by Karla Hildebrandt Kroeker
Growing up, a deep love for Christ and His Church was instilled and nurtured in me, and growing up in the family I did, a true passion for reading, ideas, and conversation was sparked and developed. Over the years, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had many opportunities to combine these loves in a variety of ways, both through teaching High School English for about 10 years, and through my work as Minister of Worship in my church for the past 6 years.
More recently, however, these interests collided at a most surprising intersection: in a bookazine called ‘Camille.’ In 2008, my friend Michelle Wiebe and I got to chatting about a mutual niggle that seemed to be squirming at the back of each our minds, speculating if there might be ways to initiate conversations about faith that were somewhat more exploratory, divergent, and ‘wondering’ in nature than what a corporate church setting is able to offer. Were there other women out there who loved reading, ideas, words, photography, graphic design, cooking, thinking, talking, and making personal connections between thoughts and actions? Well, we knew the answer to this last question…many of the ‘answers’ were sitting in our own church! The other big question, then, was: how would one go about tying all these threads – and bringing all these women – together?
‘Camille: A Woman’s Devotional Companion’ is our attempt at creating a gathering place for this variety of interests as a means to inspire and energize a woman’s devotion to Christ. ‘Camille’ means ‘helper, and our intent was to create a book that would serve as a ‘companion’ (as opposed to an ‘instructor’ or ‘teacher’) to a woman’s thoughts and interactions about faith. Our first book was a 7-week Companion Guide to Lent and was originally intended to be available to the women of our church. To our great surprise, we discovered that books ended up finding their way to Texas, Florida, England, and Australia…and that they seemed to be a good fit for a certain kind of woman. Since we had ideas for a summer book, in 2009 we moved ahead and planned/published a 7-week Companion Guide to Summer. Again, women ended up buying copies for sisters, moms, daughters, and friends in various parts of the U.S. and Canada. Once again, we were delighted and taken aback by the response.
Our newest book: ‘Camille: A Woman’s Devotional Companion to Advent’ is just about ready to be published, and will be available for sale in October 2010. A little germ of an idea from one of the big themes in our Advent book can actually be traced back to you, my Kehler clan, through a Kehler funeral I attended in 2006. I remember sitting at Uncle Edgar’s memorial service 4 years ago, looking around at the collection of aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended relatives, and – as the service unfolded – it became very evident that, not only did I get a clearer picture of Uncle Edgar when viewed within the context of his extended family, my Mom all of a sudden made more sense within that framework, and… {gulp}…I made a whole lot more sense when placed within this larger picture. The complete inability to recount facts without turning a situation into a full-fledged tale, the tendency to exaggerate details, all accompanying sweeping hand gestures, and the apparent need to provide different voices for varying characters within these epic dramas, well…I’m greatly relieved to realize anew that I didn’t come up with that batch of crazy on my own…I come by it honestly. As does my Mom, her brothers and sisters, and so on…
At any rate, I was reminded again that shared characteristics weave their way through families: both families of origin and families of faith…and they often show up in unexpected ways. It’s incredibly grounding, humbling and vital to find means of positioning ourselves within this bigger context of our family in order to remember what is most true about who we are and to Whom we belong. I’m always grateful for the opportunities that reconnect me with the Kehler Clan, and it’s also my desire that this Advent issue of ‘Camille’ will be yet another way of placing ourselves within the truest perspective of family and identity: by remembering who we are in Christ, and to Whom we really belong.
Karla Kroeker, a third generation Berliner Kehler, is the youngest daughter of Helen (& the late Bill) Hildebrandt. Together with her husband Chad, Karla resides in Steinbach and is the Minister of Worship at the Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church. Next month, look for ‘Camille: A Woman’s Devotional Companion to Advent’ in Steinbach (Hull’s and Oakridge), in Winnipeg (The Light Christian Store, Hull’s, Fellowship Book Centre, McNally Robinson, Providence Bookstore), in Oakville, ON (Goodbooks), Stirling, ON (Hearts to God Bookstore), Langley, BC (Blessings Bookstore). For more information, visit camillecompanion.com