As I type this out I am on a plane heading back to Colorado.
My return trip went a lot smoother than the long travel day on Thursday. My
trip was to Dayton, OH to see my brother, David, graduate from medical school.
The trip was much welcomed as my past two weeks have been exhausting to say the
least. On the 12th of May some 90 summer staff arrived at camp and
since then it has been constant ‘go go go.’ And that is not all bad, indeed a
lot of it is good, but tiring nonetheless.
It has been so cool to see the energy that the summer staff
brought with them. Even though I am not much older than most of them, I feel
like I am. But after the initial (extreme) state of being overwhelmed and things began to settle in, I really grew fond of their presence and in my own time
started to get to know the summer staff more personally. During the past two weeks, the 17 staff that I oversee directly spent 3 days in Ropes training, 3 days in
Lifeguard training (with me) and then the other days in all staff training and
also training their co-staff on how to run the activities. They are also tired,
to say the least. But they are a good group of people and I'm really excited to work alongside of them this summer.
Summer is definitely a change of pace. I had only been at
camp for about month (hard to believe) before summer staff arrived. But during
that month I had learned a routine that I had grown to love. In the short
amount of time that I have lived in CO I have started attending a church that I
love. I have been accepted into a community at camp. I have developed deeper
friendships with some of my co-workers. And I have made friendships with people
in the community. I have been blown away at how fast Westcliffe and this small
mountain community has become my home. And I am thankful for that.
I have adventured! With one of my friends from the community
who I got connected with after realizing similar passions in life. Together
with his faithful dog, Buddy, we have hiked, rock climbed, scrabbled,
bouldered, and walked. Both having a passion for adventure and the outdoors,
coupled with a sense of presence and closeness with the Creator in nature – our
adventures and conversation have been meaningful and eventful. From hiking to
the top of Lover’s Leap and getting lost on the way down with only one headlamp
and the moon guiding us away from cliffs and ravines to watching the flames
dance over a pile of logs with the mountains sleeping in the background. I am thankful
for a companion to share these experience with.
So as mentioned I had gotten accustom to a schedule, that I
very much liked. I worked very hard from 8a until between 5-8p and on days that
it worked out I would leave right around 5 and head out for an adventure with
Mike and Buddy. It was pretty great. And then it all changed. Summer staff got
here and for the past two weeks I’ve been up at 6 and have worked through
10:30-11p every night. It has been a demanding schedule between training staff,
keeping up with emails, providing for 15 horses and leading a small group. It’s
been hard not having time to myself. But it has also been so incredible being
able to serve, learn and teach alongside all of the people who God has brought
to Horn Creek for the summer.
But all of this to say I was pretty excited when last
Thursday came around and I made the two-hour drive to Colorado Springs to head
out to Dayton for my brother’s graduation. It was a welcomed break from the
chaos. I was excited to see my family and I was excited to celebrate this
accomplishment with my brother! But as I mentioned earlier my travel plans
didn’t go as smoothly as I anticipated. There were two delayed flights and then
my seat was given away, which meant a “cancelled” flight and me being put on a
later flight. In the end, after quite a bit of frustration on my part,I arrived and had dinner with both sides of grandparents, parents and my brother and sister-in-law. It was so nice to spend time with all of them and catch up. I’m thankful for who each of them is in my life.
I’d like to take a minute or so to really acknowledge my
brother. He truly is an inspiration. I am so blessed to have him as an example
in my life. David is gifted in many different areas of his life: musically,
academically, inter-personally, with written words. He is a servant and has a
heart for people. He is a very hard worker and has a desire to grow and learn
more to help better himself and those around him. He (as have my parents and
sister) has modeled a loving, successful, dedicated marriage. He shows Christ
in the way he lives and through who he is. I am proud to call him my brother.
And I am so proud of his accomplishments through these last four years. He not
only worked hard in his studies and long hours of clinicals and rotations, but
served at his church, played sports and was involved in a community life and
not to be forgotten, took great care of Taz the fluffball cat. But seriously, watching
my brother receive his doctorate and having the funny hood thing placed over
him filled me with joy and pride. Congratulations David. God has big plans for
your future, and I’m excited to see what that looks like. I hope through this
new and exciting transition you have some time to process these past four years.
Love you David!
Alright, well I’m hoping this flight is over soon. I’m also
thankful that the baby that was crying for 20 minutes stopped. But I also think
that I’m going to take however much longer I have on this flight to enjoy not
having to be anywhere or do anything. I really think that especially in our day
and age the act of just being is seriously overlooked. There is always going to
be another e-mail, another book to read, another meeting to be in, another red
light to shake your fist at – but will there always be another moment just like
the one you just left? Can we just sit and be comfortable with ourselves not
doing anything for 2 minutes? Or is our time then wasted? Something to think
about at the next red light – you are forced to just be, to stop, to wait. Try
it.
Until next time, may
you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and know it is from God and that it
is good.
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