaine's deep brown eyes). Of course I will be praying for Uncle Al, I am sorry to hear of his struggles. The beauty of this land and camp is unparalleled and will always be part of where I wish I was and a firm part of understanding the Lord as the source of all Beauty.

***

As I was reading my Beloved Husband the news of Mountain Lake Bible Camp passing the torch to Camp Saint Paul, I could barely read it for the tears, for both the end of Mt Lake, and the beginning of Camp Saint Paul.

Mountain Lake Bible Camp was my first spiritual home, one that I felt with me during the year, one that I could not wait to return to the next year. One, like many things, I never dreamed I would one day leave. It was a place that I brought friends to work with me, one that all my friends knew about, and professors I was close to, esp at TWU. God used Mountain Lake Bible Camp in my life in powerful ways, healing a confused teenager, helping me into my early 20s, Creating patterns of prayer and commitment to God that are still with me today.

I am moved to see the schedule of Camp Saint Paul's daily camp:

Wake-Up
Orthros (another word for Matins, a morning prayer service)
Breakfast
Cabin Clean-Up
Rotation Session I (Orthodox Life)
Rotation Session II (Diakonia: a session to focus on service projects)
Flextivities!!
Lunch
Rotation Session III (Liturgical Hour)
Rotation Session IV (Greek Cultural Appreciation)
Free Swim and Activities
Vespers
Dinner
Evening Activity (Camp Fire, Olympics, Scavenger Hunt, Skit Night, etc.)
Devotionals
Lights Out

Other than a bit more Christian (Orthodox) education + cultural celebration, and not having rest time (actually I would add that to their day!), it's very similar.

What moves me here is how much prayer, devotions and Christian teaching will continue on this land that I will always know as Mountain Lake.

I can assure my dear friends who were at Mt Lake with me that the man who began this camp, Archbishop Demetrios is not only a Biblical Scholar who loves God's Word, but is himself a man of prayer. I've met him about 6 years ago and he is unforgettable.

I think as I process the end and beginning, I am going to have a lot more tears, both of grief at the ending and rejoicing at the beginning.

****

So I am full of memories today... 

That place, that camp, meant so much to me, I could go on

for days just telling you all the stories, the memories, the pictures

I have it in my mind. 

And that it is going to be an Orthodox camp, how surreal, astounding, wonderful.

I am sure some of my friends from camp may be a bit more bewildered,

as Orthodox Christianity is not familiar to most of them,

but glory hallelujah! that the camp is going to continue and the first thing on the

to bring list for the campers was the Bible and then a prayer book.

I am so excited about it.

I miss that place greatly, it will always be some of my 

happiest memories, while yet there was sorrow too, yet the happiness,

that is what remains.

***

And I guess that is what I have to remember about this time in my life also.

There's a lot of hard times and disappointments, uncertainties in our

life right now and sometimes they overwhelm me.

But yet God is with us, we are being taken care of 

and one day, 

only the happiness will remain. 

Blue Willow and Other Blue and Whites

Mr. Husband and I had
a day that another person I heard that day
called a 'mental health day'...
*
We went to the sale went to a year ago,
I forgot how I had the table at that time
in blue for the Mother of God.
I will have to do that again!
*
So we went to the big rummage sale again!
I had been wanting to either complete or
get other dishes that would be blue and white
for the incomplete set that I already have
(that you can also see in the same post of
about a year ago).
*
It's funny,
I am so glad for my blog to remember my first year of marriage
and the wonderful first months of it!
So on to the dishes...
I got some Willow dishes for about 4.00 a piece.
8 bowls, 7 salad plates and 6 dinner plates.
More than half off the amazon price I found
and half the price of the replacements.com that
I looked up after the fact.


They are nice deep bowls...
I washed them up by hand and noticed that
one of the bowls had a slight yellow-orange stain
and I immediately thought of my vintage cookbooks
that I love for how they are used
and realized that this bowl with the sign of
it's use from the past would be my favourite of them. 

The plates have a really nice depth to them;
they would be perfect for a meal such
as a pasta meal or a meal
with a gravy...

The dishcloth underneath is one my Mom gave
me from Holland.
It's one of my special dish clothes that I like to get out
for special occasions. 

You can see the tea cups and creamer
with the new willow dishes and my
blue and white bowl...

Even my old set is actually two different sets
that were sold together for 5.00 at a garage sale
years ago down the street from my parent's house.
I used these dishes as my main dishes during my
graduate school year for my
Masters in Library Science.

I picked up that large flower bowl at that time
as well.

The new dishes fit well in my buffet,
as I knew they would...

My Dutch delft egg cups
that my Mom got for me some years back.

  

The tea cup to the right is an old one
from days when tea cups were still more normal
for everyone to drink from.
This one was a souvenir cup of the
Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.
My Mom found it and gave it to me as she knew
Mr. Husband and I were going to have our
honeymoon in this city.
The other dishes you see in the above picture
are my Grandma's and I ate off them many times
as a girl...
later when my Grandma got a new dish set,
I inherited her old set,
which I love to this day.
*
This set is the one I used for Mr. Husband and I's first Pascha
and the day we got engaged.
I used it in Ottawa for Paschas before this and used it
for Mr. Husband and I's first Pascha as a married couple.
I hope for many more...