Pike's Peak!

We began our adventure at 3am! You may think that this means that we went to bed early, on the contrary we went to bed at midnight and got up at 2:30. All this to say that we began our adventure of 14,110 feet on 2 and a half hours of sleep. When we got there the sky was beautiful and though you can't tell in this picture there were stars everywhere!
This is the trail head in the dark! We got lost on the way there so between the hour trip and the detour that we took we got here at about 5am.

This is our hiking group! There were about 15 of us and all of us made it up! (Sorry to give away the ending :()

Off we go! There were a couple of us hanging back so that we could get some good pictures. ;)

The view right from the beginning was amazing. It wasn't bright but it was so cool to watch our environment come alive as the light filtered through the trees.

The group that I was hiking with decided early on that we were going to take more frequent breaks, and we were very glad that we did so. We took our time and had such a beautiful experience. We would stop and be amazed by the beauty that was around us. We sat and read Psalms and the end of Job on the side of the mountain!

The hike was both beautiful and painful. The elevation increase is faster than your body can adjust to and the most discouraging thing is to feel like you can't breath. Having said that you know that turning around is not an option. None of us are really sure if sense or stubbornness won out here.:)

As you move up the mountain the landscape changes drastically. Trees can not grow above 1100 feet and so once above the tree line the terrain becomes very rocky.

These piles of rocks marked the trail all along the way. It is such an interesting concept because the trail is really hard to see at times, because of this you easily get off of the beaten path. Thanks to these stacks of rocks this is not alarming. When you find yourself a little off you stop, and look for one of these, and then move towards it. As I think about it I realize the irony that men often use methods that mirror the grace of God without even knowing it. God knows all that we need and he has prepared the way, in fact he goes before us in order to do so. This alone is enough to reveal that he is good, but in his mercy he goes beyond this so that when we get off course we can stop, look to him, and he will gently and faithfully reroute us.

This spot had the most spectacular view, we just didn't know what to think about the fact that there were about 3 feet keeping us from becoming part of that view.

The clouds were so close at times you could watch wisps of cloud move past your face! What a cool experience.

Though this does not capture the vastness of the view from the top, I love this picture! We decided that the views along the way were more beautiful than the view from the top but they did not come close to the sense of vastness that you got from the top. It was amazing that in the midst of this great accomplishment there was a profound sense of smallness in comparison to all that was around us.

This is me and Laura at the top of all 14,110 feet! We had such a wonderful time getting there. Laura is great fun and she forged ahead of us. Often I found myself going "if I can just make it to Laura..." She was our driving force!

Although we did not all summit together, we reunited at the top for about 2 minutes to take a group picture.

This picture is of the actual group that I hiked the whole trail with. Gary was our guide and though he could have gone much faster stayed back to take care of us.

This is us one more time!

And this is us at the end! We climbed Pike's Peak in 12 hours including coming down. It was awesome!

We went camping over 4th of July weekend and it was amazing. A couple weekends before the boys had gone on a camping trip and had found this place that they came back raving about and wanting to share with us girls. We got there and set up camp and then climbed up the mountain right behind where we were camping. This was the view from the mountain on the first night! The presence of God was tangible in this place. He is so much more present then we are aware of. Too often we are too busy to be still and feel his touch in the rays of the sun or his majesty in the sunset. This was a weekend of stillness for me! It was wonderful.
This is Gary (in the back), then Rachel, Elizabeth, and Brittany (up front). We so enjoyed the top of this mountain! What a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy God's beauty both as it is reflected in nature and the people around me.

Our camp site! It was like a little town!

This is us! We have only been here for just under two months but we love each other. We are sisters. We delight in each others beauty and the light that it shines into our lives. Each of these girls bless my heart and their smiles brighten my day. What a privilege that God would bring us all to this place. I am blessed.

Amy lead us in worship at the mountain top. First of all she is a brave a beautiful person, and not just because she was willing to stand on a rock and play her guitar. Her spirit and voice have blessed us tremendously over the weeks. We met with God on this mountain top and praise flowed out of us. What else is there to do in the presence of a mighty God?

This is my friend Micah and I. God has given him a spirit of energy that is contagious!

So I think that this picture was supposed to be one up but that's ok.:)

We are learning amazing things while we are here, at least in part because we read and study a lot....a whole lot! But this time all of these girls are actually reading for fun.

From left to right this is Emily, Rebecca, Micah, me, and Sarah! I cannot say enough about these people. They have blessed me so many unique ways and I love them dearly.

This is me and Emily! Emily is strong, beautiful, and has a wonderful spirit of adventure! She encourages me and her strong femininity challenges me. She is a treasure.

The view is just stunning whether you are high or low. This is at the base of the mountain that we were on top of most of the camping trip.

This is Rebeka, Sarah, and me, and Michael is the one in the back ground. We were trying to figure out how to get him across the river but the current was really strong and he didn't want to get his shoes wet. So instead we did the best we could to get him in our picture

Flowers along the road.

More flowers!

Another of the view.

And last but not least, the Aspen trees! I thought that these were so beautiful. That is the end of our camping. It was a wonderful time of connecting with God and the beautiful people that he has put in my life for this brief season. God is good!

Sunset

The Earth is the Lord's,

and everything in it,

for he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.

He will recieve blessing from the Lord

and vindication from God his savior.

such is the generation of those who seek him!

Psalm 24:1-6

Some of the girls and I went on a night hike.

On the way we saw this little cave in the side

of one of the rock formations and I just

couldn't help myself. It was so much fun!

The sky was beautiful and reminded me of the works of God's hands. It amazes me to think that of all the beauty that God made only mankind was made in his image. In all our ugliness God has redeemed us through Christ's death and Resurrection that we might be restored to beauty and purity. God looks at the expanse of his creation and says "it is good", but he looks on us with delight, and this is only possible through the redeeming work of Christ and the purifying work of the Holy Spirit! How blessed we are to have a God that is mindful of us!

We went on a day long women's retreat at this place called The Prim Rose Tea House. It is a beautiful house that was donated to preserve this particular area of Colorado. Our teaching was about Ebeneezers and the discipline of remembrance. The women shared a couple neat things:

1. We must remember what God has done because we are prone to forget.

2. God desires us to know/remember what he has done so that we can be reminded of his love.

3. What he has done in the past gives us strength for future steps of faith.

In order to help us develop the discipline of remembrance we made memory journals. This is Emily and I working on our journals. While we were working we were to share with each other about a time when we have seen the hand of God in our lives. It was amazing to hear stories of God's faithfulness played out in my own life as well as the lives of others.

From left to right this is me, Brittany, and AnnaMarie. We went to the Broadmore, which is a beautiful hotel that was not far from the tea house. Brittany and Annamarie were my hang out partners for the afternoon.

And this is us again being silly! We had so much fun.

AnnaMarie treated us to chia lattes at the coffee shop!

This is a view of one of the sidewalks at the Broadmore. It was gorgeous.

The flowers were beautiful.

The patio was beautiful as well. It struck me that with all that man can build none of it would be beautiful a part from the adornment of God's creation. The buildings are impressive, but without the flowers and trees this place would not be as alluring. Though many who go there don't realize it, what calls them is the creation of the God who loves them. He calls to all of his through his creation.

So these are some fun pictures from a surprise Birthday party that we threw for one of the guys!

On Wednesday nights that guys usually make the girls apartments dinner. Josh, the birthday boy, thought that he was coming to escort our apartment down to dinner instead we surprised him with a Birthday party. His roommates did a great job and actually set the table in their apartment and everything to make sure he didn't know that anything was going on! He was so surprised! We made an awesome dinner and cake and everything. It was a blast!

Micah and Josh decided that they needed to dance! Two of the guys here are swing dancers and so they have been giving lessons every now and then. Josh and Micah were showing off their skills! The first lesson there were actually more guys than girls that showed up for dance lessons!

This is me and my roommate Rachel! She is wonderful!

The Incline!

So this is the Incline. The Incline is a mile long vertical hike that some people in our group do once a week. I hike a least once a week but I have only done the incline this one time. We set off at about 1pm. The first time I looked up at the steps I was outwardly going, "Ready guys!", inwardly however I was going, "You've got to be crazy! We're doing this for fun!?":)

This is our group starting off. We were excited and the weather was perfect so off we went.

Because the incline is so steep you have to take a lot of breaks because your body can't adjust to the lack of oxygen fast enough. At this point on the hike we were pushing ourselves to move from one heavenly patch of shade to the next before taking a break. This usually meant making it about 15 steps, and yes the entire hike is steps!

From left to right this is Amy, my roommate Brittany, and then me! This is us resting in the shade, of which there was not much!

This is about the half way point, at which we were trying to feel stronger than we felt. For about the first three fourths of the hike you feel like you are going to die, at least that's what everyone kept telling me. I thought that the last fourth was pretty rough myself, although, at that point there is something in you that just knows that you won't turn around before reaching the top.

This is the final leg. Amy and I were making it about 10 steps at a time at this point. Amy is wonderful and she is on my team but this was the first time that we were really able to get to know each other. Because of this, and our need for oxygen, we kept taking long breaks and getting into conversations. The hike is only supposed to take about 2 hours if your going slower but we took 3! It was great. The view was amazing and we took plenty of time to enjoy it and each other on the way up!

These flowers were all over at the top. It amazes me to see these beautiful plants growing out of gravel. Most of Colorado is either red dirt or rock, and yet these plants creep up through the cracks and cover everything. It is a beautiful reminder that life and beauty will prevail. God is not stopped by the rocky terrain of our lives. He will break through and the result is more beautiful than anything that we would have imagined or our picture perfect scenarios could have produced!

And then of course there is the view, which is what drives us. The physical accomplishment is amazing but ultimately I think that the promise of a breath taking view is what gets you to the top. The opportunity to get high enough to see the fullness of God's beauty! It was a great experience.