Rest

Man, can I get caught up in work! It's so easy for me to just keep working and never take time just to rest. Sometimes I work because it's just the easiest thing for me to do... easier than spending time with people and building relationships. Other times I work because I feel like there is so much to do and so little time. And a lot of times I just work because it feels good to accomplish something.

Today is a Saturday, and I was planning on working, but for some reason this morning I was inspired to relax. So I went out to the back porch of my trailer and layed down in the hammock. As I did the clear morning sun soon rose up from behind the trees and the rocky cliffs as the birds played in thier sanctuary and the beauty of it all just floored me. I wanted to share it with you, so check out the short video of the view from my hammock.

A River Retreat

It was great getting away last weekend to the Blackfoot River (that's the river "A River Runs Through It" was filmed on). The Program staff at camp all went camping together for a couple of days, and had a chance just to relax with each other and not talk about work. We did some playing on the river and even got to do some bowling. This video is of me trying to surf on a wave in the river and flipping over as usual. I was just glad to be able to flip back up! The time to get away and have fun with some friends was much needed. Sometimes I don't realize I need time like that until I actually get it.

Building in the Trees

Oh, the life! Getting to build a playground in the trees. After four years of construction before moving out here, it's great getting to build again and see all that I learned coming in to use here. It's been so much fun to walk the process of finding a group of trees, envisioning what could be, cleaning out the area, chopping down dead trees, and then slowly putting up the events. Seeing it come to be has been sweet. I just wanted to show you all one of the pics from our building, because maybe you like hanging out in trees as much as I do!

Winter in the Spring

So April started out a bit colder than I thought it would be... but it sure did start out beautifully! Lately I have been constantly reminded of the beauty that can only come through difficulty and perseverance. This past four days on skis was one of the most exhausting trips I have ever taken. It wasn't just the difficulty for me of travelling over the most challenging terrain I have faced yet, but it had a lot to do with constantly fighting the bitter cold and the unwelcome wind, not to mention dehydration and an aggravated body. Up on the ridge of Baldy Peak there is simply no shelter... no escape from the elements... yet that's where we camped. The summit area truly felt like another planet that I was somehow enabled to roam. Hardened snow encased everything. The wind swept remarkable patterns into the surface of the snow and huge overhanging cornices formed along the ridge. At times I felt like I was walking through a graveyard of stone giants frozen over the centuries they had been there. "I shouldn't be here. This isn't a place for humans," I thought... "But I AM here... for some reason I've been allowed to enter this world!" And by some weird grace I WAS allowed to enter.

But more and more I am believing that we have the choice of whether or not to enter. I used to believe that God simply laid all of the blessings he had for us into our laps as we sat there, like on Christmas day. But I think some blessings are saved only for those who persevere... for those who are willing to take the hard road because of the good that is promised in it. These are the men and women God seeks... the men and women who seek after him despite the cost because of the hope and promise they have in him. This last trip up the mountain for the winter had me constantly enduring, constantly choosing to go on and step into the challenge of the circumstances and environment. Yet every new corner revealed a beauty that my dreams hadn't yet uncovered for me, and my spirit was swept off of its feet!

How often do we avoid the conflict at hand or walk away from the promise given to us because we perceive that the cost is too high for us? It isn't usually as tangible as a mountain to climb, but it's the opportunity God has given us to walk in the strength he gives us in order to see him on the other side. I desire to live like this, though I know the cost DOES often seem too high, but maybe my vision for the beauty that lies on the other side is just too weak!

Meat and Mallows!

Was there ever a better night at the Trailer? I don't know, but it's pretty tough to beat a "Meat and Mallows" invitation!

The sky grew dark, the stars came out, and the flames grew bright. As music from the soundtrack to "The Mission" filled the air, people came throughout the night and joined us on the porch of the trailer. We skewered some marshmallows and some marinated meat and roasted away. There were plenty of stories told, a lot of laughter, and the constant sound of "mmmmmmmmmmmm" coming from satisfied mouths.

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It's been my desire, being given a trailer to live in here, to use it as an investment in other people's lives, not just as a place for myself. My roommate John and I have found a few other opportunities to host people, but this night was particularly sweet. Almost all of the college students came out as well as some other camp staff. It just seemed like a fitting event for the men's trailer, too, to host a meat night. And our roasting pit (a half barrel, mostly rusted out at the bottom) added to the rustic mood too. It spilled out a lot of its coals onto the plywood we had set up underneath for just such an occasion. The bucket of water came in handy as well to squelch out the flames as they reached the decking boards and maybe even the ground below. It's good to be prepared!

Finally... the winter video comes out!

This video has been a long time in getting posted. I just kept having troubles loading it up onto the internet, but it's finally here. It gives a good picture of what a typical day looked like for me as I was involved in teaching students how to build quinzhees (a type of snow shelter). One of the great things about teaching out in the winter environment is the amount of time I get to spend with all of the students. We are constantly hiking, building, talking, cooking, eating, and playing together, not to mention sleeping out in snow forts with each other! A huge value for me is time with people, and behind that is a belief that faith is largely caught not taught and a lot of that is experienced through a loving community. The winter also definitely allows for a lot of time to get to know people a lot better, to build trust, show love, hear where they're at and what they're dealing with and getting to share about myself and rely on them too. It all definitely fits into the bigger picture of all the students are learning in this 2 semester college program. By this time of year, most of the students are deeply in the mix of processing all that they are learning about themselves in light of all sorts of challenges and what they're studying about God and his character. It was a privilege to spend time surviving and thriving with them in the snow and to come alongside of them in their process as one who is very much also in the process of growing in faith through all of the challenges that God so readily and lovingly brings our way. Enjoy the video... I hope it makes you feel like you are right there in the action with us!

Leadership Training

It's easy for me to talk to someone about the job that I do. I can say with confidence what I hope to accomplish and how I will go about it, but doing the job is SO different. All of the answers seem like a mist blown away by the wind, and I even wonder if they were really there in the first place. So how then do I lead?

In the midst of long snowshoe treks, building snow shelters, and a lot of time with people out in the cold, the question rises unavoidably to the surface: how DOES all of this help people grow in their relationship with Christ and help train up leaders of strong character? It would seem that wrestling with that question now, in the midst of the adventure, might be a bit too late, but honestly there is no better place to be wretsling with it. I've been thankful to have the freedom to be seeking out the answer to that question while also getting to test out the answers with real life experience, as well as having the freedom to be in the process of growth rather than living under the pressure to know the answer already and to perform with perfection. Honestly... how often do we really know the answer? How often can we really look at what we're doing and claim mastery... that our questioning is over... that we have reached perfection?

On a different note, isn't it hunger that drives us to food... thirst that brings us to water. It seems that God plants a lot more questions in people than he does answers. It is the question that he gives us that drives us to seek him, and our search is not in vain, for he who seeks finds (Matthew 7:7).

So... that leads us to the title of this post, "Leadership Training." I don't think leadership starts when you have the answers. I think it starts when God plants a question in you and you respond with the courage to seek it out. I spent two weeks teaching winter camping along side of Shane, one of the college interns here at camp. We were constantly wrestling with and working out how to use the skill of winter camping as a tool for the eternal. Each time we had a new group we were able to tweek our methods and rework our strategy with what we had learned from the time before. After we took each group out, the students were each allowed to choose one of the three winter skills they had been learning over the last couple of weeks to specialize in and do further learning in for the final week. Six students chose to specialize in winter camping, the skill that I was helping to teach. Shane and I decided that rather than trying to apply one more possible answer to our burning question in our time with these students, we would instead bring them into the question with us. We started our time with askng them how they would incorprate the spiritual into the skills they were learning and then to test that out on the trip. The seed (the question) was planted, and for those who take the question to heart, leadership is growing. Now they too need to wrestle with how outdoor adventure can be used for building up leaders and for spiritual growth in people's lives. They weren't the recipients anymore of Shane's and my answers... receiving answers to a question they didn't have. Now the burden is in them to search for the answers and to lead each other in the process. The more they wrestle with that question now, the more they will be able to lead people in that respect in the future.

It's nice not to need to grasp on to control of the group in order to be seen as a great leader or as one who has it all together. And it's pretty amazing to see that sometimes the most effective tool a leader has is to let go and allow other people to start to lead. So all in all, it's been an encouraging season out in the snow, and I do believe that God is working through the things we're doing here, that people are growing in character, and that in the midst of my own questions, leadership training is still happening.

The students decided that with all of the time that would be spent with each other on the trip, whether at meals, or sleeping in shelters together, or building snow kitchens, etc., that they would be intentional about the conversations they were having with one another, sharing stories of God's work in their lives, how they came to faith, etc. It was a great time of being encouraged and getting to know each other on a much deeper level. The picture is of part of the group sitting in the indoor kitchen that we made out of the snow. It was a warm welcome retreat out of the wind and cold and many great conversations were had there by candle light late into the night.