Then Sings My Soul...

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

18 days away from the wedding :)

Nikki & I opening our first wedding present...

This struck a cord in me today:

I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished... I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.
-George Muller of Bristol

Sometimes I fixate on "what my role is" or "how i can be of service." When it's really not about that at all. Those questions are answered in time; I'd be better off pursuing God Himself and his scripture rather than "my purpose."

Saturday, May 31, 2008

The gain outweighs the pain...

Just some thoughts for the day from John Piper's Desiring God...

Love is costly because it always involves some kind of self-denial.

Love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others.

Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill;
God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

-Martin Luther

It seems as though the way of maximum joy and the way of fleeting pleasures are two completely separate roads...

D

Thursday, May 29, 2008

In the news...

One of my students interviewed me on the topic of "Spiritual Wellness." It made the SMU news broadcast so check it out if you want. The clip makes it seem like I teach yoga (I wish), but I don't!!

http://envibrance.com/Spiritualmovie/Spiritualweb2.mov

Also, one of the postings from my Ironman blog made it in "The Phast Times News" - the Dallas area run, bike & swim news publication. Here it is:

SMU-in-Taos Final Post: Leaving God's Country...

Well, I'm back in Dallas now. It was really good to see Nikki, finally!

I miss Taos. I loved the cold nights and sunny days. I loved seeing the stars at night. I loved looking to the horizon to see snow-capped mountains afar and fields with horses close by. I loved the pace of life. I loved having to walk 10 minutes to and from every meal. I loved how active I was everyday. It was truly an amazing experience. I can't wait to go back. I can't wait to go back with Nikki...

Now for the rest of all the pictures...

There was one day where we had a hike scheduled at Yerba Canyon near the Taos Ski Valley. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to do it because of the weather. It turned out to be the most beautiful and most adventuresome activity of them all!

This was a GREAT group!

These are some sunrise pictures from a 6am morning hike we did near Fort Burgwin...

Then, the rock climbing trip. Wind chill in the 30's or 40's that day. Hard to climb up a vertical cliff when you can't hardly feel your hands...

On the final day, we did a 12-mile mountain bike ride on the west rim of the gorge...beautiful!

Here are some pictures of what I saw while I was riding...

On the day I was supposed to drive back, I set my alarm for 4:30am so that I could get home in time to see Nikki right when she got off work. When I came around a bend on Highway 518 near Mora, NM, I saw such a beautiful view I had to stop the car and capture the moment. This picture doesn't do it justice but here you go...

Thanks for following along with my Taos experience!

D

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

SMU-in-Taos Post #4 - Williams Lake Snow Shoe Hike

First of all, I want to share some news that Nikki is really excited about: She is going to be a marathon coach for the Dallas White Rock Marathon with Luke's Locker!! She is volunteering to lead a group of athletes for 6 months of training that will culminate with a 26.2 mile road race. In doing so, she is giving up all her Saturday mornings from now until December 14th. You rock!

Ok, the hike to Williams Lake: AWESOME! I love snow shoeing now. The views were spectacular of course. Here are all my pictures for you to check out:

wheeler peak

me and albert, a philosophy prof from serbia also teaching in the taos program

williams lake from above, we hiked 2 miles in snow shoes up a mountain to get here!

another pic of wheeler peak

closer to the lake

Monday, May 19, 2008

SMU-in-Taos Post #3: Fly Fishing in the "Everglades"

Scott Tousa, the title was for you.

Yes, I actually went fly fishing and really enjoyed it. We drove about an hour outside of Taos to Cimarron.

I loved learning about the history of fly fishing from our guide and all the in's and out's as to why they do everything they do. It was fascinating.

Before we ate lunch I had caught 6 fish! I didn't catch any more after that, which made for a pretty long afternoon, but it was still easy to enjoy because it was such a beautiful day.

Here's a picture of me before heading out

first fish, but you can't see it

some casting shots

another fish

look at the view behind me, spectacular

here's a picture of our group for the day: genevieve, an smu student; david, our guide; and me

The mountain biking out here is awesome. Here are some shots from a trail right by our camp in Fort Burgwin...

Here are just some other random shots I took in town the other day. There really are some gorgeous views out here. Take note of the sky's "blueness" in the first three pics...beautiful, eh? The last picture is my favorite...