For my supporters let me just say THANK YOU! You guys are awesome and I am unworthy to still have you on my team. Your support is still much needed. There has been so much that has happened in the past 4-5 or more months. To summarize it all would be a very boring point by point update. Instead let me tell you were things are currently.
As many of you know I started doing carpentry jobs on the side working for myself to supplement some income. Those jobs got in the way and unfortunately things with Rugged fell to the side. The silver lining of all of this is that I realized that sometimes things just don't go how you thought they would and I need to be flexible. Through this I have been learning some deep spiritual lessons about prayer, posture and acceptance, which leads me to this next story.
Picture this if you will; myself, a living space that has only the bare rough framing and some drywall, two or three students available between classes and a family that says, 'we want you to use these guys to help you get the job done'. Life meets ministry! We worked together, we talked about life, learned carpnetry skills and I got to know these guys on a whole other level.Now hopefully I'm not confusing you about what Rugged is but...this is the point of Rugged. Yes Rugged is a ministry to college students, and yes we want to use the outdoors to connect with each other and to God. But it's also about relationships and letting God be in control of situations. I am constantly amazed how, when I am at the end of myself and not trying to manipulate a situation or a conversation, when I can just be involved and be interactive...that is when the best things in life take form.
I have been challenged lately to stop trying so hard. That can be a very difficult undertaking in our culture, there are so many expectations and so many hoops to jump through that it can be exhausting. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive, but what are we striving for?
Up and coming
Hut trip - Positioned in the moutains above Denver there is a system of 'huts'. These so called huts are actually fairly nice cabins that the military used for training purposes. They have since become access points to the playground of the Rocky mountains. This winter, December 19th and 20th we will be snowshoeing in 3.5 miles and gaining about 1,200 ft in elevation with 8-10 students to a hut, called Vance's Cabin. I am very excited about this trip not just because it will be really cool but also because it will be the most mixed group of new and old students we've done anything with so far. Please pray as always for safety but also for connections. Life changes won't happen over night but seeds can be planted and connections can be made that can grow over a lifetime.
