Crazy Cold and Fantastic Retreats

Hello from the frozen Northwoods!

            Brrrr! It is a cold one up here. This morning on my way to the dining hall my thermometer on my vehicle indicated that it was -11°. Some may call this chilly; but when the nose hairs freeze on your first intake of air, well, its cold!

I know it has been some time since our last update. We want to share with you things that have been going on in our lives and at Camp Barakel. Things have been going extremely well for the Miron clan at Camp Barakel. Currently we are in full swing on winter retreats each weekend. We just got done hosting 3 weekends of Father/Son retreats on the East Side and we were full. Each weekend I was making enough food for roughly 180 – 200 people per meal. We have gone through cases of Hot Cocoa and coffee each weekend. I would roughly estimate about 60 to 70 pounds of dry cocoa mix each weekend. These men and young boys sure know how to drink the cocoa.

One thing that I absolutely love about Father/Son retreat weekend is watching the dads& grandpas interact with their boys. Each Saturday afternoon I would head out to Snow Valley and watch them. Full grown men ice skating and tubing with their much younger offspring. The joy on their faces as they spend time with their cherished loved ones. The hugs! The words of encouragement from a father as he tells his son that everything will be all right on his first trip down the tubing hill. Watching that kid sprint forward to go solo the next time because he trusted his father’s words. Watching them interact can’t help but make me think of our Heavenly Father and how we can fully trust him. Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” It is amazing to read God’s promises in scripture and then see them fulfilled in our lives. God is good; all the time! All the time; God is good!

Many of you have been praying for me as I recover from my shoulder surgery. On Nov. 5^th, I had a full rotator cuff tear fixed, a bicep tendon cut and moved to another area, and numerous bone spurs ground down. Six weeks in a sling; right arm unmovable almost all the time. I really had to learn to become dependent on people. Rita was my biggest helper. If I needed her to help clothe me, she was there. My support pillow fell off at the chair at night at 3am. She was there. Taking care of 1 big kid and 2 smaller ones was a real job for her sometimes. But she persevered because she knew that it would not be forever and because … Love! On Jan. 25^th, 2022 I was cleared to actually start lifting weights again and to start using the arm like normal. Thank God! It is difficult to always ask for help. In that department, I am stubborn. Every weekend I was being yelled at from both Rita and my volunteer staff. Common phrases you would hear around the ESDH kitchen were, “Are you supposed to be lifting that?,” “Did I just see you lift that?,” or the infamous one, “Wait till I tell Rita!” All in all I am recovering well and God has surely blessed me with amazing volunteers who go above and beyond, and truly enjoy serving others. I thank God for them daily! I could not do this job without them.

Celia and Eli have been doing very well. They do miss their friends from down home but are doing great. They are both excelling in their home school environment. Rita is quite happy with their  progress. Celia is definitely a social kid. She loves going up to complete strangers at camp, talking with them, and forming tubing trains to go down the hill. She camped this past weekend with a local community church. She had so much fun and was completely drained by the end of the weekend. She is looking forward to camping again with her home church on her birthday weekend! Eli just turned 10! Double digits! I cannot believe that my baby boy is now 10. Where does the time go? Eli is my little helper. He wants to be involved with anything that I am doing. He even gets up at 5:30 on Sunday mornings to come in and make sticky buns. This kid is dedicated to those sticky buns. Eli always knows how to put a smile on someone’s face. Whether it is beating people at foosball or tubing down the hill, that kid is all smiles.

Rita and I do have some prayer requests that we would love to share with you. One of them is that in the remaining winter retreat weekends God’s name will be glorified, and that salvation in the name of Jesus would be made known to our guests. We ask for prayer that Dave’s shoulder  will continue to heal, and that he can use it fully in the next few months. Prayers for health and safety would also be appreciated for us, and for the other staff and campers

In closing, we would like to thank our family, friends, supporters, and the volunteers that have labored so tirelessly alongside Rita and I. We could not be up here doing what we love without your prayers and support. It means so much to us that God called us here to Camp Barakel, but He uses people like you to make it happen. Your financial gifts, prayers, and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. We certainly value the giver over the gift. God bless each and every one of you. We pray for you all daily, and hope that God will be glorified in all our works.

Until the time we can embrace and share a bit of hot cocoa, peace be with you.

-Holding you up before our Great God,

The Mirons