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 Alleluia! Christ is Risen!


    As I begin this week’s post, my home is currently being invaded by the Senior Youth Camp (SYC) Staff who are holding their monthly meeting in my living room (aka “The Crosstalk Office”)

   This evening is the SYC Annual “Soiree” fundraiser so Victoria has asked if I could feed dinner to the staff at the unlikely hour of 430pm!

   As I write, my 3 year old Godson, William, is also here at the kitchen table playing with an iPad, which, unfortunately for me, has a variety of very loud percussion instruments with which he is experimenting! The third member of our kitchen trio is Natalie’s friend Andrew (see previous Post) who is here to attend the Soiree but is not a member of the Staff, so is also relegated to the kitchen!

  Meanwhile “dinner” is almost ready. We are having   White Chili (recipe below), Blue corn Chips, and Easter Cupcakes with raspberry icing and jellybeans and I’ve made a punch bowl of lime-raspberry infusion for everyone to drink.

  

    This past week we have continued to make steady progress on various aspects of Day Camps.

    Several more applications have arrived from host churches. Our chart is now looking healthier; the only Team we are not sure about is the one which, for the last number of years, we have set aside for First Nations Communities in Northern Saskatchewan. I’m having a bit of difficulty making direct contact with the Bishop in Prince Albert so we are still not quite sure of the status of that Team. If Sask. falls through it will be a scramble to find four more host locations in a given geographic area to fill up the schedule. I keep telling myself that it is in the Lord’s hands and then taking it back and worrying about it!

     On Thursday Jessica and I completed about three quarters of the Team Supply Inventory. It was good to discover that  the supplies are in decent shape so we will not need to do a huge amount of shopping this year.

     The Manual will be going to press this week so we shall soon be able to send the PDF version to Churches and to have hard copies in hand for Team Members and for the Supply Boxes.

     This coming week it is also my intention to pull together all the missing     documents for the music binders and get those copies made too.

     
There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead but it is great to be able to count on a number of stalwart volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves and help.

    Next Saturday will be the Team Gathering, at which time I will have a chance to round up some helpers for upcoming events such as the May Coffee House, a “Craft” Day, at which we are going to be making samples of some of this year’s crafts, and for the a group willing to learn the 2013 Liturgical Dance and come together to record that DVD.


  
             So here is the White Chili Recipe:-


 ½ medium onion,chopped

½ cup green pepper,chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

¼ cup mid green chilies

2 cloves garlic, minced

In a large skillet, saute in 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Set aside.


2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

2 cups chicken broth

½ cup milk

In a soup pot ,melt butter , blend in flour and cook briefly. Stir in broth and milk. Cook over medium-high heat,stirring constantly, until thickened.


2 cups cooked navy beans

2 cups corn

1 cup chopped cooked chicken or turkey

¼ cup sour cream

½ tsp. each Thyme and Sage

1 tsp. ground cumin

Add to the pot along with sauteed vegetables and heat through. Serve topped with chopped fresh cilantro and blue corn chips. Serves 4.


            It is now Sunday afternoon. The Huyers are back on the road to Ottawa, I have done a load of laundry and straightened up the house, put William’s toys back in the basement and taken Wil for a long walk. Mandu has emerged from hiding, Wil has subsided and the house seems very quiet after the weekend whirlwind!

          This morning we all went to church together, as the Huyers stayed overnight and I babysat the boys last evening while they were at the Soiree.

        At Church I enjoyed cuddling baby Alexander on my lap. We were all there for the Worship songs and the Scripture Readings, one of which took the form of YouTube video which was a modern exegesis of the Old Testament passage from Isaiah 53. After that I took Alexander in to the Nursery, so sadly, I did not hear Nick’s Sermon.

      It was very special to have all 3 of my Godsons playing together in one room at the same time!


The Lord is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!