Gardner Adventures...

We were able to combine several adventures into one weekend during April. Dara's parents drove up from Texas and spent a week with us, and for the weekend we all drove up to South Dakota.

Mt Rushmore was definitely a highlight of the trip, as none of us had ever been there before. As it turned out, they were filming that day for National Treasure 2! It was fun to see all the cameras and people busily working away at putting a movie together.

Our family has also decided that when we get the opportunity, we are going to work on climbing the "high points" in each state. As it turned out, the high point in South Dakota is quite close to Mt Rushmore, so we set off on a big adventure. It was a 6mile round trip hike, and it turned out to be the highest point East of the Rocky Mountains! (7,242') It was a beautiful hike through the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On our drive back to Colorado, we realized that we could stop at the Nebraska high point pretty easily. So easily, in fact, that we could drive right to it! I guess easy ones like this are going to make up for the difficulty of getting the family to the top of Mt Rainier!

MAY: THE MONTH OF FREEDOM!

Care to join us???
Please blog your thought/comments about what it is to truly be "Free in Christ!" Thanks!

During the month of May our group is passionately and relentlessly pursuing freedom. We are humbling ourselves through fasting, confession and accountability, believing that Christ’s death on the cross is not just about future salvation, but about present life – abundant life! We are sharing the plan with you all, that you might pray for us and that you also might find a way to join in the adventure with us!!!

What is our “goal?” The goal is that our desire for God would be stronger than the desire for any sin that is controlling our lives. Thus the sin would no longer have power, as we simply desire God in our lives more than the sin.

What is “success?” It will be wonderful for each one to go the entire month without falling back into our specific sin. But that is ultimately not how we are going to define success. Because the reality is that, being human, the enemy at some point will lull each one of us back into the pit. The real question is, “How will we respond to getting knocked down?” We will define success as Getting up again each time we get knocked down. We will pray and trust that God will be able to teach us something each time about the enemy’s strategy, so that with each take-down we will actually become stronger to resist the next time.

What is “the plan?” We each chip in $31, as a symbol of our commitment to accountability. We start the month by specifically confessing our sin and repenting from it. Throughout the month we are in accountability groups to help us stay on track. We read the Word, pray to God, and encourage each other in pursuing freedom. We do not plan for failure, but we understand that the enemy is cunning. We understand that should we fall back into our sin, within 24 hours we will contact our accountability people to regroup and restart. True failure will only occur if we do not get up again (ie contact our accountability partners and start over again). On Friday night, June 1, we encourage you to plan your own celebration party using the $31 that you set aside. (Those who quit for good understand that their $31 should be donated to a worthy cause.)

PREPARATION
Set aside $31 for your investment into freedom. Then write yourself a letter (for when the battle gets strong) reminding yourself of why you are doing this. Add a contract for yourself, committing yourself to start again even if the enemy does knock you down.

Be praying about several things –
(1) The specific sin that you desire to be free from.
(2) A theme verse to keep you focused through the month.
(3) Who will your accountability partner be?

ON MAY 1
Plan a fast at the beginning of the month. Pray about what the fast should look like for you. Be aware of what situation / scenario where you are most likely to fail. Brainstorm replacement activities to deal with temptation.

THROUGHOUT MAY
Read lots of the Word (like Romans). Pray and worship God consistently. Stay in regular (daily?) contact with your accountability partner(s). Post reminders around your house, car, work, school, etc. that will remind you of your theme verse and your goal of FREEDOM. Try to schedule several multi-hour retreats for yourself throughout the month, to keep you focused on the goal.