Gratitude | By Quiet Waters

Steamboat Springs, Colorado Travel

April 23, 2018 By Michelle

For several years, as I looked at the Colorado map and thought about where to go next, Steamboat Springs and Dinosaur National Park were high on my list. But from home we have to drive somewhat diagonally across the state for many hours. Well in early January when Builder and I were talking about Spring Break, and we decided to make plans to stay in Steamboat Springs and explore.

Ever since our fantastic Florida Keys vacation a few summers ago, we have sought to stay in houses or townhome. Through Retreatia we rented a great 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhome. The house had a washer and dryer which was a bonus after our day at the hot springs pool.

Fish Creek Falls always shows up when I search pinterest for Colorado Waterfall Hikes. All of the trails were snow covered and I forgot my trekking poles, so we simply took the .5 mile overlook path to see the falls.

We also spent hours at the Old Town Hot Springs, which was a blast. Just imagine how fun it is to spend an afternoon in a hot springs pool with teenagers, laughing as the snow falls in nice big flakes, then an hour later enjoying the sunshine while relaxing in one of the smaller pools. It was fantastic!

A gem that we found was the Off the Beaten Path book store! Two floors of books and a coffee shop.

We spents a couple of happy hours here. I enjoyed a Mr Darcy cinnamon mocha and this good book.

We also found some of the other hot springs, and enjoyed a visit to an art museum.

None of us are skiers, so I can’t tell you about that action in Steamboat, but explorers and hikers we are. It is quite a drive to get to this area, but I sure look forward to another visit in the not to far off future!

Prone to Wander LA, Phone Cases and More

April 17, 2018 By Michelle

“We are all prone to wander away from the things that really matter. Sometimes, we just need a little encouragement, a breath of inspiration, a quick reminder of THE Truth, our identity, and our purpose.

Prone To Wander LA creatively brings God’s Word in the little things we carry, wear, or see everyday. We exist to bless little lives with the little things we create.”

Aren’t these phone cases great? They arrived some time ago in a rather plain package that opened up to some super fun!

These pretty phone cases arrived and were promptly passed around. I quickly discovered which one I wanted to try out on my phone, the wood case. The case has held up to about a month of use, and a few little falls and drops. Originally I was concerned about the wood showing wear. But it still looks great!

My youngest has been using the clear case, and I think she is quite happy with it as well. After taking a look at the website, I have found that there are many designs to choose from.

Prone to Wander LA also offers various art products such as pillow covers, banners, ornaments and art prints.

Thanks to FrontGate Media for these complimentary phone cases, in exchange for this review. If you are a blogger and interested in reviewing new products, check out FrontGate Media!

Backpacking for the First Time

March 26, 2018 By Michelle

Last summer I headed out on my first backpacking trip with one of my daughters. To be honest, I had spent more time pinning hiking and backpacking articles to my pinterest board, than preparing for this venture.

Gear

But gear all gathered and packed in my new Osprey backpack, off we went. Our first trip was in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. This park is just about my favorite place on earth and I was pretty excited to experience it in a new way.

After picking up our back country permit we headed to the trailhead. With backpacks on, we got on the trail and began hiking. There is a lot to learn in any new endeavor and we quickly realized that we had the backpacks unequally loaded weight wise. But we pressed on.

About 2.25 miles in we found the sign we’d been looking forward, and much to my surprise, we turned off the trail and started heading DOWN. Way down. All I could think is, tomorrow we are going to have go climb back up. Crossing a stream at 2 different points, we suddenly came upon the campsite.

It was so exciting to be there. After finding where was best to hang our hammocks, my daughter got started on dinner. Our meals were quite simple, macaroni and cheese with freeze dried broccoli for dinner and oatmeal with freeze dried fruit for breakfast. We carried nuts, granola bars and apples to eat for lunch and along the trail as needed.

By the time we finished eating and setting up camp, it was beginning to get dark so we stashed our bear canister on the other side of our site, in the trees, and we climbed into our hammocks.

Right at the moment of wishing each other a good night…a coyote howl. Now we had heard all about how to be bear aware, but coyotes? After a few startled moment I decided to just enjoy the experience, pray that the animal was in fact miles away, and drift of to sleep in the swaying trees.

After a chilly night’s sleep we rose to make breakfast and coffee. I woke many times that night from the cold, so I’ve been thinking it through and I think I have a lightweight plan to stay warmer next time!

Knowing we were not prepared for the snow that was deeper into the wilderness area, we went the other direction to do some exploring of different sites.

This trip didn’t go quite how we planned, but it went perfectly. We learned a lot, and are better prepared for our next trip coming up soon.

Have you ever backpacked? Did you sleep in a tent or a hammock?

Pathways of Change

March 23, 2018 By Michelle

It is always interesting, the things that stick in a person’s mind, roll around and make pathways of change in a person’s thinking.

In September 2015 I traveled with a group of women to El Salvador to see the ministry of Compassion International, in action. This wasn’t my first international trip, it wasn’t my first time to meet our Compassion sponsored children. But still, this trip, the people I met, the words I heard, have created pathways of change in my thinking.

But first…

Who is Compassion International?

Compassion International is a child advocate ministry.

Every project of Compassion is in partnership with a local church, who is already doing the work of caring for children in their community.

Why work with the local church?

This is something that I truly love about Compassion International. By working with indigenous pastors and the local church, people are reached right where they are. In their language, within the context of their own culture. Local pastors know the people in their communities, and know their needs. By coming alongside the local church, it is strengthened, but not changed.

Pathways of Change

Since returning from El Salvador that September in 2015, I found myself very restless. As my youngest children are all older teens, some of my time has become freer. I spent some time volunteering in a mail room for Compassion, as the headquarters is near my town. Still the restless feeling persisted. I kept thinking about one of the woman I met during that trip, and the work she did. Mercedes is a tutor, a mentor and probably wears many other hats at a child development center (Compassion Center) She is known to go out and find children who have been absent from attendence, or children she has heard about who have needs.

Those memories and the restless feeling I experienced ushered changes in my life. Being a child sponsor has taught me so much about the world outside my little piece of earth, and traveling to visit Compassion children and the people who work with them has changed my life. I now work with at risk mothers and babies in my own community. I feel like the biggest change happens in each person’s life when we let down our guard and expectations, and see what is really going on in the world. There is a great big mission field all over the world, far away, and right here in our neighborhood.

If you are currently a Compassion child sponsor, I encourage you to consider traveling to meet your child if possible. Don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back!

If you are interested in starting the Child Sponsorship adventure, click here to see children who are waiting for a sponsor. While changing life for a child, you may find your the one with the biggest change.

And I’d love to hear from you, in the comments or by email. How has sponsoring children, or working in another ministry changed your life?

She Reads Truth Bible

November 9, 2017 By Michelle

the She Reads Truth Bible

I heard a lot about this edition of the Bible last year, but I am so very happy with my simple black NASB that I didn’t give the She Reads Truth Bible any thought.

But! FrontGate Media sent me THIS!

The Hardcover Poppy She Reads Truth Bible.

The first thing I did was look it all over. The packaging of this version of God’s Word is just so pretty.

One of the things I love about this Bible are the 66 verses that are artfully lettered, one before each book of the Bible. This one is just before Psalms. Also before each book of the Old and New Testaments are simple reading plans that cross reference chapters of a particular book with other passages in the Bible.

This week I have been reading through Psalms and am appreciating the additional passages for going deeper. Studying in this way has made some connections for praying Scripture, which is the primary way that I pray.

This Bible has other fantastic features as well: nearly 200 devotionals, 35 color timelines, 20 color maps, 11 color charts, a topical index, 2 ribbon markers and wide margins for journaling and note taking.

Thank you to B&H Publishing and FrontGate Media for this beautiful copy of the Hardcover Poppy She Reads Truth Bible, in exchange for my honest opinion told in this blog post.

Macular Degeneration and Saving Eyesight

October 21, 2017 By Michelle

My eye sight is something I’ve always taken for granted. When I was ten, it was discovered that I needed glasses. By the time I was 16 years old, contacts were available and how I enjoyed those! Even though my eyesight was not 20/20, I never gave much thought anything but the inconvenience of corrective eye wear.

Several years ago, one of my grand parents was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. The sadness that grandparent experienced over slowly loosing her eyesight remains with me. There was a loss of independence, and especially, the loss of being able to pick up a book, or her Bible, and simply read. This was the first time that I considered the gift of eyesight, and that it might be lost. And for the next couple of years, a certain kind of anxious feeling came over me each year at the annual eye exam appointments.

Life is full, hard and good, and I often have ideas and thoughts that get pushed to the back of my mind. Questions I should ask are forgotten. But this month, I received an invitation to participate in learning more about the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, and sharing some information with my readers. Click here for a free educational packet on AMD, Age-related macular degeneration.

The exciting news is that research is being done on this disease, and on saving eyesight. Now, with treatment, AMD is being slowed down, or stopped, and in some cases, even reversed. My grandparents did not have this gift, but I am so very excited to share the news that many others, including my generation, may benefit from the raised awareness and the treatments.

Getting older happens to everyone. How we live now, greatly impacts how we age, but there are somethings that happen as part of the aging process. It is a tremendous gift that many people support and perform research, such as the Foundation for Fighting Blindness and so many others.

I hope that this post is encouraging, and maybe gives someone that piece of information that helps to piece together an eye health puzzle.

This post is sponsored by FrontGate media, but the story told is my own.