New Year's 2007 began with friends at my home for the New Year's Eve party. It was a good time and I remember candy being thrown by various members of my house church who know who they are. I also remember taking a long walk after everyone was gone just spending time with the Lord in prayer. This was a throw back to college when I often spend New Year's Eve alone, but I would always walk to the Liberal Arts fountain at Purdue to pray. I don't remember what I prayed the night that 2007 began, but I can certainly say that God moved in a big way this year.
My adventures in 2007 began quickly when I went hiking at McCormick's Creek on January 6. I also discovered Cataract Falls, which was pretty cool.
McCormick's Falls
Cataract Falls
February brought about fun winter weather. February 7 brought a blizzard to Indiana, so I went to Mounds State Park for some winter hiking.
I also went sledding with AJ, Lauren, and Anya
February 4 brought about a trip to Chicago for a travel writing seminar put on by National Geographic Traveler magazine. This was a really interesting seminar put on to help people get started in travel writing for magazines. I can't say that I've done much with this yet, but I did record it and I still hope to put what I learned to use. It was also -3 degrees on Lake Michigan, dang cold!
February 10 brought about a trip to Michigan to try luge. This was a really fun time, it's not as scary as it looks.
Lake Michigan was frozen a couple of hundred yards out from shore and was looking really cool.
I'm not coming up with much from March. April 1 brought about my first kayaking trip of the year, the April Fool's paddle on the Big Pine. It's the April Fool's paddle because only a fool would plan a trip in advance on the Big Pine, you never know when there's going to be enough water to paddle. Fortunately the river was at a good level and it was a really great trip.
Shark!
Soon after came my next kayak trip on April 15 on the Flatrock River. This trip went well, but was certainly a learning experience. It had snowed the day before and I took a swim directly across the river from the put in. But it was a big accomplishment when I got back in my boat and continued down the river. It turned out to be a great trip for me.
The following weekend brought a trip to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. I had been there when i was in 8th grade and it really scared me. I wasn't as scared this time, though I'll say that I prefer blue skies. It was a good time with friends.
May brought about a couple of big things. The bigger of the two is that my friend and roommate, Devin, moved back to Singapore. Devin is a great guy and it was sad to see him leave. I'm afraid I haven't done very well at keeping in touch. Things have certainly been different around home.
May also brought my biggest backpacking trip to date and the accomplishment of a long time goal. Eight years ago when I first began backpacking I had looked at the map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and saw Lake Fontana on the south side. I thought it would be really cool to hike the length of the lake. Well in 2006 I saw that the National Park Service was considering building a road on the north side of the lake (there is currently no road and it's 40 miles without any form of modern civilization). So I decided that I needed to make that hike while the trail still existed. So I helped lead a trip with the Central Indiana Wilderness Club to hike the length of the lake (approx 40 miles) and then canoe back to the dam. So we did the trip and it was a wonderful adventure. We were out 6 days (5 nights) and hiked 40 miles and canoed around 20. I was very pleased with the trip, it was a grand adventure.
Early June I finally made it up to kayak on the East Race Whitewater course in South Bend. Though terrified my first few times down, it was my first time on Class II whitewater and was a great experience. I made it up there 3 times this year and really enjoyed it.
Early June also brought about a trip to Garden of the Gods, part of Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. This was a place that I had heard about here and there. I was glad to check out it. We originally planned it to be backpacking, but due to hot weather and the area not being real conducive to backpacking, we just did day hikes. It was a good trip.
We also stopped by Cataract Falls on the way home. It was a much lower level than before.
Late June brought about the wedding of my friends Alex and Sonja. I've been in house church with them for 3 years and it was a joy to see them joined in marriage. My house church is an important part of my family and I love seeing my kids grow up :)
July was a crazy month, and the start of when I can really recall the less event oriented things of the year.
July 7 I took a group of friends from church on a canoe trip on the Tippecanoe River. Water was a bit low, but passable. A good trip, but I won't be back to that section of river.
Mid July I was faced with a difficult decision. Back in April? or so I had started attending the church planting training school with my church. The purpose of this is an intense discipleship to prepare people to plant churches or do other things in ministry. For a long time I've felt that Indiana isn't where I'm supposed to stay, and I've felt led to go with a church plant. So I've just walked along waiting for God to show me when and where. Our church hired a new guy (he might not like me calling him a pastor) to lead the training school and hearing him talk about it I felt led to check it out. So I attended for a couple of months checking it out. However, in July came the time where it would change from being one night a week to meeting 3 times a week during the day, requiring a change in work schedule to part time. So I was having to evaluate whether to change my job to part time to do this, or quit the training school. After spending time with God on the subject, I made the decision to drop out. It was a tough decision and I'm missed it, but I know God led me in the right direction.
Immediately after that came the accomplishment of a life goal, getting to visit Glacier National Park. There are so many things I could say here, but this is already running long. It was an amazing trip.
While in Glacier my friends, Ben and Jen, from my house church got married. Another joyous celebration and more of my kids are growing up......
Upon coming home from Glacier came a huge and wonderful change in my life. I had signed up for eHarmony a couple of months before this and when I got back I found a profile for a cute girl in Ohio that looked interesting. I contacted her and I don't think my life will ever be the same.......
August brought about 2 more weddings in my house church. I will soon be offering my services and charging for membership in my house church. Nick and Megan Key were married early in the month.
August 19 I was best man for AJ and Lauren's wedding. This was an event that brought so much joy to me. AJ has been in my house church for 3 years and has become one of my closest friends. He was the first guy I've ever really discipled and I've found that I probably learned more from him than he learned from me. Lauren has been in my house church for a little less time. 2006 was a time when I was able to really get to know both of them better and I was overjoyed to watch them grow together. When people ask if God is really real and why I believe in Jesus Christ, AJ and Lauren are two of the reasons why. To see how God has worked in their lives, to heal them and restore them and to pour His Grace out upon two wonderful people. I have seen God transform them and that was something that made this wedding so very special. I had the privelege of being a part of all of this and I think I'm getting a little misty eyed now (seriously).
The day after the wedding I met that wonderful girl from Ohio.....
The next week brought about my next step in kayaking, the Nantahala River. A trip to North Carolina for a weekend to run the river, and it was a wonderful time. I did really well and my confidence in my paddling ability is growing.
So in August I met Julie and God has blessed us with a growing relationship. I can say with all due respect that I have known, and dated, some incredible women. However, Julie and I have really found something special. She is a warm, fun, caring, adventurous, Godly woman and she continues to impress me more and more. Of all my friends and family that have met her, everyone loves her (I'm becoming concerned that they all like her more than me). I'll say more about her below in my "profound thoughts" sections. But about here is where she really entered into my life and has been my best friend who has shared in almost all my adventures since.
I can't say I remember a lot specifically about September. It was mostly weekend dates with Julie and ya'll don't need to know the details of all of that :)
October brought more adventure. It began with a beginner's backpacking trip to Red River Gorge. Julie and 7 other people joined me for a weekend trip. It turned out to be a spectacular trip with fantastic scenery and a really fun group of people.
The next week came Julie's introduction to the kayaking community with a trip to the Hiwassee River in Tennessee. I paddled my kayak while she paddled an inflatable kayak with a friend. We both did really well and enjoyed the trip a lot. We have gotten much milage out of this photo of Julie and her friend stuck on a rock ledge on the river.
Late October brought about the annual house church fall retreat to Decatur, IN. Originally Julie and I had planned on backpacking on the AT this weekend, but rain in the area we were going to caused us to cancel. We were glad it worked out that we could join house church friends for this wonderful weekend.
The first weekend in November was what originally was going to be AJ's bachelor party. It was going to be in July, but was postponed. Fortunately most of the guys from house church were able to make this trip and we had a really great weekend hiking and rock climbing in Red River Gorge. We stayed at the True North Outfitters for the weekend and just had a great time of manly fellowship.
Our return from the guy's weekend because the first step in a new direction for my house church. We had been growing for a long time and finally reached a point where we were ready to plant a new house church. So our one big group became two new house churches. Things are off to a good start and I'm excited to see what God does in each one.
The next weekend I took off on an adventure I never expected 6 months before. When I left the training school at church the guy leading it invited me on their pilgrimage to Paria Canyon in Utah. We spent 6 days hiking down a canyon in Utah/Arizona that joins the Colorado River at the beginning of the Grand Canyon. There were 9 guys and we had a wonderful time walking together, it was an amazing experience that I hope to do again some day.
December came and we were able to get in an early sledding trip due to snow. Another great time with friends from house church and kayaking.
Christmas was a wonderful experience getting a chance to spend time with Julie's family, my family, and friends.
New Year's Eve was spent low key with Julie and a few friends. The year ended and we didn't even realized it. We were chatting in the living room and heard noise outside. We thought it was hail, but then realized it was fireworks. Then we realized that it was midnight.
Profound thoughts on the year:
I think the one word to describe the year is "adventure". I had so many different, wonderful, experiences that it's hard to sum it all up. What I've written here hits what I had photos for, I know I missed out on so much more that was really important. Just too much happened to remember. But I know that this year was full of a lot of wonderful people in a lot of different places and that I'm left with wonderful memories. I also had a lot of personal growth this year. My finances improved greatly, I've made some good steps in the right direction in taking care of myself (many more needed), and growing in confidence in who God made me to be. I have some low point this year also. I feel like as a leader and a friend to those in my house church I was more absent than I liked. I think that was more of a loss for me than anyone else. I'm thankful and proud of the people in my house church who stepped up to fill those spaces I left empty. Then doing that was important and necessary for our house church to grow as it has and to prepare to become two new house churches. Yet I'm also sad that I missed out on depth in relationships. I also feel that this year my walk with God was not what I wish it was. I know that with everything going on that I didn't spend the time with God that is so important in that relationship with Him.
Looking towards 2008:
I don't know what 2008 will bring. Julie and I continue to grow in our relationship and our love for each other. We are enjoying the journey. We have talked some about the future, but neither of us feel we can claim to know what that will bring. I'm looking forward to more kayaking. We will be visiting my brother in Idaho and plan on a visit to Oregon. We have some vague ideas about things for 2008, but we don't know anything for sure. But I think that's where God wants us right now. Maybe more than anything I'm learning to trust God step by step. 2007 brought a lot of unexpected things, so I'm learning to expect the unexpected. What I do know is that God has blessed me with a lot of incredible people in my life and I want to enjoy them all. I want each person to know God's love for them and hopefully they know that I love them and value their friendship. I'm proud to have an incredible woman by my side and I'm excited about the journey we will share. I'm excited for 2008, even though I have no idea what it will bring. God is good and I trust Him, even if it doesn't look like what I would plan myself.
Dang, that last sentence is going to come back to haunt me, isn't it? Happy New Year!
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