A chance to leap

I think I totally weirded out my parents on Sunday. I leaped for joy, a pitiful little one-legged leap that was nonetheless full of joy and worship. And I choose to rejoice and thank God for this circumstance, because it is a chance to experience more fullness of His abundant grace.

Sunday afternoon after church, we had the most wonderful opportunity: A man from church took us out on his boat to water ski on a nearby lake. Ah! It was so much fun! I had water skied once before, when I was 15, so I didn't really know what I was doing, but I was able to get up on my feet on my second try, and we zoomed off down the lake. Pretty soon I discovered how to cross back and forth across the wake of the boat, and before long, the daredevilry in me came out and I was jumping as high as I could when I would go over the wake. (Don't get any ideas of this being anything dramatic or impressive--I was not strong enough or skilled enough to get much air.)

But I wiped out, and my left ski acted like a screwdriver on my leg, twisting my knee in a rapid jerk. Something popped. I fell limply onto my back with a moan, holding my knee. The boat circled back around to get me, and my dad helped me climb up the ladder on my good leg. I spent the rest of the time sitting in the boat with my left leg stretched out on the seat and became the official photographer while my siblings performed dramatic and daring exploits on the water skis and the slalom ski.

Mr. Long, the owner of the boat, dazzled us all with his exploits on the slalom ski.

Dad looks on with interest and pride in his athletic kids

So now I'm hobbling around, enjoying the support of a borrowed knee brace. I suspect it's a case of "there goes my knee forever."

Sunday night when I got home, I verbally thanked God and did the best leap for joy I could manage. My dad saw me and didn't know what was going on. "Just be careful, now," he cautioned me. I smiled to myself, leaping in my heart, looking forward to what God is going to do.

His Little Feet 5K

Saturday I ran and walked a 5K race on behalf of His Little Feet. His Little Feet is an international children's choir that sings to raise awareness for adoption and orphan advocacy. Children come from orphanages in various countries in the world, spend a year here, and travel to churches, singing the most beautiful praise to Jesus!

The 5K race was to bring in the funds needed for the next group of kids to come over. Our registration fees and the sponsorships we collected all went on behalf of getting passports and visas for children from Ethiopia, Haiti, and India to come over.

Riding the His Little Feet bus to the race 

Our lovely volunteers at the registration tables

"You think you're going to beat ME?"

Mike Hahn (director of His Little Feet) explaining the race course

Students listen in as we prepare to begin.

Just look at all those orange shirts! Yes!


We raised over $9000 for His Little Feet, which fell short of their goal of $15,000.

The fellowship, support, and camaraderie in the race was a great thing. It was so cool to know the name of almost every person I passed, or that passed me.


I walked the first few minutes and then ran about half the distance. Then I walked and ran and walked and ran to the end, and finished off with a great sprint. It was fun. I was surprised at how much I could run, considering that I hadn't trained and that I was on the third day of a fast.

I felt like the race symbolized the way I want to live my life. Lord, spare me from self-preservation! When my strength is failing and I have a long way to go, Lord, be my energy. When I am pushed beyond the brink of impossible and I still have to keep going, Lord, be my strength.

I felt divinely upheld and infused with supernatural ability as I ran, and I did the entire course in a state of conscious dependence and drawing on Him for grace. It was really cool to actually receive grace and power that was beyond my own ability! God is faithful.

Afterward we ate bananas and bagels and talked and visited while we waited for the walkers to finish. Yum!

The Poudre River Trail

If you ever come to Ellerslie, bring your bike, because right around the corner from the campus is the trailhead to the Poudre River Trail, a concrete bike path that stretches for miles through the Colorado landscape.

The other day I walked on it for the first time. I was praying and had a rich and meaningful time with the Lord.

The trail is very well maintained and is fairly new--I believe it was constructed in 2003.

I came across this humorous ramshackle old abandoned cabin.

And then at the end, I was treated to another glorious sunset that only got better as it progressed.

Thank you, God, for your beauty and your power!

Outing to Estes Park

After church we took about an hour drive to Estes Park, where we visited a lake in the mountains, ate lunch, and had a short hike.

We made quite a large group eating lunch!

The day was cloudy, which was unusual for Colorado, but the scenery was still beautiful!

We were at our stopping point on the hike when I climbed up on a rock and got this picture. Then we had a time of prayer and sang Amazing Grace and the Doxology. It was so beautiful to hear our voices harmonizing in praise to our God out in the splendor of His creation.

After our hike, we went back down to the town of Estes Park, which is fairly touristy and has lots of fun shops. Some of the girls and I went to a lovely ice cream shop, where I got fudge and everyone else got a cone. Yummy! Later we went to a coffee shop together and hung out while sipping yummy chai tea lattes and other happy drinks. It was a great day!

Mission--possible!

Heart pumping, arm muscles burning, I plunged the kayak paddle into the water for the strongest stroke I could manage. Again, and again, and again, hundreds and hundreds of strokes. I was on a mission, and it was a race against time.

James was already way ahead of me, and his powerful strokes easily sliced through the water. Both of us were in this together. I turned my head to look at each stroke to make sure it had the maximum effect. The water was choppy and the wind was at my back, casting up droplets of spray from behind. That meant that I would be going into a headwind on the way back, when I would be already pretty fatigued.

Any other day, we wouldn't have such a race against time, but this day would give us the best chance of completing the mission.

James rounded the bend ahead of me. I caught up to him as he was landing his kayak. "There it is!" he said. "It's still there!"

"Can you get it for me?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied. He was already out of the boat, retrieved it, and carefully handed it to me. I looked at the time.

3:07.

"YES! We are beasts!" I exclaimed. Since we were so far ahead of schedule, James took the chance to do three rides on the rope swing. He's getting really good at diving off the rope, something I haven't figured out yet.

Then we headed back. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. The wind in our faces, spray washing all over us from the choppy waves, and a relentless pace. Stroke, Stroke, Stroke. Hundreds and hundreds of strokes. Arms burning more now, heart pounding harder, muscles begging for a rest. No rest. No chance. The race against time was still on.

We pulled up to the dock.

3:23.

"WHOA! We're totally gonna make it!" I ran up to get the truck from where it was parked, we loaded the kayaks in the back, tied them up, and roared off. We pulled into our driveway, parked, and jumped out.

3:43.

"Wooohooo!!" We cheered. "We did it!"

It was 2:45 when we left. From leaving the house to getting back, we completed our mission in just 58 minutes.

(See my blog tomorrow for the explanation of what was going on here.)

Hiking Grandfather Mountain

This was pretty much our day yesterday, and what a lovely day it was!

At the beginning of the hike, before we were all tired out

See the grandfather's profile?

Our main sustenance on the hike--that and cake! Yum.

Yay! We timed it right to see the rhododendrons blooming!

Us three on top of McCrae peak, high above the much touted "mile high swinging bridge."

You can't see it, but Katherine is standing on the edge of nothing here. She almost lost her balance and fell over the cliff right after this photo was taken.

McCrae peak from a distance

Me being a daredevil

Cool parts of the trail

Lots of ladders were there to help people get over the rocks. Everyone was amazed that our dog Abbi could do these parts!