Lessons from the Trail

One of the great benefits of working at Compassion, and with my team especially, is that annually we are encouraged to set aside a day with the Lord to recharge spiritually. This year, as in the past, I decided to go for a hike, and as is usual, it turned into an adventure. Upon reflection, I was able to see a number of parallels to life and even things I am currently experiencing.

Going in Reverse - "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62) As in life, when hiking, the objective is typically to continue forward motion. However, about a mile and a half into the trail I reached down to see what time it was and realized that I had somewhere dropped my cell phone. Back down the trail I went; nearly a mile, before finding it laying on the ground where it had fallen. Hiking back up the mile you had now seen twice is not the most gratifying of experiences. The same is true spiritually. As we walk with the Lord there are things in our lives that we lay aside as we grow; old habits, tendencies, and attitudes. However, sometimes, without even realizing it, we decide to turn back and pick those things up again, and when we do we realize that we are back down the trail and in need of climbing back up to where we turned back.

Beware of Shortcuts/Patience/and Signs - There is a rare quality in some to get lost no matter how good their maps and how clearly posted the trail. I am one of those rare breeds, and without fail, I found myself way out in the wilderness, miles off course. I should have known better, and did know better, but still thought that I knew better, if you know what I mean. Although the map clearly spelled it out, my eyes and mind were sure that I was right in choosing a quick traverse on the trail that would get me where I wanted to go. It didn't. Patience is a wonderful thing, though not a strong gift of mine. You see, there was a sign, and it did tell me the truth. I simply ignored the sign and didn't take the time to stop and read it. Then, instead of waiting to find the next sign, I saw a trail that HAD to be the trail I was looking for. Again, it wasn't. Spiritually this is so true. God has clearly laid out the path in His word. However, unless we take the time to read it, to follow it, and to patiently wait for His gentle nudging by the Spirit to turn to the right or to the left we can so easily find ourselves way of course, out in the wilderness and off the trail that He had set before us.

Encounters on the Journey - It is no surprise that we are not alone on our journey through life, the interesting part is simply the folks we meet along the way. There are those nice, though slighty rough in appearance folks, that are a bit off the trail but smart enough to realize their mistake early and return to it. Then there are those that are way off the trail and sailing along as if they could careless as to their predicament and hellbent on staying that way. There are those on the trail that are curious as to what it is like off the trail but smart enough to ask and then remain on the trail (I should be more like these folks). Then there was the "bird lady." I'm not sure how to spiritualize a lady wandering with a large bird on her shoulder and so won't.

Lessons Learned - Hiking is a strenuous endeavor when we wander farther than we should. Maintaining the trail, following the signs, and encouraging others along the way can be very enjoyable and rewarding. Finally, it's good to slow down every once in a while to take time to reflect, pray, and ensure that trail you are on is the right one and the one the God would have you on.

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!!

Easter Sunday or Christmas Morning?

For as many years as we have lived in Colorado, Easter Sunday has always dawned bright and sunny, even if a little chilly. Imagine how it felt to wake up to this! No outside easter egg hunts for the kids this year! Nevertheless, it was no less of a supremely WONDERFUL day to CELEBRATE the ressurection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If we think the troubles of this world are bad now, imagine how awful it would be had He not come to earth to die for our sins, so that we may have the hope of everlasting life!!! We love you Jesus!

As is our tradition, our "orphan" friends and us got together to celebrate our annual "Orphan Easter Dinner." No, this does not actually have anything to do with technical orphans - rather, we use the term to describe those of us who are here in Colorado Springs with no other family to celebrate holidays with. We sometimes do this on Thanksgiving too.
















The kids had a fun time searching for their hidden easter baskets, which included candy inside plastic eggs and a couple of fun, small gifts!

Small Victories

One of my favorite courses and topics has been Organizational Development and Change Management Principles. As our world continues to change faster than change itself, being able to keep up and ahead of the curve is near impossible. A great book by John Kotter titled, The Heart of Change, walks through eight critical steps in implementing wholesale change. One of those steps is all about creating short-term wins during long-term projects. The idea is that small victories create momentum and in-turn keeps the motivation going to tackle the next project.

Today was one of those days. For the first time in over 9 months, both of our cars were able to sit in our garage. Silly? Yes. Mental victory? Without question! :) Having finally gone through almost all of our things, sorting out what to keep, what to give to friends, give to charity, and what to pitch, we were able to consolidate our stuff and our garage is all but clean. Here's to a little victory, and one small step closer to the goal.

Oh, and the irony of it all? My poor little car still had to sleep outside for one more night as I have an early morning coffee appointment with a friend and don't want to wake the kids. I felt bad for her as I rolled her out of her long lost home!

Preparing For Rain

A week or so ago, we watched a very inspiring movie titled "Facing the Giants," written and produced by a church in Georgia. We would highly recommend it to everyone to see! http://www.facingthegiants.com/

Though certainly not a Hollywood production (which actually was rather refreshing), it had a very powerful message to share that has both encouraged and inspired us. As the title indicated, facing the giants is about trusting in the Lord and believing in Him when the "giants" of life come before us and we want to shrink away. There are obvious connections to the story of David and Goliath.

In this movie, there was a great illustration of faith in action that really stuck with us - It was the concept of "preparing for rain." It's illustrated in this story: "There were two farmers, both praying for rain for their crops. After praying, one farmer believed and waited for it to rain; the other famer believed and began to prepare his fields FOR the rain."

It is one thing to pray and say "God make this happen." It is another to believe God will answer, and to prepare for His action; being ready to receive what we prayed for.

For us, that principle has really encouraged us lately! It is clearly illustrated in our desire to move. We love and are so grateful for our current home, but we've been feeling led for quite some time to move to a different place. We have two main reasons for feeling moved this way - more space and location. Obviously we've got a growing family we need to accomodate, but we also are passionate for the ministry of community and would love to have a more ideal space in which to host small groups, get togethers and the like (maybe a basement and a slightly bigger living room?). And of course it would be wonderful to be all the more closer to church, work, doctors, etc. And with that same passion for community, we would also be closer to the people we fellowship with.

With these things, we are purposing to begin that journey - A journey that we probably rushed last year as it crashed and burned since we did not wait on God's timing (and now looking back, we are thankful He didn't allow us to rush, although it was a painful lesson for us). But now we feel called to prepare for rain. If God is leading, He will bring it to pass. We simply want to be ready for the day the rain comes. How are we preparing? Currently we are attempting to get our house ready to list, consolidating our stuff and clutter, moving some things to storage for a temporary time, painting, and doing minor maintenance and repair. For several years now, we've felt a strong leading to a new community here called Banning Lewis Ranch - it looks like our oppotunity may come in the next couple of months with it. When it opens (it's only been in planning stages for years now) we feel we will probably have a clear answer of where to move. For now, we are simply waiting, trusting, and preparing for His rain to fall.

Baylie's First Haircut

Sniffle! I had to give Baylie her first hair cut today! Her hair was getting so long and pretty, but the bottom was real fuzzy and of course it was all different lengths since it had never been cut. So it's now just above her shoulders and so cute! It makes her look older. I can't wait until it grows out again, but at least it will be healthy and strong now!

You Went Where?

As we are in the habit of occasionally doing, this past weekend, we picked a place on the map and decided to check out what was there. The place for our latest adventure? The John Martin Reservoir in South Eastern Colorado. Most of our trips tend towards the mountains and so we decided to head east for a change.

Although, perhaps, not our most exciting trip we did enjoy lunch in La Junta, walking out on a large dam holding in the reservoir, and playing on the toys. Oh, and of course, an outing wouldn't be quite complete for Mr. Hunter if we didn't take along the baseball gear and go a few innings. Somehow he always manages to rig the rules in a way enabling him to win.

Here are a few pictures from our day (remember to click on the picture to see it bigger).

Standing on top of the dam

Matt playing baseball with the kids


Baylie loves to swing!!

Hunter Turns 4!!

Though not quite Carmelo Anthony, Hunter has been working on his jumpshop of late after receiving a basketball hoop for his birthday. There is some debate in the Lindell houshold as to who plays with the hoop more (Hunter or daddy). They've developed quite a game; seeing who can score 12 baskets first (Hunter chose 12)...and yes, Hunter wins about 80% of the time, not bad for a four year-old (real bad for a 29-something).

Speaking of being 4, Hunter had a whale of a day as only he can. We started off with the basketball hoop, and of course, momma's famous biscuits and gravy. In addition to the basketball hoop, Hunter also got a soccer goal; basically a sports theme if you hadn't guessed. So, we spent most of the morning alternating between basketball and soccer, and at times both. Our living room is feeling really small! The good news is that we haven't broken anything...yet.

That evening we had pizza, it was going to be mac&cheese and hotdogs but Hunter decided to upgrade. Oh, and of course cake and ice cream. As you can see, the CARS movie is still a favorite. The last big surprise of the day was the anticipation of a new swing set that should arrive later this month as the weather finally turns warmer.

All in all, we daily thank God for Hunter and the passion that he brings to each day and each situation. We marvel at his joy and enthusiasm and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this year.