Our Dear Friends and Family
Another lovely week. SO many natural wonders. We are so grateful to be in such a beautiful and fun part of the world!
Saturday, we got coffee and then hiked with Nathan and Elisha Wisener in Colorado Springs: we connected with them through their parents who hosted us in Limon, Co. It was a really neat day! We bouldered and then traversed a creek bed lined with fool’s gold. We ended with a huge waterfall that Nick, Anna, Megan, and Nathan braved to crawl behind. Later that day, we avoided the public art and a bizarre child’s toy scheme downtown, while the Wiseners took us on a quest to try eating a skirted heifer. (Look into this if you make it to Colorado Springs— the food not the con.)
We spent the weekend at Calvary Baptist Church in Canon City, Colorado. Anna spoke Sunday morning on pro-life: she focused on pre-born children that are diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The congregation was SO hospitable. They put us up in a hotel for two nights and made us several home cooked meals. Thank you to the Strasburgs for helping us with this connection!
Anna’s friend Allison Isola came to surprise her: Megan does surprises well; she planned and planned— they even implemented an alias for Alli. With Allison, we camped out at Paints Interpretive Park: it sounded a little off-grid and suspect but it turned out to be a baby Bad Lands. Hoo Doos, caves, and vivid purple rock cascades made for a stunning panorama. Allison, who came down from Chicago, got to see the Milky Way for the first time, which has been on her bucket list. Megan, Alli, and Nick took turns playing lovely guitar music as we discussed constellations. Between runs, Tuesday, Alli and Megan took Annie out for an early birthday: pedicures and coffee. The only way to celebrate!
We celebrate our Sabbath on Thursdays: we spent ours at a coffee shop called Agia Sophia. It is fantastic— the building itself is gorgeous and it overlooks the Rocky Mountains. It is a ministry of a local Eastern Orthodox church that promotes Christian Literature and fantastic coffee. We wrote letters and recharged for the afternoon, which was fabulous. I came across a Safe Haven that was 30 feet from the coffee shop: Safe Haven is a ministry that allows individuals to drop off infants no questions asked. This service helps combat infanticide across the nation. It is one of my personal favorite pro-life ministries because it reminds me so much of the early church’s adoption of unwanted Roman infants.
Friday, we got a package from Fleet Feet’s Lisa Drake! It was so exciting to get cold weather gear. We woke up to frost for the first time this morning— the project is really moving along! We are grateful for their sponsorship. It definitely made our weekend to get new running clothes.
We also got the 2000 letters and 500 envelopes that the Flower Family sponsored. They are lovely! Megan and Harvest Media worked very hard to get them right. We are so grateful to have such crisp materials for promoting the pro-life cause.
Anna and Nick have really been climbing! They started Tuesday’s run at 6500 feet. They did 1260 foot elevation gain over a 13 mile run. A pretty big jump— it’s been all up hill from Kansas City, but when we cross the Rockies it will be all downhill until Los Angeles. The air is so dry where they are running right now that when you speak sometimes you can’t finish and your sentences collapse into coughs. However, the cooler weather is very welcome. We are grateful to be headed toward a landmark like the Rockies.
Everyone is very healthy and we are grateful to be progressing toward the Rocky Mountain pass. Please continue praying for team unity, provision, and health. Please keep us in your prayers!
Much love,
Sarah-Marie Hoduski
& the Project IF Life Team