Mountaineering Class

This was our first class and it was two days long. It was soooo much fun. We got to carry around ice axes and not only look cool but through ourselves off the side of the hill into endless amounts of snow and then lean how to self rescue ourselves using the ice axe. We also learned how to set up c rigs and z rigs to use pullys to help pulling weight up.

We also learned how to build anchors in the snow for climbing rapelling and rescuing team member on our rope team. We built a big anchor and put all 7 of us on the rope got a running start and then jumped down the side of the hill. I guess we had enough momentum that it ripped out our anchor and we caused a mini avalanche on top of ourselves as we slid down the hill. I ended underneath the snow with no idea how much was on top of my face so i immediately started trying to uncover myself to breath. Thankfully i wasnt to deep but when your covered up it all feels the same, its a freaky feeling
During the self rescue training on the way back up the hill i fell into a tree well. I didnt hit the ground and i was head deep in snow. I decided to stay in the whole and scare one of the instuctors, it was hilarious.
We were wearing harnesses and were roped into each other with climbing rope in case one of us should fall. When you do fall you are supposed to say "falling" so to practice we had to randomly while walking run and jump off the side and scream falling while the other guys jumped to the ground and jammed in their ice axe. When we established that everyone was solid the last man in the crew would get up and run over to build anchors.

2 Weeks at Prairie then back to Montana

Well it was easier to pack this time but I found out its still hard as heck to leave! It was however good to be back and see all my friends again. Sadly there was less snow there than when we left to come home for Christmas but I knew that in a couple of weeks Id be in Montana covered up in snow. We covered a full semesters class in less than two weeks with 4 – hour and 20 minute classes a day, it was a killer. The class was called Biblical Theology of Mission and it was amazing. You know it’s a good class when it takes the whole first class just to explain what the title of the course means. Basically it was this, Gods mission is to Glorify Himself, and we are created as was everything else to glorify Him. We talked about the prologue of the story then dived into Genesis all the way to revelation seeing Gods mission revealed and learning about various characteristics of God and we should make application of those. It was in this class that I realized that many of the immeasurable goals that I had set for myself were coming true and that was really exciting. There was several sunny days even though it was it was nice to play outside and see some good sunsets. There wasn’t much time for anything except for class but we are all looking forward to going to Montana back to camp bighorn and the discover group is looking forward to going to Guatemala. Pack my bags again and say goodbye for 3 months and head towards camp.

Man is it good to be back at camp now. The staff here is amazing and the food delictable...as was the first semester. They have been giving us all the things that I missed the most like enchilladas, baked oatmeal, hot wings, resses pieces cookies, and hot chocolate with mint tea in it

This semester we have even more gear and the same 6 guys living in a cramped up space so we traded two of our dressers for two more bunk beds bringing the total to 6 beds. Our room looks like a submarine set up but its pretty sweet. Now everyone has their own bed and there is some organization going on.

All these pics are from a couple of days ago here at camp it just poured snow all night and we woke up to this. I guess thats what they mean when they say that down at camp they dont get much snow down in the valley. I cant wait to see the waist deep- up to 6 feet of snow up on the hill. Me and Scott decided it would be a good time to hike up to the cross behind camp. It was absolutely beautiful. At one point we both ended up on our butts at exactly the same time...part of the trail was covered in ice hidden by a bunch of fresh snow. On the way down we found a good tree to do some pull ups on. If the 6x6 military trucks get working then we are planning to start skills tomorrow(Thursday). Our green team gets to do Mountaineering first and I cant wait.

Christmas Break

It was sooo nice to be home with my family and also friends over the break. It was cool to sit around the fire ( even if was in the 60's or higher) without tv distractions and talk, play cards, read, or just relax. Also being back at my home church was amazing. Seeing everyone there was good but I wish I had more time to talk with and catch up with more people. I have a feeling this is gonna be a long post because I realized alot of things over the break and im so excited about it that its hard to shorten it by too much. So just skim through if you wanna but dont worry the next couple will be having alot more pictures because winter skills training starts in 3 days.

God used this time of rest to really show me some awesome things. I have been reading through this book about men and I got to the part talking about the warrior stage in our lives. I first read about God being a warrior and that there are certain things in life that are worth fighting for. Also, that He makes man a warrior in His image because He wants us to join Him in the battle. Then it went on to talk about the dangers of paralysis, or passivity, that has been passed on to us from Adam. This gets me so angry. It is crucial that a man gets past this tha

t lies deep in our bones. We must with the help of God, overcome it intentionally, repeatedly, on front after front across the seasons of our lives. I my heart God has placed this thought that says I will not let evil have its way. There are some things that cannot be endured. Instead of saying, why is life so hard, we take the hardness as a call to fight. Set your face like a flint like in Isaiah 50:7. It is also essential to keep the integrity of the heart as a great reservoir or passionate strength and Holy desire. I pray that myself and other guys let God awaken the warrior in us and restore that heart in me, that we would be His, ready to serve. Also that after getting past fear or doubt to serve we may fight one battle at a time and not be lured into fighting battles that are not ours to be involved in.

I was a really nervous to be honest to read the next section because i didnt want to rush into it and it was called the Lover. I realized that I have been awakening other passions in my life for quite a while and are now becoming more real than ever. The things that I love in life such as music and song, or viewing Gods created beauty and now being able to purely look at and appreciate them like never before.  Women uniquely display the personification of beauty, are the personification of beauty, and it often takes her to turn a young guys attention away from battle. The battle is not what its all about. Great memories remain with me of wading in the middle of a river and fly fishing with fish jumping out of the water around me. Also recently, our night hike through the Rockies on a moonless night with no headlamps and then sleeping under the those same stars not wanting to close my eyes even in exhaustion because I didnt want to miss a single falling star. I'll never forget seeing for the first time the sheepfold (aka the big dipper), and Cassiopeia in the sky after having them pointed out to me by one who I truly admire. What is greater than the intense desire, the piercing joy of beauty? My pursuit of Beauty had turned into Gods pursuit of me. God as a lover romancing me, stirring my heart those times ( I know it sounds weird). I realize that God has many such gifts for each of us, all particular and customized for us. I pray that He will open our hearts to His romance and to see the things that He desires to show us.

Then things all of a sudden clicked in me as I read on. For we must remember: the battle is for the Romance. What we fight for is the freedom and healing that allow us to have the intimacy with God we were created to enjoy. To drink from His river of delights ( I love those kinds of phrases). I just now began to see a connection between the warrior and lover and understand the phrase warrior poet. I owe sooo so much to the one who called me a warrior poet several months ago and challenged me by not telling me what that meant. How sweet it has been to hear it from God. 

Wow another long posts, I gotta quite that. There is so much more to both of those sides and I have been so amazed at them that its hard to shorten it down. I take alot of those words out of the way of the wild heart so I can better express what I have been learning. i continue to pray that God will awaken both sides of me and guard my heart for whatever He has in store for me. 

Im home for Christmas and what did I do while I was gone? How in the world do I answer this? There are a couple of things that stick out that I learned but they don’t even begin to brush up against the side of everything that happened to me. After my Old Testament and New Testament class I can see the bible as the whole story that it is, and how I am a part of. Not just how this old testament that we never read connects to this new testament section of random stuff about this Jesus that I love, but really how they are one piece and it continues on to today. Every thing I read is heard in full surround sound and seen in high def 3d IMAX. This law that we read about in the old testament making it impossible to meet the demands of God was not done away with by Jesus, He was the fulfillment of it. The Israelites were waiting for their Messiah to come and rescue them as they were seeking after exactly whatever they thought God wanted them to do, wondering when is the promised one coming to free us? We were challenged that if we haven’t wondered this same question then we should be. I realized I looked forward to Jesus’ return but I have never longed for it and wondered why not yet?!

Finally this man, Jesus, comes who did not fit the description of anyone’s idea of the Savior. Things change through His life on Earth and He develops a following of people who realize this is the one who they were promised. Now things begin to make sense and joy will be ours in these times until He is captured and hung on a cross to be crucified. What is going on? "What at first seems to be foolishness is really the wisdom of God. What seemed to be weakness is really the power of God, conquering human rebellion and Satanic evil. What appears to be humiliation is a revelation of the glory of God. Gods self giving love, mercy, faithfulness, grace, justice, and righteousness are revealed in the event by which god accomplishes the salvation of His creation. What seems to the world to be Jesus’ defeat, the early church proclaims to be His surpassing victory over all the enemies who stand opposed to Gods creation".* "As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died".* Everything else pales in comparison.

So where is and what does He want me to do until He gets here? I am going after training to be a missionary pilot because I believe that is what God called me to do. At the same time I am open to the fact that maybe He brought me along this path this far in order to show me something from this perspective, and then get me to go another direction. This Explore year has been a gift to me out of faithfulness to God in trusting and following after Him. On the way home in the airplane I was blown over by a peace that said you are exactly where you need to be, don’t worry I’ll take care of you.

This has been a huge initiation for me which is a incredible answer to prayers. The goals that God placed on me have been coming true and He is showing more incredible things than I could have ever imagined. I believe He is getting me ready for something really challenging next semester and I hope it’s the hardest thing I ever been through. So please pray for me not for my safety, but for perseverance to endure the trials that come and count them as gain. Even now as I write this it makes me nervous but I want to be warrior for God because I am made that in His image. I hope He opens my eyes to see how He is developing me. Also that I might have the strength to rise up and accept my training. Finally when I am losing heart I will be given grace and encouragement to hang in there, all the way through to victory. I can not thank yall enough for all the prayers you have already raised up for me. Each comment or post means the world to me and I thank God for it. I am also so thankful for all the new people that He has brought into my life and the impact they have had on me. I know this is not something that I am doing by myself or that I ever could do alone. I hope that the joy set before us in Christ is so breathtakingly awesome that everything else is suffacted in His glory. I wish i could better express whats happening in my life and I hope this isnt all too crazy, but I know it is crazy. Man, its good to be home.

*1 Drama of Scipture
*2 Galations 6:14

Halloween!

Its Halloween Time ( i know not really but Im trying to play catch up). The night before a couple of us went out to find this mysterious "Door in the Field". Some of us were unsure if it really existed and others were scared to see what was inside. Some people on campus have been but no one will tell you about their experience. We finally found the area it was supposed to be in and parked the car and started walking around this random farmers field. Eventually we found it. It turned out to be an old shelter that someone had built along time ago. The door was the only thing you could see above ground and then it had about 10 steps down into a smalle bathroom size living area. It was all made of stone and kinda creepy but totally cool. Planning a camoing night soon.
We all really wanted to carve a pumpkin but there are no pumpkin patches up here and the IGA ran out of them. So i kept checking back and asking the workers there when they would get more. Finally it was the day of and I was like hey, yall still dont have any...and they were like uhhhh. So I asked if I could just have the one they were using as a display and pretty soon after that I was walkin out with a free pumkin. So we went and hid it in a patch of grass on the trail on the way to the tracks and asked if the girls wanted to go for a walk on the tracks. So we were walkin and they were in front and they stumbled on it and they were like oh look a pumpkin, lets carve it. They quickly figured out we had put it there but it was still fun. Anyways we carved a sweet face in it and put it propped up in a tree between the domrs. ( we found the leg of an animal and decided it would look good hangin out of the pumpkins mouth and so we put it in).
As you can see above the green team dressed up and went trick or treatin that night. We all collected cans for the food bank. Some of the people insisted on givin us candy we to turn down would have been just rude, so we took it. I was huck finn with a wife beater, fishin pole, overalls roled up and no shoes. It was freezin cold. Sometimes I wish these guys would talk me out of my good ideas.

Theres Beauty in them there hills!

Well its back to schol and the flat lands of Three Hills. It has been tough getting to know people here and to branch away from our own group that we have grown so close to. It has even been hard to hang out with people because alot more people will just stay in their dorms and wonder we everyone is at. One of my favorite places to go and walk or talk is the train tracks.
There is beauty here through nature but it is so different than it was in Montana. We like to go out and have fruit sets on the tracks. Whats that? A fruit set is going to the IGA after dinner and getting a peach ( not as good as a Georgia Peach) or your fruit of choice, and taking it out to the tracks to eat while we watch the sunset. (Update: They dont ahve peaches anymore and the sun sets before dinner at like 4:15, its crazy early). We have fun here too but again we have to look harder for it and often times be a little creative. Pic up top is Vanessa, me, Julie, and Jason.

Goodbye to Montana Till January

We are leaving Montana now (October 16th) and wont be back untill late january. It has been a challenging blast. The tops of the mountains around us were already snowcapped during our kayaking skills. The pic above is of the main lodge. On the top level is our classroom and on the bottom we eat, and hang out by the fire. Its easy to find people because there are about 6 people to a small room so you cant really hang out in there. Everyone goes to the lodge, basically the only other building. Now that we are done with skills we can check out any of the gear and go kayaking our climbing or whatever. The nearest town is Plains and you have to get a ride there and it supper small. After an all nighter full of movies and hot chocolate we are ready for the ten hour bus trip back to the flat lands of Prairie.This is the cross that overlooks the camp that is situated on one of the smaller peaks after a short but strenuous hike up.