Life is peachy. I have beautiful friends, as I was reminded of that this past weekend when I was part of a wonderful celebration. One of my most lovely and faithful friends was married last weekend. She asked me to be in her bridal party, and I spent the weekend around some close friends. Be thankful for your friends! Beautiful friends are committed and faithful in encouragement. They are consistent and excited about the victories in my life. Allow me to be a bit boastful- I have an abundance of beautiful friends, despite how geographically scattered they may be.
I made the move to Colorado over one month ago. Already I am learning more about myself. When I was speaking with a friend about the excitement and fear of this new part of my life, he compared this time as standing on the edge of a precipice. At first thought, this image is terrifying. What can come next but a fall? It is the top of a ridge, a tall mountain or a steep slope. At the bottom could be a valley or a river full of boulders and sharp rocks. Scary and unknown. Or scary because it is unknown. This is also a beautiful step. It's a phase or a season. And that is thrilling.
This season is a chapter in my book. Every chapter is crucial to the storyline. A missing chapter would leave the story lacking and incomplete. It would make certain details and characters empty. Perhaps the book would not even make sense. The reader may be confused and question the integrity of the novel, even the authorship. Not every chapter can contain the "inciting incident" yet each piece is key to the completion of the story. Whether my book is a novel, a thriller, a comic book or just a short story, every line is worth reading. In the end, it's not meant to be biography but a first-hand account of a life glorifying our Creator.
So this is it- month one of residency in Colorado complete. Some highlights of June include: a trip and tasting at Coors Brewery in Golden and Celestial Seasonings (the tea company!) in Boulder and a lovely freshman tour of the campus at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. I met a couple of friends in Estes Park to take a night hike up Twin Sisters on the Fourth of July. We had planned to make it to the top to watch the fireworks, but it was too cloudy to see below the mountain. It was all worth it though because time with good friends in the mountains is always enjoyable. Exploring Denver has led to a couple of wrong turns which led to the discovery of interesting neighborhoods which led to getting lost a number of times. I've become well acquainted with my pop-up map of Denver! The city is fairly basic and has fewer highways and only one toll road (DFW, take note!). Another practical thing is how the streets are named. Some one was wise and decided it would be simple to number the streets: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Genius! It's helpful and for the most part, I know when I'm going north/ south rather than east/ west. It is slightly overwhelming though when your destination is 54th street and you live at 1st, but so far my reliable Civic has embraced the hilly terrain and put up distances. For the record, the drive from Denver to Estes has been better received by both car and driver.
Adventuring well and still introducing myself as a Texan,
-s
