Colorado Update

It’s been another busy couple of weeks, but I wanted to take time to follow-up on my trip to Colorado that I mentioned in my previous post. It was absolutely wonderful.

I spent the weekend in Denver, staying with dear friends from my New Orleans/Urban Impact days. Highlights included: reconnecting with them, sharing about the ups and downs of ministry life, meeting their sweet daughter for the first time, exploring downtown Denver, and attending a church with a large Hispanic population where we sang one of my favorite Spanish worship songs and I chose to listen to the Spanish version of the sermon during the teaching time.

Sunday afternoon, it was off to MTI (Mission Training International) to attend their DAR program: Debriefing and Renewal. Because there was another program at the MTI main campus, our program was held at a lovely retreat center nearby where we enjoyed the Black Forest woods and a view of Pike’s Peak each day. I was so blessed by this program—both by the wise & caring counselors and the amazing other missionaries who were there. I love how in situations like that God quickly bonds your hearts together and you are able to share on such a deep level. Each day, I was encouraged by our formal group teaching and sharing times as well as by lots of informal conversations with dear new friends. We all long to be understood, and it was such a blessing to spend a week with people who were in a similar situation as myself and really knew what I was going through. Lots of tears and laughter were shared throughout the week! This week also really reminded me about the importance of unity in God’s universal church. We all came from various denominations and mission organizations, but our hearts all wanted the same thing: the Gospel to be proclaimed throughout the world and to see God’s kingdom.

After lunch on Friday, it was sadly time to leave, and I headed down to Colorado Springs where I spent the afternoon at Garden of the Gods and enjoying some more processing time at Starbucks. That night, I had fun hanging out with my friend Katie (also a New Orleans/UIM connection) where we ate a delicious Italian dinner in a quaint, local family-owned restaurant in Old Colorado City and then explored Manitou Springs some more, meeting up with a few of Katie's friends.

Early Saturday morning, it was off to the Colorado Springs airport and then back to Florida!

Old friends!

The Market-my favorite coffee shop/cafe in Denver

New friends!

Our view each day at DAR :)

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

Victory in the Small Things

These days it seems my life is full of decisions...living situation decisions, time decisions, financial decisions, ministry involvement decisions, and the list goes on. Since I can tend to overanalyze and also would still describe myself as "emotionally fragile" right now, most of these decisions take a lot of time and emotional energy from me. Buying new running shoes was no exception. About two weeks ago, I went to a big shoe store in Tallahassee in search of new running shoes. This store always has a 20% off coupon each weekend so I try to buy my shoes here whenever I can. After nearly an hour in the store (told you I can overanalyze!) testing various pairs of shoes, I finally decided on a pair (New Balance WR 759). Knowing my tendency to sometimes doubt and contemplate returning shoes, I decided to not do the usual "wear them around the house in case I want to take them back" but rather take them out on the road right away. I was delighted to find that I made a great decision and still feel this way today after about several good runs in the last two weeks. In fact, my success in this little decision makes me happy every time I think about it. Hooray for small victories and here's hoping to more good decisions in the coming months...

On a running side-note: I have decided running in very humid, 95 or 100-degree heat is actually harder than running at an elevation of 7,000 feet (Fresnillo) and definitely less pleasant!