Shifting Seasons

Since the time of the last entry lots has changed in regards to the weather and seasons. This past Sun. we woke up to snow – just a bit, but snow indeed. It feels like it is winter officially now. We are struggling to keep our house warm and I've dug out of our closet some warm clothes I had 'retired.' Well, we need them all now, so they are being put to good use, once again. Yesterday I sewed Sarah a pair of fleece pants – that was the morning’s project. No pattern, used one of the many fleece baby blankets we were given at her birth.

Mr. Beaver has been busy chewing branches off trees all over camp. The sawed off branch I saw was the thickness of a junior camper’s (think eight years old) arm. A week ago we had a rental group in from Surrey and Tara (Panda – helped in kitchen this past summer) was up with them. It was good to see her again. We also had a group (3 people) from Summerland up to help put the roof on the boathouse lean-to and work on the garage again. It was a busy weekend, with us serving meals for the workers at our place and a guest group at camp. Dug some of those fancy cookies (favorite was the cookies with white chocolate in them) out of the camp freezer for work crew snacks.

Mary, Cyril!, and Carol are back as of yesterday. We are glad they are home and that Cyril is recovering well. Will be nice to have neighbors again.

Andy has been busy chopping wood and moving it to the appropriate places. We really enjoyed the fall and even had a few picnics (Sarah and I). We get even less sun now (8:30am-1:30pm at our house) because of the narrow valley we are situated in.

Sarah and I enjoy a Tues. morning playgroup most Tuesdays and our family has recently joined a fellowship group from our church.

Have enjoyed some more morning walks or runs on my own lately and have taken to fueling my brain/soul and body by carrying some material for meditation (truth-scripture) in hand. The other day it was a small hand-sized book with scripture and reflections in it. The reading was from Matthew 5:1-12 (the beatitudes). I will quote part of the reflection – “To Jesus, being ‘blessed’ by God means the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.” Outward circumstances can be so powerful though, I thought. Been struggling with not enough sleep lately and that exhaustion through the day can impact everything, but having hope and joy through that (and faith that God will provide patience and love for my family) is a gift I want to be more fully aware of. May you also grow in living more fully in the hope and joy that come from knowing Christ.