Karen's Wedding

Last weekend brought a much-needed getaway to Colorado. Several months ago, when my friend Karen told me she was getting married in June in Colorado, I said, "I'll be there!" I love to travel, and this seemed like a great excuse to do so, not to mention I couldn't imagine missing Karen's wedding. So, I asked Rachel if she wanted to come along, and she, who is also always up for a trip, said, "Sure!" We were only able to go for the weekend, but it was so nice. I had only been to Colorado during the winter, and I have to say, I LOVE it in the summer! I already told my parents and sisters we have to go back for vacation soon!

We arrived in Denver late Friday night after my flight was delayed (sorry Rachel that you had to wait on me), had dinner and crashed at the hotel. When we got up Saturday morning we walked around Boulder, which is a nice town with a great little square with shopping and dining! We had lunch (where we confirmed the rule that you should never order Mexican food in a state besides Texas!), then headed up to the mountains to enjoy the great outdoors! I couldn't tell you how many times we said, "Look at that!" or "Wow!" or "That's amazing!" As I looked at the mountains, I was completely amazed at God's handiwork! And to think, the God that created all of that beauty desires an intimate relationship with me! Now, that's something to make me say, "Wow!"

The wedding was on Sunday, which also happened to be the groom's birthday! We packed up our things Sunday morning and made the 1 1/2 hour drive to Estes Park in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. The wedding was at the Historic Stanley Hotel and it was beautiful! I've only been to a handful of weddings that when you leave, you are thinking more about God than the the bride and groom. This was definitely one of those! I met Karen almost 15 years ago when she was my youth minister. She was a young college student and I was in high school. God definitely used Karen as a major part of my spiritual growth during my teenage years, and I now consider her a very dear friend. As I watched Karen walk down the aisle to her waiting groom, I was overwhelmed by God's faithfulness. His plans for her were greater than she could have ever imagined! He is so good! I'm so glad I was able to be there to celebrate this special day.

We had to rush away from the wedding because we had late evening flights back to Houston for me and Dallas for Rachel. Little did we know, we could have stayed at the wedding reception as long as we wanted because neither of us left the Denver airport till after 9:00 p.m. I arrived home at about 2:00 a.m. and got a few hours of sleep before heading to Galveston for our Summer Mission Trip. More details coming soon to the blog about that trip. . .

Where to start?. . .crazy trip to the airport :)

The last couple of weeks have been insanely busy! I always say that when summer comes around and all the students at church and my friends who are teachers are excited about the much needed down-time, my schedule really kicks into high gear. There are more activities, and I still have to somehow figure out how to get my hours in at work!

So, I would say the official summer "kick-off" was a late night(actually early morning) trip to the airport to see Lin off to China. Our church was so blessed to have several foreign exchange students from all over the world be apart of our church family this last school year. Lin stayed with my good friends, the Lamberts. Some of the teenagers decided we should surprise Lin at the airport the morning she left to go back to China. This required us getting up and heading that way at 2:30 a.m.!!!

So, we had our end of the year LIFEGroup parties and then about 10:00 p.m., ten students came over to our house to crash until we left. We watched TV, played games, acted silly and some of us tried to sleep. I have to mention that some people got a little rambunctious and my cell phone somehow landed in a cup of watered-down tea. It is working right now, but not quite as well as it used to, so if you can't get ahold of me, that is why! There are many theories as to who is to blame for this incident, but we'll just chalk it up to bad luck!

I had to borrow my sister's Suburban, and Shahla drove my car, and we loaded up with balloons and signs. I hadn't been to Bush Airport in a while, but there is definitely some serious construction going on, not to mention there are not many people working at 3:00 a.m.! We couldn't park at the international departure terminal because that garage wasn't open. So, we walked and rode the train through the airport for over an hour trying to locate the Lamberts and Lin. Keep in mind the lack of airport personnel, which meant we were on our own to figure out where Lin was. Also keep in mind that when hanging out with teenagers, there are at least as many opinions as there are people! Let's just say I was beyond frustrated at some points and thought, "There is probably some security people in a room watching us traipse through the airport and laughing their heads off!" At one point I look down this long corridor that has a definite down-slope, and a teenager who will remain nameless was log-rolling down it! That prompted me to say, "The next person who does something stupid will be sitting in the car until we are finished!", at which point the aforementioned teenager said with definite pride, "Did you just see me roll down that ramp?" I thought Shahla was going to fall down laughing when she told him, "That's why she just made the comment about doing something stupid!" At another point, as many opinions were flying around, I stopped everyone and asked, "How many of you have even stepped foot in this airport?" When only about 6 of them raised their hands, I said, "Good! That eliminates 4 opinions!" We had many laughs, and even more tears as we people-watched and bid farewell to our friend. It was certainly one last opportunity for us to show Christ's love to Lin!

Continue to pray for Lin as she gets settled in back at home in China. Over the last 10 months, we were able to share the Gospel with her, and see a definite struggle going on in her heart. She knows the decision she's faced with, but at this point, has not put her trust in Jesus. Satan is using lies to keep her from believing that there are Christians in China. Pray that strongholds will be broken and she will understand her desperate need for a Redeemer!



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