Adventure and Beauty

I am realizing that I don't enjoy the winter as much as I thought I did. Truth be told, I actually get very nervous about trips like this one that I took recently. Here at camp Bighorn we are in the adventure ministry. We refer to adventure as anything with an unknown outcome. For some reason adventure has been tougher for me lately, and in the midst of it I often strive for control. But I long to let it go... to stop worrying... to rest in the Lord, believing that he is enough for me.

One thing I have found, though, that continues to draw me into adventures, and that is beauty. I love beauty. It draws me in and transports me to a different world. Maybe it's the closest I get here on earth to experiencing eternity. Enjoy these pictures... they are a few of the scenes that captured me up there on Three Lakes Peak, and a few of the things the Lord used to encourage me on the journey.

Little Miracles

I've heard someone speak about the little miracles that God does for his people... miracles that often go unnoticed by us who receive them. As someone who is receiving an income through the generosity of others who support this ministry at Bighorn, I am starting to see those miracles a little more clearly than I have before. Being "on support" is neither an easy road nor a lucritive business, but it is an amazing way to experience the faithfulness of our God. The miracle that I am seeing is how some of that faithfulness comes in other ways other than through receiving gifts of finances. In my case it has come through my car!

Many people have laughed at my Honda and made fun of it (forms of endearment). Honestly, I love it when people do that. But they continue to be amazed that she keeps on trucking along. She made the journey from Maryland to Montana. I've taken her to the Grand Tetons, Calgary, Alberta, and Moab, Utah. She has made several trips out to Seattle and has survived the paved and unpaved roads of Montana. Not bad for a 91 Honda with well over 300,000 miles on it! I consider this one of the many miracles that God has done in my life. This car just keeps on going with little to no need of repair. I may not make a lot of money, but the Lord has blessed me with a vehicle that keeps on working for very low cost.

This morning I started up my car so I could drive her into town. By the sound I could immediatley tell I was lacking something quite important... a muffler. I looked in the back and sure enough, my muffler has disconnected. Thankfully that happened while it was parked over Christmas break and not while I was driving. I am starting to think that the days for the wonderful vehicle might be coming to a close, but that part of the story isn't written yet.

This is a new year!

Every year some things change and some things stay the same. The snow is still coming down in force this year and we are still looking for the best way to get the sudents and supplies up to the top of the mountain. But thanks to the provision of God, this year we have a new way of tackling the problem! Check out the video to see.

55 Hours Home

12/26/2008

11:00 am: my brother drives me to the airport
12:00 pm: arrive at airport and check in
12:01 pm: realize my flight is delayed due to chicago ice storm
2:30 pm: board the plane
2:45 pm: we are informed there are indefinite delays for
unknown reasons
4:00 pm: out plane takes off from Baltimore
4:30 pm: I get to see my homeland from the plane... the Jersey
shore !!
4:45 pm: land @ JFK airport in New York City
4:46 pm: run wth a herd of 17 other people to cach our flight to
Seattle
4:56 pm: we arrive at the gate and find the plane has already left
4:57 pm: instantly make friends with fellow flight missers and we
begin searching for alternate options
5:15 pm: we get into line at the ticket counter
6:15 pm: after much great conversation in line with my new
friends, we finally get to the ticket agent
6:20 pm: we are assigned tickets for the Seattle flight the
following day
6:22 pm: after being told by her manager not to give us hotel
rooms for the night, the ticket agent gives us hotel
rooms for the night
7:00 pm: we arrive at the Ramada Inn
7:15 pm: sit down to dinner with my new travelling friends as we
enjoy great food and great conversation
8:00 pm: begin making phone calls to Montana to work out a
new way home
12:30 am: go to bed

12/27/2008

8:30 am: wake up
10:00 am: get a bite-sized bagel for 5 bucks from the hotel
10:15 am: finish my pizza from the night before
12:00 pm: head back to the airport
4:20 pm: my plane leaves for Seattle
7:30 pm (Seattle time): my plane lands in Seattle
10:00 pm: my plane leaves for Spokane, WA (where there's 4 ft.
of snow!)
10:45 pm: my plane lands and I'm reunited with my friends!
10:46 pm: find out that the camp that I had come home
early from Christmas break for was cancelled
10:50 pm: start driving the icy streets of Spokane
11:30 pm: arrive at my boss' grandmother's house
12:00 am: go to sleep

12/28/2008

8:00 am: wake up
9:30 am: eat and amazing breakfast made by my boss'
grandmother
11:00 am: leave Spokane, WA and drive through the snowy
mountain passes back to Montana
4:00 pm (Montana time): arrive back at Camp Bighorn (and
there was much rejoicing!)

Overall Leason Learned:

Don't get caught up in the frustration of things not working out the way you want them to. God has put us in frustrating situations so that we may be the flavor of his presence to those around us; to be a people of hope in the world.

Orphans and Widows

One of the regular camps that we host out here is for a group called Guide On. In the Bible in the book of James, it says, "Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." (1:27). And that's exactly the vision that James, the founder of Guide On, has for his ministry. A couple of years back, his best friend was killed in the war in Iraq leaving a wife and 2 kids without a husband and father. So he started Guide On to care for wives and children of the same circuumstance. Largely he tries to provide opportunities for the kids to do things that their dads would normally have done with them. So part of that is giving them the chance to come out here to Camp Bighorn once a year so they can try rock climbing, rafting, fishing, etc. It gives the moms a great break and the kids an amazing time as the staff here sieze the opportunity to love on the kids 24/7. It's been humbling to hear James' heart for the families that have lost their husands and dads, and to see how God is blessing that ministry to include many more families than were a part of it last year. You should check out there website too (http://www.guideon.org/). It's a pretty sweet ministry that seems to be at the heart of what God cares about. and it's always a privelege to have them out here in Montana.

Glacier National Park

My good friend Dave came out from Maryland earlier this summer to visit... my first official guest from home to come out to camp and see what life is like for me here. We got to travel up to Glacier National Park together. A lot of the roads were still buried in deep deep snow, and a lot of the water flows were super high as much of the snow was starting to melt and rush down the mountains as quickly as they could. It's tough to be in such a place and not wonder at God's excitement for such hidden corners of his creation to be found and enjoyed by his people. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

How Does God Work?

I'm sure there are plenty of answers to this question, but for now the answer I've been given is in the form of a picture: gardening.

I had the chance to do a good bit of teaching to our summer staff at camp in order to prepare them for their work at camp this summer. God is constantly working in our lives to shape us in the image of his son, and here at Bighorn we are striving to participate in that process in the lives of everyone who comes in here as well. So I thought it's be good for us to do some gardening together and gain a deeper understanding of the ways God works in us and in the lives of others too.

So...

God starts with a pretty barren piece of landscape; our heart. If you were to plant seeds on this soil right now, absolutely nothing would grow.















So God has a lot of tilling, churning, weeding, and aggravating to do in us to get out hearts prepared to receive his word so that it can actually take root in our lives.
















A lot of times that preparation comes in the form of difficulty and suffering in our lives. It often takes suffering for us to finally reach a point of being able to listen to him. The tilling of our soil is never fun, and it often lasts a long time, but it is an essential part of God's work in us.





















Once our hearts have been softened enough we are finally ready to hear God's word and accept it so that it can grow and take root in us. His word is often small and simple and to the point, but in it is the power and potential for great life to grow out of it.





















Once the seed of God's word has been planted in our lives, it must be watered and cared for so that it can start to grow.
















And then it does grow, and God's word is seen being lived out in our lives, where once there was only barren soil! Soon the growing plant will produce fruit that will then be able to give life to many others.
















And so that is the process we all find ourselves in, but the choice is ours as to whether or not we will respond to his word. The more we respond the more will be able to plant it faithfully in the lives of others as their soil is constantly being churned.

So that's the picture. It was fun getting to teach it and having the summer staff get to tangibly interact with the concept. Hopefully at the end of the summer we'll get to enjoy the fruits of our garden!