Hearts set on pilgrimage...or marathons! :)

It was a challenging day yesterday, but was winding down with an emotional teen and a tired and hungry 15 month old who has 4 molars coming in all at once. When Reid walked in the door I handed him the spatula and asked him to finish the beans and rice so I could just walk outside for a few minutes. He smiled understandingly! I was disappointed when I realized the sun had already set - sunsets these days have been breathtaking - but as I came around the corner I saw a huge, full, white moon rising over the continental divide, leaving a long glimmering reflection in the lake in front of me....and I took my first deep breath for the day I think! :)

I stood there a little bit, soaked in the view, talked with Jesus for a while about it all and headed back to the house. I thought wistfully how I wished I could live in peace and quiet like that all the time....and the Lord reminded me that was not His desire for me! :) The walk with Him was a drink of cold water in the midst of a marathon.  It doesn't enable me to run as though the marathon were a mere walk in the park, but it does enable me to keep running the marathon with Him. (Psalm 84:5 says it this way: - Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage).

Today's challenge from His Word came to me from Deut 13:3 - "for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." It's not one of those verses you want to post on Facebook to "encourage" everyone! :) Funny how we avoid those verses/passages....But the words that FB Meyer wrote in commentary encouraged me nonetheless - I'll post them at the bottom of this blog post.

At Timberline: All is quiet this week as the students and many of the staff have left for the annual trip

to Moab, UT.  It's kind of the trip that defines Bibleschool, in the sense that afterwards, we as a staff tend to have a good idea of what the year ahead will look like, which students are struggling perhaps more than others etc.

Please pray for the staff - many have yet to recover from the busy summer schedule and have jumped head long into Bibleschool in need of rest and encouragement from Jesus! Next week we will jump head-long into our regular weekly schedule of all-community worship, family group breakfast etc. (here are some pictures from our staff retreat this summer - our "normal" pose and our "crazy" pose. I always smile when I see our staff pictures - they are such dear and precious friends!)

At Home: Renovations on our living room and kitchen start tomorrow or Friday. Please pray that our landlord will still like our family when he is done! :) He has been very patient with some of the requests for changes we've asked for, in spite of His well thought-out plans etc.

We're still asking the Lord to provide about $1000 for Ian's upcoming trip in November.  We've already talked with the teachers and feel like we have some good plans in place to help him make the most out of his trip while also completing his schoolwork while he is traveling. My parents also still need to raise support for this trip.

Celebrate Recovery is well under way with the 4th meeting at Granby Assemblies of God Church and we're so thankful for the many people who have joined the leadership team and are going through the 12-Step process in preparation for launching the ministry in January. Reid is enjoying it tremendously (and also loving his weekly trips to the Denver Rescue Mission with the students from Timberline!). We've asked the Lord to use it in the way that most glorifies and honors Him and hope that it will be an encouragement and powerful outreach tool to many who are hurting and struggling in our community - those who know Jesus well and those who still need to know Him.

That's the latest here!

Here are a few thoughts from FB Meyer on Deut 13:3

How much of this happens to us for this reason! (Testing). God proves us - not that He may learn aught of us which He did not know before, but that He may reveal us to ourselves. We need to know ourselves, that we may be prompted to know and use His infinite resources and that we may be led to avail ourselves of His grace.

Let's avail ourselves of His boundless grace!!!

Love to all!
J