Camp

The more I live here in Colorado the more I am in love with the beauty the Lord displays in Nature. Also here specifically at CCR I feel more and more at home with the staff and community.

I think it takes me a while to adjust to a new place and truly feel accepted and loved. Some of it has to do with my own insecurity and some of it is just the fact the major change in location takes time to really feel comfortable. It is the end of March, and the snow is melting. We still have a month left that Winter Park Resort will be open and I can go snow boarding. However I believe this coming sunday may be my last day on the Mountain for awhile. The snow is hard and slushy, and Icy. Seeing as I have had an incredible season I have nothing to complain about however, I have become a slight snow snob. Though next year when I most likely will not be in the west I think my upper class snow attitude will diminish when I only come to CO twice a year to do some boarding. We shall see.

The friendships I have in this world are some of the best. I was saving this post for when Tim Barnes sent me photos of his and David Perks trip out here however he has yet to edit them and get back to me. So I will say what is in my head and heart.

The Lord really has put key players in my life that have influenced the way I interact with people, the way I love people, and the way I love God. I believe two of these players are Tim Barnes and David Perks. I worked with these fellas for two years up at Young Life's Saranac Village in the Adirondack mountains. We grew in friendship over those two summers. Then have had to many incredible adventures and dumb stories together. Many more were made over there trip to visit good ol' Fraser CO. One such dumb adventure was when we decided it would be fun to snow shoe up Sheep mountain which is the mountain on the back side of camp. The trip up wasn't exiting but down we decided to run in our snowshoes down and take pictures. Hilarity ensued because at some point all of us took a headlong tumble into about 3-5 feet of powder. Im sure one can imagine.

But these are the kind of friends that no matter how much you talk, see each other, or how close you live, are always as close to you as a brother. You cant stop laughing and you can always be open about how Christ is moving in your life. I dont know exactly how to say it. They are the kind of people you want to be around. So I hope that the Lord has placed a person or persons like this in your own life.

Its been awhile

So updating in the month of February did not happen. Life was so busy with friends, work, and just general chaos. It probably was the the best and most exhausting month of my life here at Crooked Creek Ranch.


It was a month full of visitors. First week I had my friend Anna out to go skiing and she brought her friend Liz. It was a blast to see her and get to know Liz. Then the next week two of my best friends came up. Tim Barnes and David Perks. I will write a longer post on there visit as soon as Tim gets back to me with some pictures. He took them all on his camera. Then the day those to jokers left my Cousin Dan came in. So I snowboarded a good deal in the month of Feb and it was all a blast. However hosting people can be super tiring. I wouldnt have had it any other way though.

February had a group in just about every weekend and a lot of mid week groups. Some that have never rented the camp out before. Those groups can be difficult because they just don't really know how to utilize the camp yet and theres just a lot of running around to get them set up correctly. I did a good deal of picture taking and hiking this last month as well.

Snow showing in the rockies is just incredible. One the invention to disperse wait so you dont sink into 4 feet of snow. Its incredible. I have just been having to much fun running around with friends up sheep mountain to see the view of camp and the valley I get to live in.

Its definitely a blessing. Colorado. I find my self thanking Christ on a regular basis for bringing me out here. Last week all the interns went to an Avalanche Game in Denver and before we went we visited boulder CO. As we walked around the streets and just enjoyed the 60 degree weather (a 35 degree difference of Fraser only 40 miles apart across the mountains.)
I thought about that College town and how many times I wished that God had called me somewhere crazy when I was in college. Then I remember How I have been called out here this year to live somewhere crazy in a crazy situation! It was awesome.

Also the view outside our intern house just has displayed Gods glory so often. During the day or at night its been unreal. I wish that Blogspot could capture the beauty of what I have seen. I mean one day I was walking back from working out and the color of the sky was outragous. It was this beautiful read and the depth and beauty of the clouds was unimaginable. In the five minutes it took me to walk home it appear and was gone as the sun set. I couldnt believe what I saw and I know perhaps I make zero sense in this paragraph but imagine the most beautiful red and it being in 100 different shades spread across the dusk sky. And it was there for an instant and gone. Just a wink really. That was what it was like. The sky up there wasnt to shabby either.

               

I took both of these also out of our kitchen window. I wasn't sure which shot I preferred as similar as they both are. Opinions are always appreciated! Just a little haze on the mountains.

God is doing big things here at Crooked Creek and big things in our community. The men and woman that I intern with here are moving into march and we all know it is going to be our hardest month. Because the job is not getting any different and can be redundant.  Plus summer is looming and summer is going to be too much fun seeing God work in HUGE ways in the lives of Kids that will be coming here each week for 11 weeks. So It is late and I could keep rambling but I really just wanted to show some photos from the month and make a post because it has been too long. 

Here is our lil neighbor.

Winter Camping and exploring Narnia.

Lately I have been pretty stir crazy. Just always being inside. Ive been in the kitchen for two months and besides snowboarding I just haven't done any hiking or really anything outside. So Brady Carter and I decided we would go do some winter camping. I haven't done any winter camping before and Brady took me on some serious camping.

We went on this past monday night. left at 10 pm hiked up sheep mountain to the summer lunch site that kids all hike up to. It was only one mile away and in the summer an easy 30 minute hike. However with three feet of snow on the ground it took us about 2 hours before we hit our camp site. I snowshoed and Brady used his skis with skins. Skins are basically cloth on the bottom of his skis that give him traction. We had to dig out the inside of the cabin.


We built ourselves a fire and boiled some water to put in water bottles and keep in our sleeping bags. It was super warm once we got into the bags but
                                                                    

outdoor temp was about -15 according to the weather report. We just enjoyed the outdoors and a moon filled night. The mountains on the backside of sheep were beautiful and I just really felt close to the Lord. In the morning the sun woke me up and I just went out of the cabin that didnt have a door on it (by the way). I spent some time with the Lord just praying for my fellow interns and other things that were on my heart. It was an incredibly way to start the day. Brady woke up late and We went over to the side of the mountain that was treeless and planned on snowboarding and skiing down.

Snowboarding back country (or slightly back country) Is TOUGH. I did okay but having an extra 50 pounds on my back wasnt helping and I fell a few times getting myself stuck in like 4 feet of powder (Im not complaining about the amount of snow it just was hard to get out of.) The whole experience was awesome. Brady and I will be doing some more while we are still out here.  I will be switching departments to Guest services next week and that will be my last rotation before I get my summer Job. Pray for the leadership team deciding Summer jobs and that I will be excited about the job they decide for me.

Hebrews 11:1

"Now FAITH is being SURE of what you hope for and Certain of what we do not see."


A week or maybe two ago, time flies here and I can hardly remember time frames anymore, my good friend Marshall McCarroll and I were having a conversation about the future. I had mentioned to him I am not sure what will happen or where to go. I say where to go because I know the end date of my time in Fraser, CO. Sept 30, 2011. My job is over I will no longer be an Intern at Crooked Creek ranch. I will have to pack up my stuff in the intern house and move it somewhere else. There are plenty of places I could go where friends will love me well, and most importantly the Lord will teach me. However where is it the Lord is calling me next? That was my big question. Was it back to Rochester? Where quality people and my family live? Or somewhere new? Marshall said really that thinking about the future was a chance to live in fear or freedom. Christ gives us freedom, John 14:6 "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" As long as I am Faithful and trusting that I will be lead in the right direction, whether thats just a place the Lord puts on my heart or a job opportunity that pops up, I must trust he will reveal his intentions for my life when it is the right time. I will not live in fear and worry about "whats next?" I will live in freedom here at Crooked Creek Ranch and live in the now. Learning what I am meant to learn and doing what I know the Lord called me to. 


We are one week into New staff training. It has been a blast thus far! So much work but just so incredible to serve all the new Field staff associates. Its awesome.


Please pray for them while they are out here. About what they are learning so that they can implement it back home in there own ministry. Also pray for me that I will continue to be Faithful and trust the Lord in whats next.

The Calm before the Storm

Right now I am on day three of days off. It has been awesome because right after my lil vacation home I have been working hard in the kitchen for a ski camp. Then the other interns and I had to do house keeping to get camp ready for New Staff Training. For those of you that dont know what that is, all the new field staff in young life so the people that are leading volunteer leaders and also building relationships with high school students to live life with those students and show them a vision of who Christ is. They will be here at Crooked Creek Ranch from January 6th-20th. It is going to be some crazy days in the kitchen long hours but lots of fun! Please be praying for the New Staff and their work with Young Life, also be praying for myself and the other camp staff as we will be working our butt's off! Its awesome to have this experience here I believe. Seeing and serving all the staff that will be ministering to kids and one day probably help guide this organization making major decisions for this ministry that will effect kids for Christ. Awesome.

Besides getting ready for NST I have been reading through the book of Matthew. We were asked to pick a gospel to read through this year and just continue reading it. I have really been loving it. I dont have anything specific but next post I will give you some details!

CHRISTMAS!

Christmas in Rochester was incredible. It was short but oh so sweet.

I flew back very early in the morning at 6:00am on the 22nd from Denver to Atlanta, then to Rochester. The journey however started at 2:30 in the morning with a 2 hours car drive with Stu Nelson and Kayla Fletcher! They got up early for me even though their flights weren't till 7:40!

The flights were uneventful and I was picked up by my Mom and surprised by my sister, who I didnt expect to be picking me up. Went home and met up for a awesome dinner with Alex Jorgensen, Courtney Combs, Scott and Abby Rice, with a brief visit by my friend Jenny Rietz. Great to be with people who are so close to my heart and have live life with me for so long.

The rest of the time was crazy busy but great. Met with some good friends quickly and alot of time with family. It was a great Christmas. I flew back on the 27th to Denver and road back to Fraser and got home at 2 am so I left at 2 got home at 2 crazy!

While I was at home I really felt like I learned alittle of what the Lord has been trying to teach me over the past few months so I will try my best to share!

My entire time out here and the road trip out I felt like the word that most described my time was Solitude.

My road trip was suppose to have a companion for most of my drive. However all the people who originally thought that could, ended up not being able to make it with me. So as I have said in a previous blog entry I made the trip alone. It was great and when I arrived at Crooked Creek I was glad to be around people again and work with people. However the Lord had different plans for me. He had a me placed on the Wood Mizor for two and a half months. Most of that time alone. I was angry for parts, didn't understand what I was doing because the work didn't seem necessary. However I don't know if any of what I did on the Wood Mizor is going to be immediately evident for me but that time was invaluable. It was time was I was constantly in Prayer and submission to the Lord. Often I was praying for Joy in him, Seeking His will, Constantly just communicating. That was good.

I recently switched into the kitchen and for me being a people person it is a much better fit rather than just working on a wood mill. However I realized that I went an entire day just working. No prayer except for my prayer for my lunch. I was going back words in the amount of time I was seeking Jesus. I was reading on the plane a book by Brennan Manning. If you don't know him look into him he is a very good author and a man in love with Christ. He says in a quote "I spent so much time doing the things that would please God that I had no more time left to just be with God." I think in Young Life I get really caught up in work sometimes and not in just being with him. Or seeking him. I dont know for certain if that is the main thing God is trying to put in my headlights and the reason for my solitude at work. But it was an awful good reminder of remembering to Pray continually while I am doing anything even in a place as busy as the Kitchen!

The Loft.

So about two months ago we decided to create a movie theater in our basement storage room.
We had to beds in there so we stacked a coach on top of them and had mattresses on the floor. We enjoyed it for a few weeks. However Sandy our house keeping supervisor did not love that idea. The coach would pressure point the mattresses thus ruining them. So we came up with an idea to fix this little problem. I drew up a plan and built myself a little loft. Here is a video of the assembly.