Speechless

So we all went down to Moab Utah this past week for an awesome week long camping trip. We left Timberline about 7:15 on Monday morning. It is about 6 hour drive from Fraser to Moab. The landscape down there is just crazy, I have seen mountainous landscapes before due to being in the Smokies. So my first few days being up in the Rockies I wasn't as in awe of them as I was of the desert, sandstone, canyon land, and jagged cliff like landscape of Utah. It was amazing. Just the vast nothingness and then all of a sudden a canyon with a river running through it and to see the life that river brings to the area around it with the trees, bushes,  and the wildlife.

We camped along the river in gold bar campground which is close to Arches national park . Totally roughing it.  Showers in the icy Colorado River that was about the extent of our amenities haha. Well, we did also have a hole in the floor outhouse. Which was a blessing and a curse. Lets just say I was glad I didn't have to dig my own hole but the closed in smell of that tiny room wasn't the most inviting. I can at least be thankful that It wasn't baking in the Florida sun all day. Definitely an awesome trip, but it sure wasn't the Holiday Inn Express haha. Though I did sleep in my hammock all week which was quite lovely. Thanks again to my church for the gift! I am the blue one in the picture below. A few of the other guys had the same setup idea.

The campsite is about a 25 to 30 minute hike away from the Carona arch. When we arrived Monday afternoon we hiked up and checked out the arch. It was quite an awesome sight to take in. The weather was very nice for the hike, around 80 degrees and almost no humidity at all. While most of the group thought they would die of heat stroke myself and a few of the other southern guys had a bit of a laugh at the comments of "its so hot", "ugh the heat", and others.  Since to us the high 70s, low 80s, and no humidity is a nice fall day haha. 

Tuesday we broke up into a few groups and went out and did some activities. I was with the first group to do some very advanced cross country mountain biking. The trail we did was insane with its uphills and downhills. We were riding on what's called "slick-rock" it's basically extremely smooth sandstone. Again did I say it was awesome!? It was probably my favorite part of the week, wait no it definitely was! We rented some top of the line mountain bikes for the trail, due to the difficulty of it since a Walmart special wont quite do the trick haha. To the top and the right is a few pics of some of the terrain we biked over.

After the 5 hour ride once we were passing back through town we stopped at this awesome little burger and malt/shake joint called "Milts". Which has been in Moab since 1954. It is seriously a taste of America at its finest.

Wednesday the group I was in went for a hike in Arches national park. We hiked back a few miles to the Black arch and the Double O Arch. Again some pretty sweet terrain to traverse. We had some pretty amazing views on the hike. After the hike, we again went to Milts

Thursday my group did some canyonerring. Which involved a short hike, some team building activities, some rather chilly water to wade through, and going backwards off a couple of extremely high cliffs. It was a very good exercise of trust, since I was at the mercy of my group leaders, the rope, and gravity. I'll tell you I haven't felt that helpless in a long time. But once you pass down that first 20 feet the other 100 is a blast. We had two repels, the first was about 140 feet and the second was about 200.  After we hiked for roughly 50mins out of the canyon we repelled into we again went to Milts. If we hadn't there may have been a mutiny. I think you could say we were hooked.

 

Here is a picture of their double chili cheeseburger and a jumbo vanilla shake. Side note I know it isn't very jumbo compared to how the South does jumbo. But oh my goodness was it so good!

We had our first lesson of the week in the shadow of the Corona arch. Our teacher for the week was Josh Pedersen who is a pastor of a church in South Carolina. Each day he took us through the book of judges and each lesson we focused on a specific judge. The point of the lessons this past week, were to show that just as the Israelites continued to return to their evil ways time and time again and then were rescued by a judge that the Lord would send, in the same way Christ has saved us from the ways of our flesh and the sinful nature we have inside of us.
Probably my biggest standout thought came to my heart and mind during the final morning session around the campfire. The question was posed to use after learning about the judges, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Shamgar, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. My thought was on Samson and how in his story when in chapter 15 verse 18 after he is done slaughtering some Philistines with a donkey's jawbone (which side note he wasn't even supposed to touch in the first place) he cries out to the lord and this is how the text reads

Judges 15:18-20 NIV
Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord , “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.   Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

So even after the many many times Samson does his own deal and totally goes against the commands the Lord had for his life, God the father does not forsake him or forget him and continues to look upon him and care for his needs.
Now here's the cool part. Christ as the perfect redeemer for us, he hung on a cross for those sins that Samson committed and for the ones that you and I committed. He lived out perfectly the commands his father had set in place for his life. Yet unlike Samson who God the Father did not forsake or look away from, Christ hung on that cross and the Father turned his face from his son and did forsake him for that short amount of time. So that our ultimate need could be cared for which is our depraved state we are in.
One other piece of wisdom we can see from Samson is that it is very unwise to be unequally yoked. As we can see the trouble that everyone of his relationships got him into. Especially his relationship with Delilah. It's just a bad idea to be in a relationship with a non believer.

By now for those of my faithful followers know that I like to tie in some song lyrics to the end of my blog post. So far just Steven Curtis Chapman songs, so why quit now?
As I was out in Gods Awesome creation this week I found myself many times lacking words to say. You can only use "amazing, awesome, beautiful, and majestic" so many times to describe something before the start to lose their worth. Along with that I was thinking about my thought on Samson and Christ which the love that Christ showed to us we can't describe in words. So these came to mind.

I am speechless, I'm astonished and amazed
I am silenced by your wondrous grace
You have saved me
You have raised me from the grave.
And I am speechless in your presence now.
I'm astounded as I consider how
You have shown us
A love that leaves us speechless

Till next time
Love Jared