Jesus, Snow, & Challenges

With the last of the students arriving just over two weeks ago, we started up right away, entering the busiest and best schedule of my life. The students are great! We have a few from the USA, while others come from Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, and Sweden.  A total of thirteen students, two full time staff, three staff serving only for the lecture phase, and one staff leader. Total there are 19 people here for the school. We started off with Josh and Marty as our speakers. They are two local Kiwi's (New Zealander's) who have been with YWAM for quite some time. Josh and Marty lived in the mid-west United States for eight years working for a missions organization called "Impact World Tour" as well as at the International House of Prayer.  While they were here in Oxford speaking to my school they really opened up the students eyes of who God is. They really spoke with power and wisdom when they talked about the attributes of God. It has been a huge growing experience being able to sit in lectures again and take in more material just as if I were a student again.

The snow has been epic. Mount Hutt is a local mountain at which we snowboard on Saturdays. Unfortunately, we have only been able to go once because of avalanches, which caused major damage to the lifts and closed the roads up to the mountain. The roads up the mountains are not like the nice paved roads you may be used to seeing in Colorado. These are dirt roads covered in ice. They are built into the side of a cliff, with hundreds of feet of drop-off right next to your tires. No guard rails, no safety, just a 35 min drive up the side of an icy mountain. So if you are looking for something to pray for, well you can always pray for the safety of me and my friends as we travel up these gnarly mountains. The mountains here have had the most snow they have had in 15 years. That being said we are ready to shred every Saturday and Wednesday! I have been riding with the Snowboarders for Christ group. They are a really neat crew that knows how to have fun (like snowboarding) but they also know how to honor God. 

Staffing is challenging. Living in community with people ages 18-35 is challenging. Life in general is challenging. I have learned that the staff here are extremely dependent on one another for daily tasks. I, on the other hand, am incredibly independent! I love having people around ALL the time, but I also like to be able to be free, do my work, cook my food, and just have time to myself.  Here, that independence is virtually non-existent. I am learning a great deal about myself. Good things, not bad things! My dad has taught me how to work hard, diligence, and self-control. I have put all of those into practice here. It is a love/hate relationship here. I love all the lectures, snowboarding, and people, but it can still be very challenging.