Too Close

The time which we have here in Vail is slower trickling away. Just yesterday it seemed to be wuite a while. But shortly after I found out that it was my last day of work things quickly became all too tangible. With only two days left I can feel the pressure of not seeing the friends here growing greater every moment. Thankfully, I know that it is not something to be sad about. As a friend of my sisters said on the project she was on last year: "Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened." Little cheesy...a little true.

I am glad that I can take things home with me from this summer. It is time to reflect on what I have learned, take it back to Louisville, and apply it to my life there. I'm glad I have Christ with me, I would feel overwhelmed if I was without him.

But these last few days will definetely be fun. I will be climbing a 14er tomorrow morning (a 14,000 ft. mountain) and then playing some basketball. And thursday brings the final banquet in which we all get to say goodbye. Only to be followed up by the car ride home on friday (which will defntely be fun if it is anything like that of the ride here) and then the new chapter in my life that is junior year at University of Louisville.

Speaking of 14er's though, a couple of friends (well 8) and I climbed one called Holy Cross on saturday morning. We began at 1:00 am and ended at 10:20 am. It was quite a climb and something I will never forget. We were even fortunate enough to make it up right before the sunrise. It was awesome to see God's creation. All I could think of was how if we were to cease worshiping Him even the rocks would cry out praise. I think that might be cool to see. But even now I can look at such awesome landscapes and not see Christ in them. Pictures follow:

My friend and fellow climber Jesse. This a view of the back side of the view from the top.


Just before sunrise


James decided to climb out onto a ridge adjacent to the summit

The whole group standing in front of the sunrise
The ridge we took to get back down (this looks relatively flat...but right before that we climbed down a boulder field, and the dropoff where you can't see anything is another large boulder field. Basically 11,000 ft and up were boulders. After the tree line stops there is intense erosion).


A pic of the peak from the ridge


This was taken on the sperate ridge you have to climbing down to start the hike up to holy cross' peak. But yea, there is the mountain in all its glory.


I will try to upload a video later. For now it was taking a little long and it is definetely time for me to sleep.

Thanks as always for reading. I will try to post more soon.

In Christ,
Tyler

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