Colorado Week Seven

Week seven had the usual components--great eating at Tami's cookery and thorough instruction in Tim's bootcamp :). I have thoroughly enjoyed the time in their home and I can't think of anywhere I would have felt more comfortable. By Thursday of each week the schedule calls for me to hit the road. I travelled alone to a hotel on the north west side of Denver near Golden. My plan was to use that as a base from which to scout out Mt. Bierstadt, near Georgetown, one of Colorado's 14,000 ft mountains (above -- Mt. Evans on the left, Mt. Bierstadt on the right). My brother Ron and I attempted to hike that one a few years back, but the leg muscle I was nursing pulled with about a mile and a 1,000 feet of elevation to go to the summit. We had to turn back. I was hoping my trusty mountain guides, Danette and Donna, could get me to the top this time. However, the front range mountains have all had so much snow on them, we weren't sure it would be possible. So I decided to spend some time checking it out. The first day was totally overcast and rainy/sleety the entire day. I still made the drive to the trailhead at 11,000 feet, but even that close I could not see the summit of Bierstadt or nearby Evans.

That first day made it seem impossible to think about hiking Bierstadt next week on my last weekend. There appeared to be so much snow, not only in the parking lot, but on the trail that it just would not be doable.

However, day two saw the sun shine all day with beautiful skies and warming temperatures. The mountain had an entirely different look.

Above you can see me on the trail to Beirstadt. I didn't go far, and there was a lot of deep, melting snow as well as mud and water on the trail :). Still, reports from a couple of hikers this weekend made us think that with another week of snowmelt, we will go for it this next Saturday. I'll keep you posted.

After my time in Denver, I was scheduled to do my first public signing in the Deaf Church. I practiced hard to be ready to sign both an opening Scripture and prayer. I was plenty nervous and I think practice went better than me "live," but the deaf people seemed proud of me and the progress I have made. Above I am signing a Scripture, and below I am leading in prayer.

The Clergy Renewal grant called for me to have a "send off" Sunday for the Deaf Church similar to the send off we had in Kokomo. Because of Father's Day on my final Sunday, we moved it up a week. I was able to take the entire Deaf Church out to eat at the Golden Coral with the idea that they would be sending me back to Kokomo having begun to learn a new and important skill--sign language.

We had good fellowship, and any time I was with the deaf, it ended up being another classroom situation for me :). But that was good. There is no other way to really learn except to be with the deaf and learn from them. They have been very patient with me, but also interested in helping me learn, so there were many opportunities for them to teach me.

I surprised Tim by asking to speak to the Deaf Church after our lunch. Even though I am still a "baby" in sign language, I wanted to talk to the church and thank them for all they have done for me. Even though I made a number of mistakes while signing, again, they were very patient with me and seemed to really appreciate the effort I am making to learn.

Before coming to Colorado, I knew two signs, one of which was the sign "boring" pictured below. Of course, I have to thank my sister-in-law, Danette, for getting such a lovely candid shot!! :)

But I now know, literally, 600 or 700 signs or more! I am still slow putting sentences together, slow recognizing when the deaf sign (they are fast!), and still forget some of the signs, but I am improving. But it is a lot more than just learning words. I will need to learn sentence structure in American Sign Language which is different than in spoken English, so I will have a lot more work to do when I get home. And, facial expression is a huge part of how the deaf communicate. Below you can see me working on that part of it while I was talking to the Deaf Church.

As we were ready to head out the door, one of the elders of the Deaf Church came back to thank me and shake my hand. I appreciated that and told him that the Deaf Church has done a lot more for me than I could dream of doing for them.

This marked the end of week seven. That means I have one more week in Colorado before coming to Kokomo for a few days, then off with the Carpenter clan to North Carolina. It has been one amazing ride and such a tremendous learning opportunity for me. I can't wait to get home, but there will be some sadness about leaving my Colorado family and my Colorado church :). But this time next week I will be feeling the rush of knowing that in a few hours I will be boarding a plane and getting to see Linda at the airport late on Monday evening!! Until next week, my love to one and all in Christ!

Colorado Week Six

Week six in Colorado! Eight weeks seemed like a long time and now it feels like it is slipping away. But not without progress and wonder. I continue to make progress in sign language. I might be out of preschool and in the first grade by now--I don't know :-). But Tim has not only done a massive amount of work with me, he has also arranged for me to meet with a skilled instructor. Bonnie is a dedicated Christian in the Deaf Church is who totally deaf and without any voice. She has taught American Sign Language for years and she met for two hours with me this week to build on my learning experience. It took a lot of concentration, but it was certainly a profitable time.

In week five Danette had proposed that some of us do some early morning devotions at Palmer Park in Colorado Springs where there is an overlook of Pikes Peak. This week Tim suggested we do so. But as you can see, Tim was a little slow getting into the spirit of his own idea, first laying on the bench next to his sister, then huddled under the blanket trying to get warm. But at 5:30 a.m. the sky was clear, the mountain air crisp, and the sun coming up on Pikes Peak beautiful. We had a wonderful time with funny moments, serious moments, and very quiet moments of contemplation and Scripture. It was a powerful way to start the day!

From earlier weeks it became clear that hiking alone isn't wise. This week Linda's sisters again served as my mountain guides for a couple of days away from Colorado Springs. To say that God got my attention is certainly an understatement. We started by hiking a little over 2 miles up and down the trail to Hanging Lake, just outside of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. For nearly the entire, steep hike the trail paralleled an amazing mountain stream that was full of power and fury from the spring snow melt.

I still found time, though, to compete with "The Thinker" at a small shelter up the trail.

The top of the trail was worth the effort of the 1,000 foot elevation gain. The lake is small, but crystal clear and fed by these amazing waterfalls.

If it looks we could get close enough to "reach out and touch" them, we could. I even went down to the edge of the big falls and could have literally taken one more step to get behind them. I figured I was getting wet enough as it was, but I did not want my sign language boot camp director to think I had forgotten him. I wanted Tim to see the sign that said the "shower is on."

The next morning we traveled to Aspen and the Maroon Bells, two fourteen thousand foot peaks. It is one of the most photographed spots in Colorado and you can see why. I quit saying, "awesome," "incredible," "unbelievable," and just went to "oh boy!" The words just didn't seem to match up to what God has created.

My experienced mountain guides didn't even know if we could get to these mountains yet because of the snow, and then they didn't know if we could make the hike inland to "Crater Lake" [not the one in Oregon], but we launched out anyway. It was another incredible snow hike. You can see us pictured on the way to the lake. And when we got there, the camera just couldn't take it all in. But in the quiet of the mountain wilderness, the raw power and majesty of God just surrounds you.

On the way back down the trail, the girls wanted to reinforce the lesson that there are places you don't need a sled. Donna went first, then me. We got it smoothed out for Danette and since she was last, she had the privilege of being caught on camera :).

With Maroon Bells to our back, we made our way back to the trailhead. I was grateful for the savvy of my mountain guides. And with one last pic of the Maroon Bells, I found myself not wanting to leave. It was a beautiful, sunny, warming day and you just felt like you could stay there forever.

From the Maroon Bells we drove on in to Aspen, my first trip to this world famous city. It is a small, quaint town that during winter is one of the ski capitols of the world. Aspen also contains the John Denver memorial preserve. How could I have a "Rocky Mountain High" without also standing next to this huge stone with the words to his famous song. We then walked into town to get some ice cream and enjoy the beauty of spring busting out all over in town.

It was simply an overwhelming couple of days. The creation does in fact declare the glory of the Lord!! But I never forget that as beautiful and commanding as God's creation is, he did not put his own image in the mountains, the raging streams, or the color of spring. He put his own image in human beings. So, in the mountains I see the power of God. But in the face of a deaf Christian, I see the image of God in Christ! That is the most awesome part of all! Until next week, with love and prayers, Gary.

Colorado Week Five

It is hard to believe that I have spent five weeks in Colorado and that in three weeks I will be home for a few days before heading to North Carolina with the entire Carpenter clan. One of the things I prayed before coming to Colorado Springs is that on the four days each week I was there learning sign language, that God might also make me a servant. The family here has been slow to ask for much help because they really respect the purpose of the sabbatical and my time. And they know that Tim has done a great job of keeping me in sign language boot camp :-), the big reason I am in Colorado. But it was good to be able to help with some things in week five, both at Tim and Tami's, and next door at Danette's and Mom Thurston's. Below you see me installing some child restraint latches on the cabinet doors so that Dani's (Dani is my niece) son, Hayden does not get into things that could hurt him.






Next door I was able to help clean our the swamp cooler and replace filters. Because Colorado has such low humidity, they use swamp coolers like we use air-conditioners. Here you see me on the ladder cleaning out the bottom of the swamp cooler.

Tim came over and got in on the action. Here I am handing him one of the panels with a new replacement filter in it.

My nephew Michael got this candid shot of Danette supervising the work :-). We all had a good time on this project and it was nice to help get this needed work done.

Both because of budget issues [like gasoline!] and the need to have a little more dedicated time this week for some of the sabbatical goals, I elected to stay in Colorado Springs. I found a hotel that came in under the budget range near the Garden of the Gods, where I spent my mornings and evenings. The Garden of the Gods has some amazing rock formations and is one more place to get an overwhelming sense of the greatness and majesty of God.

Below you see the famous "kissing camels." Then one of my favorite spots is the drive into the Garden of the Gods. There is one spot where Pikes Peak comes into full view between two of the vast rock formations. I always see the creative and artistic hand of God in a special way there.

I used my time in the Garden of the Gods this week for Bible reading, meditation, and working on my sign language studies. Below you can see me seated at a picnic table, book open, and practicing my signs. What a classroom!

Of course, Sunday mornings with the Deaf Church is one of the important learning times for me, as well as a time to feed by own soul in worship. Because this was Memorial Day weekend, the Deaf Church took time to say the pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag (not pictured), to the Bible (seen on the communion table) and to the American flag.

On Memorial Day four of us participated in the 30th annual Bolder Boulder 10k race (run and/or walk). It is the largest timed event of its kind in the world attracting well over 50,000 participants! It ended up being a great day. We saw my nephew Taylor, who had planned to participate but turned his ankle a couple of days earlier (bummer!). Tim and Tami, and Dani and Hayden drove up to Boulder to watch, and then we met them for lunch in Denver on the way home. Me, my nephew Michael, Donna and Danette participated. It was a very dreary day with dark clouds and intermittent rain, but you couldn't dampen out spirits. In the picture below you can see that Michael wasn't taking any chances with the rain, sporting one of the lovely trash bags Donna brought for us. And you can see it didn't take much for Danette to catch the spirit of the "trash bag look" herself!

The Bolder Boulder is not just a huge event, but it is truly a Memorial Day celebration. Many participants wore pin-on bibs in honor of a deceased loved one who served our country in the military, or as we did, to proudly honor family members who are currently in the service. This picture caught Donna and I wearing our bibs to honor our nephews, Andy Lembke who is a graduate of West Point and who has served several tours in Afganistan and Iraq, and Eric who has also served in the Middle East and will soon complete his service in the Navy.

My walking/jogging buddies were very patient with me because I was nursing a strained left calf muscle that would not allow me to jog at all, and instead of leaving me in the dust, they stayed back with me. But I was able to complete the race without incident. It was awesome. The race finish line is in the stadium where the University of Colorado plays football, and you can see the large crowds even for a dark and sometimes rainy day.

Although it was sprinkling, we stayed for the Memorial Day festivities. There was a military color guard, large stadium screen video honoring all branches of the service with "I Am Proud to Be An American" playing, even with the low cloud cover there was a fly over by the air force, we sang the National Anthem, taps were played and a twenty-one gun salute was given to our fallen heroes.

The congressional medal of honor was awarded to General Patrick Brady who fought in Vietnam. The medal was given for bravery above and beyond the call of duty. His most heroic mission was a day in which he rescued 51 comrades as a chopper pilot, doing so in four different flights, with three badly damaged helicopters while coming under repeated and heavy fire. His speech opened by him saying, "I didn't do America any favors by my service. God did me a great favor by allowing me to be born here." He then went on to challenge us to live out the great virtues of Courage and Sacrifice. It was a moving reminder that we must always trust God's hand of protection in our lives, and that He calls us in Christ to manifest both courage and sacrifice in our duty to the kingdom of God and our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ!

Until next week, with love and counting the days, Gary.