Tonight we sat with my Daddy as he breathed his last breath. Sitting with someone you love as they die is a sacred thing. It is a sad thing and a glad thing. Daddy suffered from Alzheimer's and it was a glad thing that he went to his heavenly home but a sad thing to say farewell to your father.
Alzheimer's is a terrible disease. But not long before he died, he told me on the phone that I was his daughter and that he loved me and that I would always be in his heart. I held that close to my heart realizing that he was sharing some insight and wisdom about the disease itself. Maybe God holds those lost things in the heart of the sufferer to be a part of the Eternal.
I am grateful that he did not have to go to an Alzheimer's care facility and that in my heart, God showed mercy by taking him Home. But it is a thing of sorrow to lose a parent no matter how old you are. So farewell for now, Daddy, because I know that one day we will be together again. And in our heavenly home nothing will be lost, but through the grace of God everything will be gained.

They are here!.......one thing about living in Marble, a remote mountain place, that I have not shared is the importance of the arrival of the hummingbirds. They arrive sometime in April. This is a huge event for us because we consider it the heralding of Spring. We often hear the humming of their wings before we can see them. We get two varieties up here, the Broad Tailed and the Rufus. Everyone puts out feeders and they literally take over Marble in the summer. They will swarm right over your head and by your face to get to their food source. If you hold a feeder really still, they will eat out of your hand. They fight each other to protect their perceived feeder and will sit guard over it. We absolutely adore our hummingbirds in Marble!!

Today as my friend and I were wandering about, we discussed how they should be arriving at anytime! Low and behold, at the end of the walk, we heard the unmistakeable sound of the humming of wings! We stopped, we listened, we high-fived each other and let out a wooooohooooo! The official heralding of Spring had arrived!

My family is going through a difficult time right now with my daddy's battle with Alzheimer's. It is painful to see someone slip into that unknown territory of the brain as it deteriorates. There are really no words to describe it. But hearing that hummingbird today reminded me that the wonders of God are all around us even in our troubled times. We just have to be open to hear, open to see, open to the simple joy of one single moment that reminds us that Jesus promised to never forsake us.........Yes, Marble, they are here!

Good Friday......last night was our Good Friday service here in our beautiful Marble Community Church. There is a woman of God in our community who is suffering with some serious health issues. On a day in which we remember the passion of Christ, she epitomized the way of the cross. God has given her the voice of an angel and she was fortunate enough to be well-trained with her voice as well. Our small choir sang "Lamb of God" by Twila Paris. It was an arrangement that included phrases from "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord." My friend, my God sister sang the verses as a solo.
She was in much pain during the service but when she sang, the church was filled with her voice which could have only originated from Heaven. Her pain was Christ's pain in that from the cross, He knew that this day would come for her. His grace filled her being, allowing her to sing through her pain. And as a result Heaven came down and met us as a congregation at the foot of the cross. As a result there was not a person without tears in the entire church!
There are moments in our lives when we are aware that eternity coexists with our humanity, where the suffering of the cross coexist with grace. Last night was one of those moments for me and I cannot help but be forever humbly grateful that my Lord, Jesus Christ allowed me to share that awareness with my beloved friend and God sister as well as our beloved congregation!

Celebration of a life......I was so very proud of our small historical church here in the midst of the mountains surrounding Marble, CO. We celebrated the life of a long time community member today. She went to her Heavenly home a couple of weeks ago. Our church is small but it was packed with people remembering a wife, a mother, a sister, and a friend. 
A church celebrates the cycles of life. It dedicates babies, marries couples, and commemorates lives that have moved into eternity. So it was today that we as a congregation hosted a family as they remembered their loved one. We cleaned, we set up the fellowship hall, we worked with the family, the florist, and talked with friends of the family. Our little congregation prepared the snacks for after the memorial service. The table was full of food for the large crowd that came for the celebration. I was so proud of our folks. They came through and many worked very hard. The thing that truly blessed me was that everyone lingered and visited for a long time. It was a sign that told me they felt welcome. One guest told me that, "this little church just feels holy."
So yes, as a pastor's wife of a small church nestled between two wilderness areas, I felt a little pride in our folks and a lot of praise for God allowing me to share in the "heartbeats" of a community.

Lady.......My newer jeep, I named Lady. She is a 2008 vs the 1995 manly jeep that I had named the Bob Marly. I had trouble letting go of the Bob Marly. I had formed a certain bond with it and just wasn't sure I wanted to part with it. However after jeeping with Lady in Moab, Utah I have thoroughly embraced Lady!!! She performed marvelously on one lane dirt and rock roads! She crawled over rocks, rode into the bottom of Canyon Lands National Park and climbed out of the canyon on a one lane, dirt and rock road through a series of switchbacks that was awesome and a little intimidating! I even drove her on some of these back roads over rocks in four wheel low and I have to tell you I was absolutely stoked!!! What a blast! Of course while I was driving I glanced over at Jon and saw that he was holding onto the handles over the roll bar with both hands. He said that it was just for support but I think he may have been just a little nervous. When I stopped driving, I made the comment that I didn't do too badly for a person totally blind in one eye......perhaps that was the reason for gripping so tightly to the handholds.
So I have totally let go of the Bob Marly. After all he has a good home with Jon's sister, Jonalyn. I think she renamed him Raven or something like that. So farewell Bob Marly or Raven and HELLO LADY!

I stood at the top of the hill after hiking back from the Crystal Mill looking below me at our beloved Crystal River and resting due to the climb in the soft snow. The soft snow added to the cardiovascular work load. So as I stood there, I could literally feel my heart pounding hard and a little elevated in my chest. I liked this pounding! I could actually feel the strength of my heart responding to my body's extra need for oxygen. Alive, alive, alive, that is what each beat said to me. I was surrounded by heavenly beauty, the air was crisp but not cold and with each deep cleansing breath and each pounding heart beat I felt alive.
By the grace of God and the prayers of His people I have thus far survived six brain tumors, all thankfully benign. I have one itsy bitsy, tiny iny, brain tumor left. I have named it Seven. And yes, you guessed correctly, it is because it is the seventh. We are not going to treat Seven at this point. It is so small we may never have to treat it. But one thing I have learned through the journey that I did not choose to make, life is simply as the scriptures teach, "like a vapor." Yet it is precious beyond measure! God made mankind from the earth and breathed life into him, into her!
So yes I may seem a little crazy on a hiking trail. I sometimes shout out YooWoo for no other reason than I am overwhelmed by God's creation. Yes I may sing the "Sound of Music" slightly off key at the top of my lungs. And yes I may push a hike a little further than intended just because I want to see what is just around the next corner or just because I have made some internal destination as my goal, but I love to feel that pounding of my heart that says you are alive! You are alive!
God saw me in my mother's womb so says the Psalmist. God knew my journey and has walked with me in the "valley of the shadow of death." And when I feel my heart pounding in the midst of His world, I know that I too am a part of His marvelous creation and that I am His beloved! My friend, so are you!

You're the hiker......I was volunteering at the Marble Charter School yesterday when a local gentleman came in. I reintroduced myself to him and he said, "Oh, you're the hiker." That sort of surprised me that he knew me as the hiker. We have really only met a couple of times. I responded after a minute of pause that I was more of a wanderer....
So today I took Starbuck on a short wandering walk in the Old Mill Park which was the site of the mill that carved the marble from our quarry and shipped it out by train in the early 1900s. We went there to avoid the mud from all the melting snow. We were on a hard-packed trail that I knew exactly where it led. I discovered another trail that led toward the river and we, being wanderers, decided to take it. After all, there was no chance of getting lost. The problem was that the snow-packed trail dead-ended.
Not wanting to backtrack, I saw that the trail back to the main mill site was just up a small hill and all we had to do was get past a little "unpacked snow." I looked at Starbuck and thought, how deep could it be? So off we went. Oh well, it was a little deeper than I expected. We were postholing (a term I have learned since moving here) up to my knees. So the little trek was slightly more involved for the both of us than I meant it to be. Not only were we knee deep in snow but underneath were baby trees and fallen buried logs. Once I fell in the soft snow and sank to my elbows. Now try getting up with all your shoes and mittens still in place. I started laughing and Starbuck looked at me as if I had lost my mind and had dragged her where she did not want to be!
The adventure was relatively short and I consoled myself by thinking that I would not need to get on the treadmill because my heart rate had been significantly raised with the new sport of postholing! However, once I was on the road with a much relieved Starbuck, I thought about our little wandering. How many times had God provided the nice snow-packed trail to lead me home only for me to wander off on some other trail just because it was shorter in distance and I did not want to backtrack? I pray that I will seek His path. But it was a comfort to know that I learned a little lesson about errant paths and that God often sees us through those choices as well.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make straight your path..." the writer of Proverbs