Wrestling

So appropriate that a wrestling camp comes here to the YMCA and I am wrestling here myself.  I wrestle with where God wants me.  Let me use an analogy.

I am a potted plant.  I have been grown in this pot for a long time.  At some point, God is going to transplant me to a final destination.  I'm not sure where that is.  But it really weighs heavy on me a lot.  Then a thought process came to me...not that it makes things easier...

A potted plant is still 

a) alive

b) growing

c) beautiful

So that's what I must be in this stage.  However, it also occurs to me, to carry this analogy further, that a potted plant can only grow so much in the pot.  It can't completely reach it's full potential without a large ground to grow in.  So I pray that I maybe planted effectively and timely...

until later

Today I find myself...

writing to you from my volunteer job at the Y. As a GCM employee, I have to work 8 hours a week to pay for my food in the cafeteria. So I work 1 day a week at the information desk. I answer questions and bring smiles to people's faces, but mostly I delegate. It turns out to be an important skill to be able to tell people who really knows the answer. I find the delegating important in my work with the Rock (the seeker friendly LT service sponsored by the YMCA on Saturday nights). I don't know how to do lights, sound, or multimedia, but I delegate it to capable people and they help me run an awesome service.

I also currently find myself reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church. I have a lot of prejudices against mega churches, so it can be hard for me to read this book, but he has some pretty good stuff to say, so I find it pretty fascinating. I'm actually really impressed. This is the fourth book I'll be reading this summer with more to come. I haven't read that many books throughout college, let alone in a month.

Ok...laters

The Rock #2

So another Rock is under the belt here at LT. It went well, other than a plethora of technical difficulties. We had the music show up late, the sound for the laptop wasn't working, the drinks for after weren't ready when I went to pick them up, they forgot to bring cups when they brought the drinks, the projector then shut down during the service, and we went a bit late, but otherwise it went very well. We tried something different with spontaneous out loud prayer during the worship set, and it was pretty sweet. Mike Klunke talked about Being Reconciled to God and our brothers and sisters. It was very good and I think it was well recieved. I truly don't mean to complain about the difficulties either. I think God really got a chance to show his grace through all of this.

PS, now that I have prayer letters sent out, I know some of you might be new to reading this...at least I hope there are some hits from my supporters and friends. Feel free to comment on any post. Ask questions, suggest things...whatever you like. I will try to answer those questions and meet those suggestions.

Hike and Project #2

So on Wednesday, we tried to hike to Black Lake. As you can see, there was a lot of snow, and it was snowing a ton on top of us. We had to turn back at what I understand to be 800 feet short of the lake. It was really cold, and my boots are still soaked. Then I watched Lucky # Slevin with Jennee. It was pretty good, not the best, but pretty good. Then we had project yesterday, and it was good. I thought it went really rough, but people loved it. We had a phenominal prayer time at the end. Next week, we are to be helping with a Vacation Bible School and it's gonna be a lot of fun. The picture is a few of my project peeps. From left ro right it is Wyatt, Amanda, Beth, Aaron, and Gina.

Until Latas...

Thoughts and such

Where does authority come from? I know certain churches say one thing and others say another. But where does authority truly come from? I really want to pour myself into studying scripture to find the truth. An unbiased truth. I really want God to guide me in a way that is pleasing to him and reveals his desires for me.

The snow is starting to melt from the mountains, and that means more and more hikes are opening up. I'm really excited about hitting the trails. It feels like I've been really busy and been unable to hike for a while. Today I got my prayer letters put together so you should be getting those in the mail soon, those of you that support me. As for those that don't, here is a link to my prayer letter in digital form. Box.net. Just click on and download the word document...prayer letter 1.

Also, check out the sweet picture of that man. He was at Mass on Sunday and his facial hair beyond impressed me.

Until later...

The Rock

Well, the first The Rock was last night. Oh glory! It was so much fun to produce it. It went pretty well. There were only a few hitches that got in the way. Afterwards, there were cookies, drinks, and a sweet game of four square. I hope the four square game can happen again and again each week. Ed Courtney talked about Romance Overload and how chick flicks and boy band music can give us inrealistic expectations about relationships. Not that they in themselves are bad, but an overload of them can mess with you.

I also finished a book recently called Rome Sweet Home. It is a fascinating book about a couple's journey to the Catholic Church. It was really helpful for me to understand Catholic doctrine and learn more about my background. I'm really enjoying this summer because I've already done more reading than all school year. I've finished three books and I'm on my fourth. Hopefully this is a trend that can continue through the school year.

A couple of days

Well, it's now Friday, and the first Rock of the summer is tomorrow. Today I find myself preparing for that. Yesterday was my project day, and the day before I went on a hike with some people from Illinois.

It's been a fun and challenging couple of days. We hiked up from the Cub Lake Trailhead to Bear Lake. It was a shortish hike, but it was a lot of fun. I truly enjoyed it. It was snowing as we hiked. Worse, when we got to Bear Lake, we realized that the shuttle bus didn't run and we had no way to get back to our car. Luckily a friend from the Y was up at Bear Lake at the same time and was able to give us a ride back to the car. The rest of the day involved some good old chilling and then dinner in Estes park with Jennee. (sorry about the sideways pic. You get the gist)
Yesterday was our first project group. It was a lot of fun and incredibly challenging. In the morning we had something called SonLife, which is an evangelism training. I really unintentionally spilled my guts. There was a lot of stuff being hit on that I really don't want to mention here, but it was really intense for me. As for the rest of the day, it carried the tone of the morning for me. We did do some fun stuff like play board games and just get to know each other, but I still felt emotionally drained. I however can't wait for the next project day. These are people I'm truly excited about!

Until next time...