News & Updates

See & read about what is going on in the Warm Beach Camp & Conference Center community

Creating Beauty

I love to garden. Shrubs, flowers, trees – I love the shapes and colors, the textures and fragrances of each one and how they come together to make surprising and unexpected beauty. Being in my garden feeds my soul.

But gardens need care – weeding, pruning, dividing, and transplanting occur frequently. It’s part of the deal – part of the joy – at least most of the time.

When it comes to pruning and moving and removing, I am often ruthless. I have no remorse at significantly hacking a shrub back or moving it a few (dozen) times to get it just to the right spot. And when it gets too gangly or no longer complements the landscape, it gets put in a pot, shared with someone else, or sent to the compost pile.

My garden (my habitat, as my husband calls it) is constantly being adjusted – not because I am unhappy with it, but because I love it and bringing out the beauty that is there brings me joy.

Recently, I was sitting in the garden reflecting on this time in our lives – this pandemic season which has so altered our present – and to what degree we don’t know yet – our future. As I sat, a rose caught my attention and (squirrel!) I thought how it was time to put something different in that spot.

As the two thoughts came together, I literally caught my breath. “God is this what you are doing?” Pruning, weeding, transplanting – because you are creating something even more beautiful?” As He tends to us amidst the struggles and fears and pain in our world today, is He shaping us, changing us and rearranging us for His glory and our good?

I think so. Thankfully, God is more gentle and wise as a Gardener than I. He sees the whole picture, knows what we can endure and how to care for each one of us – even as He creates His beautiful landscape – for our good and to His glory.

Those thoughts don’t make this time easy, but they certainly give me hope. I hope they bring you hope as well.

“If you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water who waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11

-Jeannie Patterson, Development Associate

Preparing Leaders through Horsemanship

Warm Beach Horsemanship fosters a wide array of hopeful young riders each year. The WIT (Wrangler in Training) program is designed to develop horsemanship, schooling, and teaching skills in a ministry-based environment. Within a WIT’s time at Warm Beach, they sharpen and practice skills in horse handling, schooling horses with specific goals in mind, riding with a strong basic balanced position, and finding connection with the horse. Through the dynamics of a relationship between horse and rider, a greater understanding ...

Hold on Tight!

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT Have you ever been in a situation where someone told you to hold on tight? ...

Welcome Meg and Aly!

Warm Beach Camp is excited to welcome the new Assistant Horsemanship Director, Meg Rudy, and Barn manager, Aly Arnold! Meg Rudy Meg grew up at a camp near Spokane, Washington. Her parents were involved in the Horsemanship program, where Meg developed a love for horses and riding from a very young age. When her family moved to Idaho to run a ranch, she continued to ride horses and was involved in boarding and lessons. She is a CHA level 4 ...