(Sorry this is kind of a long post because we’ve done a lot in the past two days!)

Yesterday we took it a little easy. I have to say I was a little relieved because I’ve been quite tired during this trip. I don’t sleep well in new places or in the car, thus I haven’t gotten a lot of rest. God blessed me last night with 9 blessed hours, however, and today I had plenty of energy for the fun things that entailed.

Yesterday we went to see Pike’s Peak. I LOVED the drive up as we kept going higher and higher. The drive to the top takes almost an hour, but it seemed to go very quickly because there were so many new views to ooh and ah at. The hairpin turns were a little nerve-wracking, but the views were absolutely spectacular. I couldn’t get enough pictures, though none of them do justice to the great cliffs and depth of the shadows from the clouds. You can see for miles and miles at the top; I can only imagine what early explorers like Lewis and Clark thought of views like that after climbing the treacherous, wearying clefts. At the top it was 52 degrees, so I should have brought my sweatshirt! Silly me; oh well. 🙂 There were SO many rocks at the top, so I guess I know where the Rockies got their name.

When we came down from the mountain we returned to our cabin and chilled for the evening, which I loved. I finished a book that I started the day before and began a new one. I also watched more TV last night than I have all year! Reed, Jenna, and I watched Storage Wars for over an hour before I went to take a shower and read some more. I fell asleep thinking about how God can change me through what I am reading (definitely a good way to doze off!).

This morning we tried to find the Royal Gorge but instead ended up driving in an hour-long circle. 😛 Whoops! At least the scenery was very beautiful! Since we couldn’t find it we turned around and went to Colorado Springs again.
In Colorado Springs today we ate lunch at Chic-fil-A. Then we found the Compassion International USA office and toured there. They have beautiful statues in the lobby depicting their Christ-centered, child-focused mission, as well as showing how Compassion’s work with children can influence a whole community. Then Sean (our tour guide) showed us the history of Compassion and how it all started back in 1952 in South Korea. I knew that Compassion really built up the economic, social, and spiritual stability of South Korea, but I never realized that S. Korea is now a partner country with the USA and 11 other countries to sponsor children themselves! How COOL is that?! Amen, Jesus!!!
All along the walls was artwork done by various sponsored children. When Sean was talking about the 3 programs: child sponsorship, leadership development, and survival, my heart was drawn to the survival program for mothers and their babies (from conception to age 3). Abba, do You want me to sponsor a survival program center??
Then we got to see where they process all of the letters!! That was my favorite part. 😀 Sean said that over 5 million letters from sponsors are processed each year, and that doesn’t even include the letters from the children! How crazy!! I left postcards for Andrea, Blinzler, and Tumpesia (my sponsored children) there. 🙂 Finally we got to see a replica of a child development center (basically like a small, one-room schoolhouse). They had toys, books, shoes, crayons, hygiene stations, and lost more, though it surprisingly didn’t look crowded. Sean said that each child is put in a group with a few others in their age category (3-5, 6-9, 10-12) with one or two other tutors that give them specifically the attention they need to succeed.
I’m SO glad we got to visit Compassion!!

After leaving Colorado Springs we drove around Denver to Estes Park (which includes Rocky Mountain State Park). Dad was testing my patience because we spent 2 hours driving past all of these different lodges and motels looking for one to stay in, but not stopping at any of them. Weird, I agree, but we finally stopped at one by 8 p.m. and were able to get a little cabin, which is nice. 🙂 We walked downtown to look in little stores and find some food (finally!) before coming back to rest. It’s surprising how tiring traveling can be! But Abba has sustained me, especially through Psalm 23. Amen, LORD Jesus.