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. . .