Well Day Camps 2013 “kicked–off” today with our annual training session for local area churches.
It was a beautiful sunny morning and despite the lure of the great outdoors we managed to collect about 26 participants who came together to Worship, Pray, ask Questions (and hopefully get some answers!) and to be part of a Daily Schedule overview.
As well as a number of “pros” we had some new churches in attendance so it was quite a stretch tp try and make the event of interest to everyone, but the Feedback Forms indicate that people found the day informative.
The past week has been spent in a combination of preparing for this event and communicating with a long,very long, list of possible host locations all over Canada as the race is still on to fill those 8 gaping holes in our Church Schedule.
Of course the opportunity was not lost, today, to ask for prayer and pro-active help in getting the word out about this urgent problem, so I am trying to remain hopeful and have forged ahead with other work like lots more baking for the Retreat Week and assembling more supplies for the Teams.
Unfortunately the chaos of brick and cement work continues at home, with little progress having been made. The deck is still completely unusable, the driveway is filthy and covered with bags of rubble and an aura of gloom prevails.
Last evening I entertained Josiah and Alicia for dinner. Josiah is a former Team Leader and current member of the Day Camp Committee and he and Alica recently announced their engagement, so a special dinner was in order! Sadly we had to eat in the dining room because of the deck woes, but but with fresh lilac as a centerpiece and cool breeze blowing through open windows, the effect was almost as good as outdoor dining.
The main course was a tuna and penne salad with aioli served with homemade Dutch Rusks and dessert was a vanilla layer cake with cream cheese icing. I made a large jug of iced tea, garnished with mint from the herb garden, which went with everything quite nicely.
Here is the Salad Recipe…..
Tuna Penne Salad
- 8oz. whole wheat penne, cooked, drained and cooled
- 8oz. fresh asparagus, broken into short pieces, lightly steamed and cooled
- 1 orange pepper, diced
- 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped green olives
- 1 tin tuna, drained and flak
Place all ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss, lightly.
Vinaigrette-
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoons each finally chopped fresh thyme, oregano and Italian parsley
Whisk together and toss with salad.
To make Aioli :-
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup Olive Oil
Place egg yolk, garlic and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. With the motor running, gradually dribble in the oil, and continue mixing just until mixture takes in the texture of a thick mayonnaise.
Serve aioli alongside salad, diners may then add a small portion, to taste.
Serves 4.
Sunday Reflections…
We awoke to a very wet Sunday morning after a night with horrendous thunder storms. I took Wil on a soggy walk, stopping in to feed my friend’s 2 cats, who I’m looking after for a few days. Then I had to decide whether to get even wetter biking to Church, or to take the bus.
I opted for the latter so, of course, by the time our Service was over it was lovely and sunny. ARGH!!! Thus I ended up slogging home on foot!
Fortunately there was one nice helping of the tuna penne salad left from Friday’s dinner, so I was able to have lunch not too late! Prior to our Service, and during the opening Worship Songs, I found myself sitting in the kitchen sewing a flag on Steve’s bass case.! Steve is a member of the congregation who comes from Nfld. Several weeks ago he asked if I might be able to help him by sewing a flag “badge” onto his instrument case. A couple of Sundays I brought the sewing things and he was not at church. Then another Sunday I forgot the sewing things and he was at church, finally, today, we matched up and now the job is done! I wish he had told me to bring white thread, which would have been less conspicuous than black, but he seemed pleased with the results.
Pastor Nick was our Preacher today. He continued on our Summer Theme, speaking on parables. This morning it was on those found in Matthew 13:44-50. This passage offers three very short parables.In the first a person finds treasure in a field and ends up selling everything else to buy the field. During the discussion time after the Service someone commented that this parable can imply that once we have found the Lord, we should sort of be keeping Him to ourselves, or worse still, only hanging out with people who have also “found Him.” Obviously Jesus could not have meant it that way. Reflecting on the talk, as i was walking home, it seemed fitting that, given that I do not agree with that interpretation, I am currently spending a heck of a lot of time asking people if they will open their doors so we can share Jesus and his Kingdom with others instead of keeping Him to ourselves!!!
And so another week begins.. I spent a bit of time this afternoon working in the garden. Lilac and Iris are at their peak and the poppies opened overnight to add a blast of orange to the scene.
The main Day Camp focus (and prayer concern) in the days ahead will be to make contacts with churches, and ask them to open their doors in the hopes of filling in those 8 spaces and of…….
“Helping People of All Ages Become Strong Disciples of Jesus Christ”