May Day or mayday?

Do you guys know about May Day? I've always wanted to start the tradition with my kids of leaving baskets of flowers on the doorsteps of those we wanted to share a little love with. Adding some happy to the unexpecting! Sounds fun to me! I just learned May Day was a (pagan) celebration of spring and as Christianity began to spread throughout Europe, the holiday began to change or be done away with. But the whole flower thing seems pretty awesome.

Do you guys know about Mayday? (no I'm not repeating myself here!) We have a tradition at Whisper Mountain that looks something like this: Mayday, mayday…coming in hard and fast. We can't slow down. We're gonna crash!  Mayday, Mayday. Doesn't sound as fun and awesome as the flower thing, but it's a tradition nonetheless (love that word!) The panic and pulling together of a million details the month before summer camp sometimes steals our happy. Details do that, don't they? They put on their scary eyes, hounding us until we cross them off our list and send them floating into completion. Meanwhile, our energy runs low, our mind feels fried, our heart feels numb. Is there any way around this mayday? I've found a few ways aside from the pretty big one of prayer: breathe in and out, take one thing at a time, laugh about something every day. 

I don't know which May Day you're facing, but I hope you are able to find happy and beauty quite unexpectedly on the doorstep of today. Happy May!

looking gor-geous

Fertilizing, fixing up, digging out, and transplanting the camp property has been some of our work these past warm days! There's no twisting my arm to get me to ignore the mounds of office work for a little bit of dirt work! God certainly has the place looking gor-geous, but how fun to add in our own splash of preference here or there!

:: hedge of forsythia's

:: Janet Magnolia and poplars

:: burning bush hedge

:: blue spruce

:: maples

Most of these transplants we've made started out as free little *sticks* from the Arbor Day Foundation. They don't look like anything more than sticks when they arrive in the mail, but once planted it's only a matter of time before the *tree* in them comes out! 

I wonder if you are waiting for the *tree* to come out in something in your life. If so, don't give up on the waiting. Life will bloom there. The quiet beauty will astound.

a lake and a kitchen

"I drive tractor today" 

Yep. He did! Without Tegan staying on top of the lake dig at camp, I'm not sure anything would be getting done!

He's going to be letting all the readers of the e-newsletter know about it via his first vlog! Yeah. That is when his mother gets around to getting that newsletter done. ahem. (don't get our WM e-newsletter? go here to tell us you want it!)

The sunshine is good for this muddy pit that will soon be our new lake site! With it drying up a bit, the boys are trying to take down the rest of the trees and burn them so digging can commence! Oh, how fabulous to have a larger-than-the-creek body of water on our camp property! 

In other news:

 

WM is hosting a Pampered Chef catalog show to help stock our kitchen with a few needed tools. You can help us get those necessary tools through your purchasing a gift for yourself or someone else! You can shop online here and your order will be shipped directly to you. (The host name is Whisper Mtn.) All orders have to be in by March 31. Hope you'll jump in on this easy way to help us out! We sho' do thank ye!

Happy day to you, friends!

dressed in goodness

Our weekend was full of good things:

//lovely families with hearts of service occupying our camp cabins

//lots of food prep

//dressing up for his own acts of service (isn't he hot?!)

//little outdoor adventures

//new hair dos and trim ups

//making & consuming grand amounts of hummus (something like this)

Weary but accomplished, fun yet productive. Our weekending was dressed in goodness indeed!Happy Monday!

March says hello

March says hello on the springy-est of days. Warmth, sunshine, and birdsong greet us today! And it is with such cheer that I greet you! The start of a new month brings to me a deep breath and the motivation of a fresh start! The start of many things and the faithfulness to many more! May you find the same refreshing deep breath this day! And may you find the motivation to start something fresh!

Happy March to you friends!

dropping in

Just dropping in today……to say that I wish I was doing more of this today…! But alas, campers and staffers are coming soon! There's no time for lounging in the grassy fields with the sun on my face! No, we are full steam ahead! And praying for divine creative genius from the same Guy who came up with this…Will you pray for us today?  We thank you!

Happy day to you!

 

in process

As May smiles her hello at our doorstep, we find much in process at Whisper Mountain!

   :: our garden

     :: this summer's campfire and next winter's fire wood

     :: unfolding of beauty

     :: prayer garden amphitheater

     :: life cycles

     :: facility improvements

     :: the lake build

     :: our hearts

*In process* is an ongoing state of living…for nature, for people and for ministries!

What's in process for you?

the work of encountering

 Summer 2011 marks Whisper Mountain's fifth summer of camp and first summer with every week FULL!!! (Full meaning every week is scheduled and contracted with a group, and almost all of them new groups at that!) I hope you are woot-wooting in front of your screen right now! Most of you reading this blog are friends of this ministry in some way, so I know that you can feel our excitement with us! And give God some holy hollers for answering the prayer to fill the weeks!

Whether full or not, the months of spring become slightly intense as we plan and fine tune the camp theme/program, hire our summer staff (of which we are really pumped about…solid people coming our way!) and prepare for their coming, and a thousand other details that go into making Whisper Mountain run! I happened to get a snapshot of our office after an all day staff meeting…    I had to laugh at this scene (of which I didn't capture even half of!) The physical mess (mostly from a toddler being occupied during the meeting!) represents well the mental mess of lists and deadlines, ideas and brainstorms cluttering our minds! But all the cluttering, we pray, is Divine Creative Genius that God might use to encounter hearts this summer! That's the end goal, wouldn't you agree?!And so we stream along, bending and flowing as we go about our business of camp ministry…as we continue the work that needs doing daily, plan for the work that is just around the corner, and pray for the work God surely wants to do in the hearts of the campers!

Whatever your work in life is, may it be the work of encountering God and helping others to do the same!

goofy workers

Put a bunch of guys together and there will be tons of laughing & goofing off…

…and tons of work accomplished (even with rain!).

Thank you, Drew and Chris, for your time spent playing and working with us! We loved having you! Always remember, we have an "open door policy" at WM! (Hee-Hee!!) Hope to see you again soon!

WM guys, let me just say, I think you guys are top notch! So glad you are a part of my life and the life of this ministry! Anybody else think so?!

Walking on Water

We have some college guys with us this week that have given up their spring break to come and work. Yeah…they wanted to do this! Pretty unusual, but that's just how great they are! To start our day off, we hiked to our hopeful lake spot! Marty shared the vision, scoped out the layout and then we circled up and prayed that God would do it!

  At the end of the prayer, one guy said, "Hey guys, we are walking on water right now!"

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16