Sorry for the wait

So it has been a while since my last post. I guess I have taken most of my free time to reflect on the things taking place here and to chill with the friends I have here in Vail.

The past week and weekend have revealed some awesome lessons for me and the other kids here on VSP (vail summer project). I know we are all feeling the urgency of our situation since we have less than two weeks left. I want to do a lot before leaving, including witnessing to more co-workers, and investing even more in the relationships I have with people (both CRU kids and the people of Vail). Honestly I just want to feel like I have accomplished the task I set out for, to expand God's kingdom in Vail and to show His love to the people here. I want to continue to grow in His love, grace and knowledge.

I have found that a day when I don't try to share the gospel with people is an empty day. I feel farther from Christ and like I am not completing the task he has given me. But thankfully I can bank on grace. Praise the Lord.

So this past weekend we all (CRU) came together and painted a mural/ made a mosaic on the wall of Simba Run's garage. We made the mosaic out of broken plates and tiles. Before we broke these plates we scribed the things in our lives that we wanted to be broken of, and brought them before God. Then we smashed them and used them to make an awesome work of art. A good picture of how Christ uses broken people in the body of believers to create beautiful things, and to give us life in full. Anyway. The mural and mosaic look freakin awesome. Pics follow:

The wall before even any prep work was done


The initial sketch and layout


Everyone working hard on setting the tiles on the wall, which was followed by painting the mountains, trees and sky


The two who planned out the entire thing. They were the artists behind the project (Kim Mazzone [right] and Ferrell Rickardson [left]).


The finished Product! It's hard to tell how good it looks from this photo, but there were a lot of compliments made and I think Simba really likes the outcome of the project.


A close up of the sun/summer portion of the mural

So yea, after about only 6 hours of work the mural/mosaic turned out awesome. Hope it is there to stay for a while.

Anyway. Thanks for all the encouragement you guys. Everyone who has sent me stuff, called me, or contacted me in any way has been a great help. I hope you all are mutually encouraged by me as well. I am constantly amazed at how many people read this blog. Speaking of which, stephanie if your out there in germany reading this then hey, I hope to write/talk to you soon. Thanks again to everyone who reads. Peace out.

In Christ,
Tyler

P.S. As always I hope you all are continuing to grow in the grace, knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

This world

So camping went well this past weekend. We went someplace in a high altitude desert. Don't really know where it was, but it was a great time to get some relaxing conversation and fellowship in with the other CRU kids. Good time also to have an outdoor quiet time and to experience the awe of God's creation.

After camping we were able to go zip lining for free b/c of the awesome contribution of some friends from Vail church. I will try to get some pictures up of it, but basically it was amazing. Some of these lines were 1000 ft long and got you going 35 mph. 

After this I got to go and have dinner with my rents, and then I was privileged to go and see the Dark Night. All in all a pretty good day. 

Sunday presented itself as a time to regroup. After Church I basically came home and read a bit, took a nap, all that good Sunday stuff. 

Also, I looked for some apartments online. When I get home I don't have a place to live unless John finds one for david, him and I. So that is an interesting evolution in life. God will provide. 

Thanks to all who have sent me mail, it's been amazing encouragement. I will brave the day continuing to seek to spread the gospel. I hope you all in Christ are doing the same. I pray you are continually being encouraged and driven towards Christ by those around you and the things that you learn. 

In Him,

Tyler

Water works

7:30 couldn't come too soon this morning. I was able to go with my dad to fly fish the creeks of Vail. It was amazing, and something I have always wanted to do. I think he had a good time and I know I had a great experience. Learning how to fly fish is a little tricky, and I don't have it down by any means, but non the less we both kept going for about 5 hours. I was even fortunate enough to catch a fish. No big deal.

Everything kind of melts away when you are standing in a river casting. It reminds me a lot of rock climbing. These are two of the only activities that I can think of that really make me forget everything else. Being out in Gods creation and realizing how many things he has blessed me with kind of floor me.

Lately God has continued to increase my faith in Him. There are still a lot of things that I wonder about, and many times when I run from Him, but he keeps with me. I love and praise Him for that.

My parents are here until tom, but I have a camping trip tonight. Hopefully we will be able to see one another before they leave. Pray that we would be able to, and if not that we could continue to encourage one another regardless of the distance separating us.

In Christ,
Tyler

P.S. The Dark Night came out today. I want to see it very badly.

Out of the Blue

So my parents came to the red Lion to surprise me today. I must say I have never had such an unexpected visit. To come out of the kitchen and see my dad standing there was great. You just don't expect to see your parents when you're in Vail and they are hundreds of miles away in FL.

Night of reflection was tonight. Very inspiring. Read Jude and about David's mighty men. Good times. I cam continually encouraged to share the gospel.

In Christ,
Ty

P.S. Hello to those in Lexington whom I love dearly and continue to pray for. I hope to see you soon.

weekender

So this weekend started off with a life skill. These are activities we do as a project to help us realize biblical teachings. Yesterday we were all given cameras to go out into Vail and take pictures of 5 different subjects. Those being redemption, empathy, true love, beauty and evil. Once we took all the pictures my family group had them developed and then we hung all 300 or so up on the wall of a community room in Simba Run where we live. We then had a large group meeting to discuss how our day went, stories we were able to gather from the event, and also what the pictures meant to us. Every CRU projector grabbed 3 pictures that represented how God was working in their life. IT was awesome getting to hear the multiple perspectives surrounding each picture. Some people came up with amazing explanations that I would have never thought of. Overall it was an great exercise. I hope that everyone took home something significant that they will continue to remember through the project. I personally realized, even more than I knew before, how much grace God has for us. No matter how much I screw things up he is there to forgive me. I can't imagine being without that.

After the life skill a bunch of people decided to go on a night hike. A bunch of us only took a two and a half hour hike up to booth falls, while another group added 5 more hours to the hike by going all the way up to booth lake (a 2,000 foot increase in elevation). Needless to say they got back a little late. My roommate Sully rolled in around 4:00 am. I was a little confused at first, thinking he was getting ready for church really early, only to realize he was just getting in.

Today Church was awesome. The usual worship team was back along with Craig Smith, our usual pastor. He did a great job going through Jonah ch. 3. For worship we focused on old hyms, which I really enjoyed. I have found myself wanting to sing those for a while, in fact there was conversation of that desire while some of us hiked booth falls last night.

After church I was fortunate enough to go to a fly fishing clinic. It was interesting. Makes me want to get out in the river and actually try it for myself.

This was follow by a gondola trip up Vail mt. to hand out lemonade and spread the gospel amung people coming up berry picker trail. It was an awesome opportunity to get to know CRU people even better, hand out some refreshments, and speak with people we would have otherwise never gotten a chance to converse with.

So the weeks are widdling down. We are all realizing how much work we have to get done here in a short amount of time. Therefore, we are kicking things into high gear. I think now that relationships have been established among both CRU people with CRU people, and CRU peeps with their co-workers it is time to really invest in the Kingdom. So please pray that the gospel would be shared in any way possible, and that we would have the zeal for Christ to continue to follow His word.

Miss you all. My computer time is running out at the Lib, so I must go. Thanks again for reading.

In Christ,
Tyler

Struggle

Today was a good one. But it was hard. There were a lot of opportunities to talk to co-workers about Christ/Church/etc. Which is definetely a plus. But they were some difficult struggles. Please pray that the people we are given a chance to speak with here in Vail would have their hearts softened and that they would hear the gospel and realize Christ is the way the truth and the life.

Thanks to everyone who has, or is sending me mail. It is very much appreciated. I apologize if I haven't sent any back. This is def. a busy time in my life.

We had a huge soccer game tonight. Every Tuesday at Ford park. It is a great time and we almost always have enough for two huge teams. So its a good time to get to know one another and have some healthy competition.

In Christ,
Tyler

Light

So Saturday was full of great stuff. Went to a few outlet malls and the REI store in Denver. Ate at a place called Beau Jo's (amazing pizza), and finally went to the Rockies game (which was won 12-6 by the mountain locals). Beau Jo's has a challenge that asks its participants, which can be at most two people, to eat 14 lbs of pizza. I would really love to try it. I think I might try to recruit sponsors so that I can go into the challenge knowing I have financial support if me and the guy I try it with fail. It is $75 to try to beat the challenge. Yet, if you eat the entire pizza you recieve $100 and two free t-shirts.

Church was great. The Vail Church is going through Jonah today. We had our usual pastor speaking and our normal worship team, and they did an awesome job. It was a great day of learning through reading scripture and singing praises in community. Afterward a bunch of us (guys) went to go play basketball close to the church. We ended up being able to play 3 games of 5 on 5. Best of all a gentleman who works at home depot with some of the CRU guys was there playing with us. So hopefully we fostered some freindship throughout the games.

After all this the guys from my family group and I went out to buy food for tonight. What we did was make a nice dinner for the 8 girls in our 12 person family group. We grilled chicken, baked potatoes, prepared a salad, and closed it with chocolate fondu and fruit. All this was prepared around a candle lit table with sparkling cider for beverage. It was a little choppy getting things together with our alotted time today, but everything came together eventually and I hope we were able to bring the group closer together.

We are reading John together as family groups currently. I think the book is amazing. I have only read the first chapter for the pourpose of discussing it with family group today. But even one chapter seems so full of theology and truth that it is almost overwhelming. I am thankful for scripture and all we can gather from it. I am looking forward to reading more into John and praying that God will constantly reveal more things to me through it.

Everything is going really well even with the departure of staff. I hope everyone is looking to the future with hope that God will continue to work through us to share his gospel. It seems everyone is becoming more and more aware of the urgency in which we need to share with others, and that we must depend on God's timing to share Christ with others. I pray that though I am sure we have all passed up oportunities (I know I have), that we will continue to look for chances to speak His truth. Both now and when we return to our respective areas I hope we continue to use every day to its full advantage.

As always, thanks for the encouragement and for reading this blog. I hope everyone continues to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ.

In Christ,
Tyler

Carried

So Christ got me through work. It was as crazy as I would have expected, but overall a great day. I got a number of good responses concerning my expediting abilities, and owe it all the Him. I prayed quite a bit today. It was nerve raking thinking that so many orders where filtering through me and that people were depending on me for their food to get out to the tables right and in a timely manner. I know it might seem like a small task, but trust me it was a little crazy. I must say though, I couldn't have done in without my great food runners and the help and patience of kitchen management. There was no yelling today, which was a gift in itself. I hope that somehow it was a witness for Christ.

After work a lot of people went to see fireworks, others opted to see WALL-E. I went with the movie. It was awesome. I would def recommend it to a friend (that being you).

Tommorrow a lot of us are going to denver to spend the day and then out to a Rockies (vs. Marlins) game. I am hopeful for a good time over fellowship with the other crusaders. A lot of others are going to another area to a shopping mall (I think it's called silverthorn), and still others are doing their own thing (hiking, fishing, etc.).

SO the staff is gone now. Which means a lot more responsibility for the students. Especially a few of us, four main students are heading up the project now. I hope you will pray for them. That God would guide and direct their decisions just like he did their selection.

Overall continue to pray that the gospel would be spread through us here in Vail. So much oporunity is out there, I pray the Holy Spirit would continually work through us. I know He will, God wastes nothing.

I hope you all are doing well wherever you are reading this from. I hope to speak with you soon.

In Christ,
Tyler

4th

So today is going to be a crazy one. This is the busiest day for the Red Lion during the summer. Being the 4th there is a parade that starts right outside of the Red Lion's building. I will be an expeditor today. Thus I will have a lot of responsibility. I am quite anxious about it so prayers are very appreciated. Hope that the gospel is still shared throughout the business of the day and that I have a calm spirit throughout the time there (9-5). Thanks.

In Christ,

Tyler