The little suite in the camp's lodge was beginning to feel like home.  We slept well there and enjoyed having space to ourselves. But it wouldn't be "home" for long; we had to repack for our travels away the whole next week.

We were too late for the Sunday School hour but arrived at the church in Chipman (about 20 minutes from the camp) in time for the coffee break before the worship service started.  The building was a one level pre-fabricated structure, with a foyer in the middle of the building, a kitchen to the left and the sanctuary to the right.  There were about 25 people either sitting in the sanctuary chairs, or standing in the foyer with coffee cups in hand.  We entered and saw Grant, Elizabeth and their daughters.  They smiled and welcomed us.  The pastor was away; a guest speaker was taking his place so Grant made sure we were welcomed in a pastor-like way!  He introduced us around a bit to the mostly senior-aged folks.

Singing with these folks, who were strangers to us, was like being anywhere in North America in a Baptist church.  We knew the hymns.  There was a familiarity to worship and the order of service and the feel of the place.  And so we lifted our voices from four provinces away from our home and felt the unity of the body of Christ.

We lingered a while after service, but then excused ourselves for the lunch appointment we had about half an hour away.  Quickly sorting and throwing things into our suitcases, we left only our laundry and a couple items in the suite.  

The Cooks live at Young's Cove in a bi-level home they had renovated.  We arrived to the bleating of goats and saw a small shed and penned area surrounding it.  Goats are such funny creatures; God made their voices hilarious and their antics ridiculous!  We knocked on the front door of the house and walked in as Marcus and Kameron were just finished feeding their three boys their lunch.  Their ages ranged from 2 up to 5 1/2 so it was a noisy greeting!  

Marcus had been serving at Arrowhead as maintenance and Kameron had helped with social media and other things around the camp ministry.  With the three boys, their little family was a real asset to the camp and to follow up visits and kids clubs on the surrounding reserves.  But they felt God's leading into other ministry and wanted to talk with us about their plans.

They put the little ones down for naps and then served us lunch.  We had a great visit, catching up, and then got down to the serious topic at hand.  It is part of our role to listen, coach and sometimes give some input into our missionaries' decision making.  Somehow, it doesn't feel that long ago since we were their age, in our early 30's with small children, trying to follow God's leading in our lives.  We were about the age they are now when we started Healing Hearts, so it is exciting for us to relive our dreams through many of these younger missionaries' dreams and plans!

After a couple of hours, giggles and happy sounds were still coming from the boys' room.  Marcus and Kameron didn't seem too concerned.  We smiled and kept on with our conversation.

Who knows what God has in mind for this family?  We had totally enjoyed ourselves, seated around the huge island in the middle of the great room.  Marcus had done an amazing job refinishing the cupboards, designing the island, that served as work space and table.  He had also redone the fireplace in the living room and we admired his handiwork.  Wherever God will lead them, this talented couple will do very well. 

The afternoon was wearing on and we said our good-byes.  We followed Marcus' directions from there to Saint John, NB, our destination for the night.  By my calculations, we made a wrong turn and found ourselves on a pretty rugged sideroad.  So we turned around and tried to rejoin the TransCanada highway.  It was complicated but after a couple clover-leafs, we were again heading for the turnoff to Saint John.  It was getting dark by 5 pm and we drove through the forested areas and into the city that is along the Saint John River and the Bay of Fundy.  

GPS was our trusty guide to arrive at the Best Western on the north side of the city.  We saw tall buildings, drove over a bridge and saw some ships and cranes but it would have been nice to see these things in daylight.  Another time.  I was tired and hungry and eager to settle in to our quarters for the night.  We found the hotel and rolled our luggage to our room.  I had spied a McDonald's a block away so I volunteered to pick up supper while Walter relaxed.

The highlight of the evening was watching the Grey Cup game while eating our fastfood supper and chilling out.  We were texting with our kids as they also watched the game and the half-time entertainment.  It was good to feel connected with our family over the many miles that separated us.

The football championship was such a close game that we stayed up until past 11 pm to watch it!  But the morning would come soon and we had a timeline for the Digby ferry.  Good night!