Singing in the rain..oh what a pain

I know it. You may not understand it. Some people love it. Others feel bogged down by it. What am I talking about? Answer: The incessant rain of B.C's Lower Mainland. Being from the prairies the first rains make you feel clean and alive. After about day 3 you are itching for some sun. After week 3 you are yearning for some sun. After month 3 you are wondering if the sun still exists. After the whole winter the word "sun" has lost all recognizable meaning. And so, when spring comes and that blessed burning ball breaks the barriers of billowy boredom...(how do you like that? triple word score...and the German judge gives him a 9.5...zing). O.k enough of the dramatics. The point is. Sunshine is a beautiful thing. Don't take it for granted. All that being said. It would have been nice if we had experienced some of the sun on our Under Construction campout.



This is the picture of the view directly to our East. We set up camp just off the Skagit Valley Logging Road east of Hope. When we arrived we had a good amount of time to set up camp and enjoy a fire.







We have three of our five campers enjoying, or doing their best to enjoy, an oatmeal breakfast.










That last two of our hooligans, the Brandon's.






Oh, the joys of camping. Can't you just imagine it. The warm air, running through the woods, playing in the river bank...well someone could have been enjoying that. Because for most of the day we weren't.








But this got better. The rain stopped long enough for the boys to get a chance to build a crossing over a branch of the nearby river. They succeeded and only one of them ended up going for a swim. As the day continued we packed up and headed to a nearby trailhead where we went for a 30 minute hike. This is where we saw the Banana Slug here in the picture.



Now I don't remember me being a whiner growing up, but if I was anything like these five boys on this hike than I need to sincerely apologise to my parents, teachers, and any other person who at any time tried to lead me anywhere. It was rough going getting these guys to hike. I don't understand it. One of the boys stopped 3/4 of the way to our destination because he was worried about his heart. He is 12 and out of shape and I think he rarely gets his heart rate up, the heavy beating scared him. Three of the boys had never been on a hike, let alone on a trail outside city parks, so this was quite the adventure for them.





This was our intended aim. What a sight! Now picture this. Standing on the soft, dewy green moss you turn your eyes to the left and see this waterfall. It starts at least 120 feet above your head and crashes and rushed over rocks down past your feet. Allowing your head to move slowly to the right you see a rising ridge of old growth forest, above you is the canopy which you cna't see because fog settles 30 feet above you, obscuring your vision of the tree tops but providing a colling mist and adding a taste of mystery to the view. All around you life is spring from the ground... and one of the boys looked at it and said, "eh, I'm bored." in response to my follow-up as to what would be better, "my video games." OUCH.



See Jake standing with the boys.



Last picture. Allan is the tall guy on the right. Then the boys left to right. Jason, Ryan, Thori, Brandon and Brandon.

Well, that about covers the trip. It's hard to get the boys to put down their game boys long enough to go on a trip like this. But when we do it gives us guys a chance to model manhood and Christ. We had some good opportunities to talk with the boys about life, their futures, and issues like sex. Do you know they learn about sex in grades 5-8 in class section called "Personal Planning." (sad...) The aim is help these boys become men after God's own heart. This is just part of how we at Home Church are tryingto accomplish this.

Thanks for your interest and prayers.

Jeff