Today we celebrate Josh’s 15th birthday. It should be a lot of fun, especially with the fireworks the city of Boulder will be displaying for him (at least thats what we tell him). He quit believing us a long time ago.

Next week Julee and I will speak with students at a training program thats taking place in Denver. That should be a lot of fun also.

The window is closer to completion. The window itself is in now, just having to make modifications in order to install some structural steel. You should see the 1/2 inch concrete screws we are using - Tim the tool man would be proud. We could screw whole houses together with these things.

Continue to pray for our team in South Asia. They have continued to see fruit from their labor and God has been teaching them deep things. Our challenge is to shepherd them so that the things they are learning stick and to help them process all that has happened this summer. Also our good friends who were on staff here at Challenge will be moving there on July 10, so they would appreciate your prayers for their challenging transition.

We will be receiving many freshman contacts soon and will begin the process of connecting with them. Please lift up these freshman whom we don’t know - yet - that God will encourage their hearts and connect them even closer to us and Him over next year.

Colossians 2:1

When will it end?  We began a ‘little’ summer project two weeks ago - installing an egress window in a basement bedroom (I’ve never used this term before moving to Boulder, but its a big basement window that allows for escape in case of a fire, or late night Taco Bell runs).   Here we are two weeks later and only a little closer to completion.

It all started with a mini-excavator rental (actually it started before that, but the fun part started here).  This was the easy and fun part.  Everyone should get to dig with one of these.  Then I put my strong sons in the hole for a little hand digging to finish it out. (if they hadn’t gone to camp they could have had fun with the excavator also.  Oh well)

Now for the really fun part.  Cutting through an 8 inch thick foundation wall.  How does one do that?  Call the professionals you say?  Not so quick.  With a chain saw!  Yes, a chain saw. Don’t worry, its made for cutting concrete.  Well, on the first cut the chain broke.  Then the wait began.  After almost 2 weeks waiting for a new chain I gave in and called in the professionals.  He came yesterday to take care of this issue  and after looking over the job declared “I can’t do it”.  Of course.

So what does one do then?  One relies on a friend who locates a little known rental place that has a - concrete chain saw.  And three hours and gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons of water later your hole will be cut.

So this morning I contemplate the next phase - getting a 6 foot by 4 foot piece of 8 inch thick concrete out of the hole - and greeting whatever new issue threatens our inner peace and tranquility.

This is the very brief version, but its been a great example of the proverb:

“If its not one thing, its another.”

I haven’t found this in the Bible yet, but all truth is God’s truth and this seems to be true.  But praise God for concrete chain saws, friends who can find one, mini excavators, Christian Challenge directors who live down the street who are installing windows also and can split the cost, strong sons, and lovingkindness that is new every morning.  And that last one is in the Bible and is a truth to rest on.

I hope no one has been holding their breath in eager expectation for the next blog. If so and you are reading this, you might want to contact Guinness Book. I not sure, but I think you might have done something big.

As for us, we haven’t been holding our breath, but doing what we do after school ends: a wedding, a two-week road trip family vacation (a little longer than usual, but what a great time.  And when is the last time you ate fresh grouper throat just pulled from the Gulf?), starting some projects that we can’t do in the fuller flow of ministry (an egress window in a basement bedroom is the big one now), sending off summer teams, and starting up summer ministry.

We have a team of 7 in South Asia for the summer.  Please be praying for them as they are sowing a lot of seed and helping with some church planting.  They are also way hotter than they are used to in Colorado, so pray they can maintain good attitudes amidst the oppressive heat and spiritual climate.

There are also 9 at a training program in Denver.  They are working full time jobs during the week and involved with small groups,  training, and service during the evenings and weekends.  The entire group spent a Saturday at our house and the Pruett’s house working on various projects.  The goal was to wear them out and that we did.  This is a valuable part of training as it displays character which students have.  You can see who works hard and who hardly works.  You can also teach some good skills and show what hard work looks like.  Three small groups even came back the next week for more glorious hard work.

We also just added a hamster to the family.  Pretty exciting.

In all things Christ.

On this occasion, as we loaded into the Crazy Bus (i.e. our 15 passenger van), Hudson had a loud announcement.  “Arrrgghhh!!! It smells like girl sweat!”   Which does ask for some questions.  How does a six year old have such a discriminating sense of smell?  How can you even distinguish such a refined and delicate bouquet amidst 4 guys (1 sweet smelling man, 2 teenage boys, and a sweet smelling 10 year old)?

I wish I had a good quote to put here about life and how it is hard, but I don’t.  Life is hard.

To catch you up with things.  We have moved into a house in Boulder that we plan on staying in for a long time.  It is a God story all the way.  It also made the 5th house we have lived in over a 10 month span.  God has been gracious, but it has not been easy.  Maybe grace is not always comfortable.  We are so grateful for God’s leading in all this and for His provision and are amazed each morning that we live in Boulder and are able to invest our lives in students at CU.

Dealing with my father’s death has also not been easy.  I think I went through a period of slight depression just after we moved.  My cup was a bit too full.  And again, God has been a faithful companion and blessed me with a super wife, kids, and friends.

And ministry has continued as the main thing.  The spring break trip was incredible - THANK YOU for your prayer.  Bobby said that, for him, this trip was the best in 20 years with the most spiritual component.  It was hard, but really good.  The students are ready for next year’s trip already.

We have also continued with our freshmen study and have had a great time.  Just two weeks ago a girl who was there for the first time shared her story about how she had just accepted Christ.  She had some relationships with our students through the semester, but hadn’t come to the study yet, or to church until the day before she shared her story with us.  Very exciting stuff.

We are just now in a break between hearing from students individually about how God has changed them over this year.  WOW!  We have been very encouraged with the way God has worked in their hearts.  One said they now know what it looks like to have a real relationship with God,  another said that they have learned how to trust God and not themself, another shared how she has had good relationships with girls for the first time and is learning about the Bible and God for the first time, another said he has grown in understanding the lordship of Jesus and has learned how to better deal with relational conflict, etc.  This has been wonderful.  (they have also given good critique of things that could be better)

So, in short, we are pressing on to honor God and impact students as best we can.

Thank you for your involvement in our ministry and for your comments on this blog.  On with the student meetings!

In our newsletters over the years, we have had sections for glimpsed into our boy’s minds - Josh’s World, Zach’s Planet - but now with Hudson things are at an even higher plane, or dimension.  He has left our normal levels of reality and is stretching into new ones.   I’ll try to include some glimpses into these when I remember.

The other day he came down our stairs with a pair of underwear on his head -

    “Dad, how do you like my new lid?”

Creative people often turn ideas on their head, so I just took this as creative genius.

I tried to keep this post brief!

When speaking of Boulder, my dad would describe it this way,

“They say it takes all kinds to make the world go ’round. I say there are all kinds and they are all in Boulder.”

He also said we had the world’s best hardware store - McGuckin Hardware. This is really the store where if they don’t have it, you don’t need it. A trip to McGuckin’s was always one of the highlights of his visits. Its kind of like Disneyland for certain kinds of people (of which there are some in Boulder).

But back to Boulder. Dad was not the only one who thought Boulder is different. Another well known description is this,

“Boulder is 20 square miles surrounded by reality.”

I asked some students what they thought of Boulder and they said this question summed it up best (not necessarily asked on Halloween),

“Is that Halloween or is that Boulder?”

So we can have some confusion at times.

Boulder is the only place I’ve been where a homeless man didn’t just ask me for a ride - he just opened the car door and got in and then asked for a ride (in the spring, not a freezing cold winter day). I guess every car is a free taxi ride in Boulder if you can get in before it gets locked.

A few other tidbits from campus:

If its not made from hemp, why wear it?

They have classes here!?! I’m just here to ski/party/hike/ride trails. (the same person can’t say this more than two semesters however)

And then our most recent issue. CU has a new president, Bruce Benson, and we had a bit of an uproar over his being the finalist to be voted on by Regents. First of all, how shameful it was that they only voted on one person. This was an outrage! And on top of that he was in the oil and gas industry and made money (a good bit of which went to CU and helped get a building with his name on it). Outrage!! And to top it all off he doesn’t have an upper level degree! Unbelievable!!! (to be fair, our students had a few other complaints with more substance and well taken, but the above were the loudest and most fun to blog)

Well, despite all these outrages, he was confirmed as president by a 6-3 vote of the Regents (6 Republicans for, 3 Democrats against). We’ll have to watch and see if CU can survive (and see how the more substantive complaints play out).

Anyway, in honor of my father and his perspective, I wanted to give you a brief look at our fair city.

Ps. 16:6  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

Even with the pain of losing my dad, I am more proud than ever to be his son.  He was committed to Jesus and was not ashamed of the gospel.  He studied the Bible and knew it well and taught it well for three decades.  So I hope to honor that heritage for decades to come and pass it on to my own children so it can continue to their children’s children.

His absence has left a big hole not just with his family, but with many others as well.  We will really miss him.

We closed on our (God’s) house in Boulder Monday.  Our excitement was subdued by our sorrow, but we are grateful to God for making space for us and placing us in a key location to minister and invest our lives in college students.  So we are excited to get settled and honor my dad by letting the gospel be heard and seen.

We are preparing to drive to Oklahoma.  My mom called this morning and had to let us know that my dad suddenly died this morning.  It is an incredible shock.  We appreciate your prayers as we drive to be with my mom and sister and family and deal with the details.

Heb. 13:7

Okay. I confess my apprehension in blogging. Its the internal conflict I feel. I would love to write a blog that delivers not only content, but also witty, funny, maybe sometimes quirky glimpses into our lives and ministry. But then what generally comes out is plain toast without even any butter. I desire for people to read the blog and laugh out loud, cry softly, sing, show some display of delight, etc. as they also discover what is happening in Challenge at CU. And I never feel I come close to this expectation.

I also struggle with finding time to create such a blog. When, in the course of a day, ministry and family things have been knotted together, or unknotted, I find I just want to sleep, and perchance, dream of writing the perfect blog.

So I found my hero (click on this highlighted word for the link) quite by accident. It has nothing to do with ministry or anything else, but made me laugh. Check out it out for a witty blog. Maybe someday I can attain this height and the coloradogregory blog will deliver all the goods I hope for. Until then I will keep writing as able and attempt to at least get a few goods to you.