The Adventure Has Only Begun

I've spent my first week in Colorado.  What am I doing here? Training for Group Cares, where I'll be working with their week of hope program to do short term missions.  That's just a brief overview of it.

My first day was long, but as the plane descended into the Denver airport, I caught a small glimpse of the majestic mountains.  And this was only the beginning.  It was awesome and odd as we met in the airport with the other summer staffers.  But it didn't take long for us to make good friends.

We started training on Sunday, and began meeting everyone.  Sunday night we sang some worship songs and then found out our crews and where we would be serving for the summer.  They made it super dramatic and I almost couldn't stand the suspense.  I was hoping I would be put with one of the girls I already met, but God had something better.  I was also hoping to go somewhat out of the mid-west.  Well, God has a way of doing things his way, because he knows it's best.

When I got matched up with my partner, I just knew it was going to be a good match.  Then, I found out I was going to Cincinnati, which at first, I was kinda bummed but now I'm excited for it!  We'll be pretty close to Kentucky and the Creation Museum which is something I've always wanted to go to.  As Taylor (my partner) and I got to know each other more, I realized that this is going to be an awesome summer!  We get along really well, and she's just awesome.  I had been praying for her to be someone that I could grow spiritually with, get along with, and become good friends, and I've seen that God has answered every single one. How great is that?

The rest of the week we stayed pretty busy with training.  It seemed like all we did was training, eat, training, eat,  and go to bed.  We've been learning a lot, and I'm definitely starting to feel a lot more comfortable about this summer.  One day, they had CPR/ First Aid training, and since I'm already certified, me and some of my friends decided to go for a hike.  We had an awful map, and couldn't find what we were looking for, but ended up having a great hike anyway.  It was such a beautiful view from the top. Here are the girls I've come really close with.  We do a lot together, and they're basically awesome!

Friday, we moved from the YMCA of the Rockies to Estes Park Middle School.  We then had some time off and could explore a bit of Colorado.  The time off was great!  Last night, we hung out in Estes Park, and went geocaching.  I actually found it, and it was really exciting! Today, I hiked a mountain.  A large group of us summer staff went into the Rocky Mountains and went on a hike.  It was so amazing because just when I thought the view and the mountains couldn't get any better, they did.  God just showed me how big he is.  And along with that, I was reminded that I shouldn't have to be by the majestic mountains to do that.  When we got to the end, we read some Psalms, enjoyed the beauty of Emerald Lake, and sang a few worship songs.  It was so much fun, it took us around 4-5 hours, but was totally worth the sweat, heat, and cold snow.  There were a few parts where we decided to "hike up the cliff" and it was really fun.

This is Emerald Lake, even though you can't really see the lake here, but it's down there, I promise. (:

Tomorrow we get to go to church in Loveland and hang out by a lake, and have a picnic.  And then it's back to training!  It will go by fast I'm sure, and then next Sunday, I leave for my trip across the US to Cincinnati.  Me and Taylor are really excited for this summer!  Thank-you all who are praying for me in this endeavor, and I hope to update again soon!