Vacation in.....Arkansas?? And Sarah's Back!!

Last summer, Mark's parents gave us a weeks vacation to use for a family trip. We decided that we wanted to use it to take our kids to Florida after Christmas.

His parents usually go to Florida every fall and spring and it has worked wonderfully for them.

Unfortunately, there was nothing available during the two weeks of the school break at Christmas time. So...we decided to instead to go during March break.

Again...no availability during this school break.

Not a problem. We decided to use our free vacation week in the summer. Around this time, our oldest daughter, Sarah, was accepted to spend two & 1/2 months in Oklahoma at Dry Gulch U.S.A. camp.

My husband drove our daughter to Oklahoma at the end of May and we wanted to also drive down to pick her up when she was finished in August.

We chose to book our vacation week location within a not-too-far proximity from the camp. This is how we ended up spending a week in ....Arkansas.

Brittany, Jonathan and I at the Welcome Center.

We stayed at the Wyndham Fairfield Bay Resort.


We felt so blessed throughout this trip. Our drive down was a two-day trip. When we stopped at a hotel for our night's stay, we received the best room in the hotel - at the basic room rate.

Our resort stay included a condominium with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room and deck. We were right in the Ozark mountains. The amenities included a fitness centre, 4 swimming pools, mini golf, tennis club, basketball and volleyball courts, restaurants, shops and more.

During our stay, they were experiencing a hotter than normal heat-wave, and since our summer at home had consisted of mostly rain, the heat was welcomed. We spent most of our time relaxing by the pool. The pool near our 'home' was very big. In the evenings, they showed outdoor movies, by the pool. You could watch while sitting by the pool or while floating in it.

We left on Friday and headed to Dry Gulch, to pick up Sarah. We picked her up and spent the night at a hotel in Tulsa, so that she could spend some more time with her friends and so that we could go to the Saturday evening service at Church On The Move.

We again received an amazing deal on our hotel room. They gave us a two bedroom suite that would sleep 8. It had three televisions and two bathrooms along with a full kitchen. Again, they charged us the basic rate.

Thank you God for your continued favour!

Sarah giving her brother and sister a tour around Dry Gulch.

Welcome home Sarah!!

Sarah had an amazing summer. She made wonderful friends and had an experience of a life-time. She is planning to return to Dry Gulch; which made leaving so much easier for her.

Sarah Update

My daughter, Sarah, is a camp counselor at Dry Gulch U.S.A. for the summer. She is having an absolutely wonderful time. She has really found her place.

God has blessed her with lots of new life-long friends. One girl took her home to Tulsa for a weekend. Another took my daughter to her lake house in Arkansas overnight. And a third friend took Sarah to her home in Dallas for a few days.

My daughter loves horses, adores children, desires to be in the south, appreciates her Christian heritage and above all loves the Lord. Dry Gulch has been a perfect fit for her.

Sarah has been working hard, she has had many opportunities to practice her faith, she has seen miracles and witnessed lots of children giving their hearts to the Lord.

Give Them Vision

Sarah is not coming home.

This is what she tells me each time we talk.

No, I'm not upset. I know that Sarah will be home after she is finished her summer at camp.

This is just her way of letting me know how happy she is there. I knew it would be a perfect fit for her and that this experience would be one that she would never regret.

Sarah says that she has made life-long friends and feels like she is exactly where she is supposed to be. She feels even more sure of her decision to become a Child and Youth Counselor.

During Sarah's first week of camp, she told me that she was staying there and not coming home.

During her second week, she told me that after she is finished her college course she'll be moving to Oklahoma to attend ORU.

During her third week, she told me that after her college course she'll be moving to Texas to attend the University of Texas.

I'm sure that next week it will be something else.

I love that my daughter is seeing possibilities. One of the reasons that I wanted her to have this experience for the summer was to have an opportunity to expand her vision. To be able to see that the world is a little bit bigger than she realized.

I want my children to embrace life and any opportunities that God might have for them. To experience the fullness of the plans that their Heavenly Father has in store for them.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Sarah Arrived at Dry Gulch

Mark and Sarah arriving in Oklahoma.

My daughter is in Oklahoma!!! And loving it!

(Warning - this will be a recurring topic over the next few months.)

My husband and his friend Mark (Jen's husband) drove Sarah to Dry Gulch this week. Yes, I said drove. It's only a mere 19 hours away. One province and five states.

Our original thought was to fly Sarah to Oklahoma, but her Daddy couldn't let her go all that way by herself. He had to see for himself that she arrived safely at her destination. (There are no direct flights from here to Tulsa.)

We were very blessed to have our friend Mark go along for the drive to keep my husband company on the way home. The three of them had a lot of fun together on their road trip. Endless teasing, stops at Starbucks and of course Cracker Barrel.

They arrived Thursday just before noon and were able to have lunch with everyone at the camp.

Sarah was in awe when she saw the camp. No words or pictures could do it justice. Before they had even completely entered, and had only seen a portion, Sarah said that she already didn't want to leave.

I have had people offer me friendly words of encouragement about not having my daughter for the summer.

I will miss her. However, I am wonderfully happy for her. I know that she is meant to be at Dry Gulch this summer. I have complete peace about her staying there.

Summer 2008 is Sarah's summer to be in Oklahoma. I wouldn't want her to be anywhere else.

I have been in touch with her several times since she arrived. She is loving every single moment of it. When your child is where she is supposed to be and extremely happy about it - how could you want it to be any other way?

Sarah arriving at Dry Gulch USA!

Dry Gulch USA

My husband and I visited Dry Gulch USA in Oklahoma several years ago. Our church blessed us with a training week there along with other Children and Youth Pastors from around North America. My husband uses the Willie George curriculum from Kids On The Move.

We were so impressed with the church and the camp, that we both felt that if any of our children could have an opportunity to go there we would make sure that it could happen.

The end of January, 2008. Our living room. My husband was on his laptop looking at the Dry Gulch USA website. He was looking at different events that they have available. Our daughter Sarah and I sat beside him and noticing what he was looking at, casually took over the computer.

I was showing Sarah the camp when she noticed that they had posted job opportunities. She wondered if we would consider letting her go there for the summer. Mark & I both thought that it would be a wonderful experience for her.

Our daughter is in college taking a Child & Youth Counselor course. She wants to work with children. She is really great with kids. She also has a heart for ministry.

Sarah completed the camp counselor application process, which was fairly extensive. And then we waited.

I was so torn with whether or not I wanted her to be accepted. Great opportunity, beautiful place, wonderful Christian values vs missing my daughter and not having the summer with her. I prayed to God that she would only be accepted if it was His will for her. I had to hand it over to Him. She is getting older and I only have so many summers left with her at home.

Three days ago the letter arrived in the mail. She has been accepted to fulfill a Head Counselor position!

I didn't know if I was going to cry or get excited for her. Sarah is staying at home while she attends college and I have not had to go through the experience of having a child move away.

This is a dream-come-true for Sarah. Dry Gulch USA is probably the best camp in North America. The entire camp is set in the 1880's. Along with horses (my daughter LOVES horses), go-karts, bumper cars, pool with waterslide, indoor basketball court, boats, canoes, tubing and really great food.

If I hadn't been to Dry Gulch myself I probably wouldn't be able to consider having her go so far away. The Lord has given us peace about her decision. I just have to not be selfish and know that she is a princess of the Almighty King and she belongs to Him.

God anointed, appointed and commissioned Mark & I to protect our daughter and to provide for her physically, emotionally and spiritually. We have authority over her that is given by the Lord. Through that authority and through praying for her, the Lord will give us peace when helping her make decisions like this.