On Saturday we took on Longs Peak, which is the tallest mountain north of I-70, with a group of 18.  It is not called Longs Peak for nothing.  The day started when we left the house at 2am for the one hour drive to the trail head.  Spirits were high.

Then we started climbing.

The first two hours were in the dark which was sort of fun and adventurous.  The sunrise was spectacular and sparked a need to worship God.  Even after a few hours, the climbing was still enjoyable and we were having a great time.

Then came the keyhole!  Duh, duh, duh!! (hear that sinister three note jingle)

It was so bad that I am only showing just this one edge.  The whole thing would be asking too much for you to take in at once.  And just think, we were there and couldn’t get away.  And, to make matters worse, to continue to the summit we had to enter the keyhole (duh, duh, duh).  That’s right, the trail goes right through the keyhole.

Upon crossing through the keyhole, we entered an alternate mountain universe.  No longer was there a nice path to walk on.  No longer were there grasses or trees or color.  Only rock.   Cold, hard, steep, and in some places, sheer rocks with only air below us if we took a wrong step.

After a harrowing trek across the side of a cliff we came to the Trough.

Notice how the color has left the world.  After dodging falling rocks, kicked inadvertently by other climbers or sent by the Keyhole (we’ll never know), several stops for rest and making it to the top of the Trough, we were greeted with, not the summit or anything close to the summit, but a length of narrow ledges.  I’ve omitted these pictures as well for the faint of heart ( and myself so I don’t have to relive that part).

After that nasty little part we made it to the Homestretch, which is a nice sounding name for a long climb up a steep, flat rock face which keeps your insides twisted with the possibility of a long slide down.

After many stops for rest and prayer, we finally made the top.

15 out of the 18 who started made it.  Oh, the other three weren’t taken by the Keyhole, they smartly turned back before entering.  Mark it up to prophetic wisdom or a word from God.

At this point, all I wanted to do was just go home, except I was 8 miles from the trail head and feeling bad with altitude sickness ( or Keyhole disease).  So we started the trek down.  It had taken us just over 6 and a half hours to reach the top and, when all was said and done, it took 8 and a half hours to get down.  Now I know what your thinking.  Doesn’t it take a shorter time to go down?  On most mountains, yes. But this is Longs Peak (its not named that for nothing).

So 15 hours after starting our jolly little jaunt up the mountain, we were back to the beginning.  It was a slow and arduous descent compounded by shortness of breath and weakness and a stop for sickness. Oh yeah. There was also rain and hail that pounded us before and after, you know what I’m going to say, (duh, duh, duh) - the Keyhole!  Slick rocks with a sheer drop off is just not my idea of a great time.

Everyone was grateful to be back down and all mentioned how they had prayed the entire time.  Most made it down quickly (11 and a half hours), a few in 14, and me, one other student and our good friend and the one who helped us down, Menkes (15 hours).

So the adventure came to an end.  I will do more hikes in the future, but not that one.  And praise God that all made it back.

Summer has officially begun around the Gregory house.  This means oldest boys are working many days and the others are working around the house as much as we can find for them.  The pace of life has changed for a brief time.  Its also the time when I can get to Julee’s honey-do list that has been growing through the winter and early spring.

So the cedar siding on the house has been painted (while I was out of town), the new fence has been stained, the sprinkler system has been repaired, the leak in the upstairs shower has been stopped ( I think.  Redoing this bathroom may be next summer’s first project. It would be a nice feeling to know that the shower is not leaking onto the first floor ceiling and would be even nicer to sheetrock the first floor ceiling knowing this.), and the back patio has a nice flagstone paved area on one end (the house came with an endless supply of native red flagstone buried all around the yard).

Summer challenge has started and we have been following a study called ‘Operation Worldview’.  This study looks at how God is about His glory being revealed to the nations and how we fit into that story.  We have had a great time!

Our trip to SE Asia is only weeks away now and we are growing more excited.  We still need about $2000 to cover trip expenses and so are a little anxious as well.  We have been learning a way of sharing the story of the Bible from creation all the way to Christ and His death to pay the penalty of our sin and it has been fun to sit down as a family to do this.  Please be praying.

I saw this post by Joshua Harris about Jason Powell’s pictures.  These are cool pictures.

These remind me of something I read in a leadership book several years ago.  In a study mentioned in the book, it was found that those people who look back farthest into their lives, i.e. reflect on their past, see how God has worked, remember what they have learned, etc., have the longest forward vision for their lives.

What does God want us to accomplish with the lives and time He has given to us?  We should set aside some time to look back as far as we can and ponder deeply the path we have walked.  Taking this into consideration and laying it open before God, we should then ’see’ where we can be going.

As we are preparing for our spring break trip and times of prayer, I was reminded of a few quotes:

We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity.  We should pray when we are not in a praying mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition. - C. H. Spurgeon

The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere.  If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. - George Mueller

Please pray for the 15 of us who will be serving and praying over this next week and for the RiverChurches in New Castle, CO.

It is time for an update on things in this wacky world we’re in.

-  We are grateful that Josh had his shoulder operated on last week.  His labrum was torn and so his shoulder was not working like it should and the bone at the top of his arm seemed to prefer not staying in the right place.  The surgeon is a great guy and we praise God for procedures that can be done these days.

-   We are 30% of the way towards what we need for our SEA trip! Yipeee!!

-  Spring break is coming soon.  We will be taking students to New Castle, CO to serve RiverChurches there and pray.

That’s the quick word from Boulder.

In 2006, our family had the opportunity to lead a mission trip to Oberlin, LA, contribute to the rebuilding of

First Baptist Church and begin some encouraging relationships.  God used that trip to not only reestablish a place for community in Oberlin, but also to establish a heart for people in our family and a desire to be part of what He is doing in the world and to explain Him to the world.  Of course, the main expression of this heart and desire takes place in our sharing our lives with college students at CU, ASU before that, and OU before that.

     As a continuation of this desire, we have been preparing as a family for a trip to SE Asia.  A former student and his family are now serving full-time among students in this country.  They have seen God draw many students to Himself and have their hands full.  Several people have spent the last two years laboring alongside them and are in their last days and months of service. 

     We will be spending around 7-9 days in country.  During this time we will travel with a group of students who are involved in the ministry with the purpose of speaking into their lives and discipling them as we are able.  We will also be working at an orphanage alongside a mix of Christian and non-Christian students.  Our friend there says that this has been a very effective way of seeing new students move to accept Christ.  Another goal would also be to encourage and pray for our friends and the ministry God has given them.

     Finally, we hope to work out the timing so that we can travel to another SE Asian country close by and spend a day or two with a former associate and his family and our summer team from CU and then join them for the trip home.  This last hope is still very tentative, but is on our prayer list.

    The tentative dates for this trip are July 12-21.  Our estimated cost is $15,014.  We would like to invite and ask you to pray about partnering with us financially and prayerfully for this trip.  An undertaking of this size is far bigger than us and we would value anyway you can be part of this with us.  Contributions for this trip can be made to Christian Challenge and will be a missions contribution as this trip is part of our summer missions program.  Please send to 167 Cherokee Way, Boulder, CO 80303.

Thank you for your prayers.

Zach turned 12 yesterday and that means it was an important day in the Gregory tribe.  Years ago we borrowed the idea of a bar berith (son of the covenant) party from our friends, the Fosters.  This is not your normal birthday party, but is a special time where family and friends gather to encourage the young boy or girl (a bat berith) in their transition into young manhood or womanhood.  It is also a time to charge them to not make life about themselves, but about serving the redemptive purposes of God.

 It is important for us as parents to provide some transitional times in our kids lives to help them move along.  It is maybe more important for us to help them realize that life is not about them.  This party does both and is cool because it includes our extended family and our community.  It encouraged Zach  and also provided him with a lot of accountability.  We don’t do a whole lot real well, but this bar berith sure seems to be a good thing.  Each of our children has looked forward to their 12th birthday like no other and remember it like no other (even though I even ask them to memorize a portion of Scripture and recite it to everyone.  Zach had Psalm 1).

This also provides a great excuse to buy our sons some really cool swords.  These only have symbolic significance of course. (with all apologies to the nice cactus we had in AZ)  The sharp edges just give us a chance to talk about being a useful tool in God’s hands (and safety).

If you would ever like to know more about this kind of thing feel free to give us a call.

If you haven’t ever read Oswald Chambers let me encourage you to find “My Utmost for His Highest” and work through it.  If you have spent time with his challenging insights in the past, maybe this would be a good year to do so again.  Here is a stout word from today’s entry:

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 1:17

Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel; but remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” viz., the reality of Redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are apt to make sanctification the end-all of our preaching. Paul alludes to personal experience by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are nowhere commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification; we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (John 12:32). It is a travesty to say that Jesus Christ travailed in Redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ travailed in Redemption to redeem the whole world, and place it unimpaired and rehabilitated before the throne of God. The fact that Redemption can be experienced by us is an illustration of the power of the reality of Redemption, but that is not the end of Redemption. If God were human, how sick to the heart and weary He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation, for our sanctification. We tax His energies from morning till night for things for ourselves - some thing for me to be delivered from! When we touch the bedrock of the reality of the Gospel of God, we shall never bother God any further with little personal plaints.

The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the Gospel of God. He welcomed heart-breaks, disillusionments, tribulation, for one reason only, because these things kept him in unmoved devotion to the Gospel of God.

I don’t know about you, but I would benefit from re-reading this every morning and keeping it at the front of my brain.

It is no secret, I have had a hard time with this blog business. But I can read them and this one from Between Two Worlds explains what my problem has been.  It looks like #7, 4 and 2 in that order.  Maybe this can be my burst of motivation.  Or, since I am having to write that, maybe not.

Justin Taylor|10:45 am CT

Blog Fail

Rev. Paul McCain, who blogs at CyberBrethren, has a wise post on why so many blogs end up failing.

Below are the reasons, but read the whole thing for an explanation of each.

1. They offer little more than constant axe-grinding and carping on a particular subject.
2. They lack focus and purpose.
3. They indulge too much in playing to the crowd.
4. They do not serve the niche they are trying to reach.
5. They are not comfortable in “their own skin.”
6. They are insincere or desperate cries for attention.
7. They don’t have a plan for regular posting.

I shall endeavor to be a better blogger for all 2 of you who read this!

It is still snowing.

The left is yesterday morning’s shot of the back porch and the right is this morning’s view.  The official total as of 10 pm last night is 17.3″ for Boulder (and its been snowing through the night).  So we have a winter fun play land right now.  CU is open as normal and Boulder Valley schools are all closed.  This makes for a tough circumstance for those who work at CU and whose children are in a Boulder school.

It is a tougher circumstance for our home schooled kids.  They are still at home and so don’t have to postpone any learning just because a little snow is outside.  Life is hard!

p.s. we did get in some good sledding yesterday, however, along with all those who weren’t in school.