Psalm 37:4 Delight Yourself in the Lord

It is late on Saturday night, the wife has already gone to bed (tired from the hike), and I am making edits to our blog. I was looking for a good verse to post as a welcome and I came across Psalm 37:4. It really got me thinking about all of the request I have brought before the Lord in the last couple of months (some even for the last couple of years). Sometimes it feels as though He hasn't given me the desires of my heart. It is difficult to deal with the Lord giving an answer that doesn't go along with my "life plan". Luke 11:9 comes to mind where it says "and I say unto you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened". I am asking and I am knocking, but when nothing happens it is hard to understand why. So what can I do. That is where Psalm 37:4 comes in.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will tend to the desires of your heart.
-Psalm 37:4

What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord? How can I delight myself in the Lord? I need to seek him, I need to sit at his feet and just listen. I have to get away from the business and distractions of the world, concentrate on His word and listen and let the Holy Spirit convict my heart. In order to delight in the Lord I need to do what pleases Him, I need to put Him first and have His word on my heart. Psalm 40:8 says "I delight to do your will, Oh God, and your law is within my heart."

If I delight myself in the Lord, He will help me see my true desires. When I think I know what I want in my life and I bring those desires to the Lord, He doesn't always answer, or at least He doesn't always answer the way I think He should. But if I desire the Lord first, everything else will come and He will give me the true desires of my heart in His time. The important thing for me to remember is to keep seeking the Lord, continue to knock and simply delight myself in Him. He has already blessed me with so much in my life, but I want to focus on the things that have yet to come and my current desires instead of just being joyful and content. God is good. He loves me and has always blessed me and taken care of me in the past, so I just need to be patient and delight myself in Him.

Our Hike to Horsetooth Rock

Today we went on a hike up to Horsetooth rock (just about 4 miles outside of Fort Collins) with our new friends Justin and Sara. It was a great day for a hike, in the mid 50s but a little cloudy and visibility wasn't the greatest. The views were still spectacular none the less. We went about 5 miles round trip, but our legs a burning now. Justin and I jogged for a little ways, but we couldn't handle too much. The altitude and "thin" air was killing us (they just moved from Oklahoma and are still adjusting too). Even though I have been running on a regular basis, running up hill and at a higher elevation was killer. It felt like there was somebody standing on my chest after just a couple of minutes! There are a lot of other trails in that area and we look forward to exploring more in the upcoming weeks. It is great to have good hiking areas so close.

The crew (even Hooch was able to climb up on most of the rocks, but he wasn't too interested in this photo opportunity).

Jamie, Sara, and Hooch


That's not us, but we can say it is...


Horsetooth Rock (I guess it looks like a horse's tooth, but you have to use a little imagination)



The view from the top overlooking Horsetooth Reservoir and Fort Collins



View of the base of Longs Peak (I think...)

Horsetooth Rock up close.

Winston is still up to his crazy shenanigans...

If you ever are curious as to the life of our cat, just find a bag or a box, any size, climb in and then just hang out...

Happy Birthday Wife!!

It was Jamie's 25th Birthday this past Tuesday and she was pretty bummed that she couldn't celebrate with her friends and family. So Friday night I organized a group to go out to eat at a local Mexican Restaurant. I invited some family friends that I knew growing up and also sent a general invite out to everybody from our new small group at church. I was so surprised at how many people made it. I think we had 20 people total, it was great. Even though Jamie couldn't celebrate with everyone back in Oregon, I think she had fun and was glad to see a bunch of people we just met come out and celebrate with us.



Justin and Sara, he is the new Youth Pastor at church. They moved here about a week after we did from Oklahoma City and they live right across the street from us in a different apartment complex. They are a lot of fun. And then there is Travis in the front looking a little intimidated by the size of his Margarita!

One end of the table.

Ryan and Jess

Ryan and Heather, they host and lead the small group.

Carla and Paula, Bud was home sick on the couch

Ron and Paula...I don't think Ron likes taking pictures!

The birthday girl!

We made an offer on a house...and other news

About a week ago we made an offer on a house in Severance (which is about 7 miles from my work in Windsor and maybe 10-15 miles east of Fort Collins). It is brand new, construction was finished back in October. I can't believe the price, something like this in Portland would be $350,000-$400,000! Our offer was $197,850, we signed a 90 day contingency offer (contingent on our house in Portland selling). If we can't close on our house within that 90 day period, we get our earnest money back and go look for the next one I guess, but I am sure the house will sell in another month...or so...
We will try to get some pictures of it this weekend. The address is 511 Aspen Grove Way, Severance CO but on Google maps it is just a dirt lot, maybe google earth has a more recent view.

Work is going well, still a little slow but the company has a ton of work lined up so I am sure I will be busy in the next couple of weeks. It is great to have "wet Wednesdays" or "thirsty Thursdays" where we just sit around and talk about stuff (work projects or just life) while drinking a local brew.

Jamie has started looking for jobs, she has applied at 4 or 5 different medical offices in the area. She even applied at a pre-school. Of course we haven't heard back from any of them yet. I think she is getting a little board with hanging out with Hooch and Winston all day, we need to make some friends.

We have started going to a small group through one of the churches that we visited (PEAK Community Church). We are going through a book called "They Like Jesus, but Not the Church". There are about 6 or 7 other couples that are all "recently" married. Hopefully we can start hanging out with some of those folks, they are all very nice.

That is about it for now, look for more pictures soon!

Will Farrell "The Landlord"

If you aren't offended by talking drunk babies, you MUST go to this website and check out some of Will Farrell's greatest work. Calista, you will love this.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

The Animals

Hooch and Winston did great in the car. We would let Winston out to roam around for a bit, then he would climb back in his box and just take a nap.









Hooch hung out in the back and took in all of the scenery, he also had a great time running around in all of the snow on the way there.
















They both are adjusting to apartment life pretty well. Winston loves taking naps in the sun (something he couldn't truly appreciate until moving to Colorado).















The first couple of nights Hooch would do his soft "alert" bark at every little noise, and let me tell you, there were tons! A big difference going from a nice quite house to an apartment with people on all sides.