Canada in the Final Chapter of Our Sabbatical



Before we left Tacoma for Canada, we worshiped at Seattle's Quest Church, an intentionally multiethnic church that's a lot larger than Peace Lutheran Church.



We headed to Vancouver, BC, Canada, and then up to the Whistler area for some camping and hiking in the mountains.







Luke and Joy did a great job on our first family backpacking trip, a 7-mile hike with backpacks up to Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Park.  We did a whole lot of motivating and encouraging (with plenty of snacks including gummy worms, dried mango, and granola bars).  And we only had to do a little bit of carrying.  :)

Our good friends Tim and his children Gil and Keziah joined us for the two-overnight trip. We put up our tents on tent pads with an incredible view of snow-capped mountains, shared meals cooked over a gas stove, took some cool side day hikes, and jumped into the mountain lake for a refreshing dip.  Backpacking in the mountains is life-giving for me, and to have my family with me was a special treat and gift of the sabbatical.  What a glorious experience of the beauty of God's creation!







After backpacking, we spent time with our friends Tim and Rosemary (and kids Gil and Keziah) at their beach cottage on Bowen Island, a ferry ride away from North Vancouver.  We ate good food with them and more friends, swam at a sandy beach and at their rocky beach, paddled a canoe on the bay, looked for small crabs in the rocks at the beach, and caught big crabs and prawns for dinner!  Luke and Joy had a wonderful time!







As planned, I headed by myself to Rivendell Retreat Center on Bowen Island for a time of solitude, prayer, reading, journaling, and reflection at the end of my sabbatical.  Rivendell is on the top of a hill with beautiful views of Howe Sound with mountains looming behind.  It was truly a mountaintop experience for me in God's presence with places to sit and reflect, short walks through wildflowers and forests, a chapel for quiet meditation and morning and evening prayer, and a stone labyrinth based on an ancient design.  I walked the labyrinth just before I left, reviewing each step and leg of the sabbatical journey and God's blessings and gifts along the way.  Thanks be to God!


A Celtic prayer that was meaningful to me on retreat...

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