Here is something that may be helpful for you from Justin Taylor.  We could probably all use a reminder and a refresher on how to listen to sermons and why.

We would appreciate your prayer for a student involved in Challenge.  Andrew T. fell from a tree on Saturday (he loves to climb trees) and landed on his back.  This resulted in a burst disc, two fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken clavicle, and a broken shoulder blade.  He underwent surgery to place screws and a pin to stabilize the vertebrae.

He is in very stable condition now, but in much pain (as you can imagine).  They are slowly moving him between a chair and the bed.  He will have to wear a back brace for 3 months.  His parents are also with him.  In the next few days he will make a decision between remaining in school or withdrawing for the semester.

Andrew is a delightful young man and we always enjoy when he is around.  You can also pray as his friends in the dorm have taken this pretty hard and many may be open to some good conversations.

After 36 hours the fire is zero contained, over 7100 acres are burned, and more than 3000 people have been evacuated from the mountain communities and foothills just west of Boulder.  Slurry planes have been constantly flying over since noon to drop retardant around the fire.

The shelter on campus has closed and the Red Cross has opened others in North Boulder.  More facts are still hard to come by, but it appears to be a nasty fire that is not wanting to behave very well.

All of Boulder is still okay except for the air quality.

For those wondering, the Boulder fire is not that close to us, but the smoke is.  A nice cloud had settled over Boulder and has made outdoor activity a problem.  For others, this has been devastating as their houses are gone.  Many never even had a chance to grab any belongings.  They cam into town for the day and were not allowed to return.  As for containment, there doesn’t seem to be any containment yet that they can tell us about.

Some of these are staying temporarily on campus in the Coors Event Center.  The Red Cross has things pretty well in hand (or hasn’t communicated very well about needs), but we are looking for ways that we can help or volunteer.  Information has not been outstanding so far, so I guess there has been some difficulty in the command getting all the information they need.

Thanks for your prayers as we look for ways to serve.

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.