Tag Archives: Colorado

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“Granny” Steps Out of Her Comfort Zone

There were visitors at my gold and silver mine this week.  “Granny” stepped out of her comfort “box” and joined in on the adventure.

It’s more than just a short hike to the mine.  It involves walking down a steep slippery mountain (and climbing back up).  Lots of loose rocks to twist an ankle.  The thin air will cause you to have to breathe a little extra.  Did I mention that there are rattlesnakes in the area?  Oh, don’t forget the bats that hang out in the cave.  I’ve seen a scorpion or two.  Well since I’m telling all,……… we’ve seen mountain lion tracks, two bears, and the ever present pack of coyotes all within walking distance of the mine.

I talked “Granny” into going.  Really what motivated her to go was that her “babies” were going and THEY wanted her to go as well.  I’ll admit, I wasn’t much help.  Telling her all the DANGERS and BAD THINGS that COULD happen only brought out the worry and doubts about this trip.  But then again I did encourage “Granny”.  Step out of the comfort box was my advice.  You can’t hear a true wolf howl unless you get off the pavement and into the dirt roads and paths.  You gotta go to the gold mine to see the “babies” find their gold.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

A sound mind………. that means don’t do anything stupid.  But for so much of our lives and our spiritual journies we hold back out of FEAR,……DOUBTS,……and WORRY.

On your spiritual journey, as you search for that “gold mine”, remember God has given you POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND.  Use it to find your treasures.  Use it to draw closer to God on your Christian Journey.  God gives you His Power and Glory so that in return you give the Glory and Love back to Him.  An awesome arrangement if you ask me.

Did the grandchildren, “babies”, find there gold in the mine?  Possibly, they all took a chunk of rock back home with them.

But let me share with you the treasures they did find.  They all stepped out of their own “comfort boxes”.  They hiked up a mountain pass, drove in the middle of a wilderness to see (and hear) a wolf, floated the rapids, saw fantastic views, and maybe, just maybe realized that God is with them everywhere they go.  Along with His Power and Love. 

And “Granny”, because you cast aside your fears and worries, you were there with your family as well.  They have wonderful memories of their “Granny” in the Gold mine.  You gave me a sweet memory too!

Live, become fully alive, not by hiding in your “comfort zones or boxes”, but by using God’s Gifts of power and Love.  Don’t let doubts and worries be your focus.

This family will tell ya that.  Yea, the journey involves a long, hot, bumpy, dusty,  “are we there yet” road (that’s the doubts and worries).  But the rewards are worth it.  (When they heard the wolf singing and howling)

“Granny”, there is another adventure waiting on you when you come back!  See, there is this ghost town with an abandoned mine…………..!!

See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher   AAAAWWWWOOOOooooo!!

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The Legacy You Leave Is The Life That You Lead

carved tree

I was “bushwhacking” through the wilderness of Colorado when I came upon this carved tree.  Looks like Mr. Monte left his mark on this aspen tree.  No major roads, not even a small trail was close by.  I’m curious how many people have walked here. Possibly ole Chas and me and that’s it.  Possibly could be that lots of folks hiking off the beaten path have walked here.  They just didn’t leave their mark.  I didn’t either.  Carving on a living tree just doesn’t seem proper for me to do.  I’m sure glad Mr. Montes did over 65 years ago.  It made me start thinking about what my legacy might be.  What will people remember about me AND YOU?  Ever thought about it?

Well, think about this.  The legacy you leave is the life that you lead.  That’s a pretty neat saying!  Some leave a legacy for others to remember them by in the form of a building, a big chunk of money, a monument, (a carved tree), etc., etc.  But you and I could leave a great legacy just by the life that you lead.  Just like leading a horse.

leading your horse

Whoa!  (Grab a cup of coffee as I explain). Back to leading the horse……..  Have you ever thought of your own life as being your own horse?  Look at it like this, Both your life and your horse are controlled by you.  You lead your horse to water, down the path, over the river and through the woods…….. You get the idea.  Well, you lead your own life too don’t you?  You have control over your own life.  What you do, where you go, when you go.  You yourself get to choose what you will do and be with your own life.

Sure there are times when we feel we’ve lost control.  When the horse spooks, or the horse doesn’t obey a certain command.  The same thing happens with our lives.  We sometimes get spooked.  Maybe I don’t even  obey a command given by none other than me.  You know, like when you do something even when you know you shouldn’t or you didn’t do something that deep down you knew you should.  See what I mean by leading your own life?  Your horse can bolt on his own, but most nearly all the time he goes where you lead him.  So does the life that you lead.

The life that you lead (you), is the life that you live.  Our lives follow where we lead them.  We lead/live our lives with our heart and soul.  That’s the best  I can explain it.

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.  They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  Psalm 112: 6,7

Your legacy, the life that you lead, can be handed down to others.  This is not to say that you go around bragging, tootin’ your own horn.  But you live in a way that others will take notice.  They SEE your trust in the Lord.  They feel your heart.  Looks like you’ve saddled up your own life and now you are leading and living your own life.  While you lead your own life, it’s good to be able to follow God’s lead and direction.

Lead as you are being led.

See Ya!    Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher

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Dog sledding (Press on)

These amazing athletic dogs gave us a thrilling ride

These amazing athletic dogs gave us a thrilling ride

I got to tell you, I wasn’t expecting this!!!!  (WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE END) These dogs!!!!…… these dogs live to pull and press on!

We signed up for an afternoon dog sled ride.  The owner/driver gave us a detailed explanation of the history of dog sledding. They basically can go (and haul) places that horses and heavy machines can’t.  He showed us examples of the dog teams pulling medical supplies to the far away northern towns of Alaska and Canada.  What impressed me was a picture of a dog team pulling timber(yes, downed trees!!) across frozen lakes.  You’ve heard the country saying, “That dog can hunt”.  Well, these dogs can PULL! 

Our guide, Caleb, was talking to us (Staci, our daughter Jamie, and me,….. the human cargo) about dogsledding.  Occasionally I could hear him say another word or two as he was talking to us.  Oh, I get it. He’s also giving commands to the dogs as he talks to us.  Cool!  I didn’t ever hear him say “Mush” like what you hear in the movies.  Hey, I did hear him say “Gee” and “Haw”.  It reminded me of my long ago days in the garden with our mule named Amos Moses. For real, back then we would tell the mule to “Gee”/pull right”.  Or you could tell the mule to plow to the left by yelling “Haw” meaning to pull left.  Caleb explained to me that those commands mean the same to his dog team as when I used them with our garden plowing mule. It’s obvious that his dogs listen a whole lot better than my mule did years ago. 😉

We are moving at a fast clip.  I can see up ahead a fork in the trail.  It splits right and left, no straight forward.  I’m anticipating the dog’s owner to YELL “GEE OR HAW”  He doesn’t.  He’s carrying on a normal conversation with me.  In the middle of our conversation he says, “gee”.  Caleb doesn’t yell or shout, just says his commands.  Dogs immediately turn right.  You’d have to be there.  But it was an amazing sight seeing these dogs pulling with all there might, communicating with their human leader, and they were lovin’ every minute of it!!!

We stopped for a short break.  I was fascinated listening to Caleb tell about how his dogs work.  It’s obvious Caleb loves his dogs and loves working with them as well.  It made my day when he answered my following question.  “What do you do when the dog doesn’t listen and obey?”

(time out) See, a long time ago, I saw a documentary on dog sledding.  It wasn’t a pretty site.  When the dogs disobeyed, the driver would get angry and beat the dogs.  I didn’t like that.  Poor dog didn’t know what was going on.  But Caleb loves his dogs.  He said this to me.  “When one of my dogs is not listening or obeying my commands, it means I have got to spend more time training this particular dog.  All dogs have bad days.  They can get distracted.  But I continue with proper training so these dogs will eventually “get back in line” and pull their own weight as well as what I’m needing them to pull.  These are MY dogs.  They will do what I ask of them.

I can connect with these dogs who are loved and are BEING what God created them to be.

I can connect with these dogs who are loved and are BEING what God created them to be.

His “extra training” with individual dogs may not be fun for the dog at the time.  If you and I saw them being trained we might even think that it’s punishment.  But Caleb loves his dogs.  He trains them in a way that they realize it’s wrong when they disobey and not follow the leader.

But to see these dogs joyfully pulling their weight and their load for the day (us), it brought a smile and a laugh from my innermost soul.   See, what was amazing to me was these dogs were BEING WHAT GOD HAD CREATED THEM TO BE.  They were listening to their owner, Caleb.  Not only listening but obeying his every command. Right, left…..gee, haw…… They would stop when told.  And the most exhilarating was this.  When he gave the command to go……..they gone!  If you weren’t buckled in or holding on, you’d physically get thrown off the sled.  Get at ’em dogs.  You make me come alive!!!!   This ride is FUN!  Better hold on!!

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.  Philippians 3:14

I hurt deep inside when people think that my Lord and Saviour must beat me when I do wrong.  They must have grown up “watching a different documentary” on the subject.  My God is a loving God.  When I do wrong,  I’m in for a little extra “training” with my Lord.  Honestly, I guess at times it may look like “punishment” from the outside.  But I know for a fact that you and I get distracted, get selfish, or “have a bad day” if you want to call it that.  But God is my Master.  He knows better than me the directions to take.  I love Him.  Even love this training I’m in.  Even love those “extra training” sessions that God uses to get me “back in line”.

What about you?  Do you picture your god with a whip and stick waiting to beat you any and every chance he gets?  Or do you picture your God as a loving Master who does and will “correct” you so that you get “back in line” for your own good as well as His.  For your own glory as well as His.  Seriously it probably depends on how strong a relationship you have with your Master/Owner.  I would encourage you to “get back in line”. Stay in line, listen for the commands, obey…………….. and hang on.  You are in for the ride of your life.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, dog sledder,  o’er the fields we go,laughing all the way