I would apologize for my blogging hiatus, except who could really blame me with this right outside my front door. (a.k.a. Sorry...not sorry)
Colorado State University where I spent the last seven weeks. See those mountains in the background?!?!?
For the past seven weeks, I've been in Fort Collins, Colorado, with about 2,000 others on staff with CRU, going through ongoing ministry training. I know I've alluded to this already in my Colorado Teaser, but it was by far the best thing I've done all year that I didn't even know I needed. I knew going into this summer that it had been a long year of adjusting to a new team and a new city. It had been a great year, where we had seen God show up in some pretty incredible ways, but by the end of the spring semester, I just felt tired, the kind of tired where not even a good, full day on the beach does the trick.
And then this summer....seven beautiful weeks of connecting with friends who are doing the same job I am, rejoicing in the same victories and wrestling with the same struggles, seven weeks of learning from people with incredible experience in leading ministry teams, and seven weeks of being encouraged to make my relationship with the God my number one priority (not my ministry or my team or my students). Oh, and did I mention seven week of exploring Colorado.
Day trips to Boulder...
People watching on the Pearl Street Mall
Hiking my first 14er and straddling the continental divide...
I just can't even tell you how amazing this moment was. We left Fort Collins at 4am to make it to the peak of Gray's Mountain and back bellow tree line before the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. 8 hours of hiking at 14,200 feet. I knew it was going to be hard, and up until that moment, it was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life (that was before I did my second 14er a few weeks later). I've done longer hikes, and I've done steeper hikes, but that altitude was harder than I expected. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. But that view at the top...if there were ever anything that made that hike worth it, it was that view, literally standing on top of the word...or at least the Continental Divide.
Trips to Denver for Rockies Games and Thai food...
Our view at the Mile High Stadium
A quick trip to Vail...
Followed by a 3:30 am wake up call to hike my second 14er of the summer, Mount Massive...
Our hiking group at the second tallest peak in Colorado, 14,500 feet. If I thought Gray's Peak was hard, this one was harder.
But again...that view makes it all worth it.
Movies at Red Rock's Amphitheater...
A day trip to the capitol of the least populated state in the United States, Cheyenne, Wyoming...
The thriving metropolis of 59,000 just days before the largest rodeo in the United States comes to town.
A front row seat to see one of my all time favorite bands play, Needtobreath, courtesy of our CRU National Staff Conference...
Did I mention I was FRONT ROW?!?!?!? I mean...I sang "Outsiders" right along with them.
And good friends to experience it all with...
Again I say...it was a good, sweet summer.
Your summer sounds amazing!! It's hard to believe that the 7 weeks went by so fast. I want to hear more soon!!
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