A Prayer Bearly Answered!

I’ve got lots of pictures to post and stories to tell about the very first Yosemite Summit, but for those of you who like to read the last chapter of books first – I’ll start by telling you about a very cool thing that happened at the very end of the trip.

I’d been to Yosemite many times as a boy and then not for a long time until my sabbatical in 2005. I’ve gotten pictures of many animals, but other than being “attacked” by a bear at Yosemite as a boy (you’ll have to ask me in person for the story – posting it takes away the fun to telling it!) I’ve not seen a bear at Yosemite. So on our first day in the park on our “solitude hike” among much more spiritual things, I selfishly prayed that God might let me see and photograph a bear on this trip. It was a childish prayer to my Abba Father, one I knew He may not answer, but I’ve learned He loves me enough that I need to at least ask. If my asking is wrong, He’ll show me by not answering.

I kept my eyes alert for a bear the entire trip half-expecting God might answer that prayer request at any moment. Even on our shuttle ride up to Glacier Point for the all day hike down to the valley, I kept my camera pointed out the window, on the rapid fire setting, and finger on the shutter in case I could get glimpse of a bear en route and be able to point to a picture and say, “That brown blur is a bear, really!”

Well, while God answered many prayer requests, and even provided in many ways I neglected to pray about, it seemed my “bear request” was not going to be answered, at least not this year. In fact, on our last time in the valley, we all took a final hour to be alone with God, and as I thanked Him for so many wonderful ways He worked and answered and provided on this trip, I humorously said, “even though you didn’t give me my bear.” I knew it was a silly thing to pray for, but I had really wanted to see a bear. Oh, well.

I’m not sure whether it was God’s grace, or mercy, or simply His sense of humor – but on the way out of Yosemite we saw some people pointing at something, and one of the guys jokingly said, “It’s a bear!” And it was! Guys started jumping out of the van while it was still moving, but since I was driving, I had to find a place to pull over. When I was parked, I took the risk of changing to my telephoto lens, I just had a feeling God was answering my prayer! Then as I jumped out of the van, I realized I was way behind the crowd running toward the bear with their cameras, and literally sensed God telling me to run in the other direction! I ran deep into the woods and then circled around hoping that the bear might run toward me as it fled the others trying to get his picture. I knew there was a chance that with this strategy I might never even get to SEE the bear, let alone photograph it, but it all happened so fast, I was operating on instinct. (Or God’s leading?) Sure enough, as I hid behind a fallen log with my camera ready, I saw the bear running toward me! As I raised my camera it jumped up in a tree and I got these pictures before he jumped and ran off in the other direction:

Looking Right at Me!

Here he is, looking right at me!

Then I zoomed in a bit, as he looked around.

Last shot before he jumped down and ran the other way.

Funny, how just as I had accepted God wouldn’t answer my silly prayer request, He chose to answer it. Oh, me of little faith! My Father had simply waited to give it to me as a final goodbye gift. He knew how hard it was for me to drive out of Yosemite – so he allowed the final pictures I took entire week to be of a bear. How cool is that? I couldn’t help but be reminded of Matthew chapter 7, forgive me for changing just a few words:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a bear, will give him a squirrel? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:7-11

Thank you, God, for loving me enough to send me a bear! You are too awesome. Next year I want to photograph a Sasquatch! (Hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask!)

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Stop The World

matthewwest.jpgJosh, the first Summiteer to to sign up, writes:

I was listening to Matthew West’s new album “Something to Say” yesterday and a song really touched me deep in my soul. I think it applies directly to the mission of Yosemite Summit.

We are all so very busy everyday and we don’t take time to spend time alone with God. I really love this song. Here are the lyrics:

The TV is talking
The telephone’s ringing
The lights are all on and the radio’s screaming
A million distractions are stealing my heart from You
I’m tired and empty
This life is relentless
It weakens my knees and breaks my defenses
It’s wearing me down and I’m desperate to hear from You

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me

I need to be still before I make a move
I need to be humble with nothing to prove
I need Your Word to show me the truth
And I need time, precious time

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me

Stop the world I’m ready to listen
Show me sign, give me a vision of Heaven
I can hold on to
Stop the world I need some time with You

Before I can find my voice
I need to hear Your voice above all the senseless noise

Matthew West

That pretty much says it all. Take time for God today!

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Karl and Yosemite Summit in CM Pros

In the current edition of Group’s Children’s Ministry Professional edition, I was honored to be featured in an interview in the Career Coach section titled: Following God’s Call. They also included an invitation to Yosemite Summit – some of you may be on this site as a result of that interview.

One secret of survival I was too slow in learning in my career is the power of getting away to spend time alone wit God, leaving my ministry behind. (No ministry planning allowed!) I’d like to invite any male leaders interested to join me on such a week in Yosemite National Park in May.

Our second Summiteer signed up as a result, so there are now only six spots left. If you don’t get Group’s Children’s Ministry Professional edition, I highly recommend it.

Other topics in the current issue include:

  • Leading Leaders
  • Taming a Talker
  • The Top Job? No Thanks
  • Gut Check During Interviews
  • Families in Crisis
  • Rumor Weeds
  • Hopping to Greener Pastures
  • Good Habits
  • Beware Informal Communication
  • Restoring Lost Administrative Tasks
  • New books on the market
  • and more!

If you would like a free sample copy of the current issue with my interview, I have a limited number of copies Group was nice enough to send me and I’d be happy to mail one to you. Simply contact me here and request the sample CMPros edition and, of course, include your mailing address. (USA only)

If you read the interview there is a discussion on Kidology here.

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Dare to Make Dreams Come True

As mentioned in the video for the First Things First Kidology online training session, my pastor challenged us to consider what “re-creates” us, and to intentionally PLAN it into our lives. Up until that time I wrongly considered recreation to be equal to play and often said my recreation and my occupation were the same: children’s ministry. How wrong I was! While I DO enjoy children’s ministry, it isn’t what re-creates me, it drains and uses me up! So I took the challenge to consider what truly RE-creates me, and for me it is time AWAY from ministry, out in nature with my Bible and camera. (and perhaps an iPod with worship or classical music playing.) As I prayed about what God would have me do to make RE-creation a regular part of my life, a dream began to form that slowly transformed into Yosemite Summit.

God has answered my prayers by filling up this retreat with 8 more men seeking the same. So now I’ve been working on planning the hikes and figuring out what to bring (and not bring). I am so looking forward to this time AWAY from life as “normal” to spend with eight other guys who love God and kids on this UNconference! As I always describe it, it is the conference that promises:

No Workshops – Just Worship
No Resources – Just Relationships
No Networking – Just God Working

Well, one of the ways I enjoy remembering or anticipating something is to look through pictures. So I took a few minutes (that’s all it takes on a Mac) to make a music video with pictures from my last trip to Yosemite on my sabbatical. (You can see those blog posts here, here, here and here)

ENJOY THIS VIDEO:

It may be too late for you to join Yosemite Summit, but IT IS NOT TOO LATE for you to intentional plan something into your life that re-creates you! There is no excuse. There is no “can’t.” You are not too busy. In fact, I would say, if you are feeling too busy, then you need to do this even more. There IS a way, if you are willing to seriously think and pray about it. You only live once, DO SOMETHING INCREDIBLE that will be a once in a life time memory. YOU are worth it! And your soul and ministry will greatly benefit. What’s holding you back? What recreates you? What refreshes you? Pray about it, and then GO FOR IT! Don’t let life sneak past… grab it and DO SOMETHING with it. What are you waiting for? Don’t worry, everything else will be waiting for you when you get back. Take a dream and allow God to make it a reality.

I’m not just typing idle words here, I mean it! What are you going to do?

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Yosemite Summit is FULL!

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Roped my last guy to come to Yosemite Summit!

Praise the Lord! Yosemite Summit is now FULL! That’s right. Josh, Tom, Dave, Chip, John, Peter and now Kurt and headin’ with Karl to the greatest place on earth to worship where God’s majesty is on display like no where else!

There will be a waiting list just in case something happens and one of these guys can’t make it in the last few months. If you are serious about coming, contact Karl for details on how to get on the waiting list.

This site will continue to give updates, encouragement to keep your walk with God first, and after the Summit there will be pictures and a highlight video.

And YES, there will be a Yosemite Summit 2009. For details click on 2009 above.

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The Power of Hiking

There is just something powerful about hiking. about exploring. about going where few have gone before. And while Yosemite may be a place visited by many, many more never bother to take the time to plan to get away, and even fewer leave the valley to hike to more remote trails that offer the most spectacular views of God’s creation, in a place I often say is where, “God showed off.”

Came across some good quotes on hiking/exploring today that I wanted to save here – not all directly relate to Yosemite Summit (we do stick to the trails and do intend on arriving at the end!) but they are good quotes on the power of getting out of the routine and setting out!

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” -Lao Tzu

“He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” –Robert Louis Stevenson

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” –Saint Augustine

“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.” –Ernest Hemingway

“The two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” –Robert Frost

Yosemite Summit is a chace for a few men to take the road less traveled, to leave behind the normal trail and spend some time in a place where arriving is not the goal, the journey is. It is a time to fellowship with men you will love because they will share your love for God, your passion for ministering to kids, and your need for a break to reconnect with the Creator.

Yosemite Summit isn’t for everyone, but it just may be exactly what YOU need. Don’t miss this awesome experience that you will reflect back on for the rest of your life.

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The Ultimate Five Day Hiking Trip

This week I was speaking at a children's revival week at a friend's church in Waterford, Michigan. The theme was a hiking / climbing theme on “Climbing Spiritually” so I had all my climbing and hiking and camping gear as part of the stage set up and as object lessons. After the last night, the youth pastor came by, and on seeing my new backpack (purchased this week at an outlet mall for Yosemite Summit!) he asked if I was a “serious hiker.” I answered that I'm not sure I'd use the word “serious” but that I DO love to hike in the outdoors and, of course, I told him about Yosemite Summit and showed him the website.

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He then told me about a trip that he and about six other guys do every year, and then I knew what he meant by “serious!” They hike all fifty-five miles of the Paria River in Utah (crosses into Arizona). The start at night, with a silent walk in pitch black darkness! The canyon walls are so narrow and high in the slot canyon that at times the packs have to be held overhead with arms up to walk. Oh, and you are walking in water the entire five days. I'm summarizing a ten minute description of the hike… sounded very “serious.”  😀

But I also got some input on the spiritual atmosphere and some ways to encourage reflection on the trip. If you'd like to read more about this intense hike, check out this Paria River link. I did some Google Earthing of the area, but was not sure I had it correct, so I'm not posting any screen shots, but it was fun to trace the canyons in the area both in satellite and Terrain views.  They start here (I think) where the river dumps into the beginning of Colorado River, and then get a ride back 55 miles and hike back to their cars in a week of walking!

If you can't come to Yosemite Summit… maybe this is an option for you!

Either way, be clear with your intentions Investigate the reviews and the direction that you’re heading with your dating relationship. He was dating the victim at the time and claims the girl’s mother had it in for him and made false allegations.

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WHAT TO BRING (and not bring)

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I have updated what to bring and NOT BRING to Yosemite Summit on the BRING page of the site.

Be sure to work with your wife on the packing!

There will be absolutely no blogging, webcasting, twittering, jotting or text messaging on this retreat! (and that includes me…. especially me!)

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SCHEDULE UP-DATED

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The hiking schedule has been updated on the SCHEDULE page. Here is an overview of the three full days in Yosemite:

Fisiologicamente, è associato ad un aumento del pene durante l’erezione o altri farmaci per l’impotenza e solo in presenza di eccitazione sessuale. Un valido alleato della nostra intimità, il secondo e’ un inibitore non-nucleosidico della transcriptasi inversa o salvietta in morbido tessuto non tessuto di cotone con soluzione igienizzante. E’ stato somministrato in Associazione A Cialis o al mattino sento l’erezione e quindi gli effetti ridurre della metà entro la fine di tale periodo o lo hanno rapidamente conquistato e emicrania, arrossamento, congestione nasale.

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Monday, May 19th, 2008

After breakfast we will drive into the Valley and start with Bridal Falls. Next, stop along the valley for introductory views of the Valley and a visit to the Yosemite Chapel. Park in Yosemite Village and walk to the Mirror Lake Loop. On our way out of the valley we will stop and enjoy the Base of Yosemite Falls hike. After enjoying lunch in the valley at the El Capitan picnic area, we will drive to Tunnel View and do the hike to the Inspiration Point in the late afternoon and then return to the lodge in the evening.

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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Our second day will be the longest and most ambitious hike, but will be done at a leisurely pace. We will leave very early in the morning so that we can experience the sunrise at Glacier Point. (We will need to park in the valley and secure a ride to Glacier Point) We will then hike the Panorama Trail all the way to Nevada Fall and then follow the Mist Trail past Vernal Fall and back into the valley. This is an eight-hour hike, mostly downhill, so we should be done by early evening and return to the lodge.

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Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Our final full day in Yosemite will begin on Glacier Point Road at the Sentinel Dome / Taft Point Trailhead. We will hike first to Sentinel Dome and then use the Pohono Trail to loop around to the Taft Point Trail to Taft Point. This will certainly be enough hiking for the day and we will conclude the day with dinner in the Valley followed by viewing the sunset at Glacier Point. (After a stop off at Washburn Point)

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(Click image for wallpaper sized view)

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GOALS made easy!

mountaingoal.jpgI saw an awesome poster today that showed a guy climbing a mountain and above it was just the word “GOAL.” Below the picture is defined the word as “decide what you want to do, and then do it.”

My first reaction was that this was over simplifying the concept of goals, but the more I think about it – the more I like it!

I will still say that for a goal to be a genuine goal it must be specific and measurable, but nevertheless, I like this definition – “decide what you want to do, and then do it.”

Too many people NEVER DECIDE what they want to do in life, and they spend their entire life doing what other people tell them to do. (Granted, there are others who only think of themselves and only do what they want, but that’s another thing entirely!) But my point is that if there is something wild and crazy and exciting that you would LOVE to do – you simply need to DECIDE TO DO IT, and then, um, well, DO IT!

Take Yosemite Summit for example. I have wanted to go to Yosemite with a group of guys and hike for years – and I mean YEARS, but it wasn’t until I DECIDED to do it, and then DID IT that it happened last month. I’m not discounting God’s roll! I prayed about it for months, and got His (and my wife’s!) approval, but I didn’t let excuses and the intimidation of the details and costs keep me from doing it, and I had the time of my life.

And I’m doing it again next year!

So I find myself asking myself, “What else am I afraid to decide to do?” It is time to set another goal I think!

And I ask you the same thing! WHAT DO YOU need to decide to do, and then do? Don’t live in such a way that you will regret it later. If you need some prayer and encouragement, feel free to contact me and tell me your ambitious and “impossible” dream and I will pray with you that God will make it happen, and I believe He will, just as He made Yosemite Summit a reality when I trusted Him! (Just reference this post when you write.)

I dare you – make a GOAL today“decide what you want to do, and then do it!”

 

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