The
ranch comes alive in all seasons but perhaps the most special is when
summer camp happens and you witness hundreds of kids each week ,
come…unload their luggage, get settled with their cabin mates , meet
their new counsellor and start to engage in activities. The kids not
only get to try so many different types of activities, but they build
relationships and some of those relationships have proven to go on for a
lifetime. These kids experience peace, happiness, healthy meals, love
and most essential, they meet Jesus. The lives that have been touched, I'm not sure could ever really be "documented".
When
I came on at the ranch, I had just moved to Alberta, leaving all my
family and friends in Nova Scotia…spent one semester in NBC (at the time). and
then , the first summer, moved out to the ranch, not sure what to
expect…a little frightened and a lot excited.
What
I experienced… how do you put to paper…how can I relay how crucial that
time was for me. I guess while IN it, I didn't realize what an impact
the ranch was having on my life…I had little life experience at the time
and a huge part of my heart missed home.
BBR,
in turn, became my home. The staff that I grew so close to, became my
family. We spent long busy summers together, learning, helping each
other. We spent many cold snowy days and nights together, talking,
laughing, having adventures and with all the groups and people and
organizations that passed through those gates, into our lives….we were
changed.
We learned how to work together, we learned how to serve, how
to work hard, how to laugh, how to honour the directors, how to respect
others, respect ourselves, we were taught about Jesus and His love for
us and for others.
A
lot was expected of us, there were high standards to achieve and those
lessons, those are the things that have made me the woman I am
today…those same things I now pass onto my own children.
I
arrived at BBR , alone, missing everything that was home for me and
what I found, was priceless…I had a second home. . After I left the
ranch after the first "round", I was , at another point in time, years
later, needing a place to stay and I was invited back with open arms,
invited to come home.
The
most important thing that changed my life is that I met my husband at
BBR, he has his own personal story about BBR. The 15years he spent
growing up at the ranch are irreplaceable.
His
mom was the cook at BBR for all of that time and he and his sisters
grew up , playing in the woods, walking the road, riding the horses,
canoeing the lake, climbing the wall, they had a dream childhood. The
times they spent making friends, being counsellors, working in the
kitchen, those are memories we often sit around and talk about. Those
memories, those years…wow…what can I say…we treasure them, we thank God
for them, no dollar amount could ever be placed on what some might
consider a piece of land with some buildings on them. There is no price
tag high enough to take the place of how the ranch is able to dig down
deep into the hearts of the people who go there,work there, grow up
there, meet their spouse there and have the chance to experience God's
touch and favour on a place.
Hunter Meckley is my husband, he is the best man I know, the hardest
worker, best dad to our 2 children, and I have no doubt in my mind that
this is due to the fact of how the ranch poured into his early years shaped him into the man he is today.
Hunter
and I will always stand by and stand up for Birch Bay Ranch. We will
always and often give thanks for it. And for the future…. our son and
daughter will experience Birch Bay Ranch. It is part of us. Once it's your
home, it will always be home, always be a place to return to.
Thank you
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