Against the Wind

I left Fort Collins with my 4 runner spilling the contents of my life possessions over the front seats and a dog named Sam as a co-pilot. The stereo sweetly sung against the wind as my eyes filled with tears that expressed the overwhelming emotion of leaving a place I dearly love. Life is a bittersweet taste of the sweet enjoyment of friends and loved ones, and the bitter taste of leaving them as the current of life pulls us to new places. I am lost for words as the ineffable joy consumes my being. I am blessed. I have far too many friends in which I am deeply unworthy of. God you are so good.

The vast stretches of California are simply beautiful. I put my brakes to rest at the bottom of death valley. The hazy stupor of driving 13 hours casted sleepiness over my actions, and oh if I had only remembered to downshift. The sweet sound of my brakes kissing my rotors followed me all the way to Redding. Mount Whitney stood before me in it's grandeur. It is still a struggle to give the highest peak in the U.S. to Cali when Colorado is far better suited. I guess God gives mountains to states as he pleases.

I stopped in Lone Pine to talk to a man buying bananas. He left the Catholic Church when he was repulsed by the way it excluded everyone but middle class white people. He told me that "whatever you have to offer this world sow it into the the generation in front of you". That is my desire. I want to see a generation of people living a life that reflects Jesus, and then this very man cannot deny the living God, so I told him there is beauty in his statement, and then I told him about the Love of God.

Yosemite, this is the heaven of granite rocks. Giant cascading domes exfoliate sheets of rock as they release the pressure of their birth. This is a climbers heaven. I will return.

The infamous route one. I purchased a bag of salt water taffy and cruised into the redwoods.

Redding, my destination. Yes, it is hot here. The first two days were 100 degrees, and yes it is September! The family I'm living with is straight up a blessing. They love the lord and seek to be faithful with all they have. John spent two hours with me laying to rest my brakes and drilling out a lug nut bolt I had broken off. He shows me what it means to love those around you.

Bethel has been an incredible place, and school hasn't even started yet. I was struck by the sweet welcoming of worship on Sunday when the voices left the words of songs and began to sing God's songs, and as God so often does during those moments he began to do his work in us. While a violin played in the background I had this image of Jesus riding before his Saints, but before they marched off into battle he began to cut our hearts as he rode up and down the ranks, removing the impurities of our life. Psalm 51 says "Create in me a clean heart, O God , and renew a right spirit within me", and then later "restore to me the Joy of my Salvation". As our hearts are pierced with his Spirit repentance flows, and then the sweet Joy of Salvation overcomes us. And that joy is a feeling that no worldly pleasure can ever attain.

Selah