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2014.

This is going to be the best year of my life.

So many reasons why.

GET EXCITED, PEOPLE!

A post about everything.

HELLO FRIENDS!!!

It has been too long and I apologize.

I have not been in the blogging mood at all lately and haven't felt like anything exciting or noteworthy has happened in my life recently. In all honesty, many things are happening that are blog worthy and I need to do a better job of keeping you all updated.

November was a month of lots of work, beautiful sunshine, and less headaches then ever. November is our last busy time of the year and it ended with a weekend of decorating for the Christmas season. The past two years we have done a "Decorating Weekend" where we invite some of our summer staff out to come have free food and good fellowship. We also offer them some volunteer work to help us decorate for Christmas. That way we get it done in 4 hours instead of 3 days.

October and November were great months for me physically. I only had to endure a few migraines. At the same time, even though it was unbelievably sunny, my mental stamina and charisma were very low. A mixture of the time of year, missing my fiancee A LOT, and chronic pain will get you depressed pretty quickly. This fall my neck and back pain have been off the charts, I don't know if it's the way i'm sleeping, what i'm doing during the day, or I'm just getting old but I have started going back to massage therapy and acupuncture.

I have finally found massage and acupuncture on Quadra that i'm comfortable and confidant in. My newest adventure at acupuncture is calling cupping therapy. A form of traditional chinese medicine cupping therapy uses small glass bowls on your back. A flame is lit in the cup thus creating a vacuum and then the cups are suctioned onto your back in strategic spots. I had about 8 on my back at once. I must say... it.. was fantastic. It's like a reverse massage. Instead of your muscles being pushed into your body, they're suctioned away from your body. I've never felt so pleasant afterwards, although I was left with a dozen octopus hickey looking bruises on my back that stayed there for a week. :)

IT'S DECEMBER ALREADY!!! I actually can't believe it. It snowed 7 inches in a night and has stayed 3 days... which is a record since i've been at Homewood. Pathetic I know, but our snow normally melts in a couple days. Sledding and snowball fights have been a must with the Camp Kids.

If I haven't updated you yet, I have moved into a new house at Homewood. For the first time in my 5 years of being here I have my own home. WOOH! I am sad that there are less people and adventures in my house but at the same time... I get to setup and clean my house the way that I want it... I don't have groceries snagged from me... I have a clean bathroom... And best of all... I am in the house that my wife and I will live in for the first couple years of our marriage. Scary... exciting... awesome... terrifying... a whirlwind of emotions. All perfectly normal emotions though. I can't describe to you the level of excitement I have for being married. Mikaela and I are better as a team... and I actually don't know how I survived my teenage years having not known her. In all honesty though I don't think we would have liked eachother when we were teens. :D HAH! It is true though... we have grown into the people that complement and complete each other. Although we wont aaalllways get along, with Christ at the centre of our marriage and friendship we are gonna be unstoppable.

In other news, I am on day 212 of my reading the bible in a year plan. Using the Bible app on my phone has been oh so handy. Sure it's not actually a book and I know I shouldn't need a reminder to read my Bible each day but it has been so nice getting a reminder every morning that keeps bugging me and bugging me until i've read my daily dose of The Good Lords words. I got to the point where after about 150 days of it... it has become a great habit... and I just can't go a day with out reading my Bible. I LOVE IT!!! I desire it more than ever and I desire communication with my Saviour more than ever. A great place to be.

PLANS FOR DECEMBER.
I made the decision to take my truck off the road and I am glad I did, because this snow is awful to drive in. I will be working this year all the way up to the 22nd or 23rd. The good news is that Mikaela will be visiting again and she is bringing her family for the weekend of the 13-15. Mikaela will be staying at Camp till we both head back to Ladner for Christmas. After Christmas we will drive with Andrew and Brittany to Kamloops for a couple days till we all cram into the 16 passenger van and make the trip to Alberta to visit Tim, Liz, Kiriah, Calla, and the soon to be 3rd child. Hopefully it arrives just a couple days early for us ;)

Tonight is Homewoods Christmas party dinner at the Heriot Bay Inn restaurant Herons. Suit up!!

This coming Friday is the Baptist Churchs youth banquet at Homewood. Superhero themed. WOOT!

Most importantly of all is The Hobbit... coming out on Friday.  :)


147 days... TILL WE ARE MARRIED!!!!


Thank you all for your support and prayers lately! They are much appreciated. I have been horrible at updates and you still love and support me unconditionally. Thank you.


-Josh

Hey! We are all settled back into the swing of things here at Homewood.

The rain is falling.

The air is crisp.

Fall is here.

The sound of children running around and having fun is a little more rare.

God is providing for Homewood these days and we know he will continue to do so.

We have so much to be thankful for.



-Josh

Gettin' Hitched and goin' home.

So there I was one knee in the wet sand, two hands stretched out holding a shiny ring, a cacophony of beautiful poorly planned words spewing out of my mouth, and the most exquisitely stunning woman standing in front of me. I don't quite remember the exact words that I said other then the most important 4, "Will you marry me?". That August 24th Saturday was the day that the love of my life Mikaela Marion Redekop, agreed to spend the rest of her life with me. 

Back up a week. 

Buying a ring: Expensive

Picking the perfect ring myself without Mikaela knowing anything about the design, size, or cost: Priceless

The week before August 24th was the most stressful of my life. I was honestly checking on the ring every 3 hours just to make sure it was safe and in the same spot. Trying not to crack or seem stressed, I carried out my usual tasks for the week as Co-Director of our Jr. Co-ed Harbour camp. Mikaela and I spent quite a bit of time together that week yet she suspected nothing. Teehee. Jr. Co-ed was a very fun week and God really moved in kids' lives. Making himself known in ways that we could never explain. Roughly 5 or so kids gave their lives to Christ!! PRAISE GOD!!

That week ended and I still hadn't even planned how I was going to ask Mikaela to marry me. Yikes!

Saturday rolled around and by that timed I was prepared and believe or not, not even nervous anymore. You can ask Mikaela if you'd like and she will tell you that I was cool as a cucumber the day of. First thing I planned... romantic coffee date to the local cafe. Most good stories start that way actually... with a great cup o' java. The weather this day wasn't looking too pleasant actually... but I took chance and planned for a hike next. So we drove through the rain and as soon as we reached the parking lot to hike the Chinese Mountains the rain stopped. Thanks God. Hiked up and enjoyed the gorgeous view of Quadra and Discovery passage. 

Hiked back down to the bottom... as we got to our car... it started raining. Weow!

Next on the agenda was the reservation I made at Tsa Kwa Luten resort for supper. Quite a fancy place... so we got ourselves all dressed up. This was the tricky part... hiding the ring. No ring box but in the breast pocket of my shirt. I have to say the only thing I was actually nervous about was dropping or losing the ring. I am very surprised she didn't notice me touching my breast pocket every 5 minutes to make sure the ring was still there.  Dinner was very good, the service was only par. One of the waiters spilt water in my lap and didn't really care. I didn't let it get me down though. Next on the agenda... "spontaneous" romantic walk on the beach in the rain. Looking out on the ocean in the rain is one of my favourite things to do ever. Then, as if in a dream... the clouds opened a small crack. As the rain was spilling down, so were stunning rays of sunshine as if to say "now is your time, be the man you are supposed to be". As if perfectly orchestrated by the divine conductor I knelt down in the wet sand. As the rays of sunshine streamed down amongst the sky waters, I professed my love again to this wonderful lady. The woman I had been in love with since the moment I set eyes upon. The woman that knows me more than anyone and challenges me in ways no one does. The woman that makes me a better man... a more Christ focussed man. The woman that I get butterflies around every time I see her. The most beautiful, talented, intelligent, caring woman ever. Even through all of my imperfections and flaws she still found beauty and something worthwhile about me that she said "Yes, of course I will marry you." That's quite a daring move on her part... She knows that she's found a man who is very high energy and adventurous. I have complete faith in her that she'll be able to keep up and continue to fully understand who I am and who I need to be for Christ.

So begins the great adventure of marriage.



In other news. September 1-4th Surfing in Tofino. 6-8th Ladner with Mikaela and family. 9-14th Kamloops. 10th Neurologist appointment. 14th Abbotsford to visit Andrew and Brit. 15th+ Back to work.

Neurologist appointment went well! Things are looking good, we just need to find a way to control these migraines without medication. I am starting on a new medication now called Amitriptyline. It's an anti-depressant that is used in migraine control.  So i'm taking Valproic Acid in the morning and Amitriptyline at night.


Life is good, God is GREAT!!!

-Josh

Yea, that happened.

Well friends and family, I am embarking on the greatest adventure ever.
Story to come later. :)

Drop in.

Hey friends, it's been a busy three weeks since staff retreat. I can't update you on all of it because that would take way too long. It is crazy that the summer is only a week from being over. It has gone by very fast and has been a thrill and a treat to let God work through us at Homewood.

August 4th-9th we had Family Camp #2 and Senior girls woodsman camp. Both were excellent. Here at family camp our speaker and musical guest was Carolyn Arends. Carolyn is a very talented musical artist and a gifted speaker as well... we were very blessed to have her. I got the privilege to lead Firesides and make people laugh which is one of my favourite things to do.

Senior girls woodsman went well, other then it having a very low attendance. We were able to have a 1/3 staff to camper ratio... which is always great.

August 11th-16th was Jr. girls harbour, Jr. girls ranch, Jr. boys woodsman, and Jr. teen sailing. All were were equally exceptional and God worked his magic. For some awesome reason this year... the boy campers that have been coming to Homewood have been so excited and obsessed with reading The Bible. Praise God!

August 18th-23th was Jr. Co-Ed Harbour camp, Senior boys woodsman, and Jr. teen sailing. I got the privilege to Co Direct Co-ed harbour this past week. It was.. so stressful... so tiring... and oh so fulfilling. 80, 10-13 year old kids running around getting crazy. Only had to deal with a few fist fights and a few homesick campers. The youth pastor from Campbell River came to do chapel speaking this week and it was very helpful to us directors. He spoke on how God wants to set us free from our sins, we just have to ask. Also on the last day, he talked about "Not returning to our vomit" and how it so easy to go back to our old ways and to our sin because it's the "easy" thing to do... We need to push for a life that is not easy... but exceptional and God honouring.

No major injuries for any campers at main camp so far, but woodsman had to send two campers in this week. One for a major ear infection and partially ruptured drum, and another for a broken humorous bone(upper arm). Both campers returned back to finish the camp, even after surgery on the arm. Please pray for both campers as they heal up!

I had a bit of a rough go this week. Along with being stressed and overtired, (7:30am-11pm days) in one of the evening games that I decided to join in on I took a flukey knee from a counsellor to my temple. I blacked out for a second but received no concussion. PRAISE GOD! What I did get was a ping pong ball sized lump over my left eye and now have been rocking a black eye for 5 days. My temple is still very sore. On the upside I haven't had a migraine since I blacked out. Weird. 

God is always looking out for me. 
One week left of Family camp #3 and the summer is over. Please pray that we give the rest of our energy and attention to the campers coming and not give up. Also please pray for me as I go into September. Since i've been at Homewood for the past 4 years September has always been my most expensive month due to buying the groceries and supplies I need for the year and from returning to Kamloops for doctors visits and such. It could be rough. The Lord will provide though. 

-Josh

Staff Retreat

Staff retreat is in full swing, but I just want to touch on Single Mother's camp for a bit.

First off the fact that we even have to have a single mother's camp makes me angry. Angry from the brokenness of our society and the lack of commitment and the lack of fathers or mothers. Sad. I know I don't know all of the full stories of the campers that came to Single Mother's Camp but I do know that there is a lot of hurt and pain. Out of that hurt and pain blooms some of the hardest working women ever. Dealing with fatherless kids on your own has got to be the hardest job on the planet, props, single moms. Now, it's not possible to be patient all the time, or to keep your cool every time your kid throws a tantrum in front of your friends, and well, it's just not possible to be perfect. These moms sure work at it hard. I said that it "makes me angry" that we have to have this camp... but at the same time it makes me SO incredibly overwhelmed with Joy that God blesses these ladies through us, and through this camp. We get the all important, essential, crucial, and fulfilling opportunity to change these families' lives one chapel at a time, one hug at a time, one kind word at a time, and one hours break from their kids at a time. I LOVE THAT!

Lately I have been quite convicted about commitments and promises. People in this day and age just don't know what they are or how to keep them anymore. This upsets me... quite a bit actually. When I look to my Creator and Lord and Saviour, I see the ultimate promise keeper. He has never failed to keep his promises and never will. He is so just and faithful, we should always keep him as our ultimate example. I know that I lose focus of that constantly, but i'm trying my hardest. If you haven't followed my blog for very long, I signed a 5 year contract at Camp Homewood and I fully intend on fulfilling that commitment. Enough said on that matter.

David says it quite bluntly and honestly in Psalm 15.
Verses 3-5 "Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbours or speak evil to their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of The Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever."

Staff retreat this year is a Pirates Of The Caribbean theme. Thus, Mikaela and I are dressed up in our best salty pirate outfits, looking extra menacing. Staff retreat is a 4 day long time of rest and fun for the staff of Camp Homewood in the middle of the summer. We get hosts in, and a very funny folk legend comes to entertain us as well as lead us in worship. The Pirate theme intertwines with some sweet games, a movie, and all of our meals. Good times.


Headaches are doing better. Praise God!

Small blessings: Finding my glasses. 

As most great stories start out, it was a hot and sunny day on a remote hippy island of the west coast. My girlfriend Mikaela and I had decided to head down to the ocean for a late afternoon paddle boarding session. Neither of us are really that great at paddle boarding but we tried our hands at it with joyful attitudes and much enthusiasm. After setting Mikaela up on a board, I placed mine in the water. Being the hotshot I am, I, obviously, tried to impress her by sending my board a little ways from the dock and running and jumping onto it to smoothly float away. Well, you know these kinds of stories always end. In the half second it took to fall in, I had many flashbacks of my life... good and bad, happy and sad. In that half second I also remembered that the polarized sun glasses I had just bought for my sun-migraine protection were on my face. Dang. In the water I went... down to the bottom of the ocean my sun glasses went. Now... had it been low tide I would have been more hopeful. It was high tide. Needless to say I strapped on some goggles and went to town. Nothing found... it was too cold and too deep. The next morning Mikaela and I went down to the dock to do our morning Devotionals. I was praying the whole way down "God, I know that sun glasses are just a meaningless possession, but I would really appreciate it if I could find them. "
This time we were prepared... Mikaela laid down on a paddle board with goggles on, searching. I hopped in with my wetsuit on and some snorkelling gear. After about 30 minutes of stressful and cold searching we were about to give up. I pushed one more time... Deep down in the sea grass I spotted a blade that had a tinge of blue to it. Getting my hopes up I dove towards it in a mess of mud, kelp, seaweed, and who knows what else I grabbed a handfull, swam to the surface, and praise The Lord, had my sunglasses in my hand. God is faithful. Even in the little things you ask him for. He loves us.



-Josh

Woodsman Family Camp.

HELLO!!!
I am so pumped on camp and what God is doing right now! I just have to share.

Last week (14th-19th) ended and kids came to know Christ!! PRAISE GOD! even though the number was low it makes this ENTIRE summer worthwhile. Our counsellors are doing such an awesome job.

Last week I got the chance to go out to our Woodsman Family Camp that only happens once a year... it was unreal. It was mostly alumni staff coming to be campers with their families but there were two families that weren't. One from Campbell River and the other from Quadra. I tried my best to pour more heart and soul into blessing this non-Christian family from Quadra. Our efforts lead to some great late night discussions and conversations. The cool thing about it is that this same family was at our Mother/Son camp a couple months back and left half way through because they thought it was "Too Religious". This week they were at all the firesides... even saw them singing. :D PRAISE GOD!!
Ya know, even if all we did was show them unconditional love for a week... i'm okay with that... because... I know that God is working in their lives... They were just so thankful for the week... and assured us they'd be back soon. I am going to stay in contact this fall and hopefully hang out with their kids.

Had my X-rays and first UCS(upper cervical specific) adjustment on Monday. It went very well. Cost $160 which is ridiculous, but let me finish the story. This type of Chiro is very hard to explain... he kinda takes measurements of my upper spine and shoulders and legs. Then I lay down on my side and he places his hand and thumb on my neck and applies pressure. You would be surprised how little pressure it is. It takes about 10 minutes and i'm out. I had bad sleeps this past week but for different reasons. Less headaches and only one migraine. Mid way through my week at woodsman one of the older staff who was a camper there, who is the same type of Chiropractor and actually referred me to the one i'm going to, came up to me. He said "So, I talked with Dr. Audia and we've taken care of your X-ray costs". I was blown away. PRAISE GOD!!! I went in this morning for my second adjustment and there was great news. My neck is on the road to recovery, I didn't have to pay for my adjustment, and next time I go in they give me a cheque for the amount of my X-rays. WOOOH! God is great all the time!

My bad sleeps this past week? Well... fun times. Tim C, Ryan F, and I were in a tent together at woodsman and let me say, it was a gong show. Mice every single night. Crickets and spiders all over us. Wednesday night we had a bat dive bombing us in our sleeping bags. Terrifying. I know we are men and all but seriously... there is just something so terrifying about a harmless, tiny, furry, creature with wings flying at your head when you're half asleep. Needless to say there were a lot of half naked men running around our tent swinging blindly with branches and large knives trying slay small, cute animals. The whole week of playing with kids in the sun and an absolutely stunning lake to swim with them in made the nights worthwhile.

This week coming up is Single Mothers Family camp for 4 days. Then it's STAFF RETREAT for 4 days! Which is much needed for all the staff around here.

I am still praying hard every single day for financial support to keep me going. The Lord is good and  never ceases to amaze me but these past two months i've made far less then Government welfare. Just to put it in perspective for you. Please to continue to pray with me. I appreciate it.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Josh

Summer swing.

I have got to be one of the worst bloggers for leaving people hanging. First I say staff training is going awesome and than "Bam!" I leave you hanging for 2 and a half weeks in the dark. Well I hope you have been following us online www.homewood.bc.ca or on Facebook or on Twitter @CampHomewood because the summer is AWESOME! OH and check out our awesome photographers shots from the summer so far at http://www.flickr.com/photos/camphomewood/sets/

June 29-July 6

First week of the summer was Eager Beavers(5-8yrs) for 4 days, CIT(counsellor in training) camp out at woodsman for a week, and Adult Sailing Camp for a week. All 3 camps were a great success!

 

Eager Beavers is always the most challenging first week camp because of the age of the kids and what they are going through. They require so much energy from our counsellors and so much patience from everyone. This was another record for Eager Beavers with 0 bed wetters and only a few home sickies.

CIT camp was a success in that no one was brought back injured... (which was me and the girls leader both, last year.) The CIT program here at Homewood is, in my opinion the most important. We are training our future staff and we are challenging young teens at the most crucial point in their lives. A time when they are really starting to get away from that child like faith and starting to question whether their faith is their own or their parents, or really just what they believe about theology in general.

Adult Sailing Camp is a bit of a smaller camp but is still a hoot and a half. Anybody in between the ages of 18-120 can show up and this year we had a spread of  17(Quartermaster aka, cook Vange) all the way to just about 80. Our 80 year old had been here many times and was one of the spunkiest of the bunch. All went well... we had engine trouble on one boat but it didn't cause any inconveniences other than a large bill after the camp was over.

July 7-12

The CIT's are in full swing of doing dishes everyday and cleaning everyday. They are such a blessing and we make sure to tell them as much as possible. 15-17 year olds volunteering a full summer to scrub toilets and chop wood... ffooowey that's great! They actually all agree it's the best summer they've ever had.


Family Camp #1
Family Camp is always such a blessing to the campers, and to the staff as well. This year was exceptional! We had our normal activities like waterfront and horseback riding, and we had our special activities like bottle rockets, slip n' slide, and this year a carnival on the big field. I got the opportunity to lead worship for the morning chapels so I gathered a crew, plugged in some instruments and mics, and led the campers in harmonious vocal blessings to The Lord. Thank you Strepsols for keeping my throat in working order. Special relationships were built this week and bonds were made. Christ' Love was poured out through counselors onto families that had no idea who Christ even was and is.

Junior Boys Woodsman Camp #1
Gong show. It always is, and you know why? These kids are the best, most fun, rowdiest, misbehaved, and curious 10-13 yr olds around. This time around was unreal and awesome in so many ways but one that stood out was the way the counsellors got the kids pumped on bible stories and reading their bibles in general. The boys left camp with such a passion for learning more about Jesus. That's all we can ask for.

July 14-19

We are currently in this week but the camps we have going on are; Jr. Boys Harbour; Jr. Girls Ranch; Jr. Girls Woodsman; and Jr. Teen Sailing.

Jr. Boys is very high energy so far. Chapels led by Jon Rendall are God made us; He loves us; Sin separates us; He still wants us in his family so; He died for us; Now He has a plan for us.

Girls Ranch is Superhero themed. I believe Karyn Belanger and Mellissa Offerein are talking about Heroine of the bible. Esther has been a real hit,

Sailors are safe and getting good weather. Led by Mark Wobma, you can follow their course at

Girls Woodsman is a whole big party of 11 campers and 14 staff. They are getting great weather, having a blast, and roughing it Homewood style. Chapels led by Julie Kikkert.



That's where we are so far. God is working, he is moving, he is inspiring and motivating. You're probably wondering what I've been doing through all of this? well... for once.. for the first time actually... I get to be the Assistant Program Director for the summer. The past two I have been CIT guys leader and now I get to try my hand at my title. I miss the CIT aspect of it but I am still working very closely with the CIT program. So, what I do now is support, train, prepare, and control quality. I've mostly been behind the scenes so far but someone has needed to be behind the scenes supporting and encouraging the staff. This next week I am going out to Woodsman for woodsman family camp.


Monday I have my first chiropractor Xray and adjustment in Courtney. I am exciting for that ,we will see how it goes. Just to inform you all... I have stopped going to acupuncture for the time being because I have no money. Chiropractor and more x-rays are going to be tough enough. My headaches are not getting better... not worse though. The migraines are just still there.

On that note, as of last month I have officially moved onto having to raise 100% of my own support. PRAISE GOD! I am surviving. But you know what? it's been the lowest last two months of my life for incoming funds. The summer time around Homewood is always a little strange... I don't think about money as much... I don't spend as much... I also don't make as much. God blesses me and never lets me go hungry though. Proverbs 3:5-6. Joshua 1:9

Thank you all for your support and prayer!!! Please keep it up.


-Love, Josh