We Fall in Love with Colorado

It’s official: we have moved in. Well, by that I mean we have all the boxes inside the house and are slowly unpacking each box at a time. It’s a slow process, plus we need to buy EVERYTHING, from salt to our dining room table. (We’re currently eating on the floor. We like to keep things casual at our place.) For those of you who have moved a million times, I don’t understand how you do it. Moving is a heck of a job in itself. Nevertheless, we’re excited to have our own place – our first home sweet home together.

This past week was great. We had a mission team from First Baptist Church of Durant, Oklahoma, come and help us put on our first Elevation event: Kids Camp. We invited families from the community for a free sports camp for kids aged Kindergarten through 5^th grade. We held the camp at two different sites in Loveland. The team from Oklahoma was incredible, full of high school guys and girls who love Jesus. The parents who brought the kids for camp were awesome, too, and we were able to connect with several families. The early work of creating a missional community has started. WE ACTUALLY KNOW SOMEONE IN COLORADO NOW!!! (That has been a joke between Sarah and me about meeting new people in this new place … we never know how to start. We’ve come pretty close to asking the people at the check-out counter in Target if they want to grab dinner sometime.) We had about 20 kids come to camp during the week at Seven Lakes Park, and just a few less at the other site. The camp lasted from 8:30 to 11:30 every morning, with games and sports, snack and Bible story time. On Thursday, we had a grand finale for the whole family, where we served hamburgers and snow cones and set up a Jump House for the kids. Sarah and I had some great conversations with families, and we believe we’ve made a start to some wonderful friendships with people who, like us, are longing for community. Church work has started, and it’s fun and tiring. I’m super excited to see what God has for the city of Loveland.

The weekend before the kid’s camp, Andrei and Elena decided to take us on a few adventures in the beautiful state of Colorado. If I was not in love with Colorado before this, I am now fully in love with God’s beauty. We have a few pictures at the end of the blog for you guys to enjoy. Friday night we drove to a 12,000-foot elevation to view the Milky Way. It was AMAZING!!! We finished the night with some LIGHT PAINTING with Andrei’s camera and a flashlight (see the pictures). The next morning, we went on an adventure to the mountains near Poudre Canyon to see some other amazing views. After a long day winding through forested mountains, we came upon a view of a green valley with snow-capped hills beyond. Rose Valley (we think it was called) contained some of the most stunning views and pristine lakes we have seen yet. (I’m running out of words to tell you guys how amazingly beautiful it was.)  WE LOVE COLORADO.

Here are few prayer requests:

Sarah is looking for a job. Please cover her in your prayers that she will find a place where she will shine for the Lord and enjoy doing whatever it is that she will be doing.

This is kind of a funny request, but pray for all my registrations to go through. I have run into trouble trying to get my license and registration for the car. Pray that God will smooth everything out.

We are still trying to raise a few more hundred dollars a month. Pray for God to provide.

Pray for God to provide people of peace. This is the only way for our work to progress.

To God be the glory.