June in Grand County

None of those who wait for You will be ashamed.

Make me know your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation, for You I will wait all day.

Turn to me and be gracious to me for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged.

Do not let me be ashamed for I have taken refuge in You

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes wait for the Lord.

To You oh Lord I call, my rock, do not be deaf to me. For if you are silent to me I will become like those who go down to the pit.

His anger is for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night but a shout of joy comes in the morning.

But as for me, I trust in You, Oh Lord, I say "You are my God." My times are in Your hands.

Just a few verses from the Psalms that the Lord has used to speak to my heart in different ways over the past few days. Our church is reading through the Bible in a year together and I'm continually amazed at how I need to hear the stories or passages of scripture right where I am in my reading. Just goes to show once again that His Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.

Temperatures are warming up here in CO and we've enjoyed exploring some trails around the area. Last weekend we ended up taking an unplanned trip over Trailridge (the pass between Grand County and Estes Park). It was breathtaking as the scenery seemed to change from one minute to the next, going over alpine tundra etc. Trailridge is the highest road in the US and the scenery really is amazing. We came back through Boulder and Denver, seeing the rock formations along the way. The ride really goes by quickly. The Wildflowers are starting to bloom here - I THINK what we're seeing are purple lupines and I'm not sure what the yellow ones are called. I'm told that the meadow in front of our house will be a great place to catch butterflies.

We have had two guest groups at Timberline already. 80 Highschool Freshmen from Wooddale (Leith Anderson's church in Minnesota) were here for two weeks and what a neat group of kids! They planned a mixture of adventure activities and service projects. A group of young ladies came over to the house and helped wash windows and stack some of the wood laying around the property. We're still becoming familiar with the groups coming in but they seem to be regulars each year and the staff families have become good friends with the leaders in each of the groups. It is neat to see the Lord grow those relationships. Summer time (with school out) has provided opportunities for the kids to play together more and the girls enjoyed a sleep over already at the Hammond's house. I think Pete and Beth had a total of 9 girls in the house between the 4 staff families! Needless to say, they are very courageous! :) The girls had a blast! :)

Please keep the leadership at Timberline in your prayers as they are in the process of hiring some key positions at Timberline. Jason and Erin Pagel will be moving on this fall - both will be greatly missed as they are a tremendously gifted couple and will be an asset to whoever will be privileged to serve with them next. Jason is the assistant bibleschool principal and Erin is assistant program coordinator (I think I have those titles correct). We're really going to miss them. Beth Kopperud is also moving to Denver this fall. She's the first person you see when you come to Timberline as she is at the front desk and has so many other responsibilities I'm not sure what exactly her proper title is. We've really enjoyed getting to know all three of them and know they will be a blessing in their new areas of service and calling.

That's the latest from Timberline. I (Jen) will be attending Classical Conversations (a homeschool group) training in Denver as we're starting a new chapter in Grand County this fall. The kids just finished VBS at Winter Park Christian Church and we're now hunkering down for a few weeks of summer homeschool before Nannie (aka Reid's Mom! :) arrives. We're really excited to show her our new home!

So - that's all for now. Once the wild flowers bloom in the meadow I hope to take some pictures - but for now, adios! :)

Teva Mountain Games, Vail 2011

A bunch of Timberline staff took off yesterday to head to the Teva Mountain Games in Vail - about 2 hours from here. What a blast! Vendors everywhere and tons of fun free-style sports competitions going on. Great family fun and they offered a bunch of activities for the kids for free as well.

This dude was totally amazing...he was heading to Germany today for the world championship in whatever this sport is called!

Bouldering competion with competitors from all over the world!

She made it to the top! :) Of course! :)

Spring has arrived in the Rocky Mountains

Spring has arrived in the Rockies and with it temperatures in the 60's and 70's, the tulips, daffodils, pansies and dandilions. The staff at Timberline has told us about the wildflowers that should be blooming soon in the field in front of the house and we're looking forward to that. Speaking of spring, my Mom has been a busy bee! :) When she was here in March we were talking about the fact that the girls' 18 inch dolls didn't really have many dresses (because their dresses cost as much as ours, and we're not payin' that! :) So Mom found some patterns and has proceeded to make matching outfits for the girls and their dolls. Below some pictures of what came in the mail yesterday! :)

The dolls have little pinafores over their outfits! :) Aren't they precious?!! :) THANK YOU MOM!!! :)

We've already had a couple of Smore and hot-dog roasts and hope to have some more this coming week when Reid's sister and family arrive. Our church will also be having Vacation Bible School this month and the kids are really excited. Mamma may use that time to get some work done for Jordan Ministries at a local coffee shop. :)

I've started attending a summer bible study at church (Cynthia Heald's Woman of Simplicity) and have enjoyed our first session. The school year doesn't lend itself well to biblestudies during the day, and particularly this coming school year we're looking forward to having a family group and Reid and I each being involved with a covenant group of students as well. But summer time seems to be a good time to get more involved in the community. I think there can often be the (false) perception that those involved in full-time ministry, such as Timberline, or pastors on staff at a church, aren't in need of outside fellowship. The contrary however is the case as we are greatly in need of those outside friendships, enriched and blessed by relationships in the community, by friends who have different perspectives on things and offer a broader look at what God s doing in the world.

Timberline's first summer guest group arrives today so the staff is busy preparing for their arrival. We had a great time getting together at the Thomas' house yesterday evening with all the staff - for desert, fellowship and prayer. The kids love spending time with each other too and since it doesn't get dark here until 9:00ish (and the sun starts to rise at 4:45 - I know this because of a recent stomach bug I was up with :), evening makes or a great time to enjoy God's creation on foot or on bike! :)

Well that is the latest here from Grand County. When the wild flowers start to bloom I'll be posting some pictures! :)