Life @ Montrose, August 7

We are looking forward to a fun weekend of fellowship at Dinosaur National Park. All the meetings (and our group site where we are camping) is in the Split Mountain Group Camp Site on the west entrance just across the state line in Utah. I've already e-mailed out directions and a schedule for the weekend. If you have any questions please feel free to call me (497-9636). We would love to have you come up for the day on Sabbath if you can't make it for the weekend. If you can't come this weekend at all then I would invite you to come to our worship service this Sabbath where Elder Ray Wing will be sharing God's Word with our church family.

Last Friday was absolutely beautiful. I climbed above 14,000 feet near the summit of Mt. Sneffels. We "borrowed" a JEEP and did some exploring around Yankee Boy Basin. The flowers are still spectacular. As we neared the beginning of the trail we decided to go for it. So we got on our mountain gear (flip flops and a water bottle). We began the ascent. The big rocks near the bottom were easy, but we soon discovered that flip flops were a challenge on the snow. I had to ditch them later when we started to actually climb. Our dog, Prudy, came with us up to the rock climbing part. She wanted to be with us so she went over to the next canyon and climbed up the glacier. The problem was that when she got to the top of the glacier she realized how high she was and started howling. She decided that she wasn't going anywhere, and certainly not down that glacier. So Jon climbed up that glacier and coaxed her down. At the bottom of the lower glacier we were able to just slide down. It was a lot of fun. I've posted pictures on Facebook for those of you who might want to see pictures from our trek.

This weekend was busy. Sabbath morning I was able to both give the welcome and announcements before I had to rush off to preach at Orchard Valley. We had a good time at OV. I'm happy to share with you that 18 students have now registered for Spring Creek Adventist School. Please continue to keep our teachers and students in your prayers as they prepare for the new school year.

On Sunday evening through yesterday morning we had pastor's meetings at Glacier View Ranch. Our Conference is enthusiastic about meetings (we have three sets of pastor's meetings each year--we're done for the rest of the year). For this meeting the theme was developing leaders. It really made me think about things we should do to help provide opportunities for every church member to develop their leadership skills. As a result, I am proposing that we start a monthly leadership meeting that will focus on everything from participation in church board meetings to time management and conflict resolution. We've got plenty of topics to cover. If you have a topic that you think would be important please let me know. I'd like to conclude in February with a special leadership weekend with Karen Cress, our new vice-president for leadership here in the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Another thing I would like to see our church offer this fall is a series on financial management. With the downturn in the economy it has been challenging for everyone to make those dollars stretch. Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 2, we will begin a special financial management series at the church. Please remember to mark the date on your calendars as we get ready for this fall.

Last but not least, I've settled on a five-week sermon series beginning in September on the book of Genesis. "Back to the Beginning" is going to feature stories of patriarchs and prophets. Each week we are going to learn lessons from Old Testament leaders such as Adam, Methusalah, Abraham, and many more. Stay tuned for more details.

I had better sign off. I need to head out this morning to Junction to attend the service in memory of Ellen Walters. Please continue to pray for Dick & Jo and the rest of their extended family.