Snow, winter & polar plunges by Liz

Who knew I would fall in love with the season of winter. Its kinda like we've started a new relationship together up here in the northwoods. Snow is no longer just an inconvenience for work or getting around. Cold weather is  not something I just dread running from my car inside as fast as I can. Winter is not a season I have to spend indoors anymore.

Snow is this beautiful, incredible creation of ice crystals each in a crazy unfathomable design. It a quite, peaceful covering that spreads over the whole of the ground. Its a playful aspect of creation that allows us to do so much! I love frolicking around cross country skiing, tubing, snowshoeing or simply just walking out on the frozen lake and taking in the expanse of  God's creation. Its fun to fall in and tackle people in. Snow is enjoyable, the cold is becoming more than tolerable. It got in the upper 20's and even to 32 this weekend and it felt great. I also love making bonfires for groups in the snow near the lake; sitting around and making s'mores.

Doing ministry here is kinda like running in the northwoods. The terrain is much more hilly than Illinois. The hills give you a break just enough to catch your breath so you can gear right back up for the next. Groups come, we pour ourselves out serving them... we get a break, rest and gear up to do it again. It is worth it. Creating a place for people to meet with God and experience him more deeply is worth everything I am.

On a different note, Daniel and I fell in the channel the other day. We have a channel that we do winter canoeing in. It doesn't freeze all the way because it connects two lakes and it stays moving. We decided to just go for fun. There is a frozen shelf of ice that we dock the canoes by (see picture below). Daniel pushed the canoe in the water with me in the front. He had most of the back end in except for the very tip still on the shelf. He got in and thought he would push of the ice with his oar. Well.. as he pushed, the part where we were at was too high and tipped us right off balance and into the channel. AHHH! We have been trained that this is a full on emergency when you fall in cuz hypothermia kicks in within 15 mins. Well I fell in chest deep and swam back onto the ice and hopped out somehow. Daniel fell in waist deep and got out right away. We pulled the canoe out. We started running to our bosses house who lives on the channel. We are supposed to go there and get in the shower. We got there and he was like.. well... what do you want me to do? Are you guys wet? And we  had been in such a shock just in straight survival mode to realize it wasn't that bad. We weren't that cold because we hadn't been in for hardly any time at all. I changed my shirt and jacket but we managed to get home and dry off just fine. So we have done our own polar plunge of our own.

8th graders pizza and snow

Liz has promised to write in the next 2 days. Stay tuned!

We are now a month into retreat season.  they tell us the hardest and busiest parts of the season are over except for the holiday weekend in febuary.  Instead of having groups here 5-7 days a week it will go down to just the weekends. 

The past two weeks Ive had two wheaton college groups. The first was the group of people that give tours on campus and the other was the lacrosse team.  Both were pretty relaxed and I was just there to facilitate activities.  It was great to be in community with them for the short time they were here. They took the effort to bring me into their already established groups, praying and encouraging me.  It was great.

Which brings us to the last 72 hours; prolly the hardest and most frustrating of my recent life.  It was a group of 66 public school 8^th graders. I was responsible for just 8 of them.  Never in my life had I been so frustrated for such an extended period of time. At first I thought that it was the age level, I had been working with college kids for the last couple weeks. But after I had a chance to consider those 72 hours, I found that it was because they don’t have Jesus.  They live in the mold that ke$ha, snooki and lil wayne provide for them. They have no concept of selflessness or righteous living, and even if they do, they have no reason to practice it.  I wish I would have thought that way when I was with them but I just blamed them, instead of loving on them like God has loved on me. The week was far from wasted, God’s teaching me about myself in it all.  It’s probably better left to conversation, but I have a few regrets, a few confessions, and a lot more to learn about Love.

Gas prices havnt changed since December; its been a steady $2.19 every trip to town.

It wasn’t fun being a bears fan up here.

Me and liz went to get pizza in town, they didn’t have plates or forks. They said it was because pizza is a finger food, but I think we all know that its to save some coin.  Before we went I called and asked the owner what time he was open till he said, “I don’t know, maybe around 8.”  

I just stepped outside to shovel the new snow and welcome a new group. It looks like we got 6 inches in the last 4 hours and its not stopping. The trees seem burdened with snow. A couple of their branches dipped to mouth level offering me a snowy drink while shoveling; others bent to head level so they could dump snow down my back when I brushed against them.

first retreat week

We finished our first week of retreat groups on Friday (the 31^st ) and now we're in the middle of our second week.   The last group was a youth group from st Louis, me and liz were on the same team for that one.  It’s fun working together, doing ministry together, playing together, teaching together, having more shared experiences together… It was a really mature youth group; we were blessed by them.  The last night was especially good when the group had a student lead impromptu worship time, followed by a time of sharing about what God had been teaching them.  (back story: these last four weeks have been filled with nature for me. I love being here and seeing God’s glory in nature every day. See previous postings.)  So it was a wonderful reminder when I saw the hearts of those students when they were singing to Jesus.  That God doesn’t give a crap about the trees, lakes, animals, or even the mountains out west compared to his love for people.  I don’t think I ever forgot that, but I definitely understand it a bit more after the time I spent with that group.  But it excites me that when we had the sharing time, most of the students were taught by God through nature… and I get to be a part of that…I get to take my passion for ministry, my passion for Jesus, my passion for relationships, and my passion for nature and compose them into Kingdom work.  I could go on about all this but I think it’s better left to conversation. 

Other stuff: Days are long, something like 7a-10p isn’t uncommon. Right now we work bout 6 days a week.  But most of it is not really work; its broomball, snowshoeing, tubing and fun with friends. Even so, we’re really starting to respect and understand “Sabbath” now.  We do our best to have a full day of total rest, so chores get done ahead of time. 

I keep telling liz to write in this thing but she hasn’t.  maybe someday.

well we're home for a bit now.  the last two weeks have been pretty fun. we've been getting paid to do fun things like tube and play broomball. we didnt sleep in an igloo but we did do a XCski backpacking trip.  it was just one night in the porcupine mountains off of lake superior . the girls stayed in a rustic cabin and the guys stayed in a yurt (see pics below).  backpacking is always a good time, especially for building relationships. it was around 15 degrees but thats pretty warm when youre skiing. i found myself sweating with just a base layer and a long sleeve shirt.

our first groups come in on monday so we've been getting ready for them.  liz and i are on the same team for the first group along with two other GAs. its been fun to plan for them... this group really likes broomball. i think we have them playing twice daily for a couple hours.  im considering bringing my old hockey cage to keep me from losing any teeth (we've heard many many stories and i dont want to be one of them).

some random thoughts:
we love being in the northwoods. its pretty freeing to be without internet and tv in our apartment.  i love leaving the house without my keys, cell phone, and wallet.  days of the week dont seem to matter that much anymore. there has been a couple times where ive had to think pretty hard about what day of the week it is...it was fun, like a crossword puzzle. its nice to have it be christmas time without the world telling us its christmas. for the first time in 10 years i havnt had lexus tell me to give a car so i can have a "december to remember." its wonderful to be surrounded by nature. the heavens really do declare the glory of God here. its pretty hard to miss. i cant remember a time where i thought "oh boy, that genetically modified corn stalk really shows the glory of God" not that you cant find it, one just has to look a little harder where i come from. i think it feels warmer up here, liz disagrees. theres hardly any wind. and were 1,000 ft higher than blo-no...i dont know if that helps though. that brings us the the end of the written portion. but stay tuned for some exciting photographs...

 our deck

 our deck

 lake superior 

 our yurt

 not what you want to see on XCskiis

musky and flannel.

from the desk of daniel powell- the last week has been full of 8 hour a day grad class and little outdoor play.  we're told that the next two weeks will be inverted, which will be nice. The grad class has been about leadership and how to effectively lead in an outdoor setting. rob is the camp director and prof for the class. its been great to hear from him and learn from his perspective in the context of leading a camp.  everyday has caused our brains to work...hard.  the next two weeks are training, we'll be outside most of the day (the next couple wont be above 17F).  they havnt really told us much  about what we'll be doing but some rumors include: horse back riding, XC skiing, snow shoeing, overnight in the woods in an igloo, broomball (which im told we try to play daily) and whatever else comes our way.

got a tour of the town and sampled the local fare today. the grocery store and local pharmacy had the packers game on over the loud speakers.... so that was nice.   if you dont have a musky hanging on the wall of your local business (like the restaurant, grocery store and pharmacy all do) then the town ordinance states that you must have a bulletin board in which the locals can post pictures of their own musky catch for display. the laundry mat and auto store have chosen the latter. we also went to the thrift store to find some nice flannel so we could fit in, however there wasnt a single shirt on the rack. upon inquiring about this absence, we discovered that flannel is far too valuable just to give away in these parts.  now enjoy these fine pictures...

 dont worry this isnt a real bear

a big ol musky

"strait up murder"

Grad classes and an overview

We have started our grad class this week. It's definitely a different, more intense type of education, learning and processing then we have done before. Let's just say we are a little rusty. Two days in and I already feel the density of the challenge we committed to for our time here. But that being a good challenge.

Also, I feel like a bear going into hibernation. The rest of the world and the things I was doing, just became far away. We are now immersed in life up here and it will take all of who we are with little time for doing or worrying about anything else.