The Great Sand Dunes

Well, I am now at the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. It has been a lot of fun so far climbing up the sand dunes and spending time with my family. My dad woke us up at 4:30 this morning (far too early for any sane person to wake up for fun, if you ask me lol) to go climb up to the highest sand dune and watch the sunrise. It was a pretty cold, tiring hike, but it was so much fun and the view was breathtaking.

Of course, I probably shouldn't admit to this... but I had complete a nerd moment. While hiking, I found myself thinking, "Hey, I could totally use an equation to calculate the slope and volume of one of these dunes!". I then began to ponder how exactly I'd go about doing that before I chuckled at myself and pushed the thought from my mind. Just minutes later, my engineer dad to says to me, "Hey, Kels! You could easily calculate this slope with a differential equation, couldn't you?" Just one of many many reasons I love my dad! lol

Also, as I hiked this morning, I was reminded of last year when the Lord was really showing me the significance of the desertplace and the wilderness in the Christian walk. It's amazing how such a spiritual concept can be brought to life and understood in such a real way when you are literally in that place physically. I was reminded how every season of life has a purpose. I thought about how so many people in the Bible spent several years wandering in the desert, but not without purpose because this season
was the ultimate place where God met them. In the same way, when God brings us to this place spiritually, we don't always know where we are or where we are heading; and we often feel uncomfortable and alone. The beauty of it all is that it's that very silence and desperation that places us in the perfect position to come to know Him more and be strengthened and transformed by that knowledge.

But anyway, that's about all I have to report. Tomorrow we leave to go somewhere else... to hike a 14,000 ft mountain. Not exactly the most pleasant and relaxing activity ever, I must admit, but it should be fun.