Yet I firmly believe that some of the best memories are the ones we retell, when the memory is transformed into story. And the story begins to take on a life of it's own through repetition, telling it over again, telling it to friends, this honours the memory.
God did some incredible things at Cedarwood this summer and I couldn't bear to allow these divine encounters to simply slip into memory and then be lost. Over the next few months it is my hope to send you periodic reminders of the work God did through the ministry of Cedarwood during the summer as well as some updates on how He is currently at work.
Summer 2014: Episode 1
There was a camper who arrived for one of our senior high weeks this summer with a chip on his shoulder. I remembered him from 2013, I remembered being on the boat with him and the rest of his cabin. They had an amazing time loaded with smiles, laughs and excitement. Yet I felt there was something different about him when I greeted him at the door and received no smile in response to my "hello!".
As the first and second days went by, most of the guys on staff were able to see that this fella was note a happy camper (literally!). One evening, I got a knock on my cabin door as we were putting the kids to bed. It was my Program Director. He told me that this camper was headed to the highway with his backpack. The two of us took off and caught up with him just up the Cedarwood road. We tried talking to him but we could tell from the colourful responses we got back that he was not interested in conversation.
As we got closer to him I called his Mom and put her on speaker phone to see if she could at least get him to turn around and come back to camp. This succeeded, but only after about 1/2 an hour and 1/2 a mile of walking along the edge of the highway. She told him to just go back to the lodge, chill and wait for her to come pick him up, she would be there in about 2 hours.
The whole incident showed clearly that this camper had challenges digesting things rationally and I thought that his Mom was probably the only one who would be able to calm him down.
We arrived back at the campsite and he went right to his room. All the other campers were out playing a field game so he had the place to himself, some quiet to help him cool off. Alex, who had been with us the whole time, asked me if he could give this camper a book before he had to leave. I thought that it wouldn't be well received, but if he wanted to, then giddy up!
He walked into the camper’s room and put a book down beside him saying that it was for him. The camper asked what the book was about and Alex took the opportunity to begin reading over the table of contents. It went something like... Chapter 1: Who is Jesus; Chapter 2: How He Loves You; Chapter 3: How He Demonstrated His Love for You; etc.
Well the camper was in tears when Alex looked down. He told Alex that his life is a mess, that he knows that he needs Jesus and that he wanted to apologize to me.
When they found me we went and sat on the front steps. He begged me to allow him to stay, he just wanted the chance to re-encounter Christ before he left camp. He also asked me to call his Mom and see if there was any way she would consider letting him stay. I said an instant YES to both, his Mom said yes (apprehensively), but I assured her that I had faith that this was a legitimate turning point and that the rest of the week would be very different.
That's the crazy thing about grace. We can spend a lifetime in a full out, deeply exhausting sprint away from Christ...but every time we stop, we realize that he is right there ready to embrace us and welcome us back. Sometime we don't even turn around and take the step back to him, we just collapse out of exhaustion and all we can muster is a pitiful whimper "....help...."
God used Cedarwood as that breaking point for countless campers and so many staff this past summer.
Thank you for your prayers and support.The Cattanis
2014 was a very full summer for us as a family. We had Caden's buddy Ryan, from Orlando, stay with us for 2 energy infused weeks. The kids and I did some serious fishing with Rick Reimer and his gang. And Jonny, oh Jonny. Jonny is such a non-stop go-er. He got into absolutely everything, including the hearts of the staff. It brings so much joy to Rhonda and I to see the staff embrace our family and not just tolerate these crazy kids running around.
Rhonda is incredible. Mom, superior administrative supervisor, mentor to the female staff, planner extraordinaire, and on top of all that she is my best friend. Every summer, Cedarwood has a way of reminding us exactly what we love about each other. Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers this summer. SPECIAL FIRSTS
Caden played magic bricks for the first time (a life long goal accomplished for him), perfected his pop-a-wheely, learned to run power point for a worship service and caught some giant jack fish!
Annabelle lost her front tooth, learned to ride a two wheeler, caught her first fish and also caught her first snake!
Coralise made friends with everyone, jumped off the dock into the lake on her own for the first time and climbed the to the top of the big rock on her own for the first time!
Jonny did everything for the first time! Vacuuming, eating dirt, chasing giant bubbles, swimming in a lake, destroying the program office (and main office, and my office, and the our cabin, and the maintenance room, and the main lounge and the boat house, and…..)PARTNERS NEEDED!
If you have felt yourself connecting with anything in this update, please consider coming on as a monthly partner. We are currently looking for several people to commit to partnering with us in our ministry at Cedarwood for either $25, $50 or more a month. We have a monthly need of about $1500 to meet the financial goal set for us by Youth For Christ. It is humbling to admit that our support has dwindled over the last two years. It is even more humbling to admit that it is due in part to my lack of ministry updates for many of you. Please forgive this. Please partner with us for the first time or renew your partnership and be a part of the front line, evangelistic ministry of Cedarwood.
If you would like to contribute please just give Youth For Christ a call at 204-669-4205 or log on to our giving page at Canada Helps.
PRAYER AND PRAISE
- Praise God for an unbelievable summer!
- Praise God that we were full of campers...98% full to be exact!
- Please pray for the 4 people who will be coming on staff with Cedarwood for the year. For their energy, vision and financial support to be full and overflowing all year long!
- Please pray for Rhonda and the kids, getting back into the hectic fall school schedule.
- Please pray for more people to partner with us financially!
