Haiti

David is headed to Haiti.  90% of me is so excited for him.  10% is scared to death.  It would have been better if they had not been an outbreak of chlorea.  But, Dad to the rescue, we now have a filtration system that is pretty nifty. 

Yesterday he called his Colorado Grandpa and Grandma to tell them thank you for the support check they sent - after he got off the phone he was literally dancing around the house.  It makes us joyful to see our child excited to jump out of his comfort zone.  (Note:  this is making Dad and Mom jump out of their comfort zone also!).

As we have been praying over the last few weeks it has been good to see David grow in his relationship with the Lord.  Part of me is not sure Haiti is ready for him!!!  We pray also for the children he will interact with, that they will capture the joy of the Lord. 

Abba - we put David (and the rest of the folks) into your hands - Be glorified in and through them.

God is so good.

Friendships

It is interesting how we end up friends with folks.  How God brings us together to walk through life - sometimes for long times, other for short times.  

I think friendships help us understand God better.  We are able to hurt when our friends are hurting, we can rejoice in their victories.  Walking through life with friends sometimes forces us to take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on others. 

One of our friends is hurting so deeply - and the only thing we can do is pray.  I just love it that God understands my anger at the person who is being STUPID and hurt my friend.  So many miss out because they (erroneously) believe God can't take their anger.  I have yelled at God many times and He took it just fine.  In fact, as I am yelling, He takes me in His arms, He holds me close and says, I love you.

God is so good.

Faith and Risk Taking

Life is good.  I (Vicki) have been reading Francis Chan's book Forgotten God.  Talks much about how we don't really trust the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  Challenges folks to step out and take steps of faith.

Then last evening at church Pastor Greg spoke of similar stuff - how Caleb had a "different" Spirit.  One that remembered God's promises; walked by faith; did not become bitter, but did become better; relied on God's promises to overcome fear. 

Interesting these both occurred at the same time in our lives.  We have been blocked from serving where we wanted to.  People have told us we aren't ready,   But the Holy Spirit kept nudging us - encouraged us to keep on through the Word, through godly people in our lives, through prayer.  We were hurt and confused.

Our God is amazing.  Separately Brian and I both came to the same conclusion - we will step out in faith and work with folks who are not "church" people.  There are several opportunities - we are praying which step to take - but we will take the steps because we have walked the land - and now we are going to possess it - we will share the pain, the sorrow, the joy we have experienced because God loves us sooooooo much.



We are excited.  We have no clue how this is going to work, but we know it will. 

God is good.

Colorado Pictures

 This was on our way up to Cedaredge - somewhere past Cortez in Lizard Head Pass.  Last time we drove through there was about ten feet of snow!!  We have pictures of Jay and David in shorts standing on the top of the snow with the top of the sign showing through!!

God did some amazing work here.

 On our way home we went back through Rico, Ouray and Silverton. We stopped at Mineral Springs (second picture) where we camped with the children a couple of times. It is just as beautiful AND the fort the children played in is still there. So cool to think about how many children over the years have had adventures in that fort....




We arrived in Silverton after the train left. This meant the town was basically shut down. Brian had an ice cream cone and we walked around a bit. We decided to eat dinner in Durango. The drive from Silverton to Durango is beautiful. We were not too far from Durango when we saw the train - Brian was like a little boy.  He waved at the conductor and then the whistle blew.... Made his day!!

This Arizona girl really enjoyed seeing the seasons change, the majesty of God's handiwork and spending quality time with her husband who is a man after God's own heart.

God is so good.

Hunting

We went turkey hunting and got squirrel!!

While the guys didn't bag any turkeys - we had a good time.  We are blessed with wonderful children.  And with each other.

Again - we were able to experience the beauty of God's creation. 

Abba Father is so good to us.

Colorado

What an amazing trip to Colorado.  We drove up on a Thursday.  Brian was taking part in a Tres Dias Men's weekend - Vicki did nothing....    Until the following week.

Monday Dad Rex took us sight seeing - how amazing is the hand of our Lord.  This is at the Black Canyon of Gunnison River.  Wow.  To think God did this in six days - we talked a lot about how Heaven will be - He has been working on Heaven for over 2,000 years now.

This trip was so peaceful - one of the reasons we love going to Cedaredge.  Surrounded by love, friendship, good food, beautiful landscape, chickens.  God is good.