A Mountain of Truth

The funny thing about going on a trip is that there is a mountain of expectations that go ahead of you. You expect to get rest, some good food, and a different [if not nicer] view. Mostly you hope for some fantastic memories. Well for Spring Break 2010 I was part of a trip with a lot of expectations. Nine of my closest friends and I went to Colorado for 10 days!!

My Sophomore year, there were 8 of us who had some free time after chapel every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We decided to become more intentional with each other in our relationships and with our faith. We were sick of the mundane conversations and wanted to get deep and raw with each other. Thus began BCF [Broken 'Conventicle' Fellowship - ask me sometime, and I'll explain!]. BCF was such a blessing to be a part of. Not every day was as productive as others, but we were very intentional about just getting used to being vulnerable with one another and making sure to keep God the center of our conversations. It was an encouraging and challenging time in my life – one I am so blessed to have been a part of and seen God work in mighty way through our friends.

SO the 8 of us tentatively talked about going on a trip together [and many of us did in the Fall of '09 for a weekend to WI]. The idea for Colorado came from one of our friend Lindsay [being from the state]. Others quickly jumped on board because of the beauty and vast options for activity in Colorado. It didn’t work out for us to go in the 08-09 school year [my Sophomore year when we started the group], so it was a possibility for the next year’s Spring Break. And that possibility became a reality as Lindsay graciously planned the whole trip.

So ten people total went on the trip – 7 of which were original members of BCF and 3 of which were blessed additions – in two cars [a mini Van and a car] for a ten day trip. This is a glimpse into that amazing time:

We began on Thursday March 4th at 5am [see below] and returned on Saturday March 13th [my car at 10ishpm]

Despite the 5am hour - we were excited

Not being one to sleep in the car, I was awake for most of the 14 hours there [and going anywhere on the trip...and coming 14 hours back, haha!], which was a great chance to see the beauties of God’s creation all around me – in the landscape and people I was on a journey with. We arrived at Lindsay’s and were fed some warm food and hospitality from Lindsay’s parents – a strange combo I’d never heard of: Chili and Cinnamon Buns!! It was new – and kind of odd – but delicious! Apparently it’s a common farm thing, because my roomie Kirby has it too, but they were the only ones of us in the loop

We did some pretty amazing things at Lindsay’s in Galeton, CO – we played games at her dad’s elementary school gym til we couldn’t breathe [an easy feat in the high altitude - and Lindsay's dad is a PE teacher!]; played board/card/crazy games with Lindsay’s parents and laughed until our sides hurt [silent football and Settlers are the best!]; a few of use learned how to tie fly fishing flies [it was like a man's form of knitting - i loved it!]; good ole shooting some clays with a shotgun [i got 3 out of 5...]; and a surprise trip planned by Lindsay to see Le Grande Cirque – a really amazing circus/acrobat/show that blew us all away! Needless to say, our weekend in Galeton was packed, but wonderful – and Lindsay’s parents were so gracious!

I think my favorite part of the trip was our nightly bible studies. We each were ‘assigned’ days to lead a bible study. It was an amazing opportunity for us to get together each night, share what God had laid on our hearts, and just be in intentional fellowship! I was so blessed to hear more about what was going on in people’s spiritual walks, since many of us had been out of touch in comparison to our Sophomore year BCF days – and our 3 additions were so good to hear how God has been steadily molding them. God broke me in new ways towards my friends and issues on my heart, and that is a memory I will never forget

Praise the Lord for Lindsay, Paul, Amy, Michael, Kirby, Erik, Matt, Isaac, and Grace – thanks for the adventure, memories, tears, and God-times

Here are some snapshots from our trip