Week 11

This quarter is a short quarter, we normally have 12 weeks of lecture, but because of Christmas, and a change in schedule earlier this year we have one less week. This also means that the teams that are about to head out will be gone for eight weeks rather than the normal 7.
Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching in the DTS, a session on servant leadership. When I was in SBF I did an in depth study on the life of Jonathan. His life is such an example of leadership. I enjoyed being able to go back and study again a teaching I'd done in the past. Definitely never stop learning! We focused on some keys to good leadership. Humility, Courage, Loyalty, Obedience, Confidence in God, and Risk, laying down our lives to serve others.
As I pondered I was absolutely struck by the way that Jonathan laid down his right, in the natural to be king. He was the heir to the throne, but human right. From the outside looking in for him to give up his place and stand behind David was absolutely crazy. His fear of God and understanding of God's authority is something I want to recognize more and more in my own life. So when in the natural something may seem logical- I'll still go with what God has said.
I'll have the week of Christmas off, and will be coming home! Looking forward to a week of rest. I would like to see whoever I can, but I know with the busy-ness of the season it's not all that conducive to a good cup of coffee with everyone! As amazing and fun as that would be!
The following week we start staff training for the winter quarter. I will be staffing our Snowboarders DTS this winter! We currently have about 30 students registered and potentially there will be more.
Stay tuned for some "info" blogs..I've been considering spending some time on my blog to go into some of these things ...like what does it really mean to "staff" a school? What does my day look like? How do we function day to day, what does a student learn? what is the point of doing a DTS? Why take 5 months of your life to spend here? Questions like that! If you have a specific one you'd like me to answer I'd Love to include it so let me know!

A B C's of Thankfulness..

1 Thess. 5:16-24
Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit;
do not despise prophetic utterances.
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you entirely;
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

"A thankful heart is a happy heart..that's why I thank God every day!"
Thankfulness really does keep our hearts in perspective.

ABC's of thanksgiving ..for me this year..

A - All of my friends here, and everywhere...really too many to list. I'm so blessed to have such an incredibly huge circle of friends.
B- Beans..Coffee beans. Coffee...:-)
C- Church on the Rock, my home church family. I love you all. (As well as all the other church family I have from the body of Christ!)
D-Denver, I love living in this place..so much sunshine.
E- Eggs, yes I actually like them again. They'e become a staple in breakfast. SImple things..but a blessing none the less!
F- Family (Dad, Mom, Michael, Cilla, jace, Rylan, Christy, Konrad, Shayla, Baby, Julie, Andy, Jodi, Jesse, Mindy, Renae, Jamon and Emily..and of course all of my extensions of family.
G-God, my creator, lover of my soul..Thank you for radically transforming my life.
H- Holy Spirit, thank you. Move in and through my life.
I- Ice Cream. Yummmmm!
J-Jesus, thank you. My life is Yours.
K-Kids, such part of my life- Isaac, Jada, Emily, Ivan, Reegan, Keeana, Zoe, Shane, Jocelyn, Jubilee, Jessa..
L-Learning, I don't ever, ever want to stop. The more we learn the more there is to learn.
M- More and more and more and more God..He just keeps getting bigger, the longer I know Him.
N-Nature, so simple yet so complex.
O-Orange flavored candy. Yes it's still my favorite after all these years.
P-Provision, I am constantly reminded of God's faithfulness every single day of my life.
Q- Quality conversation...
R-Restoration, I've seen more healing and restoration and redemption this year in the lives of those around me than ever..God continue to increase it, Bring it!
S-Snowboarding. I'm so excited for the coming season!
T- Tennis, I enjoyed playing all summer with Abbi and Chey and random others who would join us.
U-United Pursuit Band, one of my current favorites..so anointed in worship. I love worshiping God with their music.
V- Vineyard church. Reaching up, reaching in, reaching out.
W-Water, my favorite drink.
X-treme hail storm that totalled my car, making it paid off! Rather a blessing in disguise!
Y- Year of adventure, it so quickly passed with....
Z- Zero regrets for living life sold out to the King of Kings.

Heart cry.

People.
They are what make up life.
People.
Conversations. Laughter. Tears.
Color of life. Dancing with joy together.
Weeping together- seeing the pain...
and the hope.

God's heart breaks when we discount
the art of His creation -others.

When I walk into a room-
what do I see?
Do I see God's design?
The kaleidoscope of beauty?

Or do I fail to recognize it
because of selfishness and pride
because of hardness
because of blindness
because of my own lens..

.....Jesus
Fill me up God.
Fill me to overflowing.
Let your love so fill me up that
when I see others-
I see You.

So quickly time goes! Where do we spend it?!
The trip to Nashville brought with it for me a time of refreshing, renewed vision and energy to keep pressing in to what God has for life with Him.
When we ask- He gives
When we seek- We find
When we knock- He opens the door and welcomes us in with arms wide open.
When we ask for more of Him; He rejoices. When we seek His face- we see it and when we knock on the door of his heart, he invites us to enter in.

Psalm 25:12-14
Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
His soul will abide in prosperity,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant.

Nashville was a much needed time for the school with teaching on a life style of worship, our identity in Christ, Hearing His voice and obeying.

Worth Reading: A Scribble from Ted Dekker.
sorry i don't know how to make this one a link, so u will have to copy and paste

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=159976469854&id=33118526056&ref=nf

Worth Watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPNbGuU-dkc

God brought up the topic

Reading and mediating on the story of Abraham when he was interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah. I was struck by how God's heart is revealed. He desires to share with Abraham what was on His heart. Gen. 18:17-18 He says..."Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?"

So... as Abraham is before Him, in His presence the LORD brings it up.

How often when we are in God's presence are we silent enough to allow Him to bring things up?

As Abraham spoke with God about the nations He was ready to destroy, Abraham called on the Mercy of God. "if there are 50..45...40.." all the way down to 10.

And the next day (Gen 19:27-28)...."Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace."

As Abraham watched the Cities be destroyed, what went through His mind? What would go through your mind? Sometimes we stand watching a situation we have prayed and interceded for, and it seems that all is lost. And yet, God is so faithful, in the midst of ruins God's mercy is extended...

19:29

"Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived."

How Long before Abraham knew that Lot and his family were saved? Did he ever know? Sometimes we will intercede for people, for nations, for situations and never know the outcome. Yet, when we intercede we can know that God hears, and God is gracious.

Feels like Fall

Hi!

It's been a rainy and kind of chilly day here in Colorado. Been in recovery from a little sickness. Its been a good time to read though. Been reading No Compromise The story of Keith Green. It was a gift to all of us on staff from our base directors.

I've been challenged by the way Keith and Melody (his wife) lived out so radically the life of discipleship and love of Christ. "We wanted pure, undiluted Christianity- not a slightly modified version." Simply put.

I'd encourage you to read it if you have a moment to sit down with a compelling, challenging, well written book.

Working on a newsletter that I'm going to print out. If you would like to receive it and I may not have your actual mailing address just let me know..or if you want to receive the email version.

Prayer Requests

*To find personal time in the midst of a busy schedule.

time to get the random stuff done.

*Financial supporters for moving off campus.

*Preparations for teaching Hebrews

*Continued wisdom in discipleship

*Finances for all ten of the students as they prepare to go to Ukraine

*The Around the world team currently in Mozambique, leaving soon for South America, and our Costa Rica team.

Health, divine appointments, ministry opportunities, hearts soft to the gospel

*Complete strengthening and healing of my ankle, it's been weak for the past 5 years, and lately has been giving me a lot of issues.

Thank you all for your prayers over the past 2 years since I've returned to YWAM. God has been so gracious and loving. It's been an incredible couple of years of growth, challenge and fun.

New Season

Today is the first day of Staff training for summer DTS. I'm looking forward to this new season! Learning new things, being challenged in new areas, growing in new ways, meeting new people. We have 10 currently, possibly 11 in the Camp the Rockies DTS.

This morning we took so

me time to pray about where we are at, and where we feel like God wants to take us. For me I realized I am

very much in a season right now

where God has surrounded me by peace and just trusting that He's got me. It's fun. It's kinda like I'm on the edge of a picnic table and when He says "jump I'll catch you" that it's going to be a fun time! What an amazing God we have.

He put on my heart the lyrics to an old Skypark song, and this is where I want to be. To

see the beauty in the the things that might look messy and unattractive in the world's eyes, but to see the potential...

"That's What God Does"

jump in the mess of human

lives undressed
and sin unconfessed, and see beauty

look at the sea of misfits and misery
and cry 'til you

bleed and see beauty

that's was God does, why can't

we?

waste all the best on the most dishonored guest
when she's unimpressed, and see beauty
give 'til your gone to

the least deserving one

and call him your son and see beauty

everyone i know has failed me

should i let them take that cross and nail me?

Another new thing that is

happening this quarter...

each week a group of our staff will be heading down to Art for

the Nations to paint bags and fill them with art supplies. These bags are taken all over the world with

mission

teams. Our Mexico team personally took 4 of the bags. They are a huge blessing to the kids as well as to each team!

Refreshing Vacation! And then some...

A true vacation....

I took a last minute trip to NH after outreach..and am so glad I did! It was very restful to sleep in day after day, to have time to read and write and study. My aunt Pat is very hospitable (and also doesn't mind when I come and go and come and go visiting friends). Next to my bed when I arrived was a cold water bottle, and on the pillow a little candy. :-)

I surprised my sister and also my brother. What fun! Pat and Grandma picked me up and then the next day we ran to Christy's (my sister) work to say hello. Imagine the look on her face! It was priceless.

This is the first trip I'd taken to NH in quite some time where I felt like I got to catch up with so many people, and not feel rushed about it. My grandma was there from WA for my cousin Reid's wedding. My cousin Johnny was also in the area so I got to catch up with him and hear what God is doing all over the place, he travels the world on a regular basis.

Answered prayers from long ago....

While visiting with my aunts one day they were talking about this bus driver for their kids who had been so encouraging and was walking with the Lord and really making a difference..and the name sounded so familiar. It took me a bit to register who he was, but much to my excitement we put the pieces together to discover that he is the father of one of my students from back in 2001. Wow! God answered prayers!! It's incredible to hear years later that the family has come to the Lord.

I was reminded to not give up praying for those who we sometimes forget to pray for when we don't see them on a daily basis.

All in all...

I'm so thankful it worked out to go!

Now what's next?!

I've been back in Denver for a couple of days, jumping full swing back into the accounting office, scrubbing a few floors, chopping a bit of fruit, you know..that sort of thing!

This is week 11 of the Spring quarter, which means next week the Phase 2 graduates and the rest of the DTS leaves for Costa Rica! (part of the school already left to go around the world). We will have a week in the middle of transition and then Summer quarter.

Our current summer school #'s are really low with 4 in the SBF (School of Biblical Foundations) and about 9 in the DTS. I am not sure yet exactly what I will be doing. All I know is, each and every moment of every single day is the moments we are given to serve Him and to love others. So lets enjoy every last drop...

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thess. 5: 16-18

A picture says a thousand words

I thought rather than trying to write pages and pages I would let the pictures tell you the story of our outreach to Cancun & Puerto Escondido Mexico. While it's hard to pick and chose I hope this video introduces you to a little bit of what the last five months have been like! As you capture glimpses of our team, I want to thank you for praying for us. Each one of them was such an intrinsic part of God's plan. We wouldn't have been "The Mexico Team" with out each member. (1 Cor. 12)!

There are moments that can not be captured by camera, there are thousands of memories. We left behind many friends in all the places we went.

A few photos..with more to come.

Welcome to Mexico where We spent many fun days in Ministry. Here you will see a few photos, The way they landed..the first one is our great team, all tanned up and going strong the last week of outreach. The second is little Lilly playing with the sock puppets we did with the children at one of the Bible studies.

You can see the 3rd some of the work we did at the soccer field. We worked at the soccer field so many days, helping to dig a whole in the hill where a shed would be built to hold equipment. We also built a retaining wall.

We didn't do so much drama ministry in Puerto Escondido as we did in Cancun, but here is a photo of the children when we went two hours one day to a village called San Agustin. It's right on the ocean, and there was this open air service going on. We got to join the pastor who is planting a church there, in sharing dramas and testimonies.

The last photo is a photo of Playa Carrizalillo, a view from up at Mike and Vanessa's house. (one of our contacts.)

So I thought it would be fun to post a few photos every so often for the next few days to give a glimpse of different things of the trip.

Today is Graduation for the Boarders DTS..they will all head out to continue in the different things God has for them!

just a note...

Personally I have really been super blown away by the ministries at work down here in Puerto Escondido. God is doing some incredible stuff! I loved going to the Mom´s group and am really excited to go back the next couple of weeks. Vanessa (wife of Mike who started Surfers for Christ International) has started a group for the surfer mom´s. It´s just a way to reach out to the community, many of the mom´s are from places like Australia and germany. some are from Mexico but there are a lot of transplants in this town. So through the group it´s an opportunity to build relationship's and speaking into peoples lives the love and truth of Christ! Pretty cool! Through the Mom´s group, the bible studies, the soccer ministry, all of these things, lives are touched and changed forever.
I´ve been really thinking a lot about ministry, missions..it´s got so many facets and we all have a part.

Tid bits of Mexico

Bucket Showers. Hammocks for sleeping. Beans and Rice. Sinote´s underground (as in swimming in a cave), as well as sinote´s above ground. Park Ministry. Building churches. Late nights. Early mornings. Easter Celebrations...2 long 3 hour church services in Spanish (with Jamie Martin translating the jist of it all. He did well.) Children´s ministry, teaching dramas. 3 skateboarders came to know the Lord the other night. Lots of prayer, laughter, joy and growing in the team.

Just a few tidbits of what is going on down here. We are finishing up our time here in Cancun. We spent the last 5 days in a village called Xcan (pronounced ISH'Con). We girls lived in one little house and the boys in another. We were so blessed to be there. THe boys helpèd every day with carrying large rocks to build the floor of a church. We girls taught the teens dramas and did some children´s programs. there was also several drama ministry times.
We leave at 11 tomorrow to head to Puerto Escondido on our 26 hour bus ride!
thanks for your prayers. I seriously have felt them..especially in the area of tiredness. I haven´t really been tired all that much at all. Please pray for the entire time in that area though! There have been a lot of people who have been struggling daily with ongoing tiredness.
Lots of love.

hey friends!

Just taking a moment here to update. I've realized it's rather difficult to find the time to get on a computer and really write something quality. Know that we are doing really well. Have a few people recovering from a strep/flu bout, as well as some pretty mean sunburns from falling asleep in the sun.
Tomorrow we head for a little village. Not sure what all we will be doing there, but it's bound to be an adventure! Just found out that our contact there is a woman named Sandra who translated for us last time I was here. She's a riot...and knows where to get great cheap hammocks. Think i will sleep in one them here real soon! So excited about what God is doing and the way our team has been able to bless this local church here "vida de cancun"- we have been working on two of their mission churches in local villages. Today was the last day for that.
Keep praying for us.
A personal prayer request:
Wisdom and perseverance!

Hey everyone! I hope you are doing well. I am writing from an internet cafe here in Cancun Mexico. it is about a ten minute walk from the house we are staying in, and amazing or what..it has air conditioning!
Everything is going well here in Cancun. We spent most of the week working on a church and spending time with the children in the village around the church. Yesterday some of the team was able to put a roof on a house for a family who needed it! Also some handed out clothing to families that needed it.
I´m learning a lot about what it means to always always always speak lovingly and to deal with issues as they arise with God´s eyes! We have a team of 19 students and in a lot of ways my job is to make sure the girls on the team are doing ok, and have somebody they can talk to about things. Being on the mission field is lots of fun, it´s very rewarding, but there are also a lot of tough things to go through!
Every day I walk to the store and we get bread- the bread is sooooo good! Seriously, fresh rolls every day...it cost only about 2.00 for enough bread for the whole team, so we buy it fresh every day. We are eating a lot of pineapples and mangos, tortillas, beans and rice. I could live off of it all forever!
Today we went to two church services. Both were translated into English which was really nice. The team shared dramas at both churches to encourage the people!
We had an opportunity to also share dramas and testimonies at the park right by where we are staying. It´s fun because we can go back again and again and build friendships with the people.
Thanks for praying for us!

We´ve arrived!

We made it safely to Mexico! The airport travel went unbelievably well! Praise the Lord! we know it was all the prayers. Getting 21 people checked in, through security and to the gate in under an hour was amazing! To top it off we made it through customs in probably 20 minutes and then in Cancun all of our bags arrived and were coming through the concourse when we got off the plane!
So now we are as a team settling in to what is to be our new home for the next couple of weeks. Everyone has been so flexible, already meals are in full swing..everyone is eating tortillas and beans and rice like natives.
Shopping for a week was a lot of fun. Matt and I headed down to the store and surveyed the costs and quanities, shopped for the day and then took our team leaders down with a basic menu for the rest of the day.
Already some of the guys have made friends with some kids at a skate park around the corner. we are looking forward to beginning work tomorrow on a church.
Thanks for your prayers!

Church on the Hill.

This week the Mexico team lead the service on the hill at Breckenridge. Here is a video of the drama. They did an excellent job! It was a beautiful day for an outdoor service and quite a few came.

Thanks for your continued love and support- we leave in just over 2 weeks!!!!

intercession: Intercepting the plans of the enemy and causing a spiritual interchange. -Alice Smith

History belongs to the Intercessor- Walter Wink

God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede. -- Oswald Chambers

There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him. --William Law

Rich is the person who has a praying friend. --Janice Hughes

“If you do not know that life is war, you will not know what prayer is for. in the Christian life, life is war, a spiritual battle that happens to us from the day we are born to the day we die.” -John Piper

Ezek. 22.:30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”

I wanted to share with you glimpses of the things God is bringing me through right now, the biggest being that of intercession. He keeps showing me over and over and over again how much He wants our hearts to be for people in Intercession, to fight on behalf of others. My prayer lately has been God show me your heart.

"Through our God, we shall do valiantly, it is HE who treads down our enemy. We'll sing and shout the victory- CHRIST is KING! "

SHINE

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:4
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Every day we walk this earth, we are bearers of the Light. The Light which is life, abundant life.


The Gospel does not become public truth for a society by being propagated as a theory or as
a worldview and certainly not as a religion. It can become public truth only insofar as it is
embodied in a society (the church) which is both “abiding in” Christ and engaged in the life
of the world. -Leslie Newbigin

This week as we had our spring staff conference, we've been challenged with the lives we live, we are reflectors of the light. The light is in us, people see our lives as a picture of the Light of Christ.

Live it. Love extravagantly. Wrap your arms around the hurting, intercede for the broken, pound the gates of heaven on behalf of the poor, lost and dying..but most of all-bring the light into the dark places. The smallest, tiniest light in a dark room can illuminate a path to the door.

Have a good week!

A few details!

We have our tickets! Our team of 22 will fly out on the 30th of March to Cancun. Details of our travel between locations are still being processed. We will fly out of Mexico City on the 15th of May. There are 19 students on our team and 3 staff. 

Our first team meeting was today. The students are now doing some country research to get to know the location and they will also be starting drama/puppet practice. In the mean time the details of the trip are being worked out. Matt, who is leading the team has been planning for a while so now Foster (the other assistant) and I will help him where he needs help in the preparations. 

Please be praying for our team for:

*Incredible Unity

*God's direction

*Quick healing for several of our students

Alex-sprained ankle

Derrick-having surgery on a broken leg

Kyle-sick

*Details to fall into place (budgeting, bus travel, ministry timing..etc.) 

Thanks for taking the time to read and to pray for us here! 

GSE

So, when you get sick..say a cold, a cough, a scratchy sore throat..what do you do?

Well, my personal preference is to sleep all day and also take something called Grapefruit Seed Extract by Nutribiotic. A friend of mine introduced me to it a year ago..and you know, it works. I've so far cured strep throat with it (in combo with Echinacea Supreme) and can kick a cold in a matter of 24 hours..or avoid it all together. 

In doing some research today I discovered some people use it to disinfect their houses, as a shampoo additive, as deodorant, and even nose spray and face wash. You probably won't see me trying most of those..but hey whatever works! Just thought I'd share that little tidbit. It's even been known to work on IBS.

Have a lovely day. 

12 lessons I have learned in life.

So there is a new forward going around called "12 things I learned the hard way" ..decided I would use this to share it sort of...some of these I have learned the hard way, some through observation and some from wise people.  

1. You don't stop living because you grow old, you grow old because you stop living. 

2. Time is a good healer, when you let the wound heal properly and don't just cover it up with a band-aid. 

3. It's okay if you don't have it all together. We are more useful when we are broken and Jesus' light can pour out. 

4. Early to bed and early to rise (plus exercise and eating right) makes a big difference in every aspect! 

5. Time = Relationship

6. God is Jehovah Jireh- My Provider.

7. It's about the journey- not only the destination.

8. It's not my job to fix people, but point them to the Fixer. 

9. Flexibility is the key to success. And when you are flexible you can't be bent out of shape. 

10. Don't ever, ever, ever stop learning. 

11. When you are in leadership you live in a fishbowl- all eyes on you. So how will you live? 

12. Which ever man we feed is the one that lives. 

All in one short night.

Friday...the snow began to fall.

I had a couple extra hours in the afternoon so instead of waiting until 5 to have dinner with my friend Heather, we grabbed an early one while my laundry finished. I wanted to get up the mountain before it got to late. 

The flurries stopped..not much on the ground down here, only an inch or so at Eaglerock..should be fine. 

About 5 miles up the mountain the fog was so intensely think I switched the car to first gear and crept along the mountain, curve after curve. Slow going. Slow and steady. Every so often I pulled over to let other cars pass. 

"God, please please let the worst of the curves be clear of fog." Up ahead I knew there was a set of curves that slowly wind back down a bit. Thankfully- ANSWERED PRAYER! The curves were clear. Still winding slowly as it flattened out and then when up hill, I came up to several stopped cars. I thought..Oh no, what is going on, please don't let it be an accident. 2 cars were off to the side of the road and I had to stop completely- on a sheet of sheer ice..the fog was freezing to the road. A little snow along the edges but that was not so bad. Why were they stopped? Across the road ahead of me was a van..turned completely sideways. Oh no, it

 looks like one of ours. Praying and sitting there i watched as a large red truck pulled the van-straightening it out. 

Could I inch forward? Spin, spin, spin. oh no, I'm stuck here on the mountain, I have no service. Those are people I know!!! What is going on?! One of the cars off to the side must be 4 wheel drive, it gets going again. The other attempts to turn around..sliding across the road in front of me, it winds up facing down hill. I'm still stuck. Lights are coming up behind me..where are my flashers...WHY doesn't the car have interior lights?! (Not driving my own car- a base vehicle that currently has MUCH better tires than my own..) Finally with the use of my phone i find the flashers. A jeep is pulled up right behind me. I'm crying, God help me get out of here. Thank you for getting me here safely so far. I realized the jeep had pulled up so far I couldn't let my foot off the break and I couldn't go forward. A snow plow came and went around us, between me and the car facing down hill. The jeep creeps around me on the right, and I slid over to the freshly graveled path and catch the tires. YES..I can move!!! 

Around the bend I see the maroon van, it's been pulled off to the side, who is it? Several of the girls, my friend Hannah on staff is driving. Two of the girls get in with me, and the man who pulled them to safety is a deputy in Denver. He helped them get the van to a level spot and then dropped the other 2 off at Eaglerock. Thankfully we all made it safely home. 

We tell our story and hug in relief. Thankful for God's protection and the help of others. 

That's not all....

3:30 am..there is a knock on the door. What time is it? why are they knocking?! 

"Quick get to the gym. The fire alarm is going off in the dining hall. Get out!"

Stumbling in the dark Hannah and I find our boots and coats and run up the gym. There is smoke, but it doesn't look too be too bad. Shivering we wait, all the DTS is at the Xgames so there weren't many to get to the gym. A garbage can was on fire. Ashes thought to be out, had been put in there and through the night had smoldered and caught the trash on fire...causing the dining room to fill with smoke. One of the guys on our staff took the can and threw it outside, so everything was okay. It was just a long night before the smoke was clear enough for the alarm to stop. 

In less than 12 hours, there had been more craziness than I'd been around in a while!

We are thankful and blessed that everyone is fine, and all is well! 

Stay tuned..my life is never boring. (how can it be?!) 

YEAH!

I am so stoked, the last 2 days I was able to get out and go snowboarding with the BDTS. Thanks friends! I am so incredibly blown away! Snowboarding is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. I was super nervous about getting off the lifts, but 4 out of 5 times yesterday were successes! Even the one time that Eunmi and I got off together and she was holding on to me..we almost ran a skier over! Oops! 

Eunmi is from S. Korea, we have students from S. Korea, England, S. Africa, Ethiopia, Canada, Mexico, Romania, Australia, Germany (i think?) & of course the states! It's so fun to have so many places represented. And when we as believers all come together it's a beautiful kaleidoscope of God's creativity.

Today I am just relaxing and resting my aching neck and shoulders! (hurting from falling.) 

Tomorrow we all go down the mountain and spend the day down so everyone can do laundry, buy things they need and we will have our weekly staff meeting with those who are staying down all the time. 

Being up here in the mountains is really good for students and staff. We are all in close community and you know the whole concept of "iron sharpening iron" ...that happens! You can't walk away from the things that bother you, so you have to deal with selfishness and God can hone a lot of tough areas! Try living with 91 other people sometime :-) 

Happy New Year!

2008 has come and gone.

2009 is here. 

"Rejoice always and again, I say REJOICE.

Let your gentleness be known unto all men, 

the Lord is near.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything give thanks with prayer and supplication

Letting your requests be known unto God,

and the peace which passes all understanding will rule in your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:4-7

Since returning from a restful, but snowy, trip to WA I've been back in the whirlwind of getting ready for another quarter here. Monday started off with a staff meeting and then packing up much of my belongings to move up to our mountain campus. It takes a half hour up a very windy road to get to the campus. 

That afternoon many of us drove up in several vans pulling all of our things. This quarter looks very different than any other quarters previous. Usually our winter quarter runs 3 schools. A Boarders Discipleship Training in the mountains, a regular DTS at the main campus as well as a WISE school (stands for Worship, Intercession, Spiritual Warfare and Evangelism. )

This time instead of running the 3 we only have the Boarders (which by the way, is a school for people who particularly love to snowboard) and the WISE school- and both will be at Eaglerock. 

I am so excited to be up at Eaglerock, it is where I did my DTS and it has a special dynamic being up in the mountains away from a lot of the normal conveniences and escapes- such as Starbucks and Walmart and the mall. 

There will be 90+ people living up at Eaglerock, which is more than we have had for this length of time on the campus EVER. This means military showers are mandatory, and we will be living in community every moment. 

About 15-20 of our staff are living down the mountain and working at the main campus as there are still the day to day logistical things that need to be carried out and we are not set up at Eaglerock to do so. There are also another 5-8 who will be commuting on a regular basis because we don't have the housing capacity for many families. 

Right now I room with 3 girls in a large room with a bathroom and walk in closet. Up at Eaglerock I will also be rooming with 3 girls- the room fits only our bunk-beds, but we have a big closet thankfully! The bathroom? We will be sharing 2 with 8 other people! Takes me back to DTS since I am living in the same room I did then! 

While I am very excited to be at Eaglerock, there have been some disappointments. I had really hoped to be school staff this quarter with the boarders- but there are not enough girl students to need a 6th girl small group leader. So as of now I am up there to do whatever is needed. 

I will also be traveling down the mountain on mondays with everyone- we will have a laundry/errands day. My mornings however will be in the accounting office. A second day of the week i will be driving down the mountain-probably thursdays-to work in the office also. I'm okay coming down to be in the office. But the drive is a bit difficult. I was asked yesterday to consider using my own car. Its a great car so it has no problems as far as up and down- however my tires are not very good. 

So I am praying for some new tires! 

The other thing I am really hoping for is to be able to get a snowboarding pass so i can join the school every weekend on the mountains. I have a board and all the gear, so all i need is the remainder of my pass. This would be really incredible to be able to be out on the mountains.

well, this is the longest i've written yet on here-i'm going to keep writing slowly..so keep checking back in to stay posted!