I had the incredible honor of spending the past week in Fort Collins, Colorado with one of my besties (yeah, i used that word), Katers Dannecker. From the moment I got there to the minute I left, I loved every second of it. It was exactly what I needed at this point in my life, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Physically, it was freaking glorious! Everyday was, I'd say, about high 70's, low 80's and little humidity. This coming from Kansas where, by noon, it is 95 degrees and crazy humidity. My lungs could breathe, and it wasn't a struggle to warm up. Coach and his wonderful self had tailored my workouts for my little vacation, and everything went smoothly. Yay change of weather!
Mentally, it was just really good to get out of Kansas for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my training in Kansas, however, I have much disdain for living there. Since the first day of practice, my training, on a scale from 1-10, has been a 15, so I absolutely love that part. It's the city and my perception (which is accurate a lot of the time) of the people that nags my soul. I have been meeting and spending some quality time with some nice people lately, so that has significantly helped me keep my sanity. Nevertheless, it was really good to have a change of environment and give myself a break from Kansas. Outside of the lack of diversity, Fort Collins reminds me of Ann Arbor, so I simply loved being there. Katers took me all over and showed me all the little hotspots and good food spots unique to FoCo. It was so cool! It was also a really good change of pace to see more eclectic people--I love different cultures!!
Emotionally, it was sooooooo good to see a wonderful friend from back home. Although Katers and I keep quite in touch, it's not the same as being face to face. We had a lot of good hugs and bosom holding! it was really good:) It's also nice to get out of the structured training environment I'm in. I was able to simply relax, take deep breaths, and have some good quality fun. My good friend and spiritual mentor, Dee, also came in halfway through my visit, and words cannot express how great it was to see her too. oh man, simply glorious:)
Spiritually, I am still in awe of God's grace and how His timing is crazy perfect and He will give you rest when you need it most. So, Katers was in week 8, the final week, of Colorado Project. If my info serves me right, this is an AIA (Athletes In Action) leadership camp that helps develop and equip young men and women to be effective spiritual leaders on the college campuses. And since I was with Katers, I was able to do a lot of the Project stuff too--so great! I'm going to blog about it later, but my spiritual well-being prior to this vacation was in the rebuilding stages in the sense that I was really re-figuring out what it meant for me to completely live for God and be obedient to His Word (again, details later). Being at CP (Colorado Project) was seriously God-sent because it was so great to be surrounded by people truly living for God with their entire lives, seeking Him in everything. At Michigan, I was constantly surrounded by these types of people, so it was so much more natural to do it myself. I've learned that this does not come quite as easily when you're somewhat on your own with your faith. Alas, God is great, and being around all those cool, Jesus loving, people was all too good for my hungry soul.
I also had the privilege of spending some time with one of the staff families. OMG. Seeing them and how glorifying their family was to God just reiterated how important it is for me to be patient for the strong Christian man God has for me. I need not settle and be sorry. One example was of their cute 5yr old son, Jack. Jack, Finn (his little brother), and I were playing in the father's study, and Jack asked, "Can you sleepover tonight?". I then responded that I could not because I had a very early morning where I was flying back to my home. He said, "ok", and that was the end of it. Later at dinner, his father asked who wanted to say the prayer, and Jack excitedly volunteered. While being impressed by just how natural his praying skills were, there was one such prayer that almost brought tears to my eyes. Little 5yr old Jack said, "...and thank you for letting me meet Bettie, and I pray that she has a safe flight back home tomorrow, and she has to get up really early, so I pray that You help her rest well tonight..." I was awestruck, like seriously. THAT is what I want for my family, and I need to have a strong Christian man who will be that necessary spiritual leader. Needless to say, this was the perfect ending to my trip.
All in all, I was refreshed on all levels, and am back on track with being on fire for Jesus. Yay friends, yay experiences, yay God!
