Philippians 4:13

3 miles in Laramie and Denver today.  Went to Mass then drove to Littleton to our host church then walked around Five Points with Molly from Denver Urban Ministries (DenUM) area of downtown to learn and see more about the homeless and improvished in Denver.

Devtional theme for the day: Freedom.

5.5 miles early with Jade from the church to Ketring Park then down Littleton Blvd to the Dry Creek Trail (which was not dry).  Slow and easy, getting to know Jade better. (Launch 2)

Spent the day working with the Colfax Community Network helping mentor homeless and improvished children. Good organization doing impactful work...with just 3 20 year olds running this effort (Megan, Kelly, Zach)...wow!

Started off serving breakfast then the group split up for a while. My group was sent to help hand out free lunches to children in an improvished neighborhood with Ms. B.  We walked door to door for a block telling people about the service and then playing with the kids.  Gave out about 50 lunches. In the courtyard of the building a playground broke out and what was a group of building with no one outside turned into a community for two hours!  Kids running around laughing and smiling, parents and adults out watching and being part of something bigger for a short period.  Very rewarding to help and humbling to see how some people live.

Drove to Westlands Park and played with the group of kids for a couple of hours.  Our teens had a chance to bond with the kids and give them some fun and personal attention...something they may or may not get at "home".

Kami and Katelyn arrived at the same park 15 minutes after we left...just barely missed getting to see them!

Devotional theme for the day: Understanding

6 miles sole early down Littleton Blvd and on Dry Creek trail, futher than yesterday.  Flood damage on the trail.  (Launch 2)

Worked with Brothers Redevelopment and painted a house that belonged to a Air Force veteran.  Long day of working in 95 degree heat.  Nice man who needed the help.  Got to talk for a bit to Carl, the Foreman for the job, about faith and service.  Nice young guy.

Everyone very tired and a long trip back to the church in rush hour traffic.

Devotional theme for the day: Temperance.  Pretty emotional devotion time tonight.

6 miles through downtone Littleton to the Platt River trail.  Very nice run, beautiful.

Spent the day in downtown Denver with our host organization (DenUM) rep Molly.  Our group participated in the Game of Life where we "simulated" being families in need of services for a month.  Humbling to see how tight and difficult life can be.

Then we did a food stamp challenge for lunch.  Each person was given $1.20 to buy lunch (in one hour)...this is the amount that a person in need in CO gets per day for food assistance.  We had to buy healthy balance food, not fast food.  Another challenge to see how much stuff really costs when you don't have money.

We then spent 3 hours working in an ARC thrift store.  Monica, the store manager, was grateful for the help!

That evening, back at the church, a massive storm rolled in that created a tornado warning and flash flood warnings.  The location we were at earlier were flooded with almost 2 feet of water in the streets.

Devotional theme for the day: Humility

7 miles down to the Platt River Trail, beautiful morning for a run.  Some flooding damage on this trail too.  (Launch 2)

Spent the day at the Denver Zoo with the team.  Big place, lots of walking in about 6 hours.  Talked to a mom with two small children about our trip...she and her husband and kids are taking a group of 20+ kids on a mission trip shortly.  Also talked to Mitch about our efforts, a young culinary arts student working at the Zoo about our trip.

Devotional theme for the day: Relationship

 No run today, early departure from Denver to drive all the way back to Salt Lake City.

We had just turned off I 70 on Hwy 6 when the van I was driving suddenly shut down...in 105 degree heat.  Fortunately we found that is was just a loose battery cable so an easy fix and back on the road.  Only issue was the AC reset and it would blow cool air everywhere except the driver which was full heat for about 5 minutes...I was dying as I was the driver at the time!

Talked to Jeff S. from our host church about the trip and their upcoming trip next week.  Also discussed our trip with the guys at the restaurant where we purchased our dinner for the night.

Devotional theme for the day: Faithfulness

Got up early (well, earlier than everyone else) and ran 11 miles solo in about 1:20.  Up 8600 S to 1300 E then down to the gully and I ran up the rim trail to the park.  Back down 9600 S to 1300 E then back to the church.

Along the way helped rescue some ducklings on 1300 E and saw a buck in the gully.

Got back to the church and everyone was still asleep, so I got Justin up and we ran up 8600 S to a park and ran few loops then home for 5 miles.  Got some speed intervals in during this run.

Devotional theme:  Peace.

Made the drive home to IF.  Glad to be home. A rewarding and thought provoking trip to consider my place in this world and in our congregation and with our youth.   Still processing the whole experience.

Very tired, feel asleep early.