A (or 17) Year(s) ago...

So I've unplugged more in the last few weeks...thus my lack of entries.

Trying to figure out how to merge backpacking life with real life. Still don't know. Still know I'm more at home in the outdoors than in the city. Still know this is where I need to be right now and I'm ok with that. Just really thankful that I am close to the mountains even if it's Littleton instead of Buena Vista. On that note, I found my backpacking journal from when I first ventured out here 17 years ago and my entry said this...

"It was really sad to leave the mountains. I 'm attached to them now. I feel that made me a stronger person and I'm thankful for that." August 17, 1991

I feel so thankful that years later I am living the dream of living in Colorado. And hey maybe I'm not a ranger wandering the trails everyday but that's ok. I'm here. And doing a heck of a lot better than we were in August of 2007 which I say is reason to celebrate today.

A year ago...
I was having surgery to have my thyroid removed. Lots of unknowns. Lots of worries.
Jeremy's blood pressure wasn't 118/66 like it was today. Way proud of you baby. Way proud.
I wasn't buying fish, almonds, cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash in mass like I do now.
Didn't know how to rest. Not nap (I can do that just fine!) But rest in the Lord. Still don't totally but I'm learning.

Awesome Psalm for today (also found in my Backpacking journal from 17 years ago.) I loved it then for the mountain references found. I love it today because of the power and dependence on our creator.

Psalm 104 (New Living Translation)

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord.

O Lord my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.^[a]

5 You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.

10 You make springs pour water into the ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 High in the mountains live the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.^[b]

19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
22 At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work,
where they labor until evening.

24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan,^[c] which you made to play in the sea.

27 They all depend on you
to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they are richly satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath,^[d] life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
let the wicked disappear forever.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!