What a special surprise when we arrived at the cabin at Selah Acres! Special local friends gifted us with some fall decor and a very special guest book for all those who will be guests at the cabin in the coming years! Short story – we were able to let a couple stay for a restful weekend while we were serving in New Mexico – and this is a result of that.
Let us know if you are in the area – and need a “Selah Pause” from this crazy world, maybe things would work out for you to get refreshed and re-energized at this quiet peaceful place!
If you know us – we can’t be found sitting around around too long. Since we didn’t have the RV with us this trip, we took advantage of the opportunity to make a level parking area for it next time we bring it home. Dennis had the pick and shovel going and was able to use the cement pads given to us to create a landing for the trailer tires. We’ll be able to test it out next spring – hopefully its level! (…and Dennis can back it in between the trees!)
The beautiful landscape wasn’t as green and lush as when we left in August and Fall was certainly in the air now. We enjoyed seeing these graceful deer, some active rabbits and a few majestic bucks wandering around these acres. So thankful for the beauty God blesses us with – every day – wherever we are at!
We headed over to the fence that needed some repair with our bucket of wire and tools. The neighbors horses heard the bucket and came running! It’s fun to have these horses nearby, they’re older and don’t go riding any more, but they are very loving and make our day every time we get to pet and feed them.
So we decided that we are officially “ranchers” now that we know how to stretch and repair our barbed wire fence around the property. We learned that one section along road 102 had been damaged by a car running through it…over eight years ago! Well it’s fixed now!
We made a trip into Colorado Springs and was able to connect with friends and family during the weekend. So glad we live close by when we’re in Colorado, always gives us an opportunity to live life together with kids and grandkids!
…and we tried our hand at fishing at Eleven Mile Reservoir – just 8 miles from our cabin. Didn’t catch anything but was very relaxing and was able to “practice” for next time!
We kept our eye out for the changing colors of fall. It was just in the beginning stages while we were home.
We will sure enjoy the changing seasons next time we are home. We’re making plans to be at the cabin for Christmas – how fun! Next for now, we’re getting ready to head back to New Mexico and pick up our rig to head on to Arizonia for our next SOWER Adventure.
But first we had a great visit with Ron & Deb in Pueblo as we headed South. It was great to connect with them and get caught up with each other. We sure have a blessed family – thankful for God’s faithfulness!
On the road again – we stayed one night at Gallup, NM before heading to Flagstaff and on to Prescott.
We sure enjoy the big sky and big landscapes of the West – what a glorious world we live in! Looking forward to serving at Prescott Pines with some new SOWER friends – what’s in store for us?
On our bucket list was to someday have the opportunity to see the Milky Way in a dark-sky area. We had only to look up right outside our camper while staying at Glorieta Adventure Camps! The night was beautifully dark and the Milky-Way was visible along with thousands of stars! The pictures from our camera phone certainly don’t pick up all that we saw, but we still wanted to record the amazing views we enjoyed. Reminds us of how BIG our God is and how little we are – BUT He cares about every detail of our lives (and yours!)
While we’re in New Mexico we decided to take a trip to Taos! We learned there was a loop that we could take with lots to see along the way. We decided to take the low-road first. It follows the Rio Grande River through the lowlands. So we started out at “river level” and then…
…ended up 650 feet above the river, but hardly any elevation gain! The Rio Grande river runs into and through a rift in the earth’s crust. In this area the rift is named a “gorge” (although the river didn’t make the gorge).
A massive steel bridge was built over it in 1965. This is in the top ten highest bridges in the USA.
It became a bit un-nerving to walk across, especially when those large semi’s rumbled across putting everything into motion. Yikes!~ we got the shakes and wobbly knees! (Those are Lorree’s toes hanging over the edge!)
In Taos we walked the Plaza and had a nice authentic New Mexican lunch at a local Cantina. Lots of flowers decorated the walkways and the Plaza.
We drove the high road back from Taos. Beautiful mountains full of color!. Much like “home” with winding roads and great views. Not long however, we were back down on the valley foor in the desert and rocky plains.
Before we left the high road we ventured over to Nambi Falls and Nambi Reservoir. We hiked up (it was definately UP! – thankful for the many “stairs” they built into the trail) to see multiple falls that are just below the dam of the resevoir.
There was another trail that went to the base of the falls but it required water shoes as some of the trail was in the river – we passed on that since we just had sandles and tennis shoes on.
On the final leg back we saw various rock formations and some very colorful overpasses that highlighted the Indian communities in the area.
We had a great day trip adventure! New Mexico has a lot of unique areas to explore and enjoy. We’re looking forward to seeing what Arizonia has for us next! But first – we’re headed back to the cabin for a week or so – more adventures coming!
It’s great to be back! We served here last year (Sept/Oct, 2020). You can find those adventures by searching for SOWER Ministries in our blog list. This month we will be serving with three couples: Tom & Melissa Moore, Bob & Jan Black, and Jeff and Joyce Brooks. Looking forward to getting to know them and sharing life together!
After meeting each other Lorree and i gave a brief tour of the campus. The Holcomb Auditorium (Chapel) is always a highlight. A beautiful building that seats around 3,000 with amazing accoustics – and still features a sky swing from the balcony to the stage! The camp creates adventures everywhere!
Their mission is “… to inspire Christ-like change through outdoor adventure, authentic relationships, and Biblical truth.”
What Is This? We were awakened early on Saturday morning, the weekend before our project started, by noises, excitment, people, kids, and bikes! We learned that the camp was hosting the annual “Torture Race” for middle, Junior, and High Schoolers. The race would have several hundred entries and would be biking some of the many miles of mountain trails available at camp. The staging area for the race…was the RV park! We were in the middle of all of the excitment!
This was really fun – who would have thought our SOWER adventure would start out with a CAMP adventure?!
…and that adventure led to this, meet Chris & JoAn Mayes! We were sitting on the side of the race in our camp chairs and across the road was this couple. A great relationship was created right away. They are the parents of one of the staff workers at the camp and were just visiting. After getting to know them, we invited them to teach our group during one of our devotions about their ministry, “Simply the Story” www.simplythestory.org (Reaching hearts of the world through discussion of God’s Word. Mobilizing the work force to harvest lost souls!) FYI: Chris isn’t sleeping above, he’s actively praying for his wife and our group as we engage in the teaching! This is a profound and VERY impactful way of sharing the Gospel and other Truths of the Bible with others. WOW!
AND… They learned a great deal about the SOWER Ministry from all of us and we understand that they have since turned in an application to join SOWERS!
…so I just thought of this, we just experienced going from “outdoor adventure to authentic relationships to Biblical Truth” The camp’s mission lived out in our lives from day one!
Another adventure on Sunday – we went on a hike on the “Green Loop” – it’s about a 3 mile hike around the main camp property. Lots of ups and downs – gave us a great workout! This property is beautiful! So many flowers, vistas, and landscapes to absorb. There are SO MANY other trails to experience – we’re thankful for this one that we did!
So, let’s get to our work adventure – how can we can help the camp in their mission – to enable them to share Jesus?
A lot of these buildings have sat empty for 20+ years and the years have shown their effect. These two buildings (Garden I and II) have multiple levels with wood railings, decks, and stairs. The paint has blistered and they look old and worn. The rooms inside have been renovated and many are very nice. So if the outside could get to looking nice it would go a long way in pleasing the guests and not be a distraction.
We cleaned, scraped, sanded, power washed, and painted.
We also demo’d the two ends of the building overhangs that had rotted from many years of weather.
We really focused on working with a spirit of excellence and accepted the challenge to change the exterior of these buildings from old and worn to new and fresh! These SOWERS know how to work hard and made every effort count!
We did another walk around the campus where we enjoyed the prayer garden (11 acres!) and learning more about the property. Founded in 1949 – the buildings we worked on were built in 1950. Pre-COVID the camp had grown to servicing over 30,000 kids & adults in one year! The camp has so much potential for the future with all of the facilities they aquired in 2013 (2,500 acres and over 200 buildings for $1.00 – that’s a God story!) What will God do here as everything gets brought up to a reburbished condition?
We happened upon a group of guests adventurers zip lining off of the top of the chapel building – 5 stories high! Lots of screams and laughter! They do know how to create adventure at this place!
During the weeks of service, the ladies kept busy helping the office staff prepare Christmas letters to clients and working the washers & dryers – trying to keep up with laundry from weekend guests!
They also inventoried vaccum cleaners, box fans, and made sure they work. Also inventoried supplies, products, and equipment across the campus. They visited almost every housing building on campus – that’s a lot of rooms! Some of the buildings are motel style housing units with 60 – 80 rooms each!
Our team of SOWERS had a sweet spirit of fellowship, encouragement, friendly bantor, great devotions from God’s Word, and a love to serve. God always puts the right people together at the right time and right place!
Another highlite was inviting the staff to “share their story” of how they became involved in the camp and how God has directed them to serve here. Daniel (top left) is a MK met his wife who loves camp ministry and joined Glorieta to serve as a Maintenence Manager. We worked directly with Daniel. Down one on left – this is the CEO, Anthony. He shared how the camp , under God’s direction and his leadership, became a reality, what an amazing story of God’s vision and provision – no one could have made this to happen without God! Top right, this is Ben, Buildings Manager and our current volunteer contact. Stayed involved and loyal throughout the 2020 COVID era, we received our assignments from Ben and he made sure we had all the supplies we needed. Bottom picture is Scott and Melissa, he is the Operations Manager – they are one of the newest staff members and pulled off an amazing Bar-B-Que for all of us and some other staff members. What a great staff to work with!
And our last assignment – disassemble, clean, and reassemble nearly 60 box fans. “Oh. this will be a breeze” Dennis stated LOL! “we can get this done in our final morning of work and have the afternoon off” NOT! What a project! But with all of us working together we did complete the job before the work day ended.
We were blessed to work with these fellow servants! Looking forward to our next time together whenever and wherever the Lord’s leads us!
