Winding Down

Hard to believe it, but our time (as staff) in Vail is just about to end. It has been the most rewarding, encouraging and refreshing few weeks that I have experienced in quite a while. I feel so grateful to God for the gift he has given me in this summer assignment.

The past few weeks have been full since my last post. We've hiked, rafted, sought to connect with people in the Valley, fasted (story to come in another post), experienced great connection through our men's/women's weekend, shared our faith, prayed and truly, we have seen God move.

In fact, I am taking a minute to type while we wait for our adventure race teams to come back to "home base" - today we've sent students and staff out to do about 30 miles of swimming, hiking, biking and taking part in mental challenges as well. I was along the course for a while and am taking a minute to breathe while they work their way back home. I do like my job. :)

Here are some photos of recent times with these new friends...

Me and Darci out in Vail Village

Jenade, Chance, Me & Darci out in the Village

The women of VSP 2007 - head of the Gore Creek Trail

Candy & Me on the Gore Creek Trail - she's such a sweet student!

Shannon, Lyndsey, Angela and Jo at the Whailer's Concert
Jenade, Chance and Me at the Whailer's Concert

Vail!

(Me, Chance, Luke & Jenade in Vail Village)

What could be better than spending the summer (at least a good portion of it) in Vail, Colorado with a team of tremendous staff, loads of fun students with a purpose greater than all of us combined? Nothing, quite honestly, in my opinion. :) I'm having an incredible time and although I'm quite busy, the change has felt more like vacation than work. That's a good thing.

And, I remember... I love my job.

This summer, we're engaging with the people in the Vail Valley in some unique ways. We're trusting God to work in our lives and through our lives to bless the community, grow us in our faith and open doors for us to talk about the Kingdom. Our focus and prayer is that we would be a humble group of people that really seek to have the attitude of Christ (Philippians 2:5). We so desire to serve and love on those around us. We are asking God to connect us with people who are on a spiritual journey (all people, really) so we can come alongside them in that process and we're hoping and praying that many people will meet Jesus and understand, on a heart level, the love of God through him in their lives today.

I'm so blessed and thankful for this time away from the routine of the city to encounter the Lord, enjoy his creation (people and the gorgeous Rockies), and spend some time really listening to his voice this summer. How awesome to be back home, training these staff and students and enjoying the Lord.

Some highlights:

Teva Games - We spent the afternoon talking with people in Vail about life and spirituality.



The Samples - I am old, officially. When I shared my enthusiasm with our students that The Samples would be playing in Vail Village during the Teva Games, I received blank stares in response. I, however, enjoyed part of the show and returned to my "youth" for 45 minutes. :)



Snow! - Yep, you read that correctly! June 7th & 8th, we awoke to find snow flying outside of our condo windows. Yesterday, during a hike with our staff team, we couldn't believe our eyes as part of the mountains were hidden behind a snowstorm! It was awesome and we were a little chilly. Pictures to come later. My batteries died.