wilderness...thoughts

24 hours in a van. Through 6 states, surviving 1 warning from a Kansas state trooper named JC Smith and NOT surviving another from a local Colorado officer named “Bowman”, 7 DB high school guys, Scottie and myself headed for Wilderness Ranch. We were on a road trip, just us dudes, headed to the Rockies. John Denver and every country music song that you could fit into a 24 hour drive poured from the speakers as we sang our hearts out on the road. Van rides are always interesting, you learn so much about a person that’s nestled up in your personal space for that long. It was a pleasure to spend it with our high school friends. We talked about our families, our girlfriends/ wives, our days in high school; heck, we even got into a discussion about the definition of true FAITH. Several of us had watched the movie “Lonesome Dove” before leaving, so we aptly named our van (after a horse) and our GPS (after a woman) in the movie (you’ll have to watch the movie for the name).

24 hours in a van. Oh, the smell. Don’t even try to imagine. It was glorious! We stepped out into the fresh, cool, thin, Colorado air and immediately began packing our packs for the trip. The guys were excited, nervous a little, not knowing what to expect, but excited nonetheless. We were about to spend the next 6 days out in the wilderness. No shower, no toilet paper, no change of clothes, no ipod, no cell phones, no distractions, no noise. We were about to experience God in the glory of His creation! A typical day consisted of waking up with frost on the ground, eating breakfast, breaking down camp, packing your 50+lb. pack, walking in the sunshine in shorts and a t-shirt until lunch, sharing life stories over some pizza bagels, “meat and cheese”, apples, etc, packing up, walking in the rain/snow for a little while, arriving at camp around 4 or 5pm, setting up camp, having quiet time, eating dinner and looking at the stars or going to sleep.
The great thing about each day is that relationship was not only central but vital to survival. We each carried food for the week, we helped each other when we fell, we talked about life and sometimes we were all silent…COMPLETELY silent.

God was not only revealing Himself in our surroundings, but in the way we served each other. When one got sick, we stopped and helped lighten his load. When one couldn’t bear the weight of the pack any more, all of us took some of the burden on our backs. When Scottie got very ill on Tuesday and had to be evacuated, Jesus showed up in my high school friends. They all got up at 4:45 AM and hugged and said their goodbyes to Scottie. To me, it was a picture, a picture of Jesus’ love for each one of us. He who was without sin BECAME sin on our behalf. My high school friends, who I have had the privilege to know and become friends with over the past 4 years, were living a picture of Jesus!

One of the most beautiful things in the world is to watch God reveal Himself to people in ways they can understand. So God shows up in the Rockies. God shows up in the lives of high school students loving on their leader. God shows up in Scripture in such a way that, when explained, a student looks into your eyes and says, “That makes sense, NOW I get it!” It’s why we do what we do at Young Life. It’s why we pray and plan and show up in the lives of our friends.

so...i met a new friend today

as most of you know, i try to regularly visit the high school to hang out with students, meet new ones and just generally be seen. as of late i've been really struggling with going...partly because of time doing other, more "important" things like, writing a sermon for "big church"... or, planning a retreat...or, keeping track of finances for camp...or, having endless meetings about stuff i don't need to be involved in but because i haven't quite learned how to say 'no' yet always find myself in the middle of...(try reading that sentence with one breath).

anyway, today, just like every other Wednesday the past few weeks, there was this battle going on inside my head between what i know to be important and what i've let myself be fooled into thinking is important. Namely, going to the cafeteria and risk the rejection of high schoolers having a bad day. (just as a side note...i still haven't figured out why being thirty in the cafeteria is not much different than being sixteen in the cafeteria, still feel inferior, still feel awkward, still feel like everybody is looking at your zits, still checking your fly 100 times just to make sure, etc)

rewind to two days earlier. A high school dude I know was driving around town with a girl who was new at school and decided to stop by the office and introduce her...she came in, we shook hands, i asked her her name, she told me, and that was it...

fast forward to today. I'm sitting in my car outside the cafeteria, praying to God that when I walk in that place, students would see, feel, and experience Jesus in their midst. That through a smile or handshake or remembrance of a name, the Holy Spirit would spring up in them a recognition of something new and different and more intriguing than anything they've ever experienced before, and the God would use that to reveal Himself to them...

so, careful to perform the usual zit check in the rearview mirror, i walk in the cafeteria of about 500 students...in the next 90 minutes, i will be facing over 2000 students...i am certainly careful to check my zipper one last time...

this is how God works, in the midst of 2000 students, i see her, its the new girl, the one who i just met two days earlier for 30 seconds...she walked right by me...as she passed something inside me reached out and stretched out my arm and tapped her on the shoulder...she turned...I smiled...she smiled back...I said, "hi, it's good to see you"...

What she said I will never forget...no student in my 4 years of going to the high school has ever said what she said, but somehow, it's what every single one of them is screaming on the inside...

She said, "You noticed me."

it's been a while

just a quick something on what I have been thinking on for the past few months...I can't remember what got me started, but I have recently gotten the fever to thru- hike the appalachian trail. i know, it's crazy, but i think it should be done...by me...before I am two old or sick or dead to do it...anyway...her is a new picture i took from the top of Cedar Mountain on Christmas Eve...its probably the coolest picture this idiot has ever snapped...

also, randomly....saw the movie "I Am Legend" and loved it! it's freaky and I spent roughly 3/4 of the movie fighting off a heart attack but the redemptive qualities shown are worth seeing and talking about...