This week was quite busy. It started last Saturday night when my mom, my sister Meghan and her two kids, Lilah and Ashlyn, came down for a visit. They came in time to be able to hear me speak Sunday morning. So nice.
This is a picture of the rainbows outside our house Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. Beautiful!
While my family was here we were busy busy busy. The kids had a blast watching a few shows
Jumping on the trampoline
Playing at the library
Making silly faces (she looks ready to cry but I caught her pre-sneeze)
Taking a bath in my sink
Telling me about Elmo in the moon
Hanging out at the park
Taking naps
And going for walks.
Cutler (my sister's dog) called shotgun
My family stayed until Friday morning then headed up to see my brother in law in Saguache.
I left Friday morning to help lead a retreat at a camp about 25 minutes from church called camp Kivu. God orchestrated some amazing stuff to get us to this beautiful place. What a blessing! I was busy running around almost all weekend but I managed to snap a couple pictures as well as take some from friends who shared with me.
Here's a view of the cabins we stayed in and the surrounding area. Gorgeous!
A shot of some of the ladies. We decided to take a picture while we were waiting to start. We had 75 women attend!
Some women went on a hike that overlooked the pine river valley. Gorgeous!
The retreat was amazing. Beautiful. God healed, freed, blessed, comforted and challenged us all. It was a privilege to be a part. If you'd like to read some of the testimonies of what God did this past weekend they will be up on my other blog (starting today) and will continue every Tuesday for several weeks. It's truly amazing to see all that the Holy Spirit was up to at this retreat.
Sadly this afternoon I received a call from Mark that one of the precious women who attended this weekend was tragically killed in a head on collision this afternoon. This woman and her family were new to the area and new to our church. She'd made many connections this weekend and jumped right in to help serve. She was a precious woman. Mark spent much of the afternoon with her husband. We've not dealt with something like this before (thank goodness). Emotionally overwhelming at times.
Many women are reeling from this loss. Confused. But we also know and trust God to be good no matter what the circumstances. I have been praising Him today that this woman knew Him. Praising Him that He is with the husband and young daughter at this very moment. Praising Him that He is God of everything and that we have nothing to fear. Not even death.
I am sad. Very sad. For the family and for the sisters of this church family. We're all grieving. But I trust and love God. He knows and He sees.
Mark and I are riding the train tomorrow. I've lived here since 1994 and have never ridden the train to Silverton. Some precious people in the church blessed us to be able to go. We are looking forward to some time away enjoying the colors. Pictures to come!
