Unmerited, Absolutely Overwhelming Blessing

The last week of October was an incredibly tough week.

We learned that there is a very ugly side of ministry and were looking it right in the face. We also truly learned that no matter how hard we struggle, how much we are persecuted, how how much we are disliked by enemies of Christianity... there is nothing that compares to the glory we will share with Christ when our days on earth are through. Romans 8:17

Though we were discouraged, our relationship with each other only grew stonger, as did our reliance on the Lord as our ONLY hope and ONLY comfort. I began to get excited that there was turmoil because it means something is being stirred up... "for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" 1 Cor 1:18

On top of all that encouragement, the Lord had something even more affirming in store for us at the Youth Convention in St. Louis. By Sunday afternoon, we were relishing in our weekend. The entire experience had been perfect, down to the smallest detail: the weather, our rental car, our hotel (right by the arch), the food, the people we met, the teaching, our time together... I had even metioned that absolutely NOTHING could make this weekend any better! haha!

One of the seminars we chose to attend was about middle school ministry. This particular seminar's teacher was Mark Oestreicher (Marko). He is the president of Youth Specialties, the organization that puts this conference together. Afterwards, we had a few questions for Marko concerning our particular middle school ministry. To clarify our question we explained our very unique situation of employment by 5 different churches- each from a different denomintation. I don't think Marko even heard our question! He was so ecstatic and intrigued by our situation. He asked for our contact info to hear more.

We received a call from him a couple hours later. He wanted to make sure we would be attending the general session that evening because he had a book he wanted to give us. We said yes, and were very excited to share more about what the Lord has done here in Lake City. At the session, the worship band finished and right before the speaker was supposed to go up, Marko came onstage and asked for Seth and Crystal Dady. !!! We were in shock! Reaching center stage, my main concern was keeping my knees from shaking too badly! There we stood, in front of 3500+ other youth workers, most of whom had been doing this for years and years, sharing the miraculous story of what the Lord has done in tiny Middle of Nowhere, Colorado. Right after Seth listed the 5 different denomintations involved, applause erupted from all around us! The Lord was SOOOO glorified in that place for the work He has done and the people in Lake City who were obedient to His call.

To top it all off, Youth Specialties wanted to encourage us by giving us $4oo to their resources store, 2 free convention passes for next year(worth $600), a free rafting trip for our entire youth group next summer, 300 finger rockets (the kids LOVE them!), and a Narnia gift basket!! WOW! We have never been so speechless with gratitude. Afterwards we were able to talk to several other youth directors who were encouraged by our testimony. Many of them asked "How do you do it?" To which we responded "We don't!! We don't know what we're doing!" haha, I'm sure that was REAL encouraging. Honestly, we were reminded of God's incredible sovereignty in piecing all of this together and pulling us along on the most incredible, most rewarding adventure of our lives.

Our front yard...

8:00 am I feel a cold nose on my arm signaling me it's time to get up to go outside. After sleepily deciding who will take the anxious dogs out to tinkle, I try to find something warm to wear over my pjs and stumble out into the crisp Colorado morning. This is the scene I wake up to as I draw my first fresh breath of mountain air for the day.
After nine months of living here we still find ourselves captivated by the beauty designed especially for us by our Creator. I often find myself wondering about the garden of Eden. This fallen world we live in is flawed since the first bite of forbidden fruit and cursed by the One who set it all in motion. However, He still chose to reflect His glory in it. If His infinitely unfathomable glory can be reflected in such an imperfect world, how much more glorious will be the place He has perfected for us? How many different kinds of the most beautiful fragrant flowers is He cultivating for us in Heaven? What breathtaking colors will we behold in the heavenly sky? Can we even imagine the intense purity of the crystal sea? As you go about your daily life... the mundane busyness we create around us... stop to contemplate what you were really created for. If God, our Father, in His indescribable goodness gave us all of this in our fallen state, how much more will He reveal when we are resurrected with Him?
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light f the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:1-5

Winter Camp!

just gotta have faith...

So, we are in the midst of an adventure... "the adventure of child-like faith." We must trust without knowing, submit without having any kind of control, and know beyond all doubt that our tender, loving Father has the best in mind for us. (_Jeremiah 29:11)

Ahhhh, how easy that is to write...type. But much harder to truly, in heart and action, live out every day. We find ourselves in a particularly interesting dilemma. As of today we have three weeks to find a new residence here in Lake City where the real estate does not drop below the low $100,000's. Even in that range all you will find is a gnarly fixer-upper that will need more than a few benjamins to be dropped on that piece. Sorry =), that was youth talk.


In our minds, this difficult situation just leaves the Lord plenty of room to work. He will prove once again, that He is Sovereign; He is the one who deserves all glory, honor, and praise for the work He is doing here in Lake City. In the end it is most certainly not about us or where we will live or how well our life is going. It is HIM! HIS glory is why we were created in the first place! That is where my prayers drift... to the knowledge that He WILL be glorified in our lives. House or no house, successful ministry or not, He will be glorified. That is where our hope lies.

"they say it's spring..."

As you can imagine, after 6 months of sub-zero mornings, shoveling driveways, and taking an extra 20 minutes to dress in layers... we are quite ready for the first little flowers to push through the snow and bear their lovely heads. But, before the romance of spring begins here in Lake City, there must first be what the locals call "mud season." If we thought tracking snow and ice into our vehicles and homes was bad, we have yet to experience the messiness of pure mountain mud all over shoes, tires, rugs, and backs of pants. You see, as all of the beautiful, white snow melts it must go somewhere (unfortunately it doesn't just evaporate). Fortunately for the flowers and trees it soaks into the ground, but quite the contrary for "cleanliness next to godliness" humans, it mixes with the newly emerging dirt and sticks to everything that attempts to cross it's path. I've heard that you shouldn't even try to clean anything, for it is utterly futile. hmmmm... i like that "utterly futile". Seeing as though we are merely dreading this season and haven't yet experienced it I will surely let you know how it goes.

the past three months...

Yesterday, as we were driving to Grand Junction, we realized that we have already been here longer than we were here the first time, in the the summer of 04. That summer the Lord changed our lives. He gave us both a desire to serve together one day and planted the "Lake City seed" in our hearts. How incredible to look back at that summer and see how the Lord allowed that seed to bloom! We have seen the Lord provide a place for us to live, a 4-wheel drive vehicle, a home church, incredible friends, and a ministry that He has already blessed so much.

We absolutely love our routine we've established since we have been here. Every Monday the kids have off of school, so we try to meet with them one-on-one for coffee and/or go to the ski hill here in Lake City for a couple of hours. Then that night have our separate highschool guys/gals Bible studies. Tuesday we go to the school to have lunch with the kids and have our junior high meeting that night. Wednesday nights are our highschool meetings and we alternate every week having the meeting at someone's house-"hang night" or at the fellowship hall- "club night". Thursday is our self proclaimed day off and date night, but we still try to make it to the school to have lunch. Seth gets up at 6am on Thursdays to go to the community Men's Bible study. Friday nights we go to "teen center" which is an event organized by the city. They open the armory from 7pm-10pm and provide chaperones so the kids can hang out, play video games, watch a movie, play b-ball... Saturday is random, but usually busy with kids stuff. Sunday we attend Grace Fellowship and try to take whatever kids are willing to go. then have our traditional mexican food fix for lunch at Blue Iguana...mmmm. We might hit up the ski hill again that afternoon and possibly get in a nice nap =) Sun night Crystal attends the community Women's Bible study and then joins Seth at teen center afterwards.

There it is! Just in case you were wondering what in the world we do during the week.

We are looking forward to Betty and Bosley joining us here. After surviving the harshest part of the winter we have no doubt that they will do great. The greatest part about Lake City is EVERYONE has a dog, and they take them everywhere with them. The bank even has a big box full of doggie biscuits for the customer who brings the dog in to do some banking. Most defintely our kind of town =)

Please continue to pray that we would be able to find a permanent living situation in the next couple of months. As you can imagine, the housing market here is quite expensive and we aren't really in a position to buy something. We are currently looking into a caretaking situation which would be rent free and accomodate our dogs and furniture. Praise be to God! We know He already has something waiting for us, He just hasn't revealed it yet =)