...in who knows how many days?
Em and I read a book during homeschool last year about a man in his hot air balloon who raced around the world, a race against the clock. He wanted to beat a record.
What if there were no time frame?
What if the point was just to see God's creativity in His big green earth, learn new cultures, eat new foods, love on people, and take in the beauty in the faces of God's people to the ends of the earth?
I imagine the guy in the balloon who raced around the world missed out on the bigger picture. Sure, he was the fastest, but did he get to truly experience the trip?
My love continues to grow for a sweet little handsome boy and his family. They are on an adventure with an unclear time frame.
Their dream as a family has been to see the world, which is why they named their youngest guy Trek Atlas...and they are living that dream presently in Nicaragua...but it's a bittersweet adventure because Trek has a fatal condition, and of course, they don't know the day he no longer will be on the journey this side of Heaven...
I want you to know I met Jarrett and Chelsea. This isn't some Internet story for attention from people who don't really exist. We ate bacon together. They are as real as it gets :)
I held Trek's sweet little body in my arms on January 12, 2012. He's a real boy, with captivating eyes, who brings so much joy to his family and anyone who is able to meet him. And I'm not going to lie, I have a crush on him, for reals!
Jason is headed to Bangladesh today for his dream job, "To help women and children in 3rd world countries..." He works for Compassion International and is the ministry director of their Child Survival Program. After receiving world class care for our son, his eyes were opened to health care throughout the rest of the world and he asked God how he could make a difference.
However, the reality is even the best care in the world was not enough for our son. And it isn't for many other children who have incurable diseases, in the first or third world.
Trek Atlas Ingram has one stamp on his passport, thus far. I'm not sure he'll ever step foot on the soil of Bangladesh, but a Flat Trek will be headed there for the next week with Jason to bring smiles to cute kids and their moms.
And the reason Jason will be there in the first place is because his own son, who only lived 7 months on this earth, changed his heart and perspective to what really matters: Loving God without regrets, living life to the fullest, casting off all restraints...not a bucket list of selfish indulgence but a list of living life that has no beginning and is lived out fully until the end, whenever that may be, all for the Glory of God.
Want to help Trek get stamps on his passport? You don't have to actually GO anywhere, but if you live anywhere other than Maui, Colorado, or Nicaragua, then Trek's never been to your neck of the woods.
You can get your own Flat Trek with more information here.
You can encourage the family on their Facebook page or on their blogs, here, here, and here.
Thanks for letting me share here about this sweet little guy. He has really touched my heart and I can't stop praying for him and his family because it's just all too familiar...
Showing posts with label creation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creation. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Pink snow
Just before the sun breaks the horizon in the east, the most breathtaking thing happens a few miles west of our house...the Rocky Mountains turn shades of pink. All shades, even ranging to salmon. It is amazing, to say the least.
And then, as the sun rises, all the colors fade and what is left is plain, old, white snow-capped mountains. And by "plain, old, white" I mean:
I have lived in the Denver, Colorado area for almost 9 years now and I have never gotten sick of looking west at the mountains. I am in awe that there is a true God, the One and Only God, who is capable of such beauty and creativity.
Now, for those who know me, you know I'm not a fan of being cold. In fact, I'm headed to get some blood work done today because I get downright cranky and teary when I am cold, which is pretty much every day the temps dip below 50. It must be my Arizona upbringing, being spoiled in the desert? Somehow, though, I can handle snow here better than I did in Minnesota for 8 years...but, I do love snow.
There, I admitted it. I love snow.
...from a distance (smiley face)
Snow is so pure. And to see hundreds of feet of it piled atop mountains is one of my favorite sights. It's so clean looking that it's hard for me to look away. No flaws. No stains. No dirt or crud. Not the snow you find at a dog park or along the highway. That's disgusting and the furthest thing from what I am describing.
Fresh, beautiful snow in the quiet of the forest. Clean, white snow in the field outside your farm.
And the beauty in it isn't just for us to play in and see. God gives it to every. single. person. as a reminder.
God talks about snow in the Bible. And He compares it to the way He views us.
Can you even imagine? He, God eternal, without imperfection, pure and holy, looks at us as though we were like snow.
David cries out, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."
God answers in Isaiah, "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
When I look with my human eyes on the pink snowy mountains before the daybreak, though beautiful and breathtaking, my mind only sees the effects of the sunrise. My mind forgets momentarily that the mountains aren't actually hues of pink, but white, pure clean white.
Then the Light bursts forth over the horizon. The color is gone. The sun has shone and shown the true color.
The color white.
When I look in the mirror, I often judge myself. When we look around, we look at the outside of people. We see scarlet, pink, salmon, crimson. It's the effect of the world's lack of light, aka sin, that causes us to see an unsightly mark or imperfection in another.
It's the effect of trusting the Son, Jesus Christ, with our lives that we are able to look in the mirror and see what God sees. That we can look at another and know the same God who created the Universe and sees us as clean, new, pure, is the same God who created that guy, and that guy, and that guy over there...and when He looks at them, and at me, He sees white.
We aren't perfect...but it's how God sees us because of crimson red blood that was given for us.
I am so grateful God puts reminders like sunrises and majestic mountains on His Earth to show His unconditional love for every. single. one. of. us.
And then, as the sun rises, all the colors fade and what is left is plain, old, white snow-capped mountains. And by "plain, old, white" I mean:
- Clean
- Fresh
- Pure
- Spotless
- New
- Unadulterated
- Uncontaminated
- Untainted
- Pristine
I have lived in the Denver, Colorado area for almost 9 years now and I have never gotten sick of looking west at the mountains. I am in awe that there is a true God, the One and Only God, who is capable of such beauty and creativity.
Now, for those who know me, you know I'm not a fan of being cold. In fact, I'm headed to get some blood work done today because I get downright cranky and teary when I am cold, which is pretty much every day the temps dip below 50. It must be my Arizona upbringing, being spoiled in the desert? Somehow, though, I can handle snow here better than I did in Minnesota for 8 years...but, I do love snow.
There, I admitted it. I love snow.
...from a distance (smiley face)
Snow is so pure. And to see hundreds of feet of it piled atop mountains is one of my favorite sights. It's so clean looking that it's hard for me to look away. No flaws. No stains. No dirt or crud. Not the snow you find at a dog park or along the highway. That's disgusting and the furthest thing from what I am describing.
Fresh, beautiful snow in the quiet of the forest. Clean, white snow in the field outside your farm.
And the beauty in it isn't just for us to play in and see. God gives it to every. single. person. as a reminder.
God talks about snow in the Bible. And He compares it to the way He views us.
Can you even imagine? He, God eternal, without imperfection, pure and holy, looks at us as though we were like snow.
David cries out, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."
God answers in Isaiah, "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
When I look with my human eyes on the pink snowy mountains before the daybreak, though beautiful and breathtaking, my mind only sees the effects of the sunrise. My mind forgets momentarily that the mountains aren't actually hues of pink, but white, pure clean white.
Then the Light bursts forth over the horizon. The color is gone. The sun has shone and shown the true color.
The color white.
When I look in the mirror, I often judge myself. When we look around, we look at the outside of people. We see scarlet, pink, salmon, crimson. It's the effect of the world's lack of light, aka sin, that causes us to see an unsightly mark or imperfection in another.
It's the effect of trusting the Son, Jesus Christ, with our lives that we are able to look in the mirror and see what God sees. That we can look at another and know the same God who created the Universe and sees us as clean, new, pure, is the same God who created that guy, and that guy, and that guy over there...and when He looks at them, and at me, He sees white.
We aren't perfect...but it's how God sees us because of crimson red blood that was given for us.
I am so grateful God puts reminders like sunrises and majestic mountains on His Earth to show His unconditional love for every. single. one. of. us.
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