Life in Golden: December 2009

Well, here we are, almost to the end of the year. Time seems to always play tricks… One moment it is flying by, and we wonder where all the time went. Other times it is agonizingly slow, almost like those crazy dreams we have where we can only run in slow motion. Well, this year flew, and indeed I can’t believe I am staring at 2010 already. This has been a good year for the Foxes. A year ago, we were very uncertain about the future of Horn Creek, and our personal future. Our ministry at Horn Creek was in transition, and we were not sure what the future was looking like. Yet, here we are, more fulfilled than ever with my role at Horn Creek. I am now directing the Horn Creek internship full time, as well as recruiting summer staff, running the summer staff program, and overseeing all recreation at Horn Creek. The internship is going well, with 12 young adults serving with us for a year from all parts of the country. It has given us life, and it has been nice to intentionally love on these young people and open up our home to them. We love hospitality, and really see our home as an extension of ourselves. As we give ourselves away, we give our home away. We love having people over, and allowing them to interact with our family, and our way of life. I hope and pray that Jesus is at the center of our home, and that his light is a strong force in the lives of the young people we are doing life with this year. (you can check on the internship’s progress at horncreekinterns.blogspot.com, and read about the internship at Horncreek.org) I was cross country skiing this afternoon up in the mountains behind our home, just reveling in a perfect, blue, snow covered Colorado day. Our dog Sequoia was with me, and I was reminded of Gods incredible goodness in allowing us Foxes to partake in this unique life. I so love the outdoors, and I do believe my family shares my same passion. Just a few days ago I pulled my girls all over the place behind our ATV as they sat in a sled and hung on for dear life. I even got Leslie’s mom and step dad to do it. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of ministry in a wilderness context like this, and I truly revel in every moment. I am so alive in this context, and I pray the Lord gives us an opportunity to stay here for many years to come. Furthermore, we continue to enjoy living in Westcliffe, the thriving metropolis of a couple thousand. I teach occasionally at the local church in town, and we have loved continuing to build relationships in the community. These relationships are at a much slower pace than our relationships at Horn Creek. We enjoy the change. Leslie and the girls are well connected in town as well. Life is slower in this context, but it is amazing how the business of school, camp, social activities etc. can get us bogged down.
Other news… We just added a bathroom to our home off our master bedroom. It was a fun project, and an all consuming project as well. We added a bathtub that we found in the valley that was being used as a cow watering trough. We were able to find the farmer who owned it, and in exchange for a real feeding trough, we took the bathtub, and restored it. It is now sitting next to three big windows overlooking the woods in our new bathroom. Moving on, we just recently got to go to Atlanta, GA to marry off some dear friends of ours. Joe and Stephanie Edlhuber. It was a fun wedding to perform.. I think that makes 4 weddings that I have now done. Wow, I am getting old. We hope to get some skiing in this week, before the girls get back to school. Well, enough rambling. Attached are some pictures from our life the past few months.
-Jeff