Snowmobiles and Sumo Suits

Daphne and I went on our walk in Flying J this morning (local hiking area), and about half-way along the trail we had a nice surprise: a fully decorated Christmas tree with ornaments and garlands out in the middle of the woods.  We almost missed it, because it was set back from the trail about 30 yards.  So someone carried a box of decorations out in the woods and decorated a tree... just because it's Christmas.  I love it!  Makes me wonder how often I do something because it's my job, or because I'm told to - versus doing something just for the sheer joy of it.  It's possible that no one else will even see that tree between now and Saturday, but it sure made my day. If someone decorates a Christmas tree in the forest, and no one is there to see it... is it still worth it?

Demon Santa

We've got a dancing Santa Clause out in front of the diner.  He's a loaner from one of the gals in our church, but I have to confess - he gives me the creeps.  He works off a motion-sensor, so he stands there with this blank stare on his face until some unsuspecting victim happens to walk past - then he starts singing and dancing like Elvis doing the Hula Hoop.  I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten that he's there, and I'll just about jump out of my skin when he starts singing and doing his little jig thing.  I think he's possessed... but that's just me.

 On the other hand, we had the REAL Santa and Mrs Claus here last Sunday.  Yes, it's true: Santa has a vacation home right here in Conifer, Colorado, and he made a charity appearance at The Journey Community Church.  Unfortunately, he got into a tussle with one of the rookie reindeer recently, and he had to wear a sling on his right arm; at least, that's the story they told the kids.  In reality, this particular Santa tripped on the sidewalk and did a face-plant, breaking his upper arm in the process.  Kind of ruins the "Santa Aura", doesn't it?  The kids loved it, and Santa and Mrs Claus did this particular appearance free of charge.  They're regular customers at the Angry Llama Diner, and he actually wears red most of the time - I guess he's really embraced the Santa role!

A few days ago, several of us from church drove up to Breckenridge to visit "Good Times Adventures", which is a Dog-Sledding and Snowmobile company run by one of the men who attends The Journey.  Our reason for going was to make a brief news story that we can show as part of the "Journey News" portion of our weekend service.  We did do some filming, but in the process we had more fun than humans should be allowed to have.  Brian, the owner, had us spend an hour on the dog sled, followed by a two-hour snowmobile ride right up to the Continental Divide.  The dogs are purebred Siberian Huskies, and they only have two gears: full speed or stop.  The only way to control their speed is by standing on the brakes behind the sled; if you tip over and fail to grab the sled in time, the dogs just keep on running . . . all the way back to their kennels.  To avoid this, one of the staff rides in front of the dog team on a snowmobile so he can jump off and grab the dogs as they race past. 

The snowmobiles were just as much fun, only a whole lot faster - I think we got up to 45 or 50 mph on some stretches.  What a ride!  The guide took us to a couple of sites where thriving towns used to exist during the gold rush.  It was hard to imagine what it must have looked like, because all that's left is part of a log building, or just an open space in the woods.  It's amazing how fast a town of 1500 people can simply disappear and get taken over by nature.

 Once we got up to the Continental Divide, the view was breath-taking.  We were grateful to have a beautiful day, as there are some days when you can't see 20 yards in front of you due to fog or snow.  From the top we could see clearly for at least 50 miles.  The snow was a little thin on top, so we couldn't race full-speed around the open meadow like they'll be able to in another couple of weeks.  Apparently, from what the guide told us, the wind is so strong up on top that they can have four or five feet of snow in one night, and by the next morning it's all blown away.  Pretty amazing.

It was an incredible adventure and I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to go.  Hopefully, our whole team can get back there together sometime this winter so the others can have the same experience. 


Last Sunday evening the youth ministry had their Christmas party, and we rented sumo suits for the occasion.  I'd never seen a sumo suit before; once you get in the suit and put on the helmet, you look like a giant dog tick.  The goal of the game is to either knock the opposing sumo person out of the yellow circle, or knock them down and fall on top of them.  The only problem is, once you're down it's impossible to get back up by yourself - you just lie there flailing your arms and legs like a giant upside-down tortoise.  The little kids were the funniest to watch because their heads barely stuck out above the suit.  All they could do was waddle towards the other kid and kind of lean forward, and hope the other one fell down before they did.  You hoped you were one of the first ones to get in the suit because by the time fifty sweaty kids have been rolling around inside, you can imagine how rank the suits and helmets were. 

Last night I finished teaching through the book of John.  One of the other staff - Adam - will take the next couple of weeks as I work on preparing for the next series called "Jim's Believe It Or Not: Amazing but True Adventures From The Mission Field."  Michael thought it would be fun for the church to hear some of the stories we've accumulated over 20 years as missionaries overseas, and the lessons we've learned in the process.  Should be fun!