Accelerated growth

I know its been a while but better late than never. :O) i'm still learning tons. I lead bible study this last Monday and it went extremely well. And last weekend i went to Josh's and Kaila's wedding. I was one of the groomsmen. It was a blast. Work is still kinda frustrating at times. I can't seem to connect with the co workers. But i must remember to keep my eyes on Christ and try and do his will and not get task oriented. I have about 11 working days left before i head home. I have so much excitement inside for the stuff i can bring back home. I feel so much more comfortable talking to people about spiritual matters now and i can see what a difference just one person can make. Please pray that all i learn here wont stay here. This summer has made an impact in my life and will echo till i die. :O) its hard to explain but my eyes and heart seem more open to others. Its all because i made one decision to leave all i've known and was comfortable with and stepped into the unknown and uncomfortable. I went somewhere in which i know no one and didn't really expect anything and all for Christ. Thats what life is about. Always go after Christ with fully extended arms. It is most of the time uncomfortable and hard but is always rewarding and better in the end. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to do this. You helped mold me into a better person. :O)

Adventure...

I know its been a while, but i'll do my best to fill in... lets see.. on Saturday we had an adventure race. Before this race we all broke into teams of at least 4 people and 2 have to be girls. So my team had 6 people 3 guys and three girls. They were going to have prizes for the team that won and the team with the best costume, and one for teamwork. So we met by the pool at 730 am on Saturday to begin the race. My team was called the kindergartners. We all wore dorky shirts or dresses that kids would wear at 5-6 yrs of age. Lol. So we swam four lengths of the pool each and then biked about ten miles to our first mental challenge. Which consisted of throwing a rock and knocking down a can. Then biked 4 miles back and hiked a quarter mile up and down a waterfall. Then biked 5 miles back down and left our bikes then hiked up a mountain for 4 miles in both directions. To our second mental challenge which was a paper of ten random questions. Then biked about a mile back to where we started and had the final mental challenge which was putting up a tent and getting our whole team in it and then signing one verse of any song together then tearing down and putting it away. Then we were done. We finished in 4th at 3 pm. The toughest thing for me wasn't anything physical. It was hard for me to remain positive and encouraging. I found out i'm very competitive at heart and because of this i was a little frustrated in the fact that my team kept taking more break stops than i normally would. So the lord really taught me how to be a team player even in a race. It turned out to be really rewarding. My team was awesome and they taught me more than they know....

still doing great at work, and i'm still bringing up Christ in conversations. Nothing major has happened in my co- workers hearts yet so please keep praying for them. This last Wednesday we had a banquet in a very beautiful spot in the woods by a lake. There was several talks by the staff because this was the last thing the staff was able to do with us because they have officially left Thursday morning. The banquet was so much fun. We had a big dance once the staff left. Lol. So we are halfway through the summer and the lord has put us in a position where we could learn and grow emensly. We are all on our own and will be doing everything our selfs. It will be a great learning experience. :O) please keep us in your prayers.

Another intense week

We just had the guys and girls weekend. we went camping from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. on Saturday the guys ate a quick breakfast and packed a lunch then headed out on a hike up to lake Charles. about 5 miles. it was pretty intense near the end. we ran into a bunch of snow that was 6 feet or more in some spots. as we were walking over it we would see someone break through the surface every so often and sink a good ways in. it was 10 miles round trip. only a third made it the hole way and 2 guys sprained there ankles. we got back at 4pm had some rest and ate dinner then hiked a mile and a half to a cave. from 7pm to 11pm we were hiking around in a cave. so fun. got covered in mud from head to toe. Sunday morning i slept in to 9 and then fly fished then headed back at 1130.
back at work we hired a new guy. his name is Jason. so now there is two jasons i'm working with. lol. but the new Jason turns out is Christian. he is very interested in what we are doing here. he will be joining us at church on sundays and our group gathering we have on thursdays. i don't feel so alienated at work now. please continue to pray for all my co-workers. they all need to know the good news of Jesus. i've been talking about Jesus more and more to them but they don't seem to care much yet. it is very hard to try and bring it up as i'm working without feeling forceful. so please pray about that.

Busy busy busy....

Hi everyone. another week gone bye. i have been very busy but in a good way. still havin a blast and learning lots. :O) this last weekend was the best ever. saturday we went on a hike up a deep canyon to a lake called hanging lake. it was a very steep climb but very beautiful at the top. i stuck some of the pics on my facebook. sunday i woke up really early and went to church and practiced with the worship band. :O) i was there for both services and right after we had to rush and change, eat and zip out to the woods where we had a very neat excercise set up.we did it in our family groups. my family group went in second and right away strange thing started to happen. the staff tied my hands together and gave a huge log to another person in my group. two girls in my group had thier legs tied together, two other had a even bigger log to carry around. lol. at this point i was confused. they told us we needed to find the word of God and the spirit of God somewhere in the forest. we headed out and came across someone who was kind and helpful and started telling us that he could carry our burdens. we all realized he was supposed to be Jesus. we all started laying our burdens at his feet and we were set free. :O) lol. it was a fun exercise. we continued into the forest and came across red markers on some trees. we found a little note on it and it said it was the blood of Christ so we followed it. it ended on top of a rock ridge and it over looked the whole valley. beautiful view. and at the edge was a box that had The Word of God written on it. we opened it and it had some verses in it and a bible and a map. the map showed everything that was in the forest that we needed to find. it showed some lost people and spots that had clues. we continued to each one and at each lost person we had to figure out their physical need and then their spiritual need. once we found it we did something about it. pretty much like a practice witnessing thing. it was fun. we were romping around for about 5 hours in the forest. at the end of the trek we all snacked and talked about the whole thing.

that was my weekend. as far as my job is concerned its going great. its fun. i still want you all to continue to pray for Dana, Alison, Ali, Jason, Paul, and Sharon.

GOT A JOB!!! :O) Hey all! I just want you to know i got a job working at Kidsport. Its a cute little store with little kids popping in and out all day so its pretty entertaining. here is a list of people i'm working with so you may keep them in your prayers and ask the Lord to strengthen me in my conversations with them. ;-)
Co-Workers: Alison, Jason, Paul, Sharon, Ali, and Dana.

Proverbs 15:29

The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

After the first week

Hi everybody! I have made it through the first week. :O) I'm having a great time down here. last week on Sunday we went on our Nightlights outing which was us basically pairing up and going out into Vail and initiating conversations with strangers and try and lead the conversation toward a spiritual one. It was a little nerve racking but great learning exercise. On this outing one of the people i met named Jay, had a brother in law, Steven, dying in the hospital. So please pray for them if you will. we also had a meeting with our family group where we had a neat activity called "life eggs" where you pretty much open up and pour out your life story to your family group, the bad and good. it was a great way to get everyone talking and getting the right mindset. we meet once a week with our family groups. on Thursdays we have a huge group meeting with dinner and some lectures. :O)
I also have been outside every day of the week doing biking, Teva games, running, or ultimate Frisbee. So I'm about 3 shades darker than usual. Sadly, its mostly a farmers tan..... now to talk about my job search... yeah.... where to begin...... I have filled out tons of applications for tons of places. The first place was a restaurant called "Westside" and when i went in they were doing interviews of others in Cru that have filled out an application. So i asked them about my progress and wanted an interview, since i should have one because i was the first to fill an application out, but when i gave them my name they couldn't find my name... THEY LOST MY APPLICATION!.... i was upset, but i bit my tongue and tried acting Christ like. I filled another application and turned it in again but the spots were already filled... 2 days later i was at a group interview with our Cru people at home depot. During this interview i got a call from Vail lodge. They wanted a housekeeper and guaranteed me that they would hire me if i walked out of the home depot interview. so i walked out because home depot said they would hire 9 people and there was 12 of us. so i stepped down to allow someone else in our group to get a job. but the next day i went in to Vail Lodge and they said they didn't have a position open... AGH!... so i was out of a job AGAIN!... at this point i went to the river and prayed for about 30 min. helped me open my selfish eyes. he basically told me that i'm not down here just to get a job that i want or one i think is cool. I am here for Christ and not for a vacation. Phil 2:14.
After that bump in the road, i went on a five ish mile jog... WOW. Jogging in the mountains and along and over a rushing river.... is my new favorite thing to do. it was so beautiful. on Friday morning about half of us went to the soccer fields and played ultimate Frisbee, which is now my next new favorite thing. Saturday i volunteered to help at the Teva Games and be a water dude for the mountain biking competitions. i was poring water into cups and handing it to the riders as they passed by. their was two races, one at noon, and the other at 4. each one was about 3 hours ish. so i was on my feet all day in the sun. oi. it was fun though. then i went over to the bouldering wold championships. that was so AMAZING! i want to go climb rocks after seeing that.
That night we did a Nightlights thing again.
So all together it has been a major growing experience. and the toughest thing so far has been trying to be Christ like in my job hunting.

James 3:17-18
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

The First of many

Hi everybody! I have been here in Vail for 2 full days now. This place is beautiful. The town stretches along a canyon in between the mountains along with a river, Gore Creek. Vail's altitude is located at 8'150 ft so its a little higher than I'm used to. The town is designed mainly for tourists. The center of town is filled with hundreds of shops. from star bucks to bike rentals to trinket shops. the town has easy bike access, there is bike paths everywhere and bike lock ups at every shop. I love the outdoors so i know I'm going to enjoy my stay very much.
I've applied to 6 places so far and there will be more to come. it seems no matter where I work I will be surrounded by people, which will be a great ministry opportunity. just about everyone has showed up from Campus Crusade for Christ. I have been put into a family group and went on a scavenger hunt with them on the first day. I love them all already. I also met two of my roommates. they are great people as well, but there is one roommate who hasn't shown up yet. I will try and get a picture of them shortly.
Right now I'm in the lobby of Simba Run drinking coffee while we are waiting to go to Vail Church. this will be a church we will be working beside on several projects, and when we leave this summer we are going to give the church a list of people we met that hearts have been touched by Christ in Vail, through us, so that when we leave these people can still have growing opportunities and a church to go to and people that can answer any questions they may have.
Well thats the gist of things so far. i would also like to thank all my supporters again. THANK YOU!! this town will totally be touched by us this summer and its because of people like you that makes it possible. thank you so much and i hope i can keep you all updated through this blog. It has only been 1 day and there is 69 more to go. Christ will be healing many lives this summer. :O)

Philippians 1:9-11

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.