A little less water, please

Water drips from the ceiling. Water puddles on the floor. Water washes everything away. Water floods my eyes with tears. This has been our reality this week. Flash floods, the worst in FOUR decades. This means one of the homes we are trying to sell has flooded again, with five feet of water in the basement. So discouraging, when we had JUST cleaned up from the last flood and had JUST met with the realtor the day before to list it again.

Then, on top of that, the one bathroom in our own house started having problems. The shower is draining onto the dining room floor below. Ugh!

I happened to be reading a book this week called “One Thousand Gifts.” It’s been incredible, and I think of it as a lifeline when I felt like I was sinking, literally!

One of the parts that really resonated with me is this: “When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back” (Exodus 33:22-23).

Ann Voskamp writes, “Is that it? When it gets dark, it’s only because God has tucked me in a cleft of the rock and covered me, protected, with His hand? In the pitch, I feel like I’m falling, sense the bridge giving way, God long absent. In the dark, the bridge and my world shakes, cracking dreams. But maybe this is true reality: It is in the dark that God is passing by. The bridge and our lives shake not because God has abandoned, but the exact opposite: God is passing by. God is in the tremors. Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by. In the blackest, God is closest, at work, forging His perfect and right will. Though it is black and we can’t see and our world seems to be free-falling and we feel utterly alone, Christ is most present to us, I-beam supporting in earthquake. Then He will remove His hand. Then we will look. Then we look back and see His back. “

We are finding God’s presence to be real in the form of amazing friends this week. One bringing flowers and cookies and going for a walk with me, stopping by to take Clayton on a play date, coming over to help us unclog our drains and fix our water problems, and today, two that went with us to the flooded house and helped mop floors, pick up debris, and spray the dirt away, and tomorrow family coming to help with the finishing touches one more time.

So again, we clean, pray, wait, and hope to soon look back and see His back.

Rocky Mountain High

We had a blast exploring Rocky Mountain National Park for a few days this week. That place is spectacular! This photo was at the summit of Deer Mountain. We were proud of the kids hanging in there for a long hike.Some pretty flowers along the way... Emma led the hike nearly the whole time. I think she liked being by herself, thinking, looking at the mountains, and being out in front.On our trek to Alberta Falls, it felt strange to be hiking through snow while dressed for summer. Hudson was a little trooper. He slept most of the time, but seemed happy to be along for the ride.

It was so refreshing to breathe in the clear mountain air and be in nature. We enjoyed the sunshine by day, a full moon at night, and great views of the Rockies at every turn. It was an unforgettable experience!

Camping with kids

These three had such a great time tromping around the woods, splashing in the creeks, eating s'mores around the fire at night, throwing snowballs, and making friends with the kids at the campsite next to ours.

Taking a rest on our hike around Sprague Lake This was our campsite and also where the kids chased deer around on the big rock hill behind us.

Clayton worked on his whittling skills since he was in charge of marshmallow sticks. One morning Hudson was especially quiet while we got breakfast ready. When we noticed him, he was underneath the picnic table, getting into some cookies... Emma got brave and ventured out on this log.

Scenes of Nature

When we entered the park, the first animal we saw was this young moose. Bighorn sheep View from Trail Ridge Road Clay and Em's favorite pasttime This coyote was looking over a meadow where over one hundred elk were grazing. Clay motioned, "Come on, Dad! Look at those elk!"Spring flowers

Cash and Annie

We were in Grand Junction, CO last weekend for our good friend, Cash's wedding. Cash was on our youth team a few years ago. He and Jeff got to be great friends and have enjoyed several adventures since then. Cash and Annie, we pray your marriage may be used by God to bless many lives. We love you!

One

I can't believe it's been a whole year since this sweet boy came into our life. Hudson Joseph is our little delight. We had a family birthday party for him a few weeks ago. He got into the cake and made quite a mess...

Hudson, you are our little buddy and we love you so much. We pray that you would grow to know and love Jesus with all your heart.

Road Trip

This is what our van looked like when we started out yesterday morning. All three were peacefully sleeping. A little later in the day, Hudson decided he did not like sitting in the carseat for 16 hours...but we made it to our destination!We celebrated Hudson's birthday with a cone at McDonald's. The boy loves to eat.

We are in Colorado for a friend's wedding and some family time in the Rocky Mountains. We are thrilled to be here and look forward to exploring this beautiful place.

Riding Bike

We stayed with my parents last week and Dad worked with Emma on bike riding. It was fun to see her ride my old pink banana seat bike, the "Wind Spirit!" Thanks, Dad, for all your hard work and sweat as you ran up and down the driveway with her!
Here's Em with Aunt Amanda. Emma gets lots of lovin' from her aunties!