SNOW SNOW SNOW

Hey everyone (mostly Kristie)

Had a sick week at mt. Washington. Learned to snow board, shredded the gnar as it were. The mountain was sick. Had so much fun. Too the view on the top of the mountain was incredible. It was strange to wake up at camp where it was green and rainy, fall asleep in the van, wake up two hours later where there is three or four feet of snow. BC is a messed up place. Crazy mountains and all. Yeah we also had a sweet snowshoeing adventure where we made snow caves and ran down a mountain doing flips along the way. (not exaggerating) We also went tubing but we won't talk about that.

The chapels were really intense. We would snowboard from 9am until 3pm then chill until about 8pm when we had chapel. In other words we would physically tire ourselves out, chill and nearly out ourselves to sleep with music and chill conversations then go and get into deep spiritual exercises. Pretty intense week to be honest. The most memorable part was definitely the names. One night we went around pointing out how we saw Jesus in one another. The next two nights we went around and gave each other Kaleo names. These names were meant to encourage and appreciate what each person already had but also to admonish and hope for them so they could grow into each one. The whole process was incredible. We spent so much time listening, praying and wrestling with each name until the group was satisfied. Sometimes we would have to throw away names or disagree with names in order for the right name to come.

My name is refiner. This name was given to me because I am dissatisfied with anything that isn't truth and I wrestle with it until I am satisfied. It is a hard characteristic to possess because it can so easily turn into bitterness. The hope for me is that I would refine things until they are pure and that when tested with fire would remain strong and intact. I am really grateful for the name and quite intimidated by how big the name is. It is definitely too big for me now but I can't wait to see how God is going to grow me into it.

This week I will be going back to youth group and can't wait. In a couple weeks we are going snowboarding with the kids at Mt. Washington and I can't wait for the sweet times we will have. My boys seem to be at a hard time in the year. We will see what happens.

I am also playing guitar for a youth event this weekend and I am looking forward to it. IT will be fun to play some tunes with some other Kaleos. Keep me in your prayers.

Cheers,

Tim

Only a day late...YES!

Hey y'all,

I was just jinxed by Jade so this is my only form of communication. But I will type on. This week was pretty sick. It is so good to be back at camp and it so strange too. There is a bit a tired out or frustrated attitude or feeling rolling around at camp. I think it relates to going home and then coming back. I can't really explain it very well but there is something there to pray for.

At youth this week we had a decent talk. The boys are still pretty rowdy but there is a sweet relationship there. In a few weeks the youth group is going snowboarding which I am stoked for. It will be a great opportunity for hanging out but hopefully for much more too. I hope and would appreciate prayer that God would allow some sick opportunities for transparency and honesty that could result in a better understanding of God, for both me and the boys.

We had a theology of mission course with Tim Stabell this past week too. It was a great class that took God out of huge box. Mission used to be such a small part of my understanding of God and now it is becoming central. We followed it up with missions fest on the weekend. It had ups and downs but I got to connect with some people in and out of Kaleo really well and heard Jackie Pullinger a couple of times. She spoke some great words that needed to be said even if they were hard for me to hear. Not sure what my future will hold, if it will be cross-culturally missional or not but it got me thinking about some good stuff.

Pray for me cause I wish I could some other places for other reasons. Too I will be turning 19 this week and I am stoked to be celebrating it with the kaleos. Thanks for the prayer, it's working for sure, God is hearing you.

Cheers,

Tim