Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sent off...

This morning, after a big breakfast and worship through music, reading from God's Word, and prayer, we tearfully sent Elissa off to the airport. She and Dad will fly to the L.A. airport, where they will meet the team from Grace church that she's going to travel with. Dad should get home around 11:30 tonight. Please be praying!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Snakes and Planes!

    Ok, so we're hoping that the two won't be combined, but both are a part of this post. Today, as a family, we and a neighbor family cleared off the brush from quite a few of the empty lots in our neighborhood. We also weeded and cleared the roundabout and entry... tough work! The other neighbors outside were very appreciative, as we don't have an HOA.
    For lunch, we had a cookout with our neighbors who helped us work, some of their friends that are in town, and Chris Grieggo and his boys. Afterwards, most of our kids went down to the creek, where we found two garter snakes! (Be sure to check out the pictures!)
     It's hard to believe, but tomorrow, Elissa leaves for Uganda for six months. To know how you can specifically pray for her, check out her blog: That the World May Know Him. I added it to the blogs I'm following, so simply look to the right (if you're on the Home page).  ------>                                          
     Also be praying for us as a family... it's gonna be very different, and hard at times, too. But we know that God has had this planned for all of eternity, and He works greatly through those willing to follow His calling. I love you, Sis! Dad and Elissa will fly out to L.A. tomorrow, and then he'll return once she's off to the next stop: Dubai.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Indy Trip Update, Pt. 2

     Besides the teaching times, there many activities that most of these kids would never have an opportunity to do otherwise. Archery, a water slide, bikes, low ropes, pontoon boat rides, canoeing, fishing, go carts, and the challenge course are just some of the few things we were able to do. My cabin even got to camp out in the woods one night! (A first for many of the guys.)
    The week's theme was "Long Live the King"; we had medieval-esque teams formed by the cabins, as well as the evening games and activities.
    God really provided a neat group of guys in the cabin that I was co-counselor of along with David Wesner (shout out to you, brother!). We had the oldest age range, mostly 14 year olds, with one camper who was fifteen. A huge blessing was that we had next to no discipline issues! Thank you for your prayers!! It was incredible to be able to really focus on the teaching and talking about it with the campers instead of having to constantly be correcting behavior. I had several good conversations throughout the week, including sharing the Gospel outside of the teaching and small group time. Something that I really was taught that week, (and am being reaffirmed in another part of life right now) is that it is not up to us to who we are to share the Gospel with, based on those that we think will or won't accept it. It's not our work that saves them, but by Jesus alone! Praise God! Often, those we think the most unlikely to even being open to talking about such matters are just waiting for us to start talking to them.
     Katie also had many opportunities to share the Gospel with the girls in her cabin, and was used by God in a situation that was very serious, but by God's grace, all turned out fine. Please pray for Nikki, that camper who has had some extremely hard events in her life (as many of these kids have), and desperately needs Christ in her life.
     After returning to Indy, the next few days were a joyous time spent visiting family and friends. We'd like to thank everyone who was a part of our time back in the Midwest: Aaron and Debbye, Abells (thank you again so much for doing the stanky camp laundry... such a gift!), Maakestads, Amy, Peter and Becki, Barges, Weavers (thank you for hosting the get-together!), Tom and Christine (I dream of that amazing lunch now! AHHH!), Troy, and everyone else not above mentioned.
     This Wednesday, Katie, Luke, Grandpa and Grandma Paige, Chris Grieggo (a family friend who also happened to be flying out), and I flew out of the Indy airport for "the Springs". We arrived without event, and are unpacked and getting used to family life again. Thank you so much for your prayers during this trip; it was so good to see God working around the country. I think that's about it, so, farewell for now!

Indy Trip Update, Pt. 1

    Ah... finally a moment of quiet to work on some blogging. Many of you know now that there were three of us that left Colorado Springs, Katie, myself, and Luke. The latest addition to our traveling trio spent the majority of his time with our cousins, and had a very fun time.
    Katie and I left with the others for Camp Ray Bird after church on the Sunday the 17th, and our team reached South Bend later that afternoon. Sunday night, we had the chance to get to know the full time summer staff, and for the first timers, tour some of the camp. Already, we could tell that it was going to be a hot week, and swimming in the lake that night felt really good!
    Monday was Purple day, about which I'll explain here. At Ray Bird, the week is themed mainly from the wordless book colors. There were also verses of the day (I'll give those as well). Purple used to be a color that exclusively represented royalty, and so the kids learned of the Kingdom of God and His creation.    Psalm 47:2 "How wonderful is the Lord Most High! He is the great King over the whole earth."
    Tuesday brought bad news, as on Dark day, the focus is our sin, and how we as humans ruined our relationship with God, and caused death to enter the world. We were then separated from our Creator, with no hope of living with him after this life, because all have sinned. Sin (anything that we do to go our own way rather than God's way) that we have done makes us deserve eternal life in Hell, away from God.    Isaiah 53:6a "All of us are like sheep. We have wandered away from God. All of us have turned to our own way."
     Good news came on Wednesday, the Red and White day. Jesus, God's Son, came to earth to take our  just punishment for sin, and died in our place after living a perfect life. He shed His blood for us, and allowed us to be free from our sin; our hearts would be cleansed from our sin, becoming white as snow.
   Matthew 9:35 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He preached the good news of the kingdom. And He healed every illness and sickness."
      Hope of our eternal life with God after this earthly one was shared on Thursday, Gold day. If we have given our life over to God, one day, we will walk the golden streets of Heaven. We can be assured of our eternal life if we accept Jesus' free gift of Salvation.
  Romans 10:9 "Say with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved."
       Friday, Purple and Dark day, had a very serious theme. Every person will make a choice to either follow God's Kingdom or Satan's kingdom, there is no middle ground. If we just try to go our own way, that is going against God, which puts us in Satan's kingdom. Some people will think that by doing good things we can earn our Salvation, but only through Jesus can we be saved.
   Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord! Lord!', will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who do what My Father in Heaven wants will enter."
       Our last day at camp, Saturday, was Blue day. It was a sad time, knowing many of us would not see one another again, but that all those in God's kingdom will be together again one day. It is also sobering to think of the many that will not choose to follow God, as the Bible says it will be. It is a hard path on this earth to follow Him, and very easy to do our own thing. But we must enter through the only way to God: Jesus.
    Matthew 7:13 "Enter God's kingdom through the narrow gate. The gate is large and the road is wide that leads to death and hell. Many people will go that way."

    Ok, this is a long post, so I'll continue in at least one (maybe two) more.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

We're back!

All,

I am about to drop from exhaustion, but I just wanted to tell you that we made it home safely, and I will be posting very soon about our time in Indy! So much to tell!

Monday, July 18, 2011

PHOTOS! :)

Hey All,
While Nathan is in Indy this week, I've been appointed the task of uploading some of our recent photos. :) Sorry there is no witty post to go with them... I couldn't follow up an act like Nate's on any occasion, so I won't try. :) You'll have to wait for his return to get the fun spin on our life here!

- Elissa

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Arrived in Indy

I'm just about to get ready for church, (CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!!!!) but just wanted to  say we got in last night on time and have sorted out our bags for camp. WE'RE HEREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Last post for now...

We're on our way!

Weekend Update

     It's been since Wednesday morning that I've posted anything, and that one didn't tell you much. So...
Wednesday night (or was it Thursday morning?), Mom got home safely, albeit late, due to inclement weather that made national news. Blake Dias also got in that night, and we've had a lot of fun doing hiking and other things around the Springs with him. In fact, if I had not waited a few minutes to write this post, I might have damaged my keyboard with a slight shower of sweat... he and I just went on a run, and we threw in a sprint at the end there. Thursday, we (Blake, Elissa, Katie, and I) went to Palmer Lake, where Katie and I were nearly driven mad by the seemingly infinite supply of flies that wanted to eat us as they persisted in landing on us. The high points of the hike were seeing a beaver and a chipmunk who wanted to run around us while we ate lunch. I named him Douglas, a rather proper English name. I might not be able to get those pictures up soon, unless Elissa is able to do so, because.......... TODAY IS THE DAY! Katie and I are leaving for the airport a little before 2:00, and we should arrive in Indy shortly after 9:00 tonight (as will Blake and his brother, Seth, who also happened to be in Denver and on the same flight as us!). I can't wait to see many of you at church tomorrow, and then it will be off to Camp Ray Bird for the week. We'll stick around until Wednesday the 27th, before flying back with our grandparents. We're packed, primed, and rarin' to go (after a farewell hike to Colorado with the family this morning).   :)  I'll have to give Dad the crash course on posting here on the blog, otherwise, you might see no activity until I get back.
     Last night, Katie, Christie, and I went to the last evening of the Desperation Conference, put on by New Life and the Desperation band. It was like a mini-Passion conference, and was packed with a few thousand teens and adults. It was a neat time of worship through song, prayer, and teaching.
     Next week: one of Christie's best friends and her mom are coming out. Needless to say, she's excited about that. (Wait a minute... WHY do we even say it if it's needless to say?! It's a self-contradiction!! Thank you for humoring me and putting up with my humor.) Please be praying for our time at Camp Ray Bird, (South Bend, Indiana) as we will be serving as camp counselors for inner-city kids who otherwise would not get this kind of experience. Pray for the preparing of their hearts, and that we would show God's love toward them as we lead.
    Signing off....

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Rocky Mountain Adventure, Pictures

I'm working on getting the pictures up from our trip, and some have been already posted. I hope to have them done by Saturday, for by then, Katie and I will be traveling back to join the STM team from Castleview to Camp Ray Bird for this summer's mission trip.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Rocky Mountain Adventure, Pt. 3

     Here I am, writing the latest and final update from our trip. Today was our last day away from home, and we dropped Mom off at the Denver airport around midday. On our way to Denver from Fraser, we also got to see two moose on the side of the road. As for our surprise, Dad took us to the Water World park! The next hours were spent in wave pools, water slides, raft rides, and the like. Just as the we left, a storm was incoming and the park was closing, so, we got out just in time! I cant' wait for all of you to see the pictures; stay tuned!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Rocky Mountain Adventure, Pt. 2

Once again, I'm glad for the chance to be back and filling you in on our happenings. Let's see... Saturday. We took officially longest hike in our family history: 7 miles. It was a beautiful piece of God's artwork, and we were fortunate enough to see plenty of wildlife: squirrels, yellow-bellied marmots, pikas, deer, and even a moose! I have plenty of pictures to post, so, savor the anticipation while you can (it's a valuable lesson applicable to the rest of life!). We reached the end of our trail at a waterfall, enjoying our lunch as we watched the water plunge and storm past. Then, it was back  down the path and across the log bridges... oh! and even across a rock face! A certain part of the path had been overflowed by the swollen creek, making it necessary to inch along foothold to foothold over the water below to the dry ground. That night, Dad, Mom, Elissa, Katie, Will, Matt, and I had the fun of an impromptu trip to a local Saturday night rodeo, where we cheered on the the roping, barrel racing, and bull riding.
     Today was the scenic drive day, and although we were in the car almost the whole time, you hardly knew it from the views. Again, I can't wait to post the pictures, even if they can't come close compared to viewing them in person. Consider them our travel brochure to you, beckoning out to the West to stay with us! We did take a short hike to Alberta falls, an even prettier waterfall. One of my highlights from that hike was a beautiful Aspen grove that the trail ran through... God's love for beauty is just evident in His creation! The main feature of wildlife for today's trip was definitely the elk, which were in abundance. Before we started home, Dad read us Psalm 104, a truly descriptive passage that correlated perfectly with what we were beholding. (This is also the Psalm that the song "Indescribable" was written from.)
    Well, some of us are going swimming now, and I'm going to take on some opponents in racquetball. :)

Friday, July 8, 2011

Rocky Mountain Adventure, Pt. 1

     Ahhhh... finally, some time to sit down and write. Our grand adventure into the mountains began with an eventful three hour drive on Thursday night. Almost there, we encountered some of the infamous mountain weather- treacherous lightning, rain, and the aftermath of a hail storm. Upon our arrival in Fraser, Colorado, we had scant ten minutes to unload the whole van, and we did it.
     Today, our next exciting experience was at the Sombrero Stables, where Dad, Elissa, Katie, Christie, Luke, Becca, Anna, and I went for a two hour trail ride in the mountains. I had Tanto- the "airiest" horse on this side of the Ohio river. What he eats to produce that effect, I have no idea. The views from the hills over the lake were incredible, and God held off the rain (the clouds were very dark and threatening).
       This afternoon, some of us went to the pool (part of the fitness center, 5 minutes away) and then Dad, Christie, and I went to play racquetball this evening after dinner.
       When I have enough energy (it's time to hit hit the hay!)I'll see how many pictures I can get up from Thursday's hike (from Elissa's camera) at Palmer Park (yeah, it's a city park!), today's horse ride, and tomorrow's hike... all dependent on how fast our internet connection is. If I can't get it to work, then they'll be up by Tuesday.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Vacation!

    I wish that I had time to post the pictures and tell of this morning's events, but it will have to wait. Right now, we're finishing packing and cleaning before we head to the Rockies for vacation until Monday! I might be able to squeeze in time to upload the pictures before we get on the road, and once we arrive, I'll be able to write out a post as well.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Good Tidings!

I have some great news (especially for those with slower web browsers or anyone like me who thought that the picture viewing design of Blogger is annoying)! I now have a new page up on our blog, and on it is a link to ALL of the pictures that have been uploaded. Plus, you can view it in a more linear fashion or as a slideshow! Huzzah! I'm working out some issues, but if you would, please try out the new web album, and  either post to that page or e-mail me with how you like it... really. Even if everyone did so, that would be great to know if and how it works compared to what I was doing previously. Thanks!

Happy 4th of July!

     There's a lot that's got to fit in this post, so here we go... At breakfast, we celebrated Mom's birthday with a special Einstein bagel meal. Afterwards, we hurried to get ready for the parade in Monument. Once parked at Lewis-Palmer high school, the buses shuttled everyone to where we could set up our chairs and blankets. Throughout the parade, we saw quite the spectrum of people: from the cotton candy vendor with carabiner earrings to Captain Jack Sparrow (a pretty good imitation, I might add), they were all there.
      Now, to dispel any notions you may have, believe it (or not), we don't live at Chick-fil-a out here (though most of us would not be dismayed at such a situation). However, we did go for lunch today, and will be going on Friday, dressed as cows, for our free meals! Tonight we're planning on going to view the Airforce Academy fireworks from Dad's office, and of course, more celebrating of our wonderful Mom! Added today are pictures of both the neighborhood and today's parade, and Mom's birthday breakfast. Enjoy, and Happy Independence Day!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Cheyenne Mountain

This fine Saturday morning, Mom, Dad, and I took a hike on the Talon trail at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park... and I'm totally ready to go back. The trail we went on was PERFECT for mountain biking. Needless to say, that's been something I've really wanted to do more of, and so we're going to try to get back soon to do so. On our trek, we also saw some prairie dogs! Tonight, the neighborhood is having it's annual 4th of July Parade, so most of the kids are decorating their bikes for the trip around the block; afterwards we'll all have root beer floats at the cul de sac. Enjoy the hike pictures! (And if you haven't seen my new stop-motion film, check the previous post for how to do so! Yes, this is a shameless plug- one of the perks of being the writer and editor for the family blog!) :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

New Film has been posted!

Check out my blog (link in the sidebar) to check out my latest film, "Tab". Be sure to read its description on the Home page...