House Trip

We spent a week camping in the Grand Teton National Park - hiking, visiting Yellowstone, campfires, sleeping under the stars - lots of fun


The beautiful Tetons!

We also spent a week with Desi and her family in Idaho. Who ever knew Idaho was so beautiful? We picked and canned green beans, four-wheeled, went cliff jumping, and just enjoyed farm life.

Graduation Ceremony

A special day to remember and celebrate our year

Jeff, Pam, Becky

Jessi, Book, Jenny - The women who have taught me so much this year

Leadtime Ladies

Clouds

Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.

Luke 1:7
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

Mark 9:7-8
Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

Today's "My Utmost for His Highest" is about clouds.
In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. "The clouds are the dust of His feet" They are a sign that God is there. What a revelation it is to know that sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are actually the clouds that come along with God!

In the clouds, where we can't see anything else, we have the opportunity to see our Jesus. What a sweet thing!

Some TSTL hypeness :o)

The video is a little blurry, but it gives you the idea.

Not ourselves, but CHRIST

2 Cor 4:5-7,13
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves...Having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written 'I believed therefore I spoke,' we also believe and therefore we speak.

Isn't this awesome! What much needed confidence it brings to me!

Hudson Taylor

I have lately been listening to a reading of the book "Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret" - the title is a bit misleading, because the book isn't really about a secret of any sort. It is simply a biography of Taylor's life and calling as a missionary to China. It is awesome to hear of this man's faith and God's work through him to draw many to Christ.

If you want, you can download the mp3 files at the link below. I would highly recommend it.

http://lampfordarktimes.blogspot.com/2007/10/audio-book-hudson-taylors-spiritual.html

Lookout Bryan, Texas - here I come

Here it is: the official announcement. No more maybe or might or possibly.
I will, Lord willing, be moving back to Bryan, Texas in September after I finish LeadTime. Yay! I have known this for quite some time, but have just been a little afraid to say it as a certainty - and although still a little crazy to say for sure, it is exciting to share this news with you. I will definitely miss Colorado but am excited to once again be near many dear friends. There are many things the Lord is stirring in my heart that are bringing me back to Bryan, and so although LeadTime is not finished, whenever you remember me please also pray for my preparation to return to Bryan.

"Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwelling, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread broad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations, And they will resettle the desolate cities....And all your sons will be taught by the Lord, and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established...No weapon that is formed against you will prosper...This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord." Isaiah 54

Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!

G-1 girls on parents day


The first term (2 weeks) of camp just finished. There are a lot of fun moments and the Lord definitely worked in mighty ways - 3 girls in G1 became Christians and the transforming love of Christ had a huge impact on all of the kids at camp. One of my favorite moments from camp occurred during a "SKIT-SKIT-SKIT" one morning. The skit was a game show and the host was giving all these great prizes away to the contestants - trips and shopping sprees and cars...but as he offered them he mumbled that they could choose the prize or...mumble,mumble, mumble. The first 2 excited contestants chose the prize offered, only for the host to reveal that they got to take these with them straight to hell - and then these huge scary dudes came in and took away the contestant. The last contestant however wanted to know what the host was mumbling about and after much questioning found out that she had to either choose the incredible prize or her walk with Jesus Christ. At this point, when she realized what 2 things were being offered and was deciding which to take, the whole room exploded with little children chanting "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!".... I can't describe what a beautiful sound this was. It brought tears to my eyes. There truly is no sweeter name than the name of Jesus and what a testament to him that these simple children, whose lives offer little opportunity to know much of Christ, know His goodness and that he really is better than anything else this world could offer.

Retreat

We had a 3 day LeadTime retreat this week out at a cabin by the Poudre River. What a refreshing time to just be alive, rest in God's presence, and reflect on who He is. Our wonderful directors cooked great food for us and provided neat opportunities to be alone, play together, and share together God's work in us. It was sweet.

-I just remembered a funny story and wanted to add it to this post. While hiking, I spent about 20 minutes walking at the end of the line behind Jason, and during this time, filled up his whole backpack with rocks- one at a time - without him noticing. He carried them to the end of the hike where he finally found them and was quite bewildered. It was funny :o) -

Fourth of July

Katie dunking one of the Littles at our pool party/BBQ with the girls



Pam and one of the Littles dancing while we wait for the fireworks



While laying outside on this beautiful 4th of July evening watching these fireworks, the song "What a Wonderful World" played in the background. I know this world is fallen, full of hurt and sin, and I am ready for Jesus to come back - but there are moments where in the midst of all that God is so wonderful to me and I wonder how on earth I am so incredibly blessed.

New Friends! (TSTL)

The Sky's The Limit (TSTL) is a ministry of Doulos that provides a christian summer camp for urban youth and at the same time trains young adults by giving them an opportunity to be leaders at the camp. Since I really love children and urban ministry I have been given the great opportunity of working with TSTL (which is not the LeadTime norm).
I have lots of new friends - fellow counselors at camp as well as these precious kids. They are so much fun! Our theme for the summer is "Transformed" - all the 1st graders in G-1 (my group this week) learned Romans 12:2 really well and are super cute saying it. Camp is physically exhausting- especially when followed by an evening with the Littles, but I love it. It is challenging being in an environment that is not my norm and being an "outsider", but I want to learn from this, and overall the staff have done a great job of helping me be a part and feel welcomed.It's crazy to see teens many younger than our Shelterwood kids and many with even rougher pasts working hard, serving, and sharing the love of Christ with these little kids - what a blessing!

Keep Recognizing Jesus

This is a "My Utmost For His Highest" entry from a few days ago- I hope it challenges you like it did me.

Peter . . . walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid . . . —Matthew 14:29-30

The wind really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn’t see them at first. He didn’t consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of Him, and "walked on the water." Then he began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went. Why couldn’t our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves, as well as on top of them? He could have, yet neither could be done without Peter’s continuing recognition of the Lord Jesus.

We step right out with recognition of God in some things, then self-consideration enters our lives and down we go. If you are truly recognizing your Lord, you have no business being concerned about how and where He engineers your circumstances. The things surrounding you are real, but when you look at them you are immediately overwhelmed, and even unable to recognize Jesus. Then comes His rebuke, ". . . why did you doubt?" ( Matthew 14:31 ). Let your actual circumstances be what they may, but keep recognizing Jesus, maintaining complete reliance upon Him.

If you debate for even one second when God has spoken, it is all over for you. Never start to say, "Well, I wonder if He really did speak to me?" Be reckless immediately— totally unrestrained and willing to risk everything— by casting your all upon Him. You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. It is only through abandonment of yourself and your circumstances that you will recognize Him. You will only recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness— being willing to risk your all.

Stealing Jesus

We just started a series at church this morning entitled "Stealing Jesus". The premise of the series is that in our culture we have become so familiar with Jesus that we think we know Him when really we have no idea who He really is. His identity has been stolen, and we just know all these images of him created by the world around us. So, the point of the series is to actually take a look at Jesus' life, what he said about himself, and how he lived in hopes of getting rid of false views of Him and actually getting to know Him.
I'm excited for this study, because I have recently been reading through Luke and John, and making this same observation- that I don't know Jesus in the way I find Him there, and that I don't live like a follower of the Jesus I find there would live.

Lord, continue to challenge my faith- may I come face to face with who you really are and somehow offer that to others in this world.

New Girls

So, we got two new girls last week. Please pray for "RA" and "AR"

"RA" is 16 and is here for drugs, guys, rebellion - that sort of stuff. She is a cheerleader and seems to fit the stereotype. She didn't know she was coming and is not happy to be here. She's convinced she doesn't need to be here and will be able to leave in 2 months. "RA" is my Little, "EM"'s new roommate. Please pray for both of them. "EM" really wants a friend and wants to impress, but tends to do that in negative ways. "RA" has already stolen a couple of times and seems to lie about everything. So pray for us, to catch her in her bad decisions and have wisdom in knowing how to deal with her in love.

"AR" is 13. I'm still not completely sure why she is here- I think there were just issues with her parents and boys and stealing, but its hard to see any of that yet. She mostly just seems like a little kid that is really sweet, but doesn't have the best social skills. The other girls have started having a "Toothbrush Party" all together every morning and evening, just to get her to join. "AR" is a lot easier for me, although she needs a lot of attention, she doesn't do the whole teenage "I'm way too cool for school" thing. But I'm sure we'll see some of her true colors come out as time goes on. She seems to really like Jesus - but this may be mostly because of her parents - so pray the Lord would take what is already in her and grow it deep.

A praise to go along with that, is that I got to ask a lot of questions and share a little with "Z", who is an atheist, this week. Please continue to pray for her salvation.

Lyngy

Just wanted to share some fun things with you:

Melissa got a job at Sonic and will be starting today - she is pretty nervous, so please pray for her.
Melissa got her Drivers Permit yesterday. Whenever she is ready, she can go back and take her driving test for her license. This is another scary new thing.
Melissa really likes the small group Bible study we are going to. We're definitely going to continue going through the summer .
Melissa also called her mom this week, just to show her she still cares and make an attempt at relationship. This is really hard. Please pray that her heart would continue to be soft and to pursue and that her mom would respond with love.

Yay God! Yay Melissa!
Thanks for your prayers.

Words of Wisdom from the Sis

I just saw this picture of my sister, from my fun visit with her in Lubbock last month. It reminded me of some wise words she gave that I thought I would share.

We were talking about marriage and how its actually scary it is to think of spending the rest of your life with and building a family with this one person - how right before it was time to get married I would probably freak out and think of a thousand questions that I wanted answers to, things I wanted to have figured out before I signed my life away- but you can never know all the answers or if the other person is being honest with you about everything, and even if they are, people change over time....to think of all those things and then think of getting married is scary... So, after talking through these things, my sister finally says,

"Yeah, but Becky, that's why marriage is a commitment"

Seems like a simple enough thought. Everyone knows this to be true, but it really is wise - in marriage you commit yourself and your relationship and your future into God's hands - with lots of uncertainties and without knowing all the answers, you commit to no matter what, work through it, because its worth it.

God compares our relationship with Him to marriage. and in the same way, when it begins we have no idea all that's ahead and all that it will require. But He's won our heart; he has our trust. For me this makes it impossible to not follow him- I can't leave Him - I'm committed.

kinda silly

These pictures are from a "Joe's truck stop breakfast and bowling" Doulos Day that we had at the begining of May- that was a while ago, but it was during a long stetch of not posting anything, so I'm posting them now just for grins

Home and back for the home stretch

My break at home was wonderful. I love being home and was very encouraged and blessed by everyone I got to spend time with. Fun motorcycle rides, parents who take care of you, old friends, new babies, weddings, seeing God's work - what's not to love about that? Being away from Shelterwood gave me time to dream and be excited about what might come next after August and to come back here refreshed and really excited about the last 3 months I have here. We are at a really sweet part in the year - a place of deep relationship and openness and honesty - a place where we have been through a lot of hard things that we are now reaping the benefit from - a place where we have learned much and are getting an opportunity to try and really walk these things out.

My Little Graduated!

Lyngy's family


Praying over Lyngy


"M" (who I call Lyngy) has been my Little since I arrived in August; today she turned 18 and graduated the program! Way to go Lyngy! I am so proud of her for her perseverance and hard work. Her whole family came out to celebrate her graduation. I was bummed to have to miss it. God has taken a girl who was hurting, broken, confused, locked up and hiding and has shone his light into her life giving her real life and truth and hope and confidence. What an exciting transformation to see. I love this girl with my whole heart and am so thankful to know her.

Taos Trip

Marcedes has trouble on the trail.

All of the girl Bigs.

Yummy campfire dinner.

Not-so-yummy campfire dinner after our cooler got stolen.


Did you know New Mexico was beuatiful?

Blending in with the locals.

Mud baths at the hot springs.


What a fun week this was. Camping at the bottom of a beautiful canyon, hiking, cooking over the campfire, lots of chill time, playing games,the hot springs, dancing Indians - it was great. The girls had such great attitudes and it was really fun time to spend together outdoors. Its really good to get away from everything and slow down the pace of life for a while. We had a "prayer partner" time every day, and I was really thankful to get to share and pray with one of the Littles during this time. God has just in the last month done a work in her causing her to desire to know Him. Anyways, this trip was a blast, and I am looking forward to getting to take another one with the girls at the end of the summer.

Goodbye Jenna :(

Early yesterday morning we had to say goodbye to this beautiful friend.
Her absence will definitely be felt around this place.
Jenna is headed off to a difficult summer at the camp ministry she is so passionate about, Confrontation Point. We hate to see her go but are trusting that the Lord will use her time there as a continuation of what he has begun here.
We love you Jenna!

Pam's Midnight Birthday Awakening

At first she was very confused as to what was going on


Then she really wished we would all go away so she could go back to sleep


But once she saw the ice cream she woke up a little bit :o)


Happy Birthday Pam!

Expelled

I don't normally get excited about movies, but I am excited to see this movie. For those of you who majored in the sciences and have been surrounded by the squelching of God or anything contrary to Darwin's evolution, the premise of this film should be very familiar. This documentary is ready to expose the disservice that's occuring by excluding God from the scientific community.

Fear

Who and what do you fear? Why?

For me its a lot of things. A lot of things I wish I didn't fear or care about. My most frequent prayer lately has been:
"Lord, please free me from fear of people, rejection, failure...Teach me to fear YOU"

He is answering it. And it is good. I want to look to and submit to and consider and please HIM in every thing and every way.

They will be my people and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for thier own good and for the good of their children. Jer 32:38-39

ONE heart and ONE way- Lord give me SINGLENESS of heart, that I may fear ONLY YOU

Parents' Weekend

Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon our property was flooded with nervous and excited and broken families coming to spend time with their children that they have had to send away from home. They came hoping for a good visit, for minimal fighting, for new growth in communication, for connection to other families, for teaching and tools from the counselors to use in working on themselves and their families. There were, as always different tensions and rough points throughout the weekend, but as these were worked through, all of these hopes are accomplished. It was funny on Thursday to watch the girls dress up and nervously pace in the house peering out the windows waiting for their parents to arrive. No matter how much they say they dislike their parents, they are running to see them when they arrive. This parent's weekend was such an encouragement and a blessing. It is refreshing to be reminded what this ministry is really all about. God is at work in whole families, we just don't normally get to see that side of things. It is also great to hear from people that they are thankful for the ministry and for the work we are doing every day. We don't normally hear that. The best part is just seeing broken people/families being honest in their struggle and being changed by God. The first father to share at the end of the weekend during our "family share time", was this really big, strong guy with 3 really big, athletic sons. He went up to the microphone and shared how he's realized that although God's love is unconditional, he (the father) normally gives conditional love to his family. He apologized for this and with tears shared his desire to change. It was beautiful. And then one by one at least someone from each family got up to share things just as wonderful. Praise God! For most of these parents, it is a daily struggle to do what they know is needed and is right and to leave their child in our program- please pray that the parents would learn and stay strong in tough love.

Change of Dynamics

What a wonderful week it has been! I don't think I can accurately describe the change that has occured within the girl's house. There has been practically no drama, and everyone has been getting along. It is so fun to see the girls that are left all interact positively together. This weekend the girls all changed rooms. Both "M" and "EM" have their own room now. This weekend the girls also spent time thinking up and filming silly videos (see below). They worked together and used their creativity, and really had fun. What a pleasure. It is also really exciting to see some of the girls who know the Lord desire and take steps to grow in their faith more than ever. This is just a really sweet period of time. Its funny because I feel like a few weeks back all of the girl Bigs were really drained and wondering if that was going to last and just get wose for the rest of the year- but being drained has turned to being refreshed. It's really nice to sometimes be able to just sit in the front room of the girls' house and read or work on projects or talk with each other, beacause we aren't having to run all over the place non-stop chasing or doing things for the Littles. And this should continue for the remainder of the year becuase the ministry is moving to Kansas City in September and not planning on bringing in many more Littles before then.

Gotta love it

Here are some fun pictures of the girls, posed and in costume from making their fun videos this weekend.

The gangsta video


The caveman video

Fun with Katie

Here are a few pictures from my wonderful visit with Katie during my break.

The Waterfall behind Glen Eerie


Tea at the castle


Garden of the gods

Pure In Heart

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Lord reveal my heart. Get rid of allthat does not please you. Make it pure. I want to see you!

Breaking, and Break

It seems like yesterday that my world fell from the sky
It seems like yesterday I didn't know how hard I could cry
It feels like tomorrow I may not get by
But I will try
I will try wipe the tears from my eyes

I'm beautifully broken and I don't mind if you know it
I'm beautifully broken and I don't care if I show it

Every day is a new day I'm reminded of my past
Every time there's another storm I know that it wont last
Every moment I'm filled with hope
cause i get another chance
But I will try I will try
Got nothing left to hide

Does anyone like being broken? I hate it. Its hard. And it hurts. And I don't like it. It makes me wanna run away- not that that would really help, but its just not fun and there's really no way to fix it, so my mind says, just run away. But as much as it sucks to be broken, at least its real.... and in the dying, somewhere, there is hope of real life. Do you know what I'm talking about? LeadTime has the capacity to daily strip you of everything you think you have, to break you over and over of any inclination of self sufficiency or ability, and to leave you very aware of how totally far short you fall in every way. And then, from this place of brokenness and the death of self, Christ offers healing and life and beckons you to step out once again- with shaky steps, but on a firm foundation. It sucks, but its really real, and there is hope.

"Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! " 2 Cor 5:14-17 NLT

This week (March 21-30) is Spring Break. Most of the Littles spend 10 days at home with their families and we plan different activities each day for the ones who stay here, since there is no school or normal activities. Break is fun, because there are less girls and we're able to spend more time just hanging out with them- watching movies, playing extreme spoons, going snowboarding...so this is really fun at times. But by the same token, the lack of a schedule and the long hours with fewer staff around can get really tiring really fast. Especially when the Littles who are here don't care about consequences and are set on doing whatever they want and not doing whatever is asked of them. I get a 5 day break though from the 26-30th. I'm staying here in Colorado just planning to rest some and spend time with my friend Katie who is flying out to visit for a few days.

Week 31

The house seems so quiet this week. We are down to only 9 girl Littles. In addition to losing the 2 girls that graduated on Monday (please pray for them as they were really nervous about returning home to normal life and temptations there), another little "G", ran on Friday and then her family ended up pulling her from the program. This has been really hard for me. I love her dearly and so miss hanging out with her (it feels like our time was so short). I also know that "G" is returning to a really bad environment. Her family needs a lot of help, but is unwilling to receive it right now. Pray for God to intervene, break their pride, and most of all to pursue and protect "G" in this environment. It was really encouraging to praise God for the work he did over the last 10 months with the 2 girls that just graduated. He has made incredible changes and even though they are nervous about leaving, they are totally ready and so it is really exciting to see them go and to look forward to seeing what God does with them from here.

"M" left early this morning to go home for break. She will be there until next Thursday. Please pray for her as well as the other 4 girls who will be leaving on Friday and returning the 31st. Pray for peace and reconciliation in their homes.

Continue to pray for "A". She turns 18 on April 1st and is planning to pull herself from the program then. She doesn't want to seek the Lord about this decision right now she says because she knows he would tell her to stay and she doesn't want to. "A" has always had a really hard time with any authority in her life and so this will definitely be something to work through in her new faith.

"EM" Had a cool moment this week where she was vulnerable in front of and apologized to the whole girls house. I was so proud of her.

A couple of blessings:
-I got to spend a lot of time while I was off this weekend with my old roommate, Julie, which was really good. She also got to come back to property for the girls graduation on Monday. Continue to pray for her as she looks for community and direction outside of here.
-We had Doulos Day on Tuesday and got to go out to a nice breakfast and then go ice-skating with the staff. It is really great that we get opportunities to do things like this together every month.
-After a few really refreshing weeks, I think the Lord is taking me back into the breaking place again. Although difficult, this is worth it, because it means knowing my Savior in a more and intimate way.

A Fun Week

The girls' house


4 of the girls "Raptor Running" at the park Saturday


What a week it has been. There has been a ton of chaos amidst the girls. 5 of them are room grounded for various major offenses and 2 of them are just frustrated with life in general because they are graduating and leaving the program on Monday. Despite all the craziness that has surrounded these and other events, I have had a really great week. Praise the Lord! I have continued to be able to serve out of a place of joy and freedom and really enjoy and love the girls. Lots of good conversations and fun times this week.

Please begin to pray for next Friday, the day that most of the kids will head home for their 10 day Spring Break. There is always lots of excitement and nervousness with going home. Pray especially for my little, "M" - her counselor is not sure yet if things are good enough at home for her to spend the break there.

One huge praise is that my relationship with my little, "EM", really turned a corner this week. Last Wednesday I was asking her what she desired in relationship and how I could better approach her because she has constantly been upset with and just mean toward me most of the time she has been here. On Friday night I got to spend time hanging out with her and she told me that she didn't really have answers to my questions, but that she just basically had needed to open her heart and give me a chance! I believe the Lord truly did a work in her heart and it has been so nice to be able to have fun with and enjoy her since then. However she did get another drug offense this week (her 3rd one) which means that she still has consequences out the wazoo- at the minimum she will be property grounded for the next 3 months...I am truly praying that she would just stop making stupid choices.

"A" has had a really hectic week. While serving a different offense, she got a drug offense this week, then found out that if she pulls herself from the program on April 1st when she turns 18 (like she was planning) her parents will not support her at all- and they are not bringing her home for Spring Break. On top of this, she didn't finish some community service assigned by the court for a ticket earlier in the year and then missed court and so when the police came to property for something else involving her yesterday, she gotten taken in to the police station and then ordered to return to court today. All that to say that she is somewhat of a wreck. Please pray that she would drop her pride and run to the Lord in the midst of all this.

Things are still really good with "G". I am able to share often with her about the Lord and we often sing worship songs together. I am sad though, because "G" had another girl punch her in the face earlier this week as a form of self-harm. My heart breaks for this girl- she has experienced so much hurt. Pray that she would know and experience the deep love of our heavenly Father.

I'm looking forward to having this weekend off- just as time to rest a little.
Thanks for joining me in the fight for our Father's Kingdom in this place!

Lean not on your own understanding

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make you paths straight.

Proverbs 20:24
A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?

These verses have definitely been the theme for life the last few weeks. I always love to understand and figure our everything and have everyone understand me. The Lord is in a lot of ways trying to break me of this. But how good it is - how much better to trust his perfect leading than to try and figure out someithing impossible for me to really know anyways!

Littles

A, is a girl Little who I shared about a long time ago. She was in my small group during the spiritual retreat we took some of the Littles on last year and was fighting against the Lord really hard then. She has continued to fight him and shut him out since then, until she went on the Mexico trip over beyond week and finally decided to give her life to him! Praise God!! This is a long awaited answer to prayer. A, seems to be afraid of telling others about her decision though- so please just pray for God to really speak truth and give her confidence in Him and this decision.

M's mom did not come visit and she didn't even end up getting to have any phone calls with her. I'm not really sure what is going on at home, but things do not seem to be moving in a positive direction. M was considering moving home when she graduated before, and now her counselor does not want to send her home at all. Continue to pray for restored relationship. Also, M feels very alone and unknown right now, because E was the one Little here that really knew her, and now she is gone. Pray that the Lord would comfort her and keep her from shutting down and sitting in depression.

My other Little, EM, is continuing to rack up the offenses and the hours. She is really rebellious and can be difficult to know how to relate to, discipline, and love. Pray that I would have patience and persistence with her and continue to pursue in the midst of rejection. Sometimes this is so hard. And mostly just pray that the Lord would soften her heart and change her. I heard her tell another Little the other day (seriously) that she should pray about something difficult that she was dealing with and she seems to like going to church now, where as she was opposed when she first got here. I don't know the motives behind either of these things, but am hoping for the best and for the Lord to just work.

Before leaving for outpost I had been asking often that the Lord would show me how to love the Littles like he does and at times fighting against getting bitter towards them. I still need prayer for this, but I have really seen His answer the last few days. It is really good! I have especially been able to connect with G. She is one of the new girls who came in January and is probably the first Little my whole time here that I feel totally comfortable hanging out with anytime, who consistently really lets me in and lets me love her and really feels like a friend. This is so refreshing. I am very thankful that God has given me this connection with her- please pray he would use it for his glory.


Also, there are 2 girl Littles graduating in 2 weeks. (One who loves God and is really growing and one who is still resisting Him) This means big transitions for these girls. Pray for the Lord to prepare there hearts exactly as they need in their last weeks here.

Outpost

Beyond Shelterwood Week was amazing. There were good reports from all 3 groups. The really unique thing about this week is that as all 3 groups did something different than the normal routine the Big/Little status was taken away; everyone stepped up and it was more like everyone was equals. No matter who I talk to, everyone seemed to have a really good time. The Littles on Outpost did an awesome job. I was so impressed! It was a physically and emotionally difficult trip, but they were so strong. It was great for them to realize their own ability to survive way out of their comfort zone.While on outpost I was having difficulty just surviving the elements physically and was not nearly as faithful spiritually as I wanted to be. It made me so thankful to know that in times where I'm not able to pray or do the work I would like I have you all praying and doing it for me. What a blessing!

One of the 3 girls on outpost, E, found out the night we returned that her parents were pulling her out of Shelterwood the next morning. So she is home now. This is sad, because it would have been really good for her to finish the program. She was really just beginning to make some breakthroughs. I'm glad I got to spend the last week with her - pray that the Lord would give her extra strength as she begins life at home and that she would continue to believe her worth as a child of God.

The beautiful view

Our group

Hiking

Jenna and E and Tenzing- our mountain pup

Trying to destroy the snowcave

Inside the awesome snowcave

Mountain women

Camp