Holidays

It has been way too long since my last post and so much has happened. I finished up an awesome summer as a wilderness guide for Redcloud and moved straight into the Outdoor Education season as a counselor for the 5th graders who attended. All of it was a great time of ministry and I saw God work in wonderful and creative ways with the campers and staff. It proved to be a time of tremendous personal growth too. Currently, I am enjoying the holidays in Edmond, Oklahoma at my sister's house. It has proved to be a fun time with family and my energetic nephews. My parents were able to make the trip up too. Here is a picture of Caleb and I, a few days after he whacked me with a hammer! We were wrestling and I took my eyes off him as I laid on my back to watch Austin. Suddenly I was blindsided and taken out by a 3 year old. He gave me a pretty good bruise! LOL!

In the next few days, I will be hitting the road. I will stop off in Houston for a few days and then head to Mississippi for a week or two. Then, if it is possible, I will try to get to Atlanta to visit some family and friends. Then I will be heading back to Redcloud and the awesome snow to start my new job as the Assistant Manager of the Adventure Program. I will be busy developing the spiritual curriculum and looking for summer speakers before the summer starts. I am really looking forward to it!

Happy New Years to everyone!

Tired

The last two days, have been hard to wake up as I role over feeling like a freight train ran over me. So I am taking the whole day and resting. I will take the Jeep up a 4x4 trail to do some reading around sunset, but other than that, I plan to relax and catch up on my blog.

This last week has proved to be difficult in ways I did not imagine. I was a floater (or a flying squirrel as we like to call it). This means that I play more of the servant role to my boss and the guide team who directs the group trips. Most of the time it means you get to relax a bit more, which I did, but there were a ton of big projects to get done. Two of the weatherports on the side of the mountain collapsed this winter due to the heavy snow. So instead of rebuilding, it was decided to completely abandon the sites. So myself and a few other flying squirrels had the job of hauling off all the old lumber and trash so that the site would look as if nothing was ever there.

Physically the job demanded a lot. That is why I feel like I got hit with a thousand jack hammers. We hauled load after load up and down the mountain for two days. It was tough and it was hot. But, that wasn’t the most difficult part….

We run a challenge camp. That means we challenge everyone to push themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually to the breaking point. Then we gather together and talk about how we can use what we learn from the challenge and apply it to our walk with Christ. It paints and real and simple picture. My crew and I were challenged ourselves this week. Physically, we were pushed, and mentally and spiritually we broke down. There were a lot of negative attitudes. Personally, I enjoy hard work. I enjoy helping others and making things look great (thanks mom and dad for teaching me that, even though it took me years to enjoy hard work). But when others became so negative and frustrated it began to affect me. I began to ask, “why can’t they just have a good attitude and serve each other well?” Their attitudes frustrated me so bad that I began to detest them. So my attitude turned sour because I was judging from a self righteous position. The truth is, we were all in the wrong and our once tight group was ripped apart by our selfishness. Philippians 1:27 talks about how we, as citizens of heaven, should live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Chapter 2:1-4 says we should be united in one spirit and one mind and to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” We failed miserably. But we came together and discussed what happened in love and we learned a valuable lesson.

In essence, this is what we do here at Redcloud with the youth groups and our team got a good dose of it this week. It is important that we are a team so that we can face the evil one. Please pray for our guide team this summer. Pray that we continue to stay united and “like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” Continue to pray that we have strength and energy!

HMMM

Ok, lots to tell, but I am a little hindered by technology at the moment.  I am running out of battery life on a borrowed computer, so I better hurry.   

I canceled my phone because I didn't want to spend 50 dollars a month for an answering machine that I could only check about once every week to two weeks.  You would think I would have email access too.  But Redcloud is connected by a satellite with a limited amount of bandwidth per day.  So we have many staff and little bandwidth.  So by the time I can get on the internet, we have used all of our supply, so the internet doesn't work late at night. I try to use it during the day periodically, but for some reason the satellite is not a reliable source.  So my connection is always interrupted.  So I can't really email anybody.  Currently, I was given the morning off, so I borrowed a friends computer and headed to lake city to get some reliable internet connection, only now his battery is about to go out.  So that is my current situation with connecting with the outside world.  I wish you knew how much I hate not being able to connect with all of you.  In fact, it is the only thing I am frustrated about.

Everyday is another adventure here!  My commutes are filled with the sound of rushing water instead of rushing motorists.  I spend my day not behind a desk, but outside working at a climbing rock, on a mountain, rafting, or at the top of a ropes course teaching kids to learn from challenges they fear and how they can apply that to their walk as Christians.  It is pretty amazing!  I could go on and on, but I don't have time.  Just last week, I was building bridges across swollen creeks.  A few weeks before that, I put my training into practice when I had to evacuate a young girl for a back injury.  I'll tell you more on that later.  Anyway, the battery is almost dead and I better go.  I hope to tell you more soon!  I miss you guys!

pictures

Driving to lake city!

























Mountain goats hanging on to the cliffs as we drive up the mountain to the trailhead.

































The 4x4 van! Sweet! L to R (Kristin, Bru, Joy, Kristina)

































Joy and Andy in our kitchen

The first campsite on the first afternoon. I slept in the tent to the right.











Snow the next morning! Steve looking perplexed!


The snow just kept falling for most of the morning.

Finally the sun came out and we broke camp and moved a few more miles closer to the goal.

There were numerous avalanches. There has been so much snow that it is frequent. This one is about a mile away.

Second campsite. From r to l (Harrison, Kristin, Kristina). This is just a few of the many pictures. More pictures are on the way, but it takes so long, so be patient. They only get better!

First week of training!!!

Wow is all I can say! I just got back from a week of training and I am so thankful! I have a snow tan (raccoon eyes, red nose, bleached beard). The shower was nice, but it felt weird at the same time. It's like I can't believe that I actually got a shower. Though I didn't really miss it. So to start, we left camp in the valley just after lunch. We loaded everything up into a 4x4 van....not a minivan, but a full size 4x4 van. Now for those of you that give me a hard time for saying I could drive a minivan, you need to see this van. Sure it is old, but it is a 4x4 van! I was stoked! So we drive maybe 10 to 14 miles away and park at a trail head. As we drove up the dirt road, it quickly turned into rough terrain on steep cliffs. The cliffs continually have rock slides and avalanches, so we had to negotiate rocks and boulder size chunks of ice. The further we rode, the more we saw evidence of avalanches and sections where the bulldozer's had to clear the road. Again, snow blankets everything and the higher we climb, the thicker it becomes. Along the way, we pass old mining trails and towns. Many of the cabins are falling down, but still standing. We arrive at the trailhead and instead of hiking the first day, we just found a campsite nearby because our leaders did not want to start hiking in the snow. We found a nice level spot in the snow and set up camp.

We set up 3 kivas by mountain hardwear. It is a tent with one pole in the middle, so it looks alot like a miniature teepee. It can sleep 3 comfortably, but 4 is a little tight. The floor is a simple tarp that we set down. So at the bottom, it is open to the air. Then we set up two stoves that use white gas for fuel. Food for the week: dinner consisted of pita pizza, chicken fajitas, soup and grilled cheese bagels, and so forth. Breakfast was granola, hash browns, and so forth. Breakfast was mainly a selection of trail mix, tortillas, cheese, pepperoni, granola bars, chocolate, oreo's and whatever combination.

The next day we work on some orienteering and hike up the mountain a ways to another campsite. It snowed most of the day, but we got some nice sun during the afternoon. Most of our hiking is done on snowshoes with out big packs. We carry personal clothing, sleeping bags, lunches but we share all the group food, tents, breakfast, dinner, shovels, etc... in our packs. That way our packs all way about the same.

We arrived at our next campsite where there is more deep snow. So I build steps and a table and sitting area in the snow along with us setting up the usual. If you are going to live in the snow, you might as well make it more comfortable. So how is living in the snow? Cold, but if you dress right, it is actually fun. It snowed some that night also.

The next day I was able to lead the group up the mountain some more fun. The plan was to hike to american basin and then eventually summit a Fourteener the next day. So we hike in sunny weather and get pretty far up the mountain until we come to avalanche danger. It is always more dangerous in the afternoon when the snow heats up. So we had to change plans! We would not be able to summit, because it was too dangerous. So I led the group up another area, which was tought but awesome! We had to go up extremely steep terrain on snowshoes and it was to the point of taking 10 steps and stoping to breathe. The whole face was maybe only 300 yards, but is was killer and I enjoyed every minute of it! The rest of the party smiled afterwards too, but I am not convinced they all enjoyed it. But we continued to another valley and found a great campsite on an old road next to an old mining area.

That night it snowed. The next day it snowed as we summited a thirteener. The experience was crazy though. We obviously were above tree line and we hiked in a blizzard and in a cloud. So it was a white out. It was disorienting and you couldn't see what was up or down. Everything was white! But eventually we reached a false summit and could see the real summit. So we summited and the sun came out! If I could describe the views I would, but I really can't. It was unreal to eat lunch on top of a nearly knife ridge surrounded by majestic snow covered mountains. The sky was bright blue and the clouds were ginormous leaving shadows that danced along the mountainsides. It was just incredible. Then we descended in a glicading (sp?)style. I don't know how safe it was, but I couldn't resist. So I began jumping and sliding down the mountain in my snowshoes, extending one leg out in front with the trailing foot behind. Then I would switch to the other foot and slide and so forth. Then everyone joined in and we had a blast falling and sliding! We finally got back to camp and sledded down a few hills on shovels, tarps, and mattress pads. It was so much fun! Then it moved into a game of frisbee. Then we ended the day and packed up the next morning and hiked home.

This is so long, but I have to talk about the weather and various other things. It snowed everyday, but today. One minute it would snow and the next it would be sunny and so on. It was a constant battle just to stay comfortable, pulling clothes on and off according to the conditions. It just made me laugh at how fast the temperature would change. Also, training as a whole consisted of great conversation and bonding with the other guides, technical training, scenario training, how to lead the groups and time with God. Devotionals are great out here. THe scenary helps, but to be honest it is just the pace of life. Out here, I have time to spend time in the Word for hours if I want. Now did I actually spend time everyday for hours in the Word....no. But I did spend time everyday in the word leaving myself time to reflect and soak it in instead of heading quickly off to something. It just reminds me of how important it is to stop and make it a priority to spend time with God no matter where it is. It doesn't take mountains or the beach to have time with God, although it is nice. It just takes time that we have to set aside. So set some time aside and stick to it. Thanks guys for your prayers! I am still trying to load pictures! I have tons!

Mother's Day

I slept last night in the weather port. It is a large portable shelter. It has an aluminum frame with a thick vinyl covering. It looks like a dome and is about 20ft. across. It is filled with 7 bunk beds, but as for now, I am the lone occupant. The kicker is that there is no heat. So I slept in subfreezing temperatures. But it isn't bad. I slept quite warm in my bag listening to the brook outside with a few owls calling back and forth. This is crazy, but it sounded just like my sound machine, only much better! I awoke to find that the condensation from my breathing had frozen to the outside of my bag. That was a first, but still I was warm. So I slept with my clothes in my bag, and put them on that morning before unzipping my bag. So I managed to get out of the bag without getting cold. Then I climbed up the hill and took a shower and went to church.

The church was and old First Baptist Church. It reminded me a lot of my parents church in Moss Point, MS. Then we came back to camp, cooked some excellent steak and then went fly fishing. Tonight, we'll have a worship service at camp and then tomorrow I'll be gone on my first training hike. We'll be gone for 5 days and the rumor is that we will be hit with a lot of snow and rain tomorrow night. It will make for a very interesting trip! But I am excited!

On the way to Lake City

So the drive out to Colorado was crazy! I drove through so much rain and wind! The rain stalled me to 45 mph at one point for about an hour. If you know me at all and how I like to drive on the interstate, it drove me nuts! But I learned more patience! The wind also became a problem. I felt like I was in a tug of war all day being pushed back and forth as the wind would furiously blow against my box on wheels. But nothing was going to keep me from getting to Colorado...maybe delayed, but I would still make it.

I passed hundreds of windmills that spun so fast it seemed as if they would break apart and land in the middle of the interstate. None of my other pictures turned out well, but I basically followed the Rio Grande (go figure, from one end to the other) to the Continental Divide where I crossed over and down to Redcloud. I passed mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, and mule deer. The highest peaks were all covered with snow and I couldn't help but be amazed at how beautiful it was.

I got to Redcloud at about 830 and met a few people and then went to bed. The next morning I hung out with a bunch of kids while canoeing in the snow. It was cold but fun! The next day was sunny and beautiful and I used it to get things situated and relax.

This morning, I woke up to 2 inches of powder. So three of us went snowboarding! They skiied and I boarded. But I got some snowshoes and we hiked up the mountain and then rode down twice. It was so much fun! The two runs took all morning because it took so long to hike, but it was worth it. The views were awesome and the guys taught me some great things about avalanche safety. I used a tranciever (sp?) and got aquainted with it and then when we hiked to the top of a bowl, they gave me a lesson on how to detect weak layers and avalanche hazards. We dug into the snow and studied the layers and found some sketchy layers and decided to take another route.

Tomorrow will be sure to bring some other story, but for now I am going to go eat and relax. Sorry there aren't any pictures. The satelite feed is weak and it won't upload my pictures. :( I'll figure something out!

Kids and building forts!

I am now in Oklahoma. The drive was boring and full of rain and traffic. However, my Jeep doesn't currenlty have AC, so having the rain made it cool. So I can't complain.

Today was spent playing with my nephews (more like annoying my nephews) and completing their playhouse with their dad Zach. Caleb (my nephew) continually said, "Thank you" everytime I attached a climbing hold to the climbing wall. So I got about twenty thank you's from Caleb (he is 2) to which I couldn't help but laugh because it was so funny! "Than you Ungle Dannon" I won't be able to get that out of my head for a while. :)

Kids can teach us alot! I spent twenty minutes with the kid just playing with toothbrushes. Who knew that a toothbrush could be so much fun! I watched Lion King with the kid and when Simba and his buddies were on their backs looking up at the stars, Caleb proceeded to get on the floor just like them and look up at the tv backwards just so he could see what it was like to look at the stars with them. Kids view things so differently than us adults. Everything is fresh and new to them. We have seen and experienced it a million times, and so it loses it's zest. To a kid, the smallest thing can bring out the biggest intrigue and curiosity. Anyway, it reminded me to view life with new eyes even in the mundane and daily routine. It's more fun that way!

Tomorrow, I leave for Colorado!

The beginning

The day of my birth started with....nevermind...I am starting this blog so the millions of readers (or two) can stay caught up on my life and whereabouts. I am sure this will look more like a patch work of duct tape and glue, but when I have time I will try to keep it updated.

I have less than two days before I leave for Colorado to work at Redcloud! I am more excited than a little kid at Christmas! I can't even think straight. I must seem like a zombie at work to my coworkers because I am in la la land. On another note, I will miss some great friends in Houston. God has blessed me like never before with a church family and I will forever be changed by their lives.

Seeing that it is 2:09 am, it is time to go to bed so that I can at least stay awake at work tomorrow. But I imagine I will be another zombie!