Thursday, July 1, 2010



This week, I spent some time with the folks who prepare lunches in the schools for our children in the state of Colorado. I had the priveledge of leading a class with my wife's assistance on "Homemade and Healthy School Meals".

I was very impressed with the dedication and commitment the people I met had toward their job and the kids. Each person sincerely had an interest in creating a meal that was nutritious and that the kids would enjoy.



The whole trip was a bit of a mishap in itself, but due to our great attitude, everything worked out for the best. Here's what I mean...a bit of a communication blunder led us to think our class began a day earlier than it actually did. So, we headed to CSU on Sunday to purchase the necessary foods and find a place to store the perishables for class. We attempted to check in to our arranged hotel room only to find that our reservation wasn't until the following day. So we headed to our class location to see if we could make arrangements for food storage. NOPE!! Nobody in sight! We were getting a little nervous. Deciding to move ahead in case the class actually did happen Monday morning, we spent 3 hours shopping, purchased a cooler and ice for storage, and paid for a hotel room.

Monday morning, we headed over to set up for class. Still, no evidence of the attendees or people putting on the workshop. My wife set out for the main campus location to see if she could get any information. Again, no luck. Now it was past 8am--the time our class was to commence. Since we had no students, we set out together to see if this was a hoax or if we totally had all the information wrong. This time, we found the person who had contracted us and got the correct information. Our class would be Tues and Wed, not Mon and Tues as we had thought. Oh well...

Once we discovered that class didn't happen until Tuesday, we were free to enjoy ourselves a bit. Luckily, we have some great friends in Ft. Collins and they were gracious enough to loan us their bicycles.

We found ourselves all over the fantastic trail system that covers the area and we rode along side the Poudre River most of the way. At one point, we found a pavilion with a bench and took a little break. While sitting and enjoying the view, we heard an odd sound...Hissssssssssssssss. ..the air from my back tire completely escaped in that brief moment of relaxation! We couldn't believe it! Luckily, we were not in the wilderness as we had been all day; we were two blocks from a gas station. Yay!! Unfortunately, the air was 75 cents and we had no cash! Considering what to do, I cocked my head and in that moment, spied another station across the intersection. It had two pumps and an air hose in between them for FREE! Thank You! To whomever is watching over us and presenting these trials.

It turned out to be a lovely ride, a fantastic class and another opportunity to triumph over tribulation!!!! Woo Hoo!