Spring sights

Just some deer hanging out in my neighborhood. It's still funny to me how normal this is.

Our second Switchbacks (CO Springs's minor league soccer team) game of the year. We went to a game early last fall, which happened to be one of the last games of the season, and resolved to come back when their 2016 season started. They won!

Enjoying the (rare in Colorado) perfect Sunday afternoon spring weather. The last time I sat in this backyard hammock, many months ago, the rope broke and dumped me on the ground, so this was an important step in rebuilding trust.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of what was probably the most notable event of the week: A fundraiser dinner on Saturday night for RAWtools (an awesome, fairly new nonprofit whose work involves taking donated guns and using blacksmithing to transform them into garden tools) and the still-in-the-planning-stages Colorado Springs Resilience Center. The dinner was at our church, Beth-El Mennonite, and Shane Claiborne was the keynote speaker. Though the six of us Service Adventurers were busy serving food for much of the event, we were finished in time to slip in and hear the message, and I think we all agree that it was worth the work. I'd had the privilege of hearing Shane speak twice before, and true to expectation, it was an exciting, inspiring experience. Even more than that, I was so glad we could assist in raising funds for these incredibly deserving organizations. If you get the chance to interact with Mike Martin of RAWtools, Laurie Works of the Colorado Springs Resilience Center, or Shane Claiborne of The Simple Way, make sure you take advantage of the opportunity!

A week in photos

In a worship night led by Daniel last week, we wrote down the story of the Bible in chronological order, recalling (or looking up) all the major stories from beginning to end.

Friday night D and I were in Denver for a Spurs-Nuggets game, thanks to a birthday present from his parents!

Brunch the next morning at WaterCourse, an amazing vegan restaurant in downtown Denver. I've been a vegetarian for so long that I'm completely accustomed to immediately eliminating over half the menu options just because they have meat in them, so it was a bit of a foreign experience to be able to choose ANYTHING.

And it was all so delicious.

MLK statue in Denver's City Park.

Birds.

Serenity before the storm clouds blew in.

And an obligatory Garden of the Gods picture...because I can't get enough of this place.

In summary, consider this a friendly reminder to get out and explore, wherever you are!

Kansas-side

The latest episode of Service ADVENTURES: Road trip to Inman, Kansas (Sarah's home area) for a recruitment trip (but also for hanging out with her family and exploring).

On Friday afternoon, we visited the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. Rural Kansas may not have as much to offer by way of entertainment as Colorado Springs, but this particular museum was one hundred percent worth the visit. If you ever get the chance, you should go.

Improvised lunch spot.

Look at this charming farmhouse where Sarah grew up, our home for the weekend.

Fields.

LOTS of fields.

On Saturday we visited the salt museum.

[Thank you to Dave Balzer for taking this photo and the ones following!]

This weekend marked the fourth time we've seen the Albuquerque Service Adventure unit this year. Because their leaders are from the same area in Kansas as Sarah, we decided to plan this trip for the same weekend so that we could overlap our time with theirs. So glad to have another unit close enough to us to do things like this.

As I see it, the clear theme for the weekend was family. Staying with Sarah's parents and sister was the most obvious source, but that was only the beginning. While we were visiting the salt museum, the tour guide looked us over and brightly asked, "So, are you all family?" There was a pause; we glanced at one another with suppressed smiles. "Um...yes?" A little burst of laughter, and eventually we explained: some of us were family, some of us were housemates. What we didn't say aloud in that moment was that since beginning our Service Adventure life together last August, we have become a family.

This thread emerged again and again before the weekend ended. It came up in our discussion with current high school students who are considering doing Service Adventure. It was mentioned during our reflections that we shared with Buhler Mennonite Church on Sunday morning.

I was filled with gratitude for the gift of this year. Despite the challenges of living in intentional community -- of which there are many -- times like this remind me of why it is all worth it.

After lunch with Sarah's immediate and extended family and Anali's grandparents, and a bunch more pictures, we trekked back to Colorful Colorado.

Good thing we are super good at posing for pictures.

Seriously so good.

Okay, for real.

As beautiful as the Kansas plains were, I was glad to be westward bound again. I craved the sight of the Rockies rising on the horizon. During the last stint of driving, the moment that I wanted to capture forever was this one: Driving down a long country road pointed straight and true at distant snow-capped Pikes Peak, the air darkening around me and sunset-pink clouds nestling in toward the mountaintop, and thinking to myself, Home.