Our time at Frontier was Incredible. We got to see Amazing things happen! We got to see a hundred kids each week step from Death to Life, from Perishable to Imperishable! It doesn't get any better than that.
One thing that made our Assignment very Unique and Different was the dreaded Swine Flu of 2009. So Wild. So Crazy. We experienced the Brunt of the Joke at Frontier Ranch. Kids were infected. Our Assigned Team was infected. Everyone was exposed to it. Our first week, we had to send 160 folks from Houston home on Day 3 of 7 at camp. On Day 5, we sent the rest of camp home. It was SO Bizaar! Never before have I had 2 days 'off' at the end of Week 1 to prepare for Week 2.
Week 2 was less hectic and the Swine Flu surfaced at the end of the week, but it really didn't affect our week. Weeks 3 and 4 were free and clear! Such a blessing. It was excellent to finish strong and know that Jesus moved mountains in spite of all that went on.
Our biggest challenge came at the end of Week 3 during the last night. Our Camp Director's, Lynn Barclay, husband Paul was supposed to come and visit us on Week 2, but he had gotten sich and did not want to travel. In the span of a week, he stayed sick with random symptoms and on the last night of camp of Week 3, Lynn got a phone call from the North Carolina Police saying that her husband had passed away! Totally Insane. I will never forget getting the news. I was on stage celebrating after 'Say-So' when Elise Austell came up to me and told me this tragic news. Here we had just experienced 100 kids step spiritually into eternity and now we are dealing with Paul Barclay physically stepping into Eternity?!? It was a real hard time for everyone on our Assignment. Lynn Barclay is a great mom, wife, Regional Director, lady and Leader! Lord, Bless Her...
Here are some pics for your enjoyment. I know that pictures are worth a thousand words ... or so the saying goes!
On our way home from Colorado, we stopped at the Royal Gorge at BOY, it was awesome! Have you ever been there? I like to stop and random places during a trip and sightsee and this was a Great Treasure. This picture is of the tram that go across the entire valley and is some 2,000 feet in the air or something ludicrous like that. We rode it and it was a blast! We spent 2 hours at the Royal Gorge. What a gift. We then drove 7 hours to Amarillo to eat at the Big Texan (a famous restaurant that offers you a free 72 oounce steak and 'trimmings' if you can eat it all in under an hour! It's the Disney Land for Rednecks! We LOVED it...
These are some girls from Lake Highlands that I really connected with on the very first day of their specific week. They were so great and so precious to me. I told them that the thing I wanted most out of there week (besides them coming to know Jesus) is to stand atop Mount Chrysolite at 12,822 feet with them! They really knew I was crazy then. They hemmed and hawed, but said that they would give it a try. This day was the most draining day in all of our Assignment. I literally pushed one girl up the mountain. After we got about 60% of the way up, a couple of the girls would sit down (which you should never do), cry and say that they were not going any higher. It was TOUGH! God showed up that day. Each and every kids made it to the top of the mountain. We were the last folks to the top and were received by 400 others cheering us on. It was SO Powerful...
Taylor and I snuck away from camp one afternoon and I took her to St. Elmo. This is a really fun old mining town where you can feed the Chipmunks. They would crawl all over you and eat the seeds you had set out. It was really fun. Taylor loves animals and wildlife!
I borrowed a friends 4 wheeler and Taylor and I drove out of Frontier Ranch and up the side of one of the Collegiate Peaks known as Mount Princeton that Frontier Ranch actually sits on the side of. It was a great ride and such B-E-A-UTIFUL scenery. This is TayTay on top of the 4 wheeler at our final stopping point. No more vehicles beyond this point...
Tay and I atop Mount Princeton. It was about 15 degrees cooler at the top than it was in camp.
There ya have it. That is the short version of our time in Colorado at Frontier Ranch...
This is my 10 Year Anniversary this summer with Young Life! It's hard to believe that it has been that long...
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