Eternally Grateful

The day the Birch Bay Ranch summer camp brochure and registration form arrived in the mail was one of extreme excitement. I had been dying to go. They take kids as young as eight years old, but our parents had a rule that we had to be nine to go. All three of my older sisters had gone. The sister closest in age to me had already been twice, and came home with amazing stories of riding horses and hanging out with awesome, cool staff members. I filled out the form myself – a tradition that would last for all the years I attended camp – and then the countdown was on. I remember losing sleep at night in excitement. It was honestly better than Disneyland. It was the highlight of my year.

I fell in love with the first horse I ever rode at Birch Bay Ranch. Getting the chance to ride this horse every day for a whole week was a dream come true. I wished that he could be mine. Attending camp there was the first real time I’d ever ridden a horse (if you don’t count those sad pony rides at the zoo where all the ponies are led by some metal contraption). I loved every minute of it, even the horse theory classes and the test at the end of the week. I was certain that I was meant to ride horses for the rest of my life.

The year was 1996.

Fast forward seventeen years: I’ve had the priveledge of taking countless riding lessons, have travelled all over Alberta competing in horse shows, have led hundreds of trail rides at BBR, have driven the team of draft horses on sleigh rides in the numbing cold, yelled “pull back and say whoooooa!” more times than I’ve cared to, and have had the joy of owning and training my own horse. Together, my horse and I have ridden at lots of different barns, attended clinics and ridden in horse shows, but my favourite moments with him are the ones we’ve spent exploring Birch Bay Ranch’s property together, just he and I. The hours in the sun spent riding along the reedy lakeside, picking our way through the forest or full-out galloping down the hayride road in back pasture have been so singularly sweet. Access to such a beautiful place is a rare gift that I will forever be grateful for.

Needless to say, I attended camp every summer. When I was sixteen, I volunteered all summer at the Ranch. I worked every summer after that, and when I was out of high school, I dedicated four months of the summer to the Ranch as well. How many people can say they truly loved their job? I loved those moments sitting with campers on the cabin floor, answering questions about God and life. I loved bringing the horses out to pasture Friday nights. I loved learning the ins and outs of the ropes course. I even loved doing the dishes, feeling tired and satisfied after a job well done. I would have done any job they asked me to, because I loved Birch Bay Ranch so much. I have worked there on and off for the past ten years, eventually coming back to use my communications degree to help market and raise funds for this awesome ministry.

Lately, I’ve been reminiscing about some of my favourite memories: taking part in improv skits (some of my old favourites are Things in a Box, Lines from a Hat and, that old classic, I Have A Pain), making my whole cabin raise their right hands and solemnly swear that they will not drop any peas on the floor each week on roast beef night, sharing my heart with the other staff at morning devotions, gathering with the other female staff in girls dorm just to hang out each night, taking my cabin of twelve-year-old girls up to the top of Super Tower each week, first to spit off the tower and pretend it was a grand secret, and then to look out at the beautiful surroundings, talk about God’s incredible power and His majestic creation. I could go on for pages and pages about the wonderful things I’ve gotten to take part in at camp. But mostly, I’m just thankful.

Birch Bay Ranch has given me a lot of things. It gave me the chance to meet an incredible man who would eventually become my husband. It gave me true, solid lifelong friends who I know will be a part of my life for a very long time. It gave me leadership and interpersonal skills I didn’t know I had. I learned how to speak in front of large crowds, how to make people laugh, how to open my heart to strangers and show them God’s love. It taught me the value of teamwork and a good work ethic. I learned how to listen to the voice of God and how to commune with Him through nature. I learned, for the first time in my life, what it meant to be a part of a thriving, loving Christian community. I’m not sure where my walk with God would be without community and discipleship that the Ranch has provided me.

Birch Bay Ranch is immeasurably special to me. It completely shaped me, and I know my life would look nothing like the one I’m living now without it. I am eternally grateful to God for the true gift it has been to be a part of such an incredible ministry.

Deanna Barker