merry christmas!!!

or something like that. i guess it's not christmas yet - we don't even have snow yet. mind you, the skies are sure threatening to let loose. i love the excitement of Jesus' birth and all that - the carols, the food, etc... but there is a part of christmas that has always been hard for me and i'll tell you why. here's a little peak into c-bear's life...things that maybe you didn't know about the crazy and weird program director...

when i was in grade 5 my parents split up, they divorsed in grade 6, my mom got remarried when i was in grade 7 and my dad got remarried when i was in grade 8. four years of complete chaos for me. most special occasions or holidays got divied up between my family members. so my mom would get christmas and my dad would get us (my bro and sis) for new years. so we would always spend holidays and special days like thanksgiving at the alternate parents' house. it was always somebody else's "turn" to have us. so it was hard. it's tough sometimes when circumstances color those special days. i started to not see those days as "special"...they were a hassel or sad because i always missed the other parent. but God also blessed me a lot of people in my life who loved me and parents who were able to worked together to make sure my family got along and there were no fights.

i think the really really important thing to remember when stuff doesn't go right in your life is to remember that God is always watching over us and He loves us. while i was getting moved from parent's house to parent's house when those holidays were happening, God went with me. He reminded me what those days are really about and why we celebrate them.

so no matter whose house you celebrate christmas at - ALWAYS remember why we celebrate them and thank God for the people that you are able to celebrate the occasion with.

AND SOMETHING TO WATCH OUT FOR --> we've got special day coming up at Evergreen. It's called AN EVERGREEN CHRISTMAS. It's on Dec. 9, 2006. It starts at 1pm and goes until 7pm. There's no cost so please come with your families as there will be a hot dog roast, some sleigh rides (hoping that we have snow by then) and some great festivities. Why? Because it's our way of saying thanks to all the kids and their families for being a part of our family. SO KIDS: GET YOUR FAMILY OUT HERE. For more information go to our website or email me at program@camp-evergreen.com.

Stay strong in His grip,
::: cort :::

brrrrrr - c-bear hates winter

well the temperature doesn't look like it's going up anymore. i think that we have one day this next week that is double digits. YUCK. i am not looking forward to dealing with icy roads and snow. i just like to think about the YA HA TINDA (which is where we do our Adventure Camps - see the picture above...that's Big Horn Creek). i love the green grass and even drip drip drop. drip drip drop would not be a very good idea in the winter...no - definitely not a good idea. but i guess that there are always things that you can't do in the summer. so why don't you help me in listing things that you would love to do in the winter that you can't do (or atleast not very well) in the summer. here's a couple examples:
1. tobogganing sucks in the summer
2. although i've never tried it, i hear that ice skating outside doesn't work very well

so...let's poo poo summer a bit (maybe that will make me feel better about winter)...i look forward to your responses...

flying high and fast

well. hopefully this ends the frustration with the internet. we got it upgraded yesterday so i hope to be slapping pictures on this blog as much as possible. remember: if you have pictures from camp please email them to me on my email: program@camp-evergreen.com.

so there's Duke & Diamond, our beautiful team of clydes and my dog koda. he's posing with his staff shirt on.

and...i have a HUGE announcement! we've got our theme for next summer. it's based on Hebrews 12:1-3. i'm super pumped. the theme is called "Reckless Abandon". rock on, i can barely wait!

until next time,
stay strong in His grip.
cort

ps: thanks to EVERYONE who is commenting now. and try to comment on the most recent updates so that more people will read them!

the sky is falling

'sup.
our satillite o'top'o the lodge is malfunctioning so posting pictures has been a grievous thing. i apologize and will continue to try and smack some picture up on the web for y'all.

it's cold and windy today. yuk. i smell winter coming. snow will fall soon and not just to freak us out because it's sept. 14th but it will fall and stay. again i say, yuk. i'm hard at work finding speakers for retreats and i'm about to email speakers for summer. the likes of VTI, mike perschon, and such will return to challenge and push us. i'm pumped. those people are so important to me too because they challenge and encourage me in ministry. sometimes it gets hard out here to remember the "bigger picture". but the comments you leave me (and everyone here onsite) totally lift me up and remind me that my work here is never ever in vain and that God is in it all. thanks josh and tracey and jasper who have all encouraged me.

keep pursuing God even when it gets tough. he's that light at the end of the tunnel that you chase after wondering if you'll ever get "there". trust me, you will and God will richly bless you because you are a faithful servant. he's blessing you and people because of you. so keep goin'!

i gotta fly,
stay strong in HIS grip,
c-bear