Reality Strikes

It is finally starting to hit me that in less than three weeks I will be halfway around the world.  I have said many times, “We’re going to Thailand in October,” but until now it seemed so far away.  Not to mention, I have been too busy to really focus and think about it.  Of course, now I’m scrambling to make sure I have everything I need…  I have never been overseas, so this will be a whole new experience.

I am praying that God will prepare me for the work that lies ahead.  I want to be physically, mentally, and, most of all, spiritually ready.  I am excited to see what God is going to do in and through us on this trip.

I’m sure there is more I should write.  In fact, my mind is so full, I can’t hardly see straight.  Hmmm… there must be a “clog” in my brain that is keeping anything from coming out.  I think I’ll go to bed now.  I have a lot to do tomorrow around the house, our oldest has two volleyball games and I am doing a wedding tomorrow night.

May God bless you!

Mountain Top Experience

I’ve had a hard time writing lately.  I start to write and then it just doesn’t sound right.  Here goes another attempt.  I wish I could just download what’s on my heart.  It all sounds good on the inside until I try to write it out…  Maybe I should just do little bits at a time.  I always end up writing mini-novels.  One thing I learned on this trip is that we climb mountains one step at a time.

I just got back from a trip with a friend to Colorado to ascend Mt. Elbert.  Let me tell you, the view from 14,433′ was spectacular!  Though, it was probably the most taxing thing I’ve ever done physically and mentally, it was also one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I learned a lot about myself and a lot about God on that mountain.  Before I left home, I kept joking about “dying on the mountain”, meaning I wasn’t sure that I was in the physical shape to do it.  Well, I did die on the mountain in a way.  I came back a different person on the inside, having had spent time with God on the mountain.  I kept thinking of how it must have been for Moses on Mt. Sinai as he spent time with God for 40 days and nights.  No wonder the dude was glowing when he came back down.  I think I was almost there after just a few hours.  I desperately want to go back and do it again.  I have always found such peace in my heart when in the mountains.  There is just something about it that frees my heart, and the dreams begin to flow again.  My sense of adventure seems to heighten.  God uses the mountains to bring restoration and renewal to my soul.

Yesterday, I was watching one of the videos to prepare myself to lead Men’s Fraternity 3 – The Great Adventure.  Robert Lewis read a quote from John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart that really spoke to me: “Adventure with all its requisite danger and wildness is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man.  The masculine heart needs a place where nothing is prefabricated, modular, nonfat, ziplocked, franchised, online, or microwaveable; where there are no deadlines, cell phones, or committee meetings; just simply where there is room for the soul, where finally the geography around us corresponds to the geography of our heart.  Deep in a man’s heart are some fundamental questions that simply cannot be answered at the kitchen table:  “Who am I?”  “What am I made of?”  “What am I destined for?”  It is fear that keeps a man at home, where things are neat and orderly and under his control, but the answers to his deepest questions are not to be found on television or at a ballgame, or in the refrigerator.  These answers require a courageous adventurer whose quest is nothing less than the best of life.”

I hope to share with you over the next days some things that God really taught me during my adventure up the mountain.  I think I’ve written enough for now.

May God bless you as you seek your own adventures!