Week 1 Orientation

It is a sunny spring Sunday morning in Lakeside, Montana; staff and students alike are soaking up the sunshine and rejoicing in the beautiful weather as they prepare to head to their different places of worship. In our last post I shared how we attended Fresh Life last Sunday and were encouraged by the sound word that was preached. However, through the course of the week Brian decided we would attend Lakeside Baptist this Sunday. He is getting ready now and in about an hour we'll head that way -- by foot! It's about a mile from base. After service we'll go to lunch at a nice little restaurant in town then walk back to base where I'm sure I'll take a nice long nap, although I can't speak for Brian who will most likely start up a game of basketball with a few of the guys. He has been playing regularly since we got here. There are a handful or more of athletes in our DTS, and many more in others schools or on staff around the base.

We have had a long, full, and exciting week of 'orientation' where we went over guidelines, schedules, introductions, picked work duties, tracks, and finally everyone found out the outreach destinations (which I still can't announce to the 'outside' until Monday) Of course Brian and I will complete that phase after our move and will complete it in our new 'home town.' So you might be asking "what are work duties?" or "what is a track?" Well, thanks for asking! Work duties are the tasks or chores we are given to help out around the base. I got lunch clean up, everyday from 12:20-1:30p I, along with 4 of my classmates, clean up the cafeteria and kitchen after lunch. It's actually fun to have a task to complete and to be able to serve the others around me. Which is the purpose of every student having a work duty. Brian picked housekeeping, where he and another guy clean all the men's bathrooms in the dorm. He's such a servant. 'Tracks' are like speciality training, we spend a few hours Wednesdays and most of the day Friday working in our 'tracks.' We could pick from Worship/Music, Sports/Outdoor Adventure, Dance, Media Communications/Art or Impact (which is developing a mix of community outreach resources). I am in the Media track and Brian is in the, you guessed it...DANCE (that's a joke)...Sports track.
We have enjoyed teaching from the DTS staff and others and have enjoyed getting time to talk about the lectures. We have also enjoyed getting to know the other students in our DTS. There are a few college grads and another married couple, which is nice. We met in our small groups for the first time this past Friday and I look forward to getting to know the girls in my small group better as we learn and grow together.
Thursday I went down to the lake with a few others and took these pictures. It is absolutely breath taking. This morning as Brian and I walked to Lakeside Baptist (We had to leave before I finished, and no I did not get a nap but Brian did play soccer!) I was almost speechless at the beauty and magnitude of the mountains which we are surrounded by here in Flathead valley. Just the walk to church was full of worshiping in my heart. I just can't get over the splendor and beauty of His creation. No picture can do this view justice. And it isn't even the best view I've seen!! I can't help but relate it to our understanding of His glory. Nothing can begin to describe it, nothing can give us an accurate, clear or perfect picture of His great beauty. We will not know until we see Him face to face in all His splendor and glory. The anticipation of that day makes me tremble in fear and dance in joy. It makes me want to spend everyday delighting in Him and living for His renown. I want my life to be a reflection of Him, as clear as it possibly can be.

And we're off!

It seems like ages ago we decided to go through a Discipleship Training School (DTS), but it has only been 6 months. Now, after months of planning and preparing, we are FINALLY in Lakeside, Montana! We had safe travels, with some delays but nothing real eventful, and made it onto the base at about 10pm. We were given a quick tour of the dorm we'll be living in and the student center (where we saw a half court b-ball court and weight room, both of which Brian has already used!) and then spoke for a few minutes more with our school leaders, Brian and Mackenzie. We settled into our room which took no time at all, made up the bed and went to sleep. We were able to sleep until 8:40a which was lovely, and when we woke up we looked out the window to see the ground and pine trees covered in a light dusting! We have had flurries again at about 3p and as I'm writing now, at about 8pm it is snowing again.

Our school leader, Brian B., had arranged for us to go to church with one of the staff after we asked if someone could take us to church and then possibly walmart as there were a few items we were in need of. Lynn and two of her children (Sarah and Aaron) picked us up at 10:30 and took us to their church Freshlife (find out more about it by clicking the link). We enjoyed the time of corporate worship, though we felt there was a bit too much appealing to the masses. I will say, we were both pleasantly surprised by the content of Levi Lusko's preaching. he preached the word, it was brought to life and he made practical applications from the text. He taught what the scripture said, not taking anything out of context and his speech and countenance showed a passion for God, and for others to know God. He did preach wearing skinny jeans though. I would much rather listen to a man wearing skinny jeans who is undoubtedly on fire for God and who knows the Word of God and who lives the Word of God than a man in a suite who twists the scriptures to say what he wants them to say, who doesn't portray a true heart change and who preaches over his congregation. I have never sat under a pastor like that, and I pray I never will. My point is that, while Brian and I both felt the appearance of Fresh Life Church was much different than FBC Lindale or any other church we've been a part of, we feel like the content of the worship service is in line with scripture. We went to the website and spent some time talking about it and believe the heart of the pastors and people at the church is to make disciples, not just to see their own church congregation grow but to see His church expand for His gloru. Not to please the masses but to see the hearts of the people of Montana turn to God, to be discipled and to go out and make more disciples. We don't agree with all their methods, but in the end we decided to give this preacher from California another chance, and so we plan on going back next Sunday.

To our church family back home, we really missed everyone this morning, especially our SS class. We look forward to being back amongst you in June.

After church we ran a few errands with Lynn and her kids and learned a few things about Montana along the way....they pointed out Glacier Mt. ski resort, where celebs like Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp own realstate, we got restaurant recommendations (although with our meals on base being paid for we won't eat out much, if any) and Brian got very excited when he discovered you can ride a 4-wheeler ANYWHERE without any restrictions (other than the posted speed limits). He wants to take a 4-wheeler out into these woods so badly! Can you blame him though? I'm looking forward to learning more about Montana as we soak up God's beautiful creation. Even more than that I am looking forward to learning more about God as we immerse ourselves in His unending beauty.

This is the view to the left of our dorm, when you first walk out the door. Behind the dorms you can see the mountain peaks, I'll post pictures of those later in the week, when I make it to the lake!

So this is home for the next 11 weeks. We're looking forward to what is in store and excited to finally be at this point in our journey. Thanks for supporting us all along the way. We couldn't do it without you!