Where has the week gone?

I can't believe it's already Thursday, I feel like I just got here the other day and now I only have one more "work day" left in the week. It's been a productive week so far and Denver is starting to feel like home.

I spent most of today taking care of school related things at Colorado University at Denver Out of all the schools I've dealt with over the years C.U.D. has by far been the most professional, helpful, and just all around easy to deal with. (Yes, that is a plug for a school. Next thing you know I'll sprout wings and fly.) :) I'll be taking one History course, Biology, and Spanish. I'm not looking forward to the last two but they're both required core classes. The plus is they take up so many hours that I only needed the three classes to get 12 hours for the semester. Also, I've felt that I needed to learn Spanish for some time now and have prayed about what I should do about that. I'm looking at this as the Lord's answer to that prayer.

On the apartment front, I still don't have one but I do have a call in to lease one I looked at earlier in the week. Hopefully everything works out and I have a place to come back too before I leave Sunday.

I've taken to doing my Bible study (and other reading) in City Park. The scenery is awesome and the vibe there is relaxing. Right now I'm reading through Acts and Lamentations. (Brad is getting ready to do a sermon series from Lamentations so I'm cheating and reading ahead.) ;)

I'm really enjoying Lamentations, for a couple reasons. First, it flies in the face of the "Prosperity Gospel" as it clearly states that God caused all the suffering experienced by the nation of Israel. (For fun go through the book and count how many times the author directly attributes their suffering to God.)

Second, when something bad happens people generally assume that God must have "accidentally" let it "slip through." In Lamentations we see a God who is so passionately in love with His people that He will stop at nothing to bring them back to Himself. What person let's the people they care about the most continue to harm themselves and does nothing to intervene, regardless of how harsh they may have to be? An evil one. For God to be truly loving He MUST do whatever is needed to reconcile His people back to Himself. How can we NOT love a God who loves us that much? This also touches on God's Holiness. For God to be Holy He cannot tolerate sin and must punish it. Ironically, He does this by using other sinners, committing sin, to punish Israel for their sins. Which just proves we're all deserving of God's judgement. Thankfully, Jesus came and lived a perfect sinless life, died, and rose from the dead so that whoever believes in Him as the only payment for sin can receive eternal life.

That's all I've got for today, later gang. :)

Joining the Colorado Air National Guard: It's good to be a Zoomie (again.)

I signed my paperwork today and was officially sworn in as a member of the Colorado Air National Guard (ANG) at 4:00 p.m. MST. I was supposed to look at an apartment this afternoon as well but there was an accident in front of it just a few minutes before I got there that shut down the street so the property manager is supposed to call me back later and reschedule the appointment.

I've had to do a lot of parallel parking since I got here which I find humorous since my driver's ed instructor said we'd never need to do it so there was no point in teaching it. Now I live in a city where it's the official pastime. Getting you car into a spot in one take is a source of pride, and the smaller the space was the better you feel about it. I'm getting pretty good at it, I'm thinking about going pro soon. :)

Tomorrow is going to be full of taking care of a wide variety of things at CU Denver. Setting up my class schedule, getting my status changed to being a Colorado resident, getting the G.I. Bill taken care of and probably a few other things that will pop up over the course of the day.

That's all of today's highlights, more tomorrow. :)

Denver: The trip out, and what I've learned in the (roughly) 24 hours since I got here.

The trip out was pretty interesting, you gain a whole new appretiation for America when you drive across it. I've flown all over the world and lived in different parts of the country but getting to see the gradual transition in sceanery from Indiana to Colorado gives me a new respect for how large and widely varied our nation is. You also learn alot about what makes us all the same. Standing in line at Subway in Hays Kansas is exactly the same as standing in line back in Anderson. There are people who wish the line would hurry up, other people crack jokes to kill time, and the people behind the counter look like they can't wait for the lunch rush to be over. I am increadably thankful for all of you who prayed for me, the weather on the way out was perfect, I only ran into a few small spots of rain. One in southern Illinois and another about 50 miles east of Denver, where the wind was blowing so hard that tumble weeds were blowing across I-70, which cracked me up. (Add that to the list of things you don't see in Indiana.)

I'm staying with Brad and Haley Hovis while I'm out here. Brad is the pastor/lead planter at High View Church. They've been great, and spending time with them has helped make the idea of living in Denver seem much more natural. Also, getting to be around Brad and talk to him is already giving better insight into the life of a church planter. All in one day yesterday he ripped his pants, had to take his Jeep to the shop because it died on him, and found out that as of right now High View has no place to meet this Sunday. (Pray about that please.)

As for what's currently going on with me, I'm signing my contract today or tomorrow, setting up my class schedule Thursday morning at 9:30 (11:30 EST), and my biggest prayer request for myself right now is that I'd find an apartment.

I need to get a move on now, thank you all for your prayers and support.