The Path Less Traveled: Days 1 and 2: Acclimating to nearly 10,000 FT

Day1: Saturday, July 12
Our day started very early, around 4 AM, and by 430 AM we were headed to the airport. Our flight was on time and we actually landed early in Denver. Met up with Kate, had a few mix ups with the rental car, but by 11 AM mountain time we were on our way with me and Josiah following Kate and the rest of the band.

Unfortunately some one with the same exact looking car like the one Kate was driving started to get off the interstate. In my thinking I thought "Well, Kate decided to eat early." When we got off the ramp and came to the stop light, I told Josiah, hey look, someone put a Florida Gators label on the back of their SUV. Then I noticed it was a Lexus and Kate rented a Ford. Then we get a call from Dan asking why we got off the interstate. Ha! It all worked out and we all ended up in Breckenridge at the Lodge.

The scenery is absolutely beautiful! Took several pictures (see below).

When we started to set up the stage area at the lodge using the equipment we rented from a company in Denver. Unfortunately none of the cymbals for the drums arrived, neither did one of the monitors. The keyboard I was to use did not have the midi USB output I needed either. After several frustrations we realized that God is still in control and whatever happens, He was still in control. Worship was going to happen whether we had cymbals, the right keyboard, the number of monitors we thought we needed. Worship went very well, in fact it went great!

By the time we got back to the house we were staying in, it was around 10 PM mountain time, which was Midnight eastern. That means we had been up for about 20 hours.

The other problem was acclimating. Breckenridge sits at 9600 feet and the lodge was at 10,000 ft. Going up stairs or up a hill was rather a challenge. We remembered to drink lots of water and that seemed to hold off the headaches...well at least keep them at a minimum.

Dan, Thomas, Josiah and my left eye

Me and Thomas

Arriving in Denver

The ride from Denver to Breckenridge

View from the Lodge at Breckenridge

Breckenridge Ski Area

Day 2: Sunday, July 13
After a really good service this morning, we did an acclimation hike which took us to 10,750 ft. We did pretty good and I noticed I was doing better going up and down the stairs. After that we came back to the house and relaxed for a couple hours, then it was back to the lodge to set up for rehearsal and then worship. It appears that everyone in the team is having problems with frustrations, things not going right, so we had a good prayer before worship. Even the leader of the Freedom Climb out here was having problems and so we brought her into our prayer. After that, we felt a lot of peace.

I'm thinking that with all the frustrations, distractions, etc coming against each team member INCLUDING the leader of the Freedom Climb...this cause that they are climbing for, is much bigger than I think. We must really be stepping on the enemies territory, but hey, God is with us, and with God with us, who can be against us!