Saturday, May 29, 2010

It's Thunder Mountain Charlie!!

Haha. That's the mountain I climbed today but more about that in a second.


So. I have two days off a week while I'm out here Fridays (for project group) and probably Saturdays.

Yesterday was my first project group day and it was awesome! John Drage taught our group a seminar from Sunlife. It was awesome. One of the coolest things that he said during the seminar was "If God needs to tell someone well done, He'll use our tongues. If someone needs money, He'll use our wallets. We are the literal hands and feet of God. He works through us for His purpose. God loves people through people." Such a cool concept and something I have definitely taken to heart.

This year's theme is evangelism. I am WAY beyond excited about that. I can't wait to learn more about the best way to show others the love of God. I really want to show people His love just by loving them. I think this is a great idea but there are some things I definitely have to work on when it comes to this. One being affection. I'm not very good at sharing how I feel about the people I really do care about. I really hope to grow in this.

I am so glad that God is already working in my life to change me and mold me into a better person. It is also cool how much God is already answering prayer. I really didn't feel that I was growing closer to people or building true friendships and so I prayed about it and the next day I had a really good talk with a few people in my project group and I am making so many friends out here that I know I will have for a lifetime. God has also blessed me with the best roommate ever, Karissa! She is just so amazing and we have so much in common. I am very excited that I get to spend the summer with her! We are also on the worship band together so that's cool too :)


So enough about Friday. Today I went on my first hike. I went to Thunder Mountain with Karissa and Default (Justin-my project group leader). It was a pretty intense hike up and I wanted to stop so much but I just kept pressing on. I am so thankful that Karissa and Default were so patient with me and allowed me to take so many breaks (GAH! I'm so out of shape). Summiting was the most satisfying feeling in the world. I couldn't believe I actually made it up this mountain and didn't die of an asthma attack haha. We ended up walking the wrong way down the mountain so it took forever to get back to the YMCA but that's alright. It was such a fun time! Then I went down to the town of Estes Park and we checked out all the cute little shops and stuff that are down there and had a delicious dinner at Poppy's Pizza. It will never replace Chicago style pizza but it will suffice while I am out here. Oh man. Just so many good things happening out here and it has been less than a week!

Well, I have work at 6am for the next 5 days so I should probably get some good rest. More later, beautiful people :) Praise God Always!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Estes Park, COLORADO!!!

Oh my goodness gracious. I am here. In the big CO. Pretty much in the mountains. Oh wait, not pretty much. DEFINITELY IN THE MOUNTAINS! Awesome sauce. 

So. We arrived here on Sunday after a long 16 hour car ride. Felt like forever and I was definitely happy to get unpacked. I settled in and then headed to registration and check in, all that good stuff. I am working at the Rustic Cafe which is this little coffee shop in the admin building. Openign at 6am everyday, people! Which is a significant improvement from my 4:30am open time. 

Either way. Epic. I am pretty much living in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The pictures I have been taking on my less than average camera phone do no justice to the beauty of this place. Even pictures on nice cameras just don't show the depth of AWESOMENESS that is here.

This is a view from my room!

Like I said, no justice.

Anywho. Yesterday I spent 8 hours at orientation learning that people ask questions like "When do the deer turn into elk?" and "Who mows the tundra?" Seriously? Seriously... It is times like these that I am thankful my hair color does not affect the amount brain cells I have. Praise the Lord haha
There was a mini blizzard the day I got here. The beginning of the day was sunny and 60 degrees. Then the temperature dropped and all of a sudden as I was walking outside in shorts and a t-shirt, BLIZZARD!

Then today, I had my first day of work. I worked cleaning instead of at the Rustic because of mis-communication but no big deal. I'm there tomorrow. Sooo yea!

Honestly, this is going to be an amazing summer. Challenging for sure. Difficult, yes but completely rewarding. God has already pointed things out in my life that I need to work on... 1 DAY of being here! And I have 80 more days to go.

More tomorrow!





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