Hippies at Sunset

Things in Colorado are fabulous! Today Sarah, my Australian mate, and I took a little road trip to Breckinridge, CO. "It was heaps of fun." We woke up early this morning, ate breakfast and packed our lunches. The missionary lifestyle is a cheap one. We left about 8 am this morning and got to Breck a mere 55 minutes later. Talk about speed racer.

Breckinridge scenery is beyond description. The still snow capped mountains were a majestic backdrop to the grassy ski slopes, and the adorable town full of tiny shops and boutiques. We had so much fun just walking the streets and meeting people. We concluded our time there with a patio style lunch at Whale’s Tail at the base of the mountains. Needless to say it was a good trip.

We also visited Keystone:


Its been a while since I blogged, and I apologize, it just seems like I am pouring out my thoughts all the time, they just don’t happen to be on the Internet. YWAM is emotionally draining, and emotionally edifying at the same time. I find it extremely important to get by myself from time to time and just process everything that I am learning.

On Wednesday I had a phenomenal night of processing. I skipped Denver community outreach and instead took some solitude time at a near coffee shop and just read my book. I am reading, or I should say I just read, the book “Sex God” by Rob Bell. I finished it in less than 24 hours. And I am a freaking slow reader. It is THAT good. It is definitely taking a seat in my Top 5 Favorite Books category. It so perfectly defines the reasons behind why we are and why we act the way we do. Here are some profound thoughts that I stole from its pages:

“We are disconnected from each other, and we know it. We are made for loving, deep, connected relationships with others, but we are cut off. Separated. Alone. Not only that, but we are disconnected from the earth. And we know it. Or at least we can feel it even if we don’t have words for it. Its even possible to go days without spending any significant time outside. And that’s still considered living? Our story began with humans in right relationship—in healthy, life-giving connection—with our maker. All of our other relationships flowed from the health of this one central relationship—people and God. We were connected with the earth, with each other, with God. Naked and felt no shame. Then everything goes south. We are born into today’s world into a condition of disconnection. Things were created to be a certain way, and they’re not that way, and we feel it in every fiber of our being. Its known as the ache in our bones that wont go away.”

Rob describes a girl who is deeply connected to the world around her:

“There is a certain potency to her presence that is hard to describe. She owns no property and she lives as simply as she possibly can because she committed early in her life to give everything she had to making the world the kind of place God dreams it can be. It is a joy to be with her because everything matters in her life. Nothing is shallow or trite or superficial. She’s very funny and smart and compassionate—a real magnificent human. Because she’s been exploring her own soul for so long, she knows herself inside and out. She’s at peace, and it’s contagious.

You can’t be connected with God until you’re at peace with who you are. If you’re still upset that God gave you this body or this life or this family or these circumstances, you will never be able to connect with God in a healthy, thriving, sustainable sort of way. You have to first love being exactly who God made you to be.”

I want to be that girl. I want to know myself so well and be at peace with who I am, and then contribute to making the world like God created it to be. The rest of the book just gets better and better and I just absolutely loved it. I highly suggest it if you have not read it.

This past week at YWAM was “Nature and Character of God” week. After I stopped comparing it to The Father Heart of God week, I realized that it was also a phenomenal week of teaching and learning. Our speaker—Blake Mattocks—was one of the nicest men I have met. He pastors a local church and told us that he would buy us breakfast tomorrow morning if we would get there early. How great?

Currently we are sitting at the lake, looking up at the mountains and enjoying/soaking in the strawberry sunset. Everyone is doing their own thing, we brought blankets to sit on the grass. I am content, but I wish I could bring a few people here to enjoy God’s sky painting with me. I miss my friends. My sister and brother. My family. I love it here and wouldn’t change what I am doing for the world, but still miss my support team.

Tomorrow begins our two week campout at Eagle Rock. I am so excited. Sarah and I have made a pact to partake in a cellphone/facebook hiatus. We thought it would help us be totally focused on God, and what He is doing in our lives. I don’t know where blogging fits in the category, so I may or may not have updates throughout the next two weeks. Its going to be good to take a break from technology for a bit. Pray that God would consume me, and that I would be disciplined enough to follow through with that decision. Its not okay that facebook is hard to give up. That’s gotta change. Im going to hike, climb, and play instead.

Anyways, I hope today is well for you. I think I will spend some time just laying in the grass. Turns out, I am more of a hippie than I originally thought. Who would have known?