If you want to raise spiritually deep, physically strong, and relationally connected kids, this episode is for you.
In this episode, we’re hearing from two teens who went to Coldwater over the last two summers. Thomas and Caroline frykman share their experience and how they benefited from their time at Coldwater.
*As of February 2024, Coldwater still has some openings in their trips for older students, ages 16 through 18. To learn more visit their website, coldwaterfoundation.org.
RESOURCES
Learn more about Coldwater Foundation's programs
Get our FREE ebook: 5 Essential Parts of a Great Education.
Attend one of our upcoming seminars in 2024!
Click HERE for more information about consulting with Carole Joy Seid!
CONNECT
Coldwater Foundation | Website | About | Wilderness Programs
Carole Joy Seid of Homeschool Made Simple | Website | 2024 Seminars | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Help us share the message of homeschool made simple with others by leaving a rating and review. Thank you for helping us get the word out!
If you want to raise spiritually deep, physically strong, and relationally connected kids, this episode is for you.
In this episode, we’re hearing from two teens who went to Coldwater over the last two summers. Thomas and Caroline frykman share their experience and how they benefited from their time at Coldwater.
*As of February 2024, Coldwater still has some openings in their trips for older students, ages 16 through 18. To learn more visit their website, coldwaterfoundation.org.
RESOURCES
Learn more about Coldwater Foundation's programs
Get our FREE ebook: 5 Essential Parts of a Great Education.
Attend one of our upcoming seminars in 2024!
Click HERE for more information about consulting with Carole Joy Seid!
CONNECT
Coldwater Foundation | Website | About | Wilderness Programs
Carole Joy Seid of Homeschool Made Simple | Website | 2024 Seminars | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Help us share the message of homeschool made simple with others by leaving a rating and review. Thank you for helping us get the word out!
Welcome friends. I am sitting in the living room of my dear friend, amy, and I'm sitting with her two children, caroline and Thomas, and they are 16 year old twins and they're some of my favorite people in the world and they are going to be sharing a little bit about their experience at Cold Water Foundation in Minnesota. So welcome you guys, hi. So I've known them since they were little people and now they're mature and amazing people, and tell me a little bit about your experiences at Cold Water. So have you? How many times have you been there, thomas?
Thomas Frykman:I've gone twice the last two years, 2023 and 2022.
Carole Joy Seid:Okay, and.
Caroline Frykman:Caroline, I only went once this last summer.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, okay, so Thomas got two, but you only got one. Yeah, made up for it.
Caroline Frykman:Yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:Did it. So tell me, Caroline, about your trip this summer, this last summer.
Caroline Frykman:I mean, I was looking forward to it because I like outdoor stuff. You know it's like it would be a new experience, it would be fun. But I think the aspect of like you know, like spiritually and just like the group and stuff, I wasn't expecting it to be like that fun.
Carole Joy Seid:Really yeah. So tell me about the spiritual aspect, and what did the Lord do in your life while you were there?
Caroline Frykman:So every day, like every morning, we would eat breakfast and then they would send us out with like a hot drink or whatever, and we'd all go like for by ourselves for 20 minutes and we'd read whatever they told us to read, and then we'd come back and talk about it and then at the end, or like at the campfire, like during the night, we would just like go over something we had.
Carole Joy Seid:Process it.
Caroline Frykman:Yeah, and just whatever, and like all the cool experiences of the day. So I guess I got it Like people really showed it. God really showed the people around me.
Carole Joy Seid:Wow, thomas, did you have any spiritual experiences?
Thomas Frykman:Oh my goodness, both years I had them all the time Did you Tell me, you know you're just paddling across the lake and you see, you know, a flock of loons or ducks or whatever you know, flying across the lake. You see some moose in her baby, you know, in the water trying to eat, and or you just see the trees and they're just wrestling in the wind. It's just gorgeous and you just, you just feel blessed by God that you're out, like in his untouched nature.
Thomas Frykman:And you're all out there with a good group of guys or girls and cairns group, but you know, and it's just a good feeling. But then of course there's also the times when God touched our group, when we have our sharing time. And I would say probably the biggest time that he touched our group was our group and then also through nature was in the same night, Actually, we did a night paddle. It was about midnight and we paddled across the lake to a different camping spot and we stopped out in the middle and had some sharing time and we just shared all about, you know, just like struggles and stuff, and now we want to get past them. And then we all had took rocks and we threw the rocks in the lake as if they were like the things that we have in the past or struggles that we want to throw away. And that was probably the best time. You know some of us were crying, you know, it's just. It was just a great time for us all to get really close.
Thomas Frykman:And then the way that he touched us through nature that night is we looked out and off the reflection of the lake we saw the northern lights, the aurora lights and we saw the aurora lights on the horizon in the middle of summer in Minnesota and our leaders had never seen the aurora lights and we were all just blown away. Unfortunately, our camera was dead so we couldn't take photos, but it's imprinted forever in your soul. Yeah, anyways, that's just that. That was like we're all just it was crazy. None of us thought we'd ever see in our lives, and we saw it there that night, anyways you'll never forget that yeah never, never. I think about it every day.
Carole Joy Seid:Tell me about the friendships you guys made with the, the kids and your and your groups. I.
Caroline Frykman:Mean, you just get really bothered, you know, when you're out there for 10 days in the wilderness. There's nothing like going out in the wilderness with people. That gets you, you know, like nothing more.
Carole Joy Seid:I don't know anyways, and so what do you think it is about the wilderness as as opposed to being home, and you know the suburbs of America.
Caroline Frykman:I think you're kind of forced to Be, you know, get along and stuff. Yes and because you're the only people out there, I mean, we would kind of see people like we'd see a couple of groups a day, maybe. Yes, but that was about it, you know you're so other campers in the boundary waters yeah? Yeah and so. But you like doing hard. You know you do hard things together. That really bonds people and the reflection time and everything.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, you just get really. Yeah, yes, and there's no distractions.
Caroline Frykman:Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're together 24 seven.
Carole Joy Seid:Yeah, how'd your phone work out there? That was a joke.
Caroline Frykman:We were forced to leave everything there and they took our watches away and everything and you're just. Yeah, kind of just living your life.
Carole Joy Seid:Yeah, yeah. How about you, thomas? Did you make some friends?
Thomas Frykman:Oh boy, I'm your friends with all the guys in my group. They were all great both years. They were all great. You know, they all came from different parts of America. This year, this year on my trip, there was no one from Minnesota on my trip, which is pretty crazy. We had some from what. We had a guy from Washington, a couple people from California, tennessee, texas, and then our leaders were from Colorado and Iowa. So I mean, it was just. You know, we all came from very different parts of America and I'm a trip last year we actually came from different parts of the world. There's a guy on my trip from Tanzania last year.
Thomas Frykman:No, he was a missionary there, so he spoke fluent Swahili yes, yes and yeah, and all the other guys were from Minnesota and then me, but otherwise I mean that was really cool. He was really good at survival and really good at dealing with the mosquitoes. He was, yeah, he had all these natural sprays and stuff.
Carole Joy Seid:Anyway, yeah.
Thomas Frykman:But I think, I think it really does force you. It doesn't force you to be friends because that doesn't sound amazing. But you know, when you're in the back country Everything's hard. There's nothing easy like when you're in the front country. Everything's easy. Here, you know it is. You wake up, you drive your car Five miles away, but no, in the boundary waters You've got a paddle five miles. You gotta do portages. You got to get your shoulders hurt, your arms hurt. You know there's nothing easy about even starting a fire, making food. You know it's not easy, but that's, that's how we all get so close. That's it. If it was a piece of cake, we wouldn't have to get along with each other, you know. But we're kind of forced to get along with each other. It doesn't mean that it didn't go without its ups and downs. For sure, there's definitely times when we butted heads.
Carole Joy Seid:But I bet. I bet. Tell me about that your relationship with your leaders Did. Were they impactful for you?
Caroline Frykman:100%. Yeah, they were amazing. Yeah they just like, would touch each one of us and like their own, like they really pay attention to each person you know needed or whatever and so it was super and they both had their own ways that they did it to you. It was just like each time they would talk, like they every, each trip they would take a kid by themselves and talk to them about you know, whatever they needed to talk about, and it was just super. Yeah, they were super good, amazing.
Carole Joy Seid:So they're intentional in Relationship yes, we're super encouraging, yeah. Yeah.
Thomas Frykman:Yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:You two Thomas.
Thomas Frykman:Um, my leaders were a little bit of a different story. They were great, but they were tough. They were two of the toughest leaders at the camp in terms of how hard they drive you. Um, you know they, we would get lost our group and they wouldn't help us with navigation. Yeah, they do that on purpose. Yeah, they do it on purpose. They would never offer their opinion. Well, they would offer their opinion, but they would never give us the final solution to whatever. And it was just. They really taught us not to become reliant on them, not to become reliant on time or anything besides our paper maps that we had and our compass. We never got to know the time of the day, so sometimes we'd be eating lunch at three o'clock in the afternoon and sometimes we'd be eating lunch at 10 o'clock in the morning.
Carole Joy Seid:And what was the purpose of that?
Thomas Frykman:It was just because in the front country front country meaning civilization and back country meaning the boundary waters or wherever you're disconnected from civilization when you're in the back country, you don't have to rely on time. You're in the front country and you see it's 1.30 and you say, oh, I need to eat lunch. But does your stomach really? Is your stomach really telling you you need to eat lunch? No, but the clock says 1.30, so the clock is telling you to eat lunch. But when you're out there, you just go until you're hungry and until we're all hungry and then we all eat. And I think that was really great.
Thomas Frykman:And now I don't rely. This might be a bad thing, but now I don't rely as much on the clock and I rely more on my stomach, which has made me start eating lunch earlier and earlier. But my relationship with my leaders was great. As much as they were tough, they were also very close and very personal and they were willing to be able to be close to you. They can be tough while we're on the water, but when we get around the campfire, they were relational.
Thomas Frykman:Yeah, I mean they're intentional. It's not like they're just soft, but they were intentional and they're both great. And one of my leaders we called him Uncle Al. His name is Alex. I've had a really good relationship with him. He came and stayed the summer in San Diego and so I got to see him twice and we hiked him out and together and it's great.
Thomas Frykman:So it's an ongoing relationship, yeah, and we all keep in touch, All the guys on my trip and I and my leaders. We all keep in touch, oh that is so sweet. Yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:So, caroline, are you planning on going back?
Caroline Frykman:I want to. I mean we'll see how the summer like falls out, but we'll see. I really want to. I mean, of course, it's nothing about that, I don't want to, it's just seeing how it's going to happen.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, but yeah, it's a long way from Southern California. Yeah, it's quite difficult. It's a challenge. It's a challenge, it's worth it 100% so you thought so, oh, yeah, yeah.
Caroline Frykman:You know, first couple of days you're like, oh, I don't know about this, it's really lonely, I miss my family. And then you can find the end trip and you're like I don't want to leave.
Carole Joy Seid:I know, that's why I keep living this simple life. Oh, wow, that's a beautiful statement. I don't want to leave by the end of the trip. Yeah, that success right there, yeah.
Caroline Frykman:I thought I'd seen your family.
Carole Joy Seid:Yeah right, Exactly. So what was your favorite thing about the trip, Caroline?
Caroline Frykman:I think I mean obviously the relationships and everything, but being out in nature just for 10 days straight, just immersed in that, you know, we never saw an airplane until like the second to last date or something, and it was just like. It was kind of lonely at first, but then after a couple of days you're like, wow, I really like this. It's just so simple the less you have, the less you have to deal, and so it's really nice to have one backpack and that's your entire everything, and so that was just. It was just super simple, I think, and just being out in nature, for it was just wonderful to be on the wilderness- I know, if you were going to tell someone about cold water, would you recommend it?
Carole Joy Seid:Excuse me, to someone else.
Caroline Frykman:Oh yeah, for sure, even if you don't like nature or you don't like backpacking or whatever. Yes, you're going to be pushed to your limits, but it's going to be. You're going to be glad that happened, even if it's not really your drive.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, yes, as my granddaughter said, it's really hard. And then I said but at the end are you glad? And she goes. Oh, at the end I'm so glad I went.
Thomas Frykman:That's how it is, is it?
Caroline Frykman:Yeah, yeah, mm-hmm you get pushed to your limits but, then you realize those aren't your limits, you know?
Carole Joy Seid:Oh, that's good, yeah, yeah, yeah, wow. Oh well, would you want to be a counselor someday? The leader oh yeah, I think that would you yeah, I think that'd be super fun.
Thomas Frykman:It'd be a blast. You know it's. It's definitely. It's pretty crazy what the leaders do. You know they go on like a five-week training trip and For a little bit they go out by themselves. Yes, do solo. It's definitely hard, but I think it'd be. It'd be a blast if not a counselor. Definitely to work at the camp, it'd be fun.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, yeah, yeah, mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, this is really great. Anything else you guys want to share about it? What was the go ahead?
Thomas Frykman:I say go, go to cold water. If you get the chance, go you'll. You'll end up loving it, as much as you might be, dreading it coming up to him, as much as you might dread it during the whole time and the end. It makes you stronger, yeah, it makes you able to face struggles in Front-country and back-country but, most importantly, gets you closer to God.
Carole Joy Seid:That's it, isn't it?
Thomas Frykman:Yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:So did you feel like your character was impacted?
Caroline Frykman:I Think so, yeah, you looked at life differently. I feel like afterwards no, I mean, I don't like completely change your life, you know, but it like definitely Moved a little bit, like as in the way you look at what I don't know.
Carole Joy Seid:I think yeah, specific, like what does it change about your outlook on life?
Caroline Frykman:I think the way, like I don't know, coming back into civilization was weird. You're like why I don't really want to live in a whole house. It just seems like a lot to. Yeah, I don't know. I mean I do right anyways. No, I just there's something really special about you know living out there for 10. I don't know. Yes like you can't really describe it.
Carole Joy Seid:Mm-hmm, do you kind of feel like you came back a different person?
Caroline Frykman:Oh yeah, mm-hmm, it was like it, just it was like a better me a little bit.
Carole Joy Seid:Yeah, yeah, yeah. What? What was the greatest impact on you, thomas? Oh?
Thomas Frykman:There are so many good impacts. Um, I Think it made me. It really makes you realize, because when you're, I keep on using these terms, but when you're in the front country, there's not a lot. You have to rely on God for. Mm-hmm you know, you drive your car, you hop on a plane and travel.
Thomas Frykman:You know open the refrigerator open the refrigerator and drive to the Go to store take a hot shower and it makes you when you're out in the wilderness, it really opens your eyes to there is so much in Front country that you need to be thankful for and there's so much in the back country that you are thankful for while you're out there. And it also makes you realize how, how blessed people in you know, in the, you know in the, in the first world countries are really blessed to have what they have. That's right. And you know a lot of people in Second and third world countries don't even know what it's like to take a hot shower. That's right. To sleep under a roof without being scared and try. You know, yeah, no access to medical and stuff, and you kind of you kind of get a little bit of a taste of that. You know the best medical help you have on the canoe trip is your emergency pack. Mm-hmm, I don't want to scare people anybody off with that, right, but there are.
Carole Joy Seid:There are some safety nets, yeah, yeah, it's definitely safe.
Thomas Frykman:I never felt unsafe. I never felt like if I was gonna break my leg I was gonna die out right, exactly.
Carole Joy Seid:There are definitely safety nets, but they don't advertise them to the kids.
Thomas Frykman:No, and they're not, and they don't, they don't make you, you know they're not. You don't feel, you don't feel comfortable when you're out there.
Carole Joy Seid:That's right. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, being stretched.
Thomas Frykman:It pushes you out of your comfort zone. More than going on a stage would, or more than Talk into someone new, would just really push you out of the comfort zone. What you got, what do you have to do? Well, you have to lift what you have to say. You got to speak up. Yeah, you know, you got to be a leader describe the way that you camp at cold water?
Carole Joy Seid:is it like REI equipment and you know little puffy things that you sleep on the ground on top of it?
Thomas Frykman:I know this year for our, for our rain mats that we had underneath us, they just use extra siding stuff and they're remodeling Waterproof. Yeah, cut that out to the lengths and got those and you roll them up every night and that's what we slept. That's what we slept on. It works fine. I never got. For the most part I never got wet, yeah, and then you sleep on little foam. You know camping mats, you know they're nothing. They're not three and a half inches thick of puff, but no one wants to carry that. And you do bring your own sleeping bags, so that's your own personal choice, but then you're not sleeping in a tent.
Carole Joy Seid:You know me about that. What do you mean? You're not sleeping in a tent.
Thomas Frykman:You sleep in underneath a tarp, and I'm not talking about a blue tarp to you with over a pile of wood or a lawnmower. It's. It's a, it's a camping tarp. Yeah, you know they have little notches for you to tie ropes to trees, but it's a struggle to put those up. It's trouble to learn the knots, tie the knots. Get it hung up perfectly. Yes, find a good spot especially when it's raining.
Thomas Frykman:Especially when it's raining and it's hard to put up the mosquito nets. I think it's harder to put up the mosquito nets, but you definitely want the mosquito nets definitely, yeah, definitely.
Caroline Frykman:Yeah, that's kind of a camping experience. I mean you do stay at campgrounds like that the boundary water has put you like it's specific campgrounds, but they do make you.
Carole Joy Seid:when you say campgrounds, it's not people in campers, no, it's like.
Caroline Frykman:Well, it's a campground I don't know how to describe it. It's like you do have a little fire and there's like a little like grill thing, but that's about it.
Thomas Frykman:Burn a latrine.
Caroline Frykman:Yeah, so it's yeah, okay, which is yeah.
Thomas Frykman:Yeah, but it's definitely like a radio campground. So now at some campsites you got a clear spot for your tank because it got overgrown. It's not nice you know, it's not like there's a nice little thing with wood around it and rocks, it's not like that at all.
Carole Joy Seid:Right, you're sleeping on wooden rocks. Yeah, yes, and the boundary waters is very restrictive, so only a few people can can be in a certain area, like they restrict how many people can be there.
Caroline Frykman:Yeah, you can't go. Meet up, yeah, campground with a different group, exactly like night or something.
Carole Joy Seid:Yes, yeah.
Thomas Frykman:And you can't have too many people within one group exactly there's only nine people on the group.
Carole Joy Seid:That's right. So they're trying to really create a very Kind of what how would you describe it? Backwood.
Caroline Frykman:Yes.
Thomas Frykman:Yes, yeah, a backwoods experience, but like an old not old-fashioned, but definitely Like backwoods before everybody became backwoods.
Carole Joy Seid:Yeah. So what would you say to someone who's like, uh, I don't know, should we send our kids there? It's such a hassle to get them there and it's the middle of nowhere. And what would you tell us? Period, yes, period, yeah.
Caroline Frykman:Figure it out.
Thomas Frykman:You can do it, yeah, um, if you the financial means to do it, do it. I mean, it's worth every cent that you spend. I agree At the time you book the ticket. It might be expensive, you might feel grateful, but your child will come back more blessed than they've ever been blessed before, and so it's worth every cent, you know, yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:Would you? Would you say that you grew up from going to cold water?
Thomas Frykman:Oh yeah, I grew up like three or four years, for sure.
Carole Joy Seid:How about you in one week?
Caroline Frykman:How about? You they definitely teach you to be a leader like you definitely yeah, you're forced to carry on away. You know you gotta you can't. People don't do things for you, so it's other. You know, yeah, yeah.
Carole Joy Seid:Well, this is super great. Do you guys want to pray? One of you want to pray for these families that are listening. Thomas, you want to do it, caroline. Which one of you, thomas?
Thomas Frykman:um, uh, dear heavenly father, um, please be over the people that are, you know, facing the decision to Whether or not to send their child, or the child that's deciding whether or not they want to go. Um, just give them that push of courage that only you can give them, just to get Pushed past that out of their comfort zone and hit those boundary waters through cold water foundation. Um, they'll be blessed like no other way, and it's all through you.
Carole Joy Seid:Amen Amen.
Caroline Frykman:And God, just give Um if you'll make it happen, if it's supposed to happen, but give them the will to want it to happen and the you if there, where there's a you know you'll make a way if it's meant to.
Carole Joy Seid:Amen, amen. This has been such a treat. Thank you, guys. And cold water course is a nonprofit it's, it's. They're not making money off of these trips, as a matter of fact. Um, there's a lot of personal sacrifice in the leadership that goes into keeping cold water float, so they're also open to contributions from families, donations, yes, so we want to keep them prospering and, and For many generations, you know, your, your children, need to go to cold water. Oh, yeah, right, my grandchildren. That's right, that's right. So this has been a blessing.
Carole Joy Seid:Thank you guys and thank you, listeners, for joining us.