Stuff I learned on vacation

Had a day or two back in flatland and thick air to consider vacation. It really was all a vacation should be - lots of fun, laughter, not as much sleep as I probably needed but totally worth it, a mind full of memories and a heart that was both sad to leave and ready to come home. Saturday in Estes Park, sitting by Sprague Lake hanging with Abner (the Sprague Moose),

I shifted gears. It was time. It felt like we had done everything we wanted/needed to do soul-wise, and it was time to return to the real world. I have found that time in the mountains really does refresh my soul. There is a free and easy, peaceful, no worries and no hurries ethos that permeates the little mountain towns we hung out in, that I really enjoy and desire to bring back here. This year it feels like that is possible, maybe more than it has for some time.

I learned a lot about the reliability of God, too. I had written about our prayer to be amazed each day, and there was something daily that truly did amaze us. More on that to come...God reminded me yet again that all we do is ask, and He will do some pretty cool stuff if we will only be open to what He does. I also learned that He is involved in details. It sounds nuts, but the very things we had hoped and prayed about seeing (bear, moose, sheep, beauty) we did see. In abundance, in surprising places, and often through an odd and I guess I think supernatural leading to the moment. The moose are a good example, I suppose. Each time we saw one of these beasts, Kari or I had a sense that we needed to be in that spot. No idea why...the first one, we had left the spot she came out of the woods, but Kari had a strong sense we should go back. We did, and this beauty pops her head out of the pines...

This happened again and again...too many times to be a coincidence. I still shake my head at some of this stuff. So crazy, but that is how Jesus works. Just when you think it is too crazy to be true, He shows up. Pretty sweet, actually.

So...lots to process and take home. The big one for this morning, as I look at the planner that filled with blue ink yesterday, is that He is reliable. To the last. He will allow us to work hard, indeed, it is necessary. But He will not drop the ball. Especially when it is His show. And He cares about the details. If He cares enough to reveal His presence and care through something as 'simple' as a moose or herd of bighorn sheep, won't He provide all I need to take care of the list that is growing by the moment. Dang straight He will.