A couple of weeks ago a spider moved into the luxurious accommodations in my car mirror. A few days after another one (pictured) moved in as well and constructed a web outside the one previously built, shattering my assumption that the area was not prime real estate. They have lived harmoniously ever since. I have found the drama extremely interesting as the larger spider (pictured) runs for the cover of the lip of the mirror every time I start the car up and begin to drive somewhere. Sometimes it will brave the elements and cross it's web as we are doing 80kmh down the road. I figure spiders are used to high winds during storms so it'll be ok, but it's sure funny to watch. It's web unfailingly gets mangled, at which point, when it's safe (and stationary!), it reemerges from it's cover to begin rebuilding again. The original smaller spider seems content to hide within the mirror at all times I am present, presumably only coming out at night, or when 'the coast is clear'.

I have an appointment to get my brakes looked at on Monday. Beforehand I will have to relocate the bold creature into the bushes beside my parking space in fear of it's certain demise at the hands of one or more car technicians. It's new home will only be a few feet away and I am interested to see whether or not it will return when safer times return.

When I think of memorable birthdays I’ve had (just off the top of my head) a few instantly come to mind:

                There was the time, long and ever ago, when we lived in Ontario. I would have been 6 (possibly 7) and Mom & Danny had rented a caboose at McDonalds for my celebration. I was definitely the popular one that day as having a birthday in a McDonalds caboose was the epitome of ‘cool’.

                My 29th birthday was celebrated with a trip to the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico with my good friend Joy. We descended into the bowels of the earth to see stalagmite after stalactite, and stuff. The highlight may have been Joy’s rendition of Happy Birthday.

My 30th birthday was celebrated in the south-western Russian town of Armavir. A couple of my newly acquired Russian friends got raspberries and raspberry jam for me, which was a huge treat, seeing as I had spent some months in Mozambique beforehand, and had not the luxuries of such goodies during my stay there. While a Russian version of Happy Birthday may not have been able to compare with Joy’s the year before, it was still a very special event.

Yesterday was another of those birthdays that stands out, as fresh in my mind as it is. A trip to Starbucks starts any day off right, but accompanied with some great theological ramblings with Brian Metzger makes it even better! I then surprised Jenny with tickets to Anne of Green Gables: The Musical. I was going to wait until our upcoming 3rd Anniversary, but the 31st is the last day the musical plays for the summer. I actually really enjoyed it and was surprised at how fun it was. After a bite to eat, we headed out to Brackley Beach for a walk, then headed to the Brackley Beach Community Centre for one of Cynthia MacLeod’s ceilidhs (special guests: Gordon Belsher and Meaghan Blanchard). Good times.
                  So there she be. I’ve had some great birthdays in me life and my 34th joins that list.

HH is now totally officially over. The last camper of the summer went home yesterday, and almost all of the counsellors headed out with packed bags as well.  Jenny & I geared up for a 25hr bus trip from Glens Falls, NY to Charlottetown, PEI.

                I have done a total of 25 sessions at HH, but this last one was undoubtedly my favourite. Myself and 9 other counsellors (& volunteers) were in charge of the Chipmunk Cabin, 7 young ladies aged 17-20. It was my first time being in a female cabin and during our first cabin chat way back on the 19th I expressed that fact to all the girls along with my expectation of having a very unique and special time with them all. It certainly was. From spending a morning at the barn petting bunnies and guinea pigs with DJ, to hanging out at a Silversyde gig with Michaela at the Great Escape, to enjoying a last minute 192ft free-fall on the Sasquatch with Loran & Tee, to early morning games of Sorry and Candyland with Bianca, to rowboat and fishing (at my dreaded waterfront program area) with Loran & Tee, to watching them all conquer various areas at the high ropes course, to dancing with DJ at the Bloc Party, to watching the inspiring roommate dynamic of Tee & Bianca, to reading the whole cabin Where The Wild Things Are; it was an experience that was wholly unlike a typical ‘guys’ cabin. I wholeheartedly look forward to having another opportunity to work in a female cabin at HH again someday.

                That being said, 2011 was definitely my favourite year at the Ranch so far. My Beavers were an inspiring group of young men who made ‘work’ easy and enjoyable. But now it is time to set my mind on other things. So long HH, thanks for the amazing summer.

Camp in one sense if officially over, yet there is still one more session to go: Alumni.
Alumni is a session for campers who have aged out of regular camp but still have the opportunity to return for a more relaxed session. Alumni is for those aged 17-21, and is a much more 'chill' 5 days than what we've experienced up to this point. Jenny & I did Alumni in 2008, and we are really excited to be able to do another. A lot of staff had to leave already because of school starting or whatnot, so we are down on numbers a little bit, but it's all good.
I will be moving from the Beaver Cabin, to the Chipmunk Cabin, which will be my first time working in a female cabin! I'm pretty stoked. As a male counselor working with female campers I am not permitted to help out with personal care, so it will be an interesting experience for me. I am so looking forward to it though. My fellow cabin counselors are awesome and I can't wait to work with them.
On the 23rd, we board a bus heading north to Canada where we will start focusing on apartment hunting, and doing whatever we need for school.
A new season is fast approaching, and we are excited to embrace it wholeheartedly.

This summer is flying by and we’ve just two short sessions to go before it all comes to an end for another year. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a ‘Beaver’ (15-16yr old boys) all summer and would have no qualms doing it again. Sessions 1 & 2 were a challenge, but 3, 4, 5, & 6 have been some of the very best I have experienced here at HH. I have also had the privilege of working with a few counsellors whom I think very highly of and they have taught me a lot.
                Session 6 wrapped up Monday and from a professional stance, it has been my favourite of any I’ve been a part of. One of my all-time favourite campers was here this session in the Raccoon cabin (11-12yr old boys), and I was able to have a few random moments with him. We met a little girl who spoke Russian, and Jenny got to practice her Russian reading skills by reading her a bedtime story one evening to help her fall asleep. On Day 1 (aug3) Jenny wasn’t feeling well, so I got to take over her ‘small animals’ duty and dish out bunnies and guinea pigs to some Muskrats (6-8yr old boys). It was pretty sweet. And to top it off, our Beaver campers were an awesome bunch who had the most awesome time. Many tears they shed as they wrapped up their time here this summer.
                Indeed, the summer’s end is fast approaching, and if I said I wasn’t excited to get back and see our little Sonnen I would be lying, but, it has been a great summer and I have high expectations for our remaining two sessions.

We had an extra day off this inter-session break so a few of us had decided to cruise down to Boston for a 1day/1night trip. We left Luzernia at about 5:30am Saturday morning and landed in Boston about 4hrs later. After securing our room, we jumped on the train and headed downtown. Our first stop was Fenway Park; but we discovered that we couldn't actually get inside Fenway unless we took a tour (which, none of us wanted to do), so we took some pictures of it's outside, ate at an amazing Mexican place, and headed out.

                Next, we went up, up, up 50 floors of the Prudential Building and seen Boston from above. It was awesome. I just love to cruise up the high buildings in cities I visit, and this was no exception. Boston is a beautiful city.

                Next, we went to the Christian Science Center, where Lauren and Alex got to play in some water.

                After that we were feeling kinda bushed (as we had been on our feet for about 5hrs), so we went to Boston Common to rest a bit. Here we were, in a park, minding our own business, stretched out on a large plot of grass to call our own, when a complete wedding party invades us to take a photo shoot. They were standing over us, beside us, on top of us, all around us, literally. We asked them if they wanted us to move, but they were insistent that we not. After 10 minutes or so, we jumped up and cruised'er. We hung out with George Washington, then went and found bathrooms.

                We hit up an African cultural event, then caught a bit of Yoyoman's show, then got something to eat at the market.

                We were all pretty bushed after all that, so we went back home and winded down for the night.

                The next morning (Sun.July17) we headed down to the waterfront. Jenny & I were feeling left out, so we also bought some B O S T O N tshirts. After a brief stop at Urban Outfitters, we made our way back to the car, and out of Boston. After going the wrong way for a while, we got on the right track and made it back to HH with 30 minutes to spare before our staff prep meeting for today's start of Session 4.

                The trip really sparked an interest in me to just cruise to any given city at any given time, even if just for a day or two, and see it. I can’t wait for the next one, hopefully it’s Philly!

                For all our amazing Boston pictures click -->HERE<--

The highly anticipated cabin switch was yesterday. We remain in one cabin from sessions 1-3; then switch to another cabin for the remainder of the summer. A few days beforehand we receive forms that we fill out, putting in names of cabins we would prefer, but nothing is guaranteed. The staff meeting determining the new cabin teams always contains some surprises.
I am happy to say that I am remaining a Beaver for the rest of the summer, and I am so stoked for the rest of the Beaver team. We have an awesome group, and I can't wait to jump into Session 5 on Monday!

• v.1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

These couple tidbits come from the teachings of Bob Utley. Interesting stuff.
- the early believers worshipped:
        1) in the temple
        2) in the local synagogues
        3) with believers on Sunday
    - the early Xians saw no division between their faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah and Judaism. They chose the name ekklesia because they saw themselves as the 'people or congregation of Israel'.
    - the Jews took official action after the fall of Jerusalem and instituted an oath formula (rejecting Jesus as Messiah) to restrict membership in the local synagogues.

There are 7 sessions each summer at HH. Each session runs 5 full days, with the children returning home after breakfast on day 6. The staff is in one cabin for 3 sessions, then we switch to another cabin for the remaining 4. There are 10 cabins altogether and children are grouped by gender and age. The Beaver Cabin (where I am stationed) is filled with boys aged 15-16. It is the oldest male cabin at camp and is generally thought to 'rule the roost' if you will. It has been an unusually tough couple sessions with Beaver's this summer so far. Most of our kids have been extremely difficult to deal with, which is rare for this cabin.
We have a great bunch of counselors for our cabin though, and they have made the experience much more enjoyable than it might have been otherwise.
Anyways, the next session starts Saturday morning. We don't have much control over how the kids acts, but we have much control over how we act.

Jenny and I are studying the book of Acts this summer at HH, and I’d like to share some of the more interesting insights we are learning with you. We are heavily indebted to NT Wright, William Barclay, and Bob Utley for their direction and would be rather lost without them.

·         regarding Pentecost (v1)

Pentecost fell at the beginning of June so lots of people could travel to Jerusalem in the good weather. It was also a holiday and no work was to be done on that day (Lev23:21; Num28:26), so even more people would’ve been around. It was a great day for Holy Spirit to be unleashed!

·         miracle of hearing? (v6,8,11)

Luke does not record the apostles ‘speaking’ in other languages, but records people ‘hearing’ their languages being spoken. Bob Utley makes a point that this could have been a miracle of hearing rather than speaking, which would make sense because if all the apostles were talking in all those different languages it would have been pretty chaotic, but if they were all speaking in ‘tongues’, and the people simply ‘heard’ their own language being spoken, it seems much more plausible? To me it does anyway.

·         the 4 marks of the Church (v42)

NT Wright notes the 4 marks of the Church: 1) the apostles teaching, 2) the common life of those who believed, 3) the breaking of bread, 4) the prayers

And then an awesome quote from him: Where no attention is given to teaching, and to constant, lifelong Christian learning, people quickly revert to the worldview or mindset of the surrounding culture, and end up with their minds shaped by whichever social pressures are most persuasive, with Jesus somewhere around as a pale influence or memory.

·         in the temple (v46)

Bob Utley says that the early church attended the temple and probably the local synagogues until the rabbis instituted a curse formula (early AD 70), which forced synagogue members to curse Jesus.