We spend the last week hanging out at Bird River Bible
camp. This past Sunday we had a
half day of silence in which we couldn’t talk for 7 hours. In this time we were encouraged to go
off alone and just spend time journaling, praying, reading your bible, and
allowing God to speak to you in the silence. Some of us found it very hard, I
was one of them. I found it hard to sit down and focus, but as I went for a
walk I started to realize just how much noise influences your life. I realized how much I rely on other
people to keep me entertained. I
actually found a little spot and talked to God and myself. I couldn’t just sit
there and think it through, I had to be walking around talking. One thing I
felt God trying to tell me during this half day of silence was just how much I
need to start listening. I am talker, so I find it hard to listen without
already planning the next thing I am going to say in my head. I really felt God trying to tell me to
start getting used to silence because it is such a beautiful thing. When I was
just walking I was able to take in the nature around me like the beauty of the
changing colors of the leaves and of the lake. It’s not something I would
notice if I was talking with someone else, because I would be focusing on them. If I was listening to my iPod or had
something else on my mind I also would never notice how beautiful everything
looks. Now when I go for walks I give myself more time to just stop and stare
at the chicken chilling on the side of the road, or the wind blowing the leaves
from the trees. Now I won’t take
my iPod so I can hear the sounds of nature that is usually blocked by the
busyness of the world today.
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| early morning at Bird River |
Later in the week we had a day off between speakers so we went to the Pinawa
Dam and went body surfing. This was an awesome experience for two reasons for
me. First off was the number of snakes at this park place. When we got to the
Pinawa Dam and started walking on the grass there were snakes everywhere. Some of
us were jumping and screaming, others were running and trying to catch snakes.
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| Coral & her snake friend |
So
as we walked towards the dam you had to watch your step. Before we left some of
the guys had a battle about who could catch and hold the most snakes, Goerz won
I believe- when I passed him he had 8 snakes in his hands and was picking up
his 9th snake.
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| snake master! |
Now saving the best for last the second part of the
experience that was awesome was the actual body surfing. I have never body
surfed before so in my head I was thinking of floating down an extremely fast
flowing river as if you were superman flying through the sky basically on your
tummy. So when we arrive we notice that the river is way lower than expected
but that just means when surfing in some areas it’s almost like going down a
water slide. So after the first brave people went first including Steve, Mark,
Alisha and a few more others everyone else joined in and we had a blast. There were 3 areas to surf down- an
easy way where the rocks are basically like the water slide, then another where
you slide then meet the rapids and go under a few times as the current pulls
you, and the third one is like jumping into the rapids.
Once we had all had our
fill of body surfing, some people started a seaweed war, like a snowball fight
but with the scum off the rocks. A very funny thing to watch as well as
participate in, I’ve never done anything like that before but it was really
wild.
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| Fire in the hole! |
And now, for your viewing entertainment, a Day of Silence: Hugo Style
Video by: Carol McNaughton
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