cling to the Rock

~ 11th Day ~

Journeying on from the Leigh house... Driving North... Keystone.

I apologize for the delay in sharing recent days... there are so many memories, experiences and pictures to share. Hard to choose which ones to pull from this packed 11th day (which was actually 4 days ago).

Started off the morning with my last bowl of oatmeal and peanut butter at the Leigh's house. Took advantage of a being able to take a shower... bonus blessing. Kelley and I had a re-cap conversation of the past few days at a God-given "Rephidim" (Resting place). Again, we traversed down paths of past and praised God for being our peace in piecing together our individual and collective stories. I miss her, as well as the safe environment their house provided. Bittersweet leaving... the feelings of saying "see you later" to dear friends coupled with the excitement of mission fields to come.
So grateful for the Leigh's hospitality and hearts.

Tumbler packed and ready to rock n' roll, we headed down the steep, winding driveway toward the highway. I dragged my feet leaving and the clock said 11:15 as we looked at Woodland Park in the rear view mirror. The destination that afternoon was Keystone, Co... where my cousin Brittney live. The drive took longer than mapquest said, 'cause I am prone to embrace detours and random stops.

The scenery was breath-taking... not only 'cause the altitude was affecting my oxygen intake, but also due to the display of beauty in every direction my eyes could see. Again, many blind pictures were taken. As in other days, there were some times I actually had to pull over and wipe the moisture out of my eyes and then take a few pictures of what is was that produced them. One might have to try really hard NOT to see the obvious evidence that an awesome God created this earth.

Though made with human hands, one of the places that was not on the mapquest map was "The Cowboy Church." Good thing no one was behind me when I spotted this church, 'cause they would have had to slam on the brakes as a crazy Illinois truck made a last minute jerk of the wheel into the gravel driveway. Unfortunately, no one was at the church (probably out shoeing horses or lassoing some other cowboys to come drink some strong coffee with fellow cowboys the next Sun. morning in this ranch-style building). I spent some time in their parking lot to make them a rock with a verse that jumped to mind (Psalm 95:1) cause I pictured them with guitars, harmonicas and spoons for worshiping. 

Would have loved to "cowboy up" with them for awhile, but expect to hear the sound of spurs when we meet in Heaven after our work here on earth is done. 



More driving. More pictures. More music and praising the Artist of Colorado. Much of the landscape appeared fake, for it was so vast and wide. One particual river that flowed into a lake beckoned me to pull off and pull out another rock... this one to be scribed for my cousin, Brittany, her husband, Leo, and their son, Jaden. The word of choice was "Unity." More prayer than permanent Sharpie ink went into that rock... the story behind and in the word is one I would learn more about when I arrived in Keystone to hand it to the family that it was made for.

Pulling into the parking spot at my cousin's abode felt good. It was after 4:00 in the afternoon. I was excited to see family I had not seen in quite awhile, but also expectant of this mission field. Keystone is beautiful... and so was my time there. Brittney and I smiled and hugged as our paths finally had physically merged. I was grateful for another safe haven at their home.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with catching up on our journeys (we had many years to go back and re-cap on), getting to know my adorable 2cd cousin, Jaden, and meeting a boy I will never forget.

Omar was a neighbor of my cousin. I was informed that he and his cousin were always outside playing... unattended to for too many hours of the day and into the evening. So glad he was outside when I took Jaden to choose his own rocks from the large collection in the back of Tumbler. As Jaden was literally bent over inside one of the storage bins of rocks, Omar and his cousin came over to see what he was so intently diving for. Omar's eyes were what spoke to me before he opened his mouth to speak... "What are you looking at?" Once he saw the hundreds of rocks, he began to ask questions about what I was doing with them. After telling him I was handing them out as I traveled across the Western states, his eyes lite up. I reached for a "Love Rocks" rock and handed it to him. "What do you sell them for?" he asked. I told him sometimes people give me money for them, but usually I just hand them out and don't ask anything in return for them. Eyes wider and brighter, He told me he does this too. "My cousin from out of the country is coming to visit me soon. The last time he was here, he didn't have good shoes and liked the ones I had on. I saved up my money and bought him some really cool shoes... the ones that have the wheels on the bottom. I'm going to give them to my cousin when he comes. I don't want anything in return." A big heart of a little boy.

I let Omar and his cousin each pick out a rock from the storage bins. It wouldn't surprise me if they both scribed them with their own creativity and gave them to someone else... expecting nothing in return.

An amazing dinner of alfredo spaghetti, chicken and broccoli accompanied reunited family at the dining room table. Stories were shared during and after supper. At 9:00pm I went on the computer to find out if Buena Vista (the next town I hoped to travel to that night) had a Walmart I could use as my hotel before waking up for a day of ministering on the streets. There was only an Al-Mart... which are the more common versions of Walmart in these smaller towns. Once again, my plans were not God's plans. I took this as a sign that I was not to sleep in Buena Vista tonight... but also that Tumbler was meant to stay parked where he was and not make the dark drive. My cousin was happy I was sleeping in a real bed this night, and also that the drive would be made in the morning light.

I slept well... went to bed at 9:30 for 10 hours straight!!! This was meant to be and it gave me more time with family whom I feel a strong sense of unity with even though we live quite a distance away. Often, we don't see the real reasons behind the change of plans until we see and experience those very reasons. God's plans are always far better than those we try to make.

This will be revealed as the days continue to come.
Everyday is reason to rejoice in the gift that it is.
Some days, the joy is in the detours.
You'll soon see why 

~Unshakable Peace, Unity and Purpose~
cling to the Rock 
Psalm 18:1-2