This weekend some girls and i went into town to stay at the McGee ranch... you know to get away from our ranch for a while!! We had a great time... just getting out in town, eating and shopping... it was really nice! We got to the McGee Ranch... and it was AMAZING!! I will have pictures for you soon...
So we got to go horse back riding at sunset... it was my first time! It was amazing... after an awkward mounting... i was off! Not as hard as i thought it would be! We then got to go ATVing... which was amazing as well! I was joking around that it was my dream date... but with 3 sistas and a grandma!! But still wonderful nonetheless! We stayed up talking to this wonderful couple... everything from horse racing, to their love story... while eating ice cream! Mr. McGee used to be a pro football player and coached college football for a while... but now own a horse ranch and races horses!! It was such a restful nite! I loved it! The room i was staying in looked out over the ranch and the rocky mountains... it was breathtaking!! That sunday morning we got up early to go horse back riding before church... it was great!! Except for losing my camera! :( I got going in a pretty fast trot... and it fell out somewhere! So we looked for it for a while but had to go eat and get ready for church... so we just prayed that we would find it!
AND THEY DID!! Mrs. McGee and the McGee kids went out to walk around and pray for it... and they did! Hidden in the tall grass... undamaged and everything!! SO WONDERFUL!
So... when i get it back... i will have pictures for you! It was a great weekend!!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
I almost died today...
This morning Mary, Jessie and I went on a hike on the Alpine Trail. Since Jessie and I have been learning how to drive stick... Todd let us take the camp truck up there!! It was my first time driving stick... up a mountain road. A little nerve wrecking... but we made it. It was such a perfect day to hike!
So... the trail was pretty intense. The first time we hiked it we only made it maybe 1/3 of the way up... and the next 2/3 were pretty steep and rocky. We were panting pretty hard... but we heard the view from the top is extraordinary, so we were set on making it to the top! So we did... and as we were reaching the top, we noticed a smaller, offshoot trail to some rock formations. We decided to check them out! WOW!! The view was extraordinary!
So... these rock formations... Jessie started to climb over to them... and thought that we could probably work our way around them... and if we could... the view from the other side would probably be pretty amazing. So she started over. And made it... and i could just watch her... so i followed suit.
What i have to mention is that the rock was really gravelly. It was really loose... so we were slipping around a lot. So.. i was taking it slow and i made it over to her. Then... i wanted to move over to where she was sitting... around the corner of that ledge... so i put one foot on a "steady rock" and then grabbed a rock with my hand to pull myself up and around. Well... both of these thought to be steady rocks crumbled in my hand as i pulled myself up... and both gave way. I the guess natural tendency for such things is to throw your body in the opposite direction... so that's what happened. And i landed... somewhat planted on steady rock. I laughed pretty hard... and Jessie thought i almost died. Well... i kind of almost did. The drop below where we were climbing was steep... but i guess a tree might have caught me! haha!
So as we were sitting up there... and after my heart stopped pounding and my hands stopped shaking... i looked over at Jessie and was like " I think my Mom just might kill me if she knew where i was right now! "
haha...
It was a good morning!!
So... the trail was pretty intense. The first time we hiked it we only made it maybe 1/3 of the way up... and the next 2/3 were pretty steep and rocky. We were panting pretty hard... but we heard the view from the top is extraordinary, so we were set on making it to the top! So we did... and as we were reaching the top, we noticed a smaller, offshoot trail to some rock formations. We decided to check them out! WOW!! The view was extraordinary!
So... these rock formations... Jessie started to climb over to them... and thought that we could probably work our way around them... and if we could... the view from the other side would probably be pretty amazing. So she started over. And made it... and i could just watch her... so i followed suit.
What i have to mention is that the rock was really gravelly. It was really loose... so we were slipping around a lot. So.. i was taking it slow and i made it over to her. Then... i wanted to move over to where she was sitting... around the corner of that ledge... so i put one foot on a "steady rock" and then grabbed a rock with my hand to pull myself up and around. Well... both of these thought to be steady rocks crumbled in my hand as i pulled myself up... and both gave way. I the guess natural tendency for such things is to throw your body in the opposite direction... so that's what happened. And i landed... somewhat planted on steady rock. I laughed pretty hard... and Jessie thought i almost died. Well... i kind of almost did. The drop below where we were climbing was steep... but i guess a tree might have caught me! haha!
So as we were sitting up there... and after my heart stopped pounding and my hands stopped shaking... i looked over at Jessie and was like " I think my Mom just might kill me if she knew where i was right now! "
haha...
It was a good morning!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Voice of God
Hearing, and recognizing the voice of God is hard for me. I am not good at being quiet, and therefore my life, more often than not, is filled with noise. People, computers, music, running, busyness, studying... you name it. You can ask the people closest to me... i hate to be still. Even when i was young i would wake up early, get all ready and just wait for something to do. This "noise" has muffled the voice of God in my life.
So here i am in Colorado. 13 miles off the highway on a dirt road... nestled in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks. It's very quiet up here. So quiet that the deer don't even run away when i run past them on the road!! But, surprisingly, I'm enjoying it!! I knew i needed it... and now I'm soaking it all in. It amazing how once you remove the noise, intentionally, how quickly you begin to hear the Lord.
So the Lord is speaking. In powerful ways, showing me the things that he desires for me. One nite as i was praying, he gave me a vision. The vision was me standing in the midst of all the people i love the most. All of my relationships. And he started to pull me away from them. To where i was standing as if in space, looking down at a world, filled with all the people i loved. And he asked me, "Sarah, would you still worship me if i took all of those relationships, all of those people, away from you? Would i still be enough for you?" WOW! Here i was praying for people, that they would find intimacy with the Lord, and he goes on to ask me to give them up. WHAT? I laid there... scared. I heard the voice of the Lord clearly. But how would i answer that question? With all of my heart i desire to be able to say, hands down, that i would give them all up for the Lord... but it would be so hard. Some of them easier than others, but my family for instance, i don't know, in the depth of my heart, what i would do if he asked me to give them up. So i asked him "Lord, but why?" And he was gentle to say, "Sarah, i am not asking you to give them up, but i am asking you to love and cherish me, alone, enough that all of those people could be taken away from you and you would still worship and adore me."
The Lord is speaking to me... clearly, about specific things. He is preparing me for his work. And that includes showing me, gently, that he desires that i come to the place where i would drop my net, leave my dead to bury the dead, and follow hard after him. That i would count it all a loss to follow and know him. It's a hard calling, but i desire to be used for kingdom purposes... and that means dying to myself that Christ might live in me, completely.
So here i am in Colorado. 13 miles off the highway on a dirt road... nestled in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks. It's very quiet up here. So quiet that the deer don't even run away when i run past them on the road!! But, surprisingly, I'm enjoying it!! I knew i needed it... and now I'm soaking it all in. It amazing how once you remove the noise, intentionally, how quickly you begin to hear the Lord.
So the Lord is speaking. In powerful ways, showing me the things that he desires for me. One nite as i was praying, he gave me a vision. The vision was me standing in the midst of all the people i love the most. All of my relationships. And he started to pull me away from them. To where i was standing as if in space, looking down at a world, filled with all the people i loved. And he asked me, "Sarah, would you still worship me if i took all of those relationships, all of those people, away from you? Would i still be enough for you?" WOW! Here i was praying for people, that they would find intimacy with the Lord, and he goes on to ask me to give them up. WHAT? I laid there... scared. I heard the voice of the Lord clearly. But how would i answer that question? With all of my heart i desire to be able to say, hands down, that i would give them all up for the Lord... but it would be so hard. Some of them easier than others, but my family for instance, i don't know, in the depth of my heart, what i would do if he asked me to give them up. So i asked him "Lord, but why?" And he was gentle to say, "Sarah, i am not asking you to give them up, but i am asking you to love and cherish me, alone, enough that all of those people could be taken away from you and you would still worship and adore me."
The Lord is speaking to me... clearly, about specific things. He is preparing me for his work. And that includes showing me, gently, that he desires that i come to the place where i would drop my net, leave my dead to bury the dead, and follow hard after him. That i would count it all a loss to follow and know him. It's a hard calling, but i desire to be used for kingdom purposes... and that means dying to myself that Christ might live in me, completely.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Importance of a Godly Man
So most of you know that i am working at a family camp this summer. And we just finished our first week long Family Camp. It was wonderful. We felt the Spirit of God present, and God showed up in powerful, powerful ways.
We had seven families come up this week. 14 adults and 30ish kids. Several of the dads we're pretty new believers. Several couples were struggling... a lot. Close to divorce and on the edge of giving up. Some burdened by the pains of the world so much, they came simply seeking to get away from life for a week... so we prayed. We prayed that God would show up and transform these marriages and families. That the love we have for Christ, and as a community of believers, would rub off on the families, to serve and love and encourage them. As the week went on, i could see a change. As they opened up to each other, they began to spend more time with each other. Eating together, hiking together, sitting together, hours on end, in the lodge talking about things that matter! It was extraordinary. God was on the move.
Friday nite is our long nite. Couples are encouraged to share what the Lord has done over the week; in their lives personally, in their marriage, and in their families. I wasn't present in the session but what i heard was radical. God showed up in these marriages. And this is what i saw.
God created the man to lead, to be the head of the family. Not just to lead, but to be the head of his family as Christ is the head of the Church. He was created to be passionate about the glory of Christ, to love and know his word, and to dedicate his life to further the kingdom of God. What i saw this week, and I'm sure will continue to be impressed upon me this summer, is that the husband was created to lead his family. Though it sounds simple, and redundant... i saw the transformation and power of a man working it our practically in his family. As couples were sharing what the Lord had done this week, i realized that the movement of God in the life of the man toward Christlikeness, leads it's family toward true life in Christ. One man confessed his dark sin from years ago and repented. Acknowledging that his sin had damaged his marriage and his family, he begged his fellow believers to hold him accountable to his desire to move his family into the center of the will of God. Freedom came to him. Unity to the marriage and purpose for his family. God broke his bonds of complacency and hardness to sin. One man finally felt the call of God to his family to missions, a promise that his wife had clung to for years. The Lord removed the shingles from his eyes, softened his heart to the AIDS problem in Africa, and he heeded the call of God to mission for his life, and the life of his family. The obedience of the husband encouraged the heart of his wife and moved his family forward into the will of God.
A Godly man, as head of a family, and to lead his wife, is crucial.
In a marriage. A wife desires him for direction. For unity of purpose. She needs him for protection. That he would love his bride as Christ has loved, and continues to love HIs. Such a marriage is radical to the world, and its love is contagious.
In the family. A family needs the dad for direction. For unity of purpose and focus of direction. He points them either towards Christ or distracts them from Him. The power of a family, to do the will of God, starts with the calling of God on the man to lead his family toward Christlikeness and servitude.
I have seen a picture of how a Godly man effects the life of a family. It starts with his personal relationship with Christ. Trickles down into the passion and unity in a marriage. Then trickles down into the family. Loving their kids, pointing them toward Christ. That the family unit would be able to be used by God to further his kingdom. That the kingdom of God would advance because the world would see a radical difference in how the family loves. How each member loves Christ, how the couple loves and sacrifices for each other, how the couple loves their family, and then how the family, as a whole, love others. That Christ would be glorified and his kingdom come.
I'm not married. As most of you know. haha... hope that didn't shock anyone! : )
But, I am dedicated to living my life for the kingdom purposes of God. To adore Christ and magnify him to my world. Nothing less than that. I don't particularly need a man to do that. But, if and when God brings me to the place of marriage, to uniting myself to another person, i want him to have that same focus. And nothing less. I have seen the power that comes when a man is following hard after Christ, who desires to love his wife and lead his family in that same goal. I think that is what God created the family to be.
No wonder it works so stinkin' well!
We had seven families come up this week. 14 adults and 30ish kids. Several of the dads we're pretty new believers. Several couples were struggling... a lot. Close to divorce and on the edge of giving up. Some burdened by the pains of the world so much, they came simply seeking to get away from life for a week... so we prayed. We prayed that God would show up and transform these marriages and families. That the love we have for Christ, and as a community of believers, would rub off on the families, to serve and love and encourage them. As the week went on, i could see a change. As they opened up to each other, they began to spend more time with each other. Eating together, hiking together, sitting together, hours on end, in the lodge talking about things that matter! It was extraordinary. God was on the move.
Friday nite is our long nite. Couples are encouraged to share what the Lord has done over the week; in their lives personally, in their marriage, and in their families. I wasn't present in the session but what i heard was radical. God showed up in these marriages. And this is what i saw.
God created the man to lead, to be the head of the family. Not just to lead, but to be the head of his family as Christ is the head of the Church. He was created to be passionate about the glory of Christ, to love and know his word, and to dedicate his life to further the kingdom of God. What i saw this week, and I'm sure will continue to be impressed upon me this summer, is that the husband was created to lead his family. Though it sounds simple, and redundant... i saw the transformation and power of a man working it our practically in his family. As couples were sharing what the Lord had done this week, i realized that the movement of God in the life of the man toward Christlikeness, leads it's family toward true life in Christ. One man confessed his dark sin from years ago and repented. Acknowledging that his sin had damaged his marriage and his family, he begged his fellow believers to hold him accountable to his desire to move his family into the center of the will of God. Freedom came to him. Unity to the marriage and purpose for his family. God broke his bonds of complacency and hardness to sin. One man finally felt the call of God to his family to missions, a promise that his wife had clung to for years. The Lord removed the shingles from his eyes, softened his heart to the AIDS problem in Africa, and he heeded the call of God to mission for his life, and the life of his family. The obedience of the husband encouraged the heart of his wife and moved his family forward into the will of God.
A Godly man, as head of a family, and to lead his wife, is crucial.
In a marriage. A wife desires him for direction. For unity of purpose. She needs him for protection. That he would love his bride as Christ has loved, and continues to love HIs. Such a marriage is radical to the world, and its love is contagious.
In the family. A family needs the dad for direction. For unity of purpose and focus of direction. He points them either towards Christ or distracts them from Him. The power of a family, to do the will of God, starts with the calling of God on the man to lead his family toward Christlikeness and servitude.
I have seen a picture of how a Godly man effects the life of a family. It starts with his personal relationship with Christ. Trickles down into the passion and unity in a marriage. Then trickles down into the family. Loving their kids, pointing them toward Christ. That the family unit would be able to be used by God to further his kingdom. That the kingdom of God would advance because the world would see a radical difference in how the family loves. How each member loves Christ, how the couple loves and sacrifices for each other, how the couple loves their family, and then how the family, as a whole, love others. That Christ would be glorified and his kingdom come.
I'm not married. As most of you know. haha... hope that didn't shock anyone! : )
But, I am dedicated to living my life for the kingdom purposes of God. To adore Christ and magnify him to my world. Nothing less than that. I don't particularly need a man to do that. But, if and when God brings me to the place of marriage, to uniting myself to another person, i want him to have that same focus. And nothing less. I have seen the power that comes when a man is following hard after Christ, who desires to love his wife and lead his family in that same goal. I think that is what God created the family to be.
No wonder it works so stinkin' well!
Friday, June 6, 2008
A Week Without Campers
This week there wasn't camp. I had monday and tuesday off... but the rest of the week we did a bunch of stuff around the camp. Ill just break it down by the days!
Monday: We went to Ouray... read the blog before this one for the dl on it!
Tuesday: We went out to SilverJack Reservoir. It was sooo pretty... we drove out there with Todd and Nicolette (the youth guy and his wife) and Todd showed us all the trail heads for the hikes we want to go on!! We hiked down to the bottom of the reservoir... and on the way down we kind of decided to hike a fourteener this summer! So we're going to train, basically go on some harder hikes... so get ready for the fourteener!! it should be AMAZING! (a fourteener is a mountain over 14,000 ft.)
Wednesday: Must have not been that exciting... i don't remember!
Thursday: IT SNOWED!!! yup... it actually snowed! it was amazing. It was like 40 degrees outside and i was manning the trash fire... it didn't last very long! : )
Friday: that's today. Let's see... we all helped Todd and Nicolette move back into their house. Then i cleaned out the craft and sports cabin. The sports cabin was filled with spiders and their nasty webs... SICK... but now it's clean and organized!! I also learned that in the winter the lake freezes over and they play hockey on it... that's pretty sweet!
Welp... right now im blogging, doing some laundry, and watching this movie called Hoodwinked... with my sistas! Not that you care what im doing right now... but just in case!
Tomorrow is our day off... i need some rest!
Anyway, more to come later! : ) Maybe something more thought provoking! haha
Monday: We went to Ouray... read the blog before this one for the dl on it!
Tuesday: We went out to SilverJack Reservoir. It was sooo pretty... we drove out there with Todd and Nicolette (the youth guy and his wife) and Todd showed us all the trail heads for the hikes we want to go on!! We hiked down to the bottom of the reservoir... and on the way down we kind of decided to hike a fourteener this summer! So we're going to train, basically go on some harder hikes... so get ready for the fourteener!! it should be AMAZING! (a fourteener is a mountain over 14,000 ft.)
Wednesday: Must have not been that exciting... i don't remember!
Thursday: IT SNOWED!!! yup... it actually snowed! it was amazing. It was like 40 degrees outside and i was manning the trash fire... it didn't last very long! : )
Friday: that's today. Let's see... we all helped Todd and Nicolette move back into their house. Then i cleaned out the craft and sports cabin. The sports cabin was filled with spiders and their nasty webs... SICK... but now it's clean and organized!! I also learned that in the winter the lake freezes over and they play hockey on it... that's pretty sweet!
Welp... right now im blogging, doing some laundry, and watching this movie called Hoodwinked... with my sistas! Not that you care what im doing right now... but just in case!
Tomorrow is our day off... i need some rest!
Anyway, more to come later! : ) Maybe something more thought provoking! haha
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ouray
Today was our day off and we went into Ouray... it's a little town about an hour and a half away. The drive into the valley was wonderful... we listened to some bluegrass tunes! Particularly fitting that we were driving through the backwoods! : ) I really wish i could explain how pretty it is... but i just don't know where to start. You'll just have to trust me that it really was amazing!!
Well we got into town and drove up a little to the trailhead for the waterfall. It was soo beautiful! I wasn't exactly dressed to hike... i was sportin' my rainbows... but i had to do it. So we hiked up a little... almost right under the waterfall. I don't think i've ever seen a waterfall that close before. It rocked! We hung out there for a while... and then went back into town. This super cute little tourist town... basically a "pass through" town. There were some sweet shops... we got some ice cream and walked around. It was a great day!! I think we'll go back to hike up to the other waterfall in that area... which is bigger and requires a little more hiking. Next time i won't wear my rainbows! California girl still getting use to wearing shoes. I'm getting better though! : ) Good day!!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Life in the Woods
So i've had my first encounters with life in the woods.
Note to self... scented lotion= bad idea. Bad idea= mosquito bites. Mosquito bites= itchy nogoodness. Since i spend most of my day outside trekkin' in the woods with the kids... i've gotten several bites. I HATE MOSQUITO BITES! They must like my California sweetness or something! : ) haha
We also found bear scat right outside of our lodge. And some boys said they saw one on the trail... so... we have bears. AWESOME possum! Actually awesome bear... but that doesn't rhyme.
I also went running the other morning and ran up on some sleeping deer, who, startled by my noise, hurried across the road like 15 feet in front of me! CRAZY!
Lastly a short story for my frequent readers.
Last night was campfire nite. After star gazing and putting out the fire my fellow interns and i headed to our cabin to sleep. So Jessie, who sleeps next to me, Mary, who sleep in the loft above us, and I went to bed. Coz and Kati were in the other room in Coz's loft, talking. RIght as I was falling asleep... giggling and screaming came from the other room. My thought was, they going to be all rowdy... not so much. The door opens. "Is anyone awake in here" Jessie: "No"... Sarah: "kind of"...Coz and Kati: "THERE'S A DEAD MOUSE IN THE LOFT". So we jump out of bed and run up there... only to be met with the stench of rotting nastiness. Coz thought it was her laundry... but when the smell continuously got worse... she decided to look for something dead. Yup... there it was... in the trap, dead and all. SICK. Jessie... the wonder-outdoors-women of us all took it and threw it outside. So... i guess it's said that where there's one mouse there are probably others... i'm not a fan of that. We did post cabin check today after our guests left and we had to reset mouse traps.... those suckas are stinkin' scary to set.
Anyway, today i went fishing for crawfish in the lake with some kiddos... you know using some plastic cups and what not. We caught two and a fish... and saw a water snake! that was pretty awesome!
Welp... there's my update on life in the woods.
Note to self... scented lotion= bad idea. Bad idea= mosquito bites. Mosquito bites= itchy nogoodness. Since i spend most of my day outside trekkin' in the woods with the kids... i've gotten several bites. I HATE MOSQUITO BITES! They must like my California sweetness or something! : ) haha
We also found bear scat right outside of our lodge. And some boys said they saw one on the trail... so... we have bears. AWESOME possum! Actually awesome bear... but that doesn't rhyme.
I also went running the other morning and ran up on some sleeping deer, who, startled by my noise, hurried across the road like 15 feet in front of me! CRAZY!
Lastly a short story for my frequent readers.
Last night was campfire nite. After star gazing and putting out the fire my fellow interns and i headed to our cabin to sleep. So Jessie, who sleeps next to me, Mary, who sleep in the loft above us, and I went to bed. Coz and Kati were in the other room in Coz's loft, talking. RIght as I was falling asleep... giggling and screaming came from the other room. My thought was, they going to be all rowdy... not so much. The door opens. "Is anyone awake in here" Jessie: "No"... Sarah: "kind of"...Coz and Kati: "THERE'S A DEAD MOUSE IN THE LOFT". So we jump out of bed and run up there... only to be met with the stench of rotting nastiness. Coz thought it was her laundry... but when the smell continuously got worse... she decided to look for something dead. Yup... there it was... in the trap, dead and all. SICK. Jessie... the wonder-outdoors-women of us all took it and threw it outside. So... i guess it's said that where there's one mouse there are probably others... i'm not a fan of that. We did post cabin check today after our guests left and we had to reset mouse traps.... those suckas are stinkin' scary to set.
Anyway, today i went fishing for crawfish in the lake with some kiddos... you know using some plastic cups and what not. We caught two and a fish... and saw a water snake! that was pretty awesome!
Welp... there's my update on life in the woods.
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