Seeking Peace

Seeking peace….my friends…can be such a difficult thing to do in this crazy busy hustling world. But the truth is that even when we take five minutes with him, God has a way of showing up and showing us peace..of reminding us of the importance of Sabbath in our every day lives.

Just tonight, I found myself at a picnic. In the midst of the picnic, I found myself simply sitting taking in the cool air and was reminded of the beauty of creation as I watched the kids with smiles on their faces playing. Then I came to church to check on our community garden where they were busy building garden boxes. My colleague, her husband, another colleague and another friend were busy working on the boxes when I arrived. My colleagues two year old son was watching and playing outdoors. While my colleague was working with them on the boxes, I was hanging out with Mr. E. As I sat in the box of the pickup and listened to this sweet little boy chat with me. I couldn’t help but think about how being with him was bringing me peace…because it was causing me to pause and just simply sit with him.

Isn’t it funny how God has this way of reminding us of the importance of Sabbath and helping us to seek peace. Some of my favorite places have become places where I truly experience God’s peace. My favorite place in the world…the Bible camp I worked at for approximately seven summers helps me to exhale and take in the beauty of God’s creation. As my car turns onto the gravel road to that holy place, I find myself feeling much lighter. It is a place where I always am at peace.

On Sunday, I will be heading to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains for a continuing education class. This is the fifth summer that I have participated in this event. It is hard to explain but the minute I come around the bends and see the Rocky Mountains staring back at me, my whole body is at peace. It is as if my whole body exhales and peace immediately enters in. Sitting around Lily Lake or on the front porch at Meeker Park Lodge or wherever I might find myself, I don’t have to look far at all to find God’s peace because it is already there staring right back at me.

And as I think about how it is there along, I am reminded that it is in my every day too. I just have to stop and take the time to see it, to feel it and to hear it. God offers an everlasting peace that only God can provide. But we must take the time to seek it, to find it, and to let it enter in. Because when we do, God is right there painting  this beautiful masterpiece…like a golden sunset, or the golden wheat blowing in the fields of the prairies of North Dakota, or right in my own back yard.

And as God paints that beautiful masterpiece, we begin to see the beauty in the midst of the brokenness, the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary and experience the everlasting peace that only God can provide us.

I am linking up with Holly for Testimony Tuesday, Kelly for the RaRa Linkup, Jennifer for Tell His Story and Holley for Coffee for your Heart:



Estes Park, CO

For the last several summers, I have found myself just outside Estes Park CO for the Lutheran Academy of the Rockies. I love this continuing Ed event for what it offers. But my favorite thing about this event is where it is located; in the Rocky Mts of Colorado.

I have walked along the boardwalk and the Big Thompson River in Estes Park. I have indulged in Blue Bell ice cream at the Blue Bell ice cream shop in downtown Estes. I have eaten at Ed’s Cantina. ( If you are reading Pastrix or have heard Nadia Bolz-Weber’s story about 9-11, you know that’s where she was on that horrific day). I have enjoyed the many shops with the tourists of Estes Park. I have experienced the true joy of Estes Park, CO!
(There are so many pictures I could share. Perhaps I will soon!)

Tonight my heart is sad…sad as I watch the walls of the Big Thompson spilling into the streets of downtown Estes Park. Living in the Red River Valley I know all to well how destructive water can be. I’ve done my fair share of slinging sandbags. Tonight I wonder what I can do to help. So I pray…pray for all affected by the rising waters of the Big Thompson river…those in Estes, those in Boulder, etc.

Please join me in prayer!

Hiking to Victory and Blessed to Be a Blessing!

Sometimes it seems I dont have much to say but the last ten days have been so full of life and light. Im not even sure I can put it into words! As I drove into the Rocky Mountains, Mount Meeker and Longs Peak stood before me and God’s awesome creation seemed even more unbelievable. Just one big masterpiece; no dividing line at all! Being from the Midwest it took awhile to get used to the elevation etc! But on Monday, I braved it and took a chance. I went hiking with 28 other people. I found myself pushing myself. IT was a 2.8 mile hike in and a 2.8 mile hike back. I was visiting with my companions, getting to know them, etc but at a point, I hit a wall and didnt think I could finish but I found myself continuing to just keep walking… to keep putting one foot in front of the other. My new friends where there with me and kept cheering me on. I honestly dont think I could have done it with out them! I finally made it back and realized what I had done. I couldnt think of my mom and how she has lived her whole life with a mental illness. She just keeps pushing through. What an example she is for me! I am proud I finished the hike and was reminded by my new friends that it was no little task and I should be proud! Wow! What a journey! Along the way I found myself saying IM NOT GOING TO CRY…and I didnt! I just kept moving!

These last ten days will sustain me for awhile! I am sometimes surprised by how God blesses me with wonderful new people in my life. I was so suprised and blessed by each of them. Last night one of the presenters asked the people who have attended who of the new people surprised them the most etc. He said my name and told the speaker about the wonderful conversations we had. I wasnt sure how to respond. God has blessed me to be a blessing and I am so thankful for that gift!