Thanksgiving

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer expressing gratitude; a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness.

I know I still have part 2 to write from the last post, but being the week of Thanksgiving, I really wanted to focus on being thankful and recognizing all that God gives and blesses me with. Sometimes it is really hard in times of pain or tribulations to be thankful and focus on what we do have, rather than what we do not have. I am thankful for so much, God is amazing and gives so much, even when we don't deserve it. While writing this I am listening to two of my favorite songs. I encourage you to take a timeout before you read this post or before you take your own time of thanksgiving to listen to these songs.

1) "I Thank You" Rebecca St James- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70ImW1nEWpQ&feature=related

2) "Praise You In The Storm" Casting Crowns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw

I just love Rebecca St James in general. She has so many songs that hit so close to my heart, relating so much to my life. In this song she just pours out all her thanks to God, for everything. She recognizes that we may not always feel like God is with us, and we may have times of doubt or loneliness, but if we just stop and focus on Him we will remember that He is always with us, blessing us, loving us, and believing in us. We should continue to hold on to Him and thanking Him.

And I love this song by Casting Crowns because it talks of how we all will have storms and pain, that is part of life and it is how God teaches us, strengthens us, and helps us grow closer to Him. God doesn't promise us an easy life; no, He tells us life will be hard. James says to have joy whenever trials occur, not IF they occur (James 1:2). This song reminds us that we will shed tears, our hearts will break, but God is there with us. We should continue to thank Him and praise Him, for he will help us through.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

God has blessed me with an amazing family and very caring, supportive friends. My family is always there for me when I need them, I love them very much and thank God for giving them to me. I also feel very blessed for the friendships God has given me. I thank God for all my friends and I want to also thank all my friends for giving me your friendship. Thank you for caring for me and for being there for me. We should feel loved and valued because of what God gives us and His love for us. I know He has given me my family and friends for their love and support. I encourage everyone to value your friends and family, thank them for all they do, make sure they know how much you care about them.

After saying that, I also know that we cannot rely on our earthly relationships. We cannot always count on them. We are all sinners, we will let each other down. We need to remember that the only one that will never let us down is God. But we can continue to encourage each other and be there for one another. God gives us relationships and puts us in situations for a reason, we should be thankful to Him for that. He has a plan for us, and although we may not understand that plan, we can draw strength and patience from Him for his will to be revealed. We should not count on others to make us feel valued or appreciated. Even though we should try to make those we care about feel special, we will fail, for we are not perfect. But we should continue to strive to love each other actively, giving others respect and kindness.

Right now, looking out the window, I am so thankful for this typical, snowy Colorado day! It is snowing lightly, making it look perfect and beautiful! And the snowcapped mountains are gorgeous! Unfortunately I have to work this Thanksgiving, but I am thankful for the job God blesses me with. And sometimes God works in mysterious ways. I thought I was going to be very lonely and depressed being alone and working this Thanksgiving, but no, God is great! My family is amazing and going to come spend some time with me, even though I will only be with them a few hours. And an amazing coworker invited us to their big family Thanksgiving dinner. Should be a good Thanksgiving!

Some other interesting things I have been able to do recently include my first day boarding of the season yesterday. Snow was decent. It was fun to get out and ride. I got to go on a nice hike the other day as well. I love Colorado mountains, all times of the year! Very beautiful!

Last weekend I was able to go the Denver Bronco vs Kansas City Chiefs game with a very good friend. That was awesome. Not only did the Broncos play amazing and cream the chiefs, I had amazing seats 15 rows from the endzone! Later, watching the recorded game with my dad, we saw us on TV right after a TD, it was cool. It has been really nice to hang out with some great friends lately.

They are about to score!

Megan and I...GO BRONCOS!!!

The past few weeks I have learned that we need to continually draw nearer to God when we are hurt and lonely. He wants us to stay close to Him. But he also gives us people in our lives to show us His love. Thank you God for all you have given me, for your plan for my life, and for the amazing people in my life you have given me!

"Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

Contentment, perspective, trust, and patience

Content: feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation

Perspective: looking through; seeing clearly; the capacity to view things in their true relation of relative importance

Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed; dependence on something future or contingent; something committed or entrusted to one to be used or cared for in the interest of another

Patient: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity

I have been feeling distant in my relationship with God lately. Many times I try to handle my life on my own, instead of trusting and relying on God to lead me, guide me, and give me strength. I realized I needed some time to myself and with God to get some perspective back in my life. Some issues I know I have been dealing with involve these four words: contentment, perspective, trust, and patience. It is hard to focus on one of these words without the others coming into play as well. But for this first blog I am going to focus on the first two: contentment and perspective. One can definitely not go without the other.


I love Colorado, I love that I was born and raised in Colorado, and truly feel at home in Colorado. There is so much to do in Colorado and there are so many beautiful days to take advantage of! I love my parents house and property, its in the trees, no neighbors in site, mountains right behind the house. And I also love that I can hike or 4-wheel right from our backyard. There is a special place I like to go to when I just need time to myself and with God. A place I can go to be alone, to think, get perspective. This place is my spot only, only to be shared with God; it is my special place. Although we should feel close to God wherever we are, this is where I go when I really need some quality time with Him. Today I needed some time to myself and with God. It was a gorgeous day to take the 4-wheeler out and meditate on His word. I did have some specific things I was focusing on, but that's the interesting thing with God, he is unpredictable. We may know what we need to focus on during our quiet time, but then he can lead us down a whole new path and teach us things we never knew we needed to be taught. This is what happened to me today. God taught me a little bit about contentment and perspective today. My mom is letting me borrow this amazing book called "Calm My Anxious Heart," by Linda Dillow. I just read the first few pages and have already learned so much!


I know I have an anxious heart. I know I am consistently wanting more adventure, to do and see more. Sometimes I try to control my life, and the more I try to control it, the more anxious my heart gets. I may find happiness in many things, but true happiness comes from God. Happiness does not come from things we do for ourselves, but from how we act and the love we show others. Happiness and contentment do not come from what happens on the outside; from our circumstances, feelings, or from other people. True contentment is a state of the heart, it happens in our souls. Paul states; "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:11-13) This is an amazing piece of scripture! Paul wrote this while he was imprisoned. Most of us do not live lives more difficult than the life Paul lived. Yet, Paul managed to have more contentment than I am sure all of us do. Paul realized that the source of contentment comes from God, Christ will provide us with the strength we need to be content. He does not promise us happiness, for if we were always happy, would we continue to seek strength from God? No. As James says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." (James 1:2-3) Like Psalms states, we grow in our faith when we make it through the valleys so that we can reside on the mountains, feeling close to him. But it is through the strength of God that will help us get through the valleys. And with God's help, we can make it through trials, we can be content during our times in the valley, and times on the mountain. (Psalms 23:1-4) James also continues to say that when we make it through times of trial, we grow and mature in our faith. When we seek God in all circumstances, he will give us wisdom. We must not doubt God, we must persevere and understand that God tests us and puts us through trials to teach us so that we may become stronger. We must not doubt God, but have faith in Him.

How can we be joyous through our trials? How can we have joy when we do not have contentment? Our trials James speaks of are not troubles we put ourselves through due to sin. They are our afflictions, persecutions, and sicknesses. They are everyday problems happening to everyday people. To find joy in these trials we should remember to accept them as they are: schools of instruction for our soul. With God's help, we can learn precious lessons from our difficult times. We should not doubt God in the situations he puts us in. We all struggle with doubt. People let us down and cause us to doubt, but God will never let us down. He is always there for us, and will take care of us in our trials, circumstances, and relationships with others even when they let us down. Instead of lacking confidence, we must trust God and lean on HIs strength and understanding so that we may be content with the situation He has put us in and the blessing He has given us.

We may lose sight of being content with what we have because we may feel anxious, as if we want things to happen quicker than they are happening. We may feel God is moving very slow in His plans for us. When we start trying to control our lives and make things happen when we want them to happen, we are not trusting God, and we are not content. The Bible says that God has ultimate control, He is the master of all things. (1 Timothy 6:15) We must let God be in control of our lives in this out-of-control world. We shouldn't let anxiety, greed, and a faulty focus to keep us from a content heart. We must keep our perspective focused on God and loving Him and others. We must understand our perspective of circumstances, ourselves, our roles, and our relationships can change; but look through these and see clearly what God is teaching us. We must keep an eternal perspective, try to see our lives and evaluate what is important through His viewpoint.

Some ideas to help one stay content include these simple things to remember day to day:
1) never allow yourself to complain about anything-- not even the weather
2) never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else
3) never compare your lot with another's
4) never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise
5) never dwell on tomorrow--remember that (tomorrow) is God's, not ours



God made me who I am, and I am confident in who he made me. I will always have the desire to do more and see more, but I also need to be content with the present and the circumstances I am in. I need to remember to continually draw my strength from Him, and not lean on my own understanding.

Lake Murray

Last year some of my college friends and I went camping at Lake Murray in southern Oklahoma. We had so much fun and it was great to get to hang out with college friends again that we decided to make it an annual thing. We decided that every year we would all meet up the last weekend of September at Lake Murray to reunite and have good times. We chose this spot because it is pretty, good temps that time of year, and good location being between OKC and Dallas. There are many of us that live in Oklahoma and Texas. Unfortunately life gets busy of course and plans are made not as many were able to make it out this year as I would have liked, but we had an awesome time anyway.

After I finally made it back home from Oregon on Wednesday, the next day I left for Pueblo to meet up with Andrew and we headed out for Oklahoma on Friday afternoon after he got off work. We knew it was going to be a long, late night of driving, but not as late as it ended up being. First we lost an hour with the time change, then where we stopped to eat ended up taking FOREVER!! They were so slow, and not very busy at all, it was frustrating. Then we had one other little speed bump that will not be named! But we didn't arrive to the campsite until around 3:30 in the morning. Everyone else that was there that night stayed up for us, so nice! Kylee and Clint had a tent but Emily, the other Kylee, and their friend Michael had to wait on us to bring them a tent. Very late setting up camp! Luckily, it was a gorgeous night! I guess while they were waiting on us they found out it was illegal in that campground to collect wood (crazy!), and they are pretty strict on quiet hours and littering. Emily got in trouble for being too loud (surprise? I think not!), and they got in trouble for having so bottles next to them even though they were still sitting there and didn't have a chance to throw them away yet. Man, strict rangers! They didn't seem to be as strict the second night though.

The fun thing I enjoy camping with my college friends is its very chill with good conversation, games, and sport activities. No pressure for constant entertainment or having to do extreme activities. I love how we can just chill talking or playing games and have tons of fun. On Saturday Andrew, Clint, Kylee, and I played Apples to Apples then played some volleyball while the others went on a grocery run. Then Andrew and I went swimming in the lake, well I thought we were just going to walk in a little ways, until he decided to pick me up and throw me in the lake! Oh well, it was fun!

After they got back we played and Danielle, Clint, and Brandon arrived we played some ultimate frisbee. That was a lot of fun. Emily was in charge of picking the teams. I was glad not to play against Andrew, but Kylee and I were on opposing teams. That was kind of strange, I am used to playing with her. She is one tough cookie! Haha. Clint was on the opposing team as well. At one point Clint was going to catch the frisbee in the endzone and Andrew went up to block him. Kind of a scary moment because Clint almost (well, pretty much did) get taken out by a metal pole while Andrew went up to block the frisbee, ran into Clint then went down hard did a little flip then got back up. There were a couple scary moments like that. We kind of got a little aggressive. It was four on four, pretty sure our team got creamed, but it was tons of fun!

Emily telling us what to do!

Emily is taking on all the guys!

Ky and I battling it out

After ultimate frisbee Andrew and I went on a nice little walk and when we got back it was so funny because the whole group was playing Bocci ball. This was very funny to walk up and see because everyone was standing in a straight line, and then at the same time they would all walk to a different spot. I'm sure others were very curious as to what was going on.

Then after dark we sat around the campfire talking and chillin and playing Mafia. It was fun! That night got very windy and chilly, but we survived! All in all there were about 12 of us altogether, and only 4 of us went to OBU. Well one of the Kylee's went to OBU for a short time. But just kind of ironic that it is a camping trip for all of us college friends and so few were actually there. It is definitely always open up to other family and friends though. More the merrier!

On Sunday we set off back to CO. VERY short trip to Oklahoma. Andrew was not too excited for the long drives. But he did great. And we survived each other! haha. Just lots of good conversation and singing to music! It was funny because he was tired on Friday driving there so I did most the driving and on Sunday I wasn't really feeling it driving so he drove a lot of the way back. Great teamwork! haha.

Ky and I

Emily and I

To all my college friends: I love ya, I miss ya, and if I haven't seen you recently I hope to see you soon. Miss the good 'ol college days!

pictures

Many missing pictures that I was unable to load until now...

Climbing Mt St Helens...

Nancy and I...before we started...still smiling!

Donna and I...we made it to the summit together

View from the top...Rainier in the background

Looking into the crater...still smoking

Other misc. pics...

Mountain biked around this entire, beautiful lake...23 miles...I was tired!

After camping in Mt. St. Helens I decided I wanted to drive a a little further south to do this "epic" trail according to one of my books. It was a hot hike along the ridge of a mountain most the way, but the view from the top was spectacular! I could see five mountains: Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, and Mt Adams. Apparently on even clearer days you can see the three sisters south of Portland.

This is biking south of Portland, can't see well in the picture, but the sisters can be faintly seen in the background

Backpacking Olympic National Park...

And we are off into the big, beautiful forest

The top of Appleton Pass, where we camped. It was cold and rainy. The rain on this backpacking adventure was very interesting. We were lucky to be able to set up camp while it wasn't raining very hard, but later we got completely drenched. It was very hard to keep some clothes dry to sleep in.

Day 2 we hiked from our campsite to the other side of the pass to these natural hot springs. There was nobody else there. It was great. But I was already so wet I didn't get all the way in, but it was nice to soak the feet.

Driving...

I left Oregon on September 23rd, and it has been quite a journey since! It is going to wear me out just talking about it!

To start, the night before leaving one of my amazing co-workers, Liane, threw an awesome goodbye party for me. It was quite a turn out! She did a great job. There were tons of food, good company, and good conversation. I truly miss all the people I worked with and got to know in Oregon. It was a wonderful experience, something I will always remember! Thank you to all the amazing people for giving me great friendship and an unforgettable experience!

Izzy and I

Cute Diana and Scarlet, I am holding little Willie!

Liane and I

All of us. Missing some very important people though. Love ya and miss you all!

After packing up as quickly as possible and doing a quick cleaning, I left Thursday morning, destination the Redwood Forest in Northern California. This is day 1 of the long trek back to CO. This drive took me about 8 hours. It was a gorgeous drive, along the northern pacific coast. It looked the same most the way, views of beaches and coastal cliffs. It was cloudy and rainy most the time, what's new, lol! Just a little north of the Redwoods it cleared up and the temperature was perfect. I was so excited. The Redwoods are somewhere I have wanted to visit for a very long time. It was unfortunate I only had that evening pretty much to be in the area. I got to see some gorgeous trees and found this perfect trail to experience the gorgeous forest and not take too long. It was actually about a 3 mile trail that I ended up jogging since I was short on time, it was going to get dark soon. It was perfect, trail winding through the forests, leaves changing colors and falling on the trail, and even a waterfall! No pictures of the actual trail though since I was running.

Shots taken pulling over on the side of the road while driving through the Redwoods

Near the trail I saw a sign for a campground that was on the beach. It was about 8 miles down a dirt road, but sounded great. I got at the campground and was able to snag the last camp spot! I was so excited to camp on the beach. Didn't even camp on the beach the whole time I was in Oregon. It was a bit chilly, but it was gorgeous! Got my camp set up then took a walk on the beach. The sounds of the ocean were amazing and it was a full moon, perfect evening walk along the ocean! And sleeping next to the ocean was so cool! Having a natural sound machine to sleep to! haha. In the morning I had to leave really early because I had to make it to LA by 7 to pick Luke up from the airport. I was visiting him and Jackie for the weekend and he was flying back from a TDY. It was nice that I was able to pick him up from the airport, but man is California a LONG state! It took me at least 12 hours just to drive from the Redwoods to LA. Crazy. Then he was nice and drove from LA to his house near Edwards Air Force Base. It was funny because my car was packed of course because I was traveling home, not really ready to carry the driver plus a passenger, so I sat with a cooler and two bags in my lap, and Luke unable to see out the rearview mirror. I was so happy to get to his house that evening and have two days off with no driving!

Huge elk in the Redwoods

Beach at campsite

Gorgeous full moon night, perfect for beach camping!

Cliff and mountain on one side, beach and ocean on the other!

The drive to his house was interesting at first, then after San Francisco got very boring and redundant. Long time just driving south on I-5. Some interesting things I passed included going through Big Foot territory, saw the one log house (literally a house in one big, single log), saw tons of road bikers biking the pacific coast trail, saw one biker pushing his bike up a hill towing a decent size trailer (crazy), along with more interesting things. Too bad I was unable to blog until now because I am sure there was a lot more I could have written about that I saw, but unfortunately I have a horrible memory!

Footprints in the sand! This is in northern Cali

All pics from northern Cali, the last of the coastal scenic part of the drive

Saturday Luke, Jackie, and I relaxed in the morning and visited, then we decided to do something we have been wanting to do for a long time, Geocaching! Luke has a nice GPS perfect to do this. I have hiked up upon a geocache one or two times in the past, but never set out hiking purposely seeking a cache. We went to Devil's Punchbowl Park, southeast of where Luke lives. It was a cool area, outside of Los Angeles National Park. It was hot and in the desert, but pretty. It was interesting having to worry about snakes in the area. Luke and Jackie saw one of the deadliest snakes in their driveway not too long ago, the Mojave Green. Luckily their neighbor assisted them in killing this deadly creature! We set out to find four geocaches, found three of the intended ones and one that was unintended. The third one we found was a backcountry cache, more difficult to get to and discover, but totally worth it! It was tons of fun. We had to do a little bouldering to get to it. Got a little bit of my need for some rock climbing out of my system. Not enough though, still in great need to do some rock climbing!

Bouldering our way to the third cache

These are dead cacti that grow really tall before they die, they look so cool

Jackie and Luke climbing up the side of a rock

Luke working on his rock climbing skills!

Now he's working on his weight lifting!

Trying not to fall into the nasty water

3rd cache, do you see it? We didn't either, for a LONG time. Luke and Jackie both were standing right over the spot where it was hidden for quite some time. It was so difficult to see. We were going to be so bummed if we never found it, but we found it!

The treasures inside the cache, we took the travel bug and left the skull patch from the previous cache that we traded matches for the skull patch

Day 2 with Luke and Jackie we went to church, watched some football, had some good family time playing games, then went to the new frisbee golf course on base. It was brand new, so it was kind of cool to get to play on, had a few recommendations for them to improve on. It was fun. We always have a good time playing frisbee golf! I'm always very thankful for the time I get to spend with Luke and Jackie, I don't get to see them enough. I miss them both. Can't wait for the next visit.

Monday morning I left early for the next day of driving...to Salt Lake City to visit Brea and Tom! I definitely don't get to see these two often enough either. I love them both. Monday night I got to see some of Brea's family. She has so many nieces and nephews. I got to see one of my fav's, Dekker. He attaches himself to me when I get to see him, I love it. I think I have seen them the most because they live the closest to Brea.

So happy to see each other

Teaching Dekker how to do flips!

On Tuesday we set out on a hike. It was so gorgeous. The trees were amazing. It was a bit chilly in the morning, but then warmed up quickly. We hiked up to Dog Lake where the reflection from the mountains was spectacular! God's beauty is so amazing!

We hiked a little farther trying to find another lake we thought was in the area, but turned out we were wrong. That's ok though, we got some good bonding and hiking time. That afternoon Brea taught me the art of Slacklining. It was very weird feeling, didn't think there was any way possible I would be able to do it. But it was really fun. Cheap entertainment!

That evening it was nice we got to kind of celebrate Brea's birthday together, a bit early. Afterwards, Brea plays volleyball with a bunch of people that are decent players. I was stoked to get to play some competitive v-ball. This doesn't happen much. We played for like two hours, it was so fun. We were worn out, but it was worth it!

The next day I set off early for my next day of driving. This was the shortest day of driving however, only 8 hours! It was pretty in parts of Utah with the fall colors, and CO was gorgeous. I love seeing the changing colors in the Aspen trees. When I got a little ways outside of Leadville (30min. from home) I started smelling something weird from my car. I was thankful I was almost home, my car needed a break. It's been making a weird vibrating noise lately too, I'm wearing it out! Definitely time for a new car! I was thankful when I made it home, but it wasn't too relaxing. I had to unload all my stuff and then repack for leaving the next day to go to Pueblo and then Oklahoma for my annual camping trip with old college friends. This will be for an upcoming post!

It was a very long journey home, broken up with great visits with friends and family. I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend in Oregon, all the friends I made and adventures I partook in. Now time to create more memories...!