ReviVAIL

Here ya go:

13 full days left for Vail Summer Project. This is bittersweet. I am looking forward to going home and seeing everyone but I also have grown to love the people here. I'm entering the reflective stage, thinking over how I've grown (how God has transformed me) and what I've learned here (what God has taught me). More on this later.

Weekend Activities:
On the 16th we all (the girls too this time) drove back to around Leadville and camped at the same campground as the men did before. On the 17th we set off to climb Mt. Elbert, the tallest mountain in the state and 2nd tallest in the US outside of Alaska. It was a gorgeous day. It was a lot of fun and not quite as hard as Mt. Massive. We got up to the top in about 3 1/2 hours. The trail was really crowded. I'd say at least 300 people. We chilled on the top for a while. We ran a lot of the way down which was a ton of fun. Back at the campsite everyone slept for like 3 hours.    
Here's my roommate and I on top.

That night most of us went to see Inception which is a crazy good movie.

Yesterday (24th), Madisson, Nick, and I drove to the top of Vail pass and rode bikes down to Frisco and then over to Breckenridge. It was awesome. Between the pass and Frisco we had to pedal like 3% of the time because it was all downhill. Went through some beautiful scenery. It was pretty liberating. When we got to Frisco, Breckenridge was 10 miles away and a lot of this was uphill: still fun but harder. We took shelter from a huge storm in the loading dock of a high school and then under a tree. When we got to Breck we met up with Brooke, Austin, Jordan, and Taylor at a cool and relaxed coffee shop and hung out there for a few hours. It felt so good to be totally relaxed, carefree, and at peace.

Now for what I've learned. Sorry I'm still figuring that out actually. I can say that it hasn't been what I expected but it has been Good (in the fullest sense of the word).  And it has been full of growth and preparation for leadership next year. Maybe I'll have it all figured out better by next post.

 (looking forward to going back to Louisville on Wednesday for a few days for the Grieshaber wedding!)

eVAILuation

It's been a while since I last posted anything. I felt pretty busy with work and project activities. Here's an update.

There's still 3.5 weeks left in project!

On the 3rd a few of us, including me, worked security for the town of Avon (the next town West of Vail)'s firework display. We checked bags and stopped people from bringing alcohol into the venue. The fireworks were pretty good, supposedly the best in Colorado. They were pretty good but I'm spoiled cause of Thunder Over Louisville.

 On the fifth everyone drove North of Vail on a twisty dirt road for around an hour toward Piney River Ranch. The Ranch was beautiful. Situated on the bank of a lake that's right under some huge mountains. The reason we all went out there was for a final meal with the Staff. This was their last night. Student leaders were appointed, the staff prayed for us and said there goodbyes. It was sad to see these awesome people leave. At the same time though, their leaving is a good thing. Now we are on our own. Every aspect of project is up to us. We are responsible for our outreaches, our growth, and all the organization and finances. It's cool realizing we can do these things and do them well. Part Two of Summer Project has begun.

As a project we're starting to explore more. On Saturday 22 of us drove about 45 minutes to another Ski Town called Breckenridge. On Sunday after Church, some of us and some of our coworkers went to Denver for a Rockies game. Vail is starting to feel like home (which isn't a good thing, see below).

So, the bugs I thought were gnats in my last post are not gnats. They're called no-see-ums. And they're blood suckers. And they're hard to see. I finally figured it out after I kept finding these insanely itchy bumps all over me. I counted 11 on my leg today. Insanely itchy.

Last Tuesday Joel Osteen came to the zipline. Yeah, that Joel Osteen. He's probably the most famous person I've met. I don't agree with his theology (if you can call it that), but he was a nice guy and I took a picture with him. Look!

That same day we got to do the Zipline there for free. It was definitely cool and fun. But (don't tell them this) I would not pay $125 for it. Maybe $45 at the most.

God has blessed me with a great job for sure. The only thing that's bothering me about it is that I only work with people from Crusade. A huge part of the trip is to minister to coworkers. I'm realizing I'm going to have to be really intentional but relational evangelism. So, if you read this, please pray God would put people in my path that he wants me to show Christ to and that I'd take the initiative to go out of my comfort zone.

Speaking of comfort zones, a lot of us on the project are heading in one of two bad directions relating to project. The first direction is exhaustion. For these people, doing Project outreaches, on top of a full work week is becoming overwhelming. They're starting to despair and just get worn down. The other direction is vacation. For these people, Project is becoming just a vacation to a beautiful place or it is becoming comfortable and home. Complacency is the result. I think I'm falling a little bit into the second. I have to keep reminding myself to let go of comfort and step out in faith to a place where God can use me in this unique environment.

Please pray for our project that we'd be protected from both exhaustion and complacency. That we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and energized and encouraged to do God's work. Thanks!

VAILociraptor

No, there aren't (m)any Velociraptors out here, but I couldn't think of anything fitting with Vail in it.

Things are settling in here. We've been here almost four weeks. It's July now. The job hunt is over, for all of us which is amazing and rarely happens this quickly on any project and in this economy. God definitely has blessed us in this.

I'm working at a small photography company that just started business last Wednesday. It's a pretty cool job. We operate out of a place called 4 Eagle Ranch which is about a 20 minute drive west of Vail. On the ranch, there's a Zipline company. What we do it take pictures of the zipliners in action. Then we print the photos and sell them to the zipliners. I've probably got the best position of anyone in the company. I sit outside (in beautiful, high desert, scrub country) and take pictures of the zipliners as they come in from the 1st line and head out for the 2nd line. I'm getting to know most of the zip guides pretty well and I get to interact with the zipliners, too. The best part is the downtime (lots of it) between groups. I get to read, listen to music, think, or whatever for, like, 35 minutes an hour. Sweet right? The only downsides are the heat, the sunburns, and the gnats, but don't let me complain about something this great.

Last night at 'The Gathering,' which is kinda like our weekly meetings, one of the staff members, Brandon, spoke to us about Idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of anything other than God. Anything. It doesn't have to be a clear pagan god to be idolatry. We worship anything we put our dependence on, hope for, satisfaction in, or salvation for. It's crazy to realize how deep this spiritual adultery runs even in a believer's life (mine). Some of my idols are people's opinions of me, money-if I have money, feeling secure and if I don't have much money, always thinking and worrying about it, and food-thinking about food all the time, eating way too much, eating when I'm not hungry. What are you worshiping and sacrificing to in your own life?


The staff leave in a few days. Once they're gone, the project will be student run for the rest of the summer! I didn't know this when I signed up but I think it'll be a great chance to accept responsibility and take leadership of something.

"Grace to you and peace, from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 1:7