fun valley 2010

i have come to love fun valley. what is that, you ask? fun valley is a small family "resort" for RVers or anyone who wants a little bit of comfort in the context of mountains, and it is located near south fork, colorado. i have come to notice that it is a place that seems only known to texans. :) but it's a wonderful, relaxing bit of peace away from the hustle and bustle of the denver metro area. jody's family has been many times over the course of the last ~15 years, and now it serves as a wonderful mid-year reunion for us with jody's parents pam and alan, jody's brother brad and his wife lindsey.
thanks to lindsey for the first few pictures!

i love ray.

ray lamontagne, that is...

the Lord's provision...

our 2003 accord.

fall (change) is in the air...

the fall semester is here. i cannot believe it.

last tuesday, august 31st, jody started the fall 2010 semester at denver seminary, and so summer is officially over. SNIF SNIF! it was a wonderful summer, and i did not realize how much i'd enjoyed rest until classes started up again, and this past wednesday night our mid-week church services resumed, as well. as i look at our weekly schedule, it is (all of a sudden) busier than i had remembered, and i'm scrambling to prepare myself mentally for what life is like in this seminary season.

it is exciting, however. jody is taking 10 credits this fall - leading in intercultural settings (or sthg like that), homiletics (preaching), theology, and spiritual formation. we are meeting with new friends, jesse and rachel henkle, every monday night as our 'spiritual formations' group, and it's been wonderful thus far! it is so encouraging to have friends to grow with and bounce ideas off of as we work our way through this challenging season.

it is also exciting, because we see that the end is in sight. in the spring jody is set to take 11 credits, and he will graduate in may. may 13th is the last day of classes, and commencement is may 14th. may 14, 2011. that is 8 months.... or 245 days, to be exact. wahoo! as we realize that there is an actual end date to the season we have been in, it has definitely changed our conversations and our thoughts. we are processing more and beginning to pray with more of a focus in mind. my prayers have begun to look more like this: where, Lord? where are You calling us to? and what skills do we yet need to acquire to serve the area/people that you are calling us to? we have tossed around ideas of serving at a non-profit overseas (or stateside), of working in a church in america... of staying right where we are here in denver and continuing to serve our church here. it is an exciting time, where i sense the Lord stirring in my heart the need to be prayerful and intentional in the coming months as we seek the Lord's face for His plan for us post-seminary. i have no idea where we will end up, and i'm surprisingly open to whatever He has for us.

the verses that have reverberated in my mind recently have been: "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."(matthew 12:50).... 'Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."' (matthew 16:24) and 'Peter began to say to Him, "Behold we have left everything and followed You." Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake but that he will receive a hundred times, as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life." (mark 10: 28-30).

the overarching theme the Lord has given me is that i must be willing to let go and obey Him, no matter where He calls me to. what i am seeing is, however, that i like it when i have a particular end goal in mind that i will be 'surrendering to'. it's so easy to surrender to His plan when i agree with it. the hard part will be joyfully surrending to His plan even if i discover He is taking me where i don't want to go. so my prayer must now be, Lord, i joyfully surrender to Your plan for me. help me to rejoice no matter where You take me.

as you think of us, would you pray for us? pray for direction, for strength as we finish this last school year, for a continued heart to serve and love our church... for open doors, and for balance. we love you all! thanks for your support!