My Weekend 
I thought I would catch up on here my sharing my weekend with you. This weekend a few friends and I went to Sugar Mountain, North Carolina to go snow skiing. We left Friday and returned on Monday (thanks to MLK holiday). It was a random group consisting of 2 members of my Hong Kong team, an old family friend and my sister's best friend. We stayed in a hotel room that was right on top of the mountain so you can ski in/out of your home. :)
The first night we were there, it was 1 degree F. It hurt to breathe. I have never felt weather that cold before! The night consisted of dinner, settling in, and playing cards. My first stupid move in North Carolina was this- We bought fire wood for our fireplace and I decided I have had enough lessons watching Dad make fires so I could. First off, I didn't know you had to have a starter log. Fire=crumpled up paper and logs. Lasted- 4 minutes. Secondly, I didn't know about the damper. Yea, it has to be opened. So, our house quickly filled in smoke. Open doors, laugh, blame me.=unsuccessful. Saturday was our first day of skiing. Even though we got off to a late start, we enjoyed skiing on the mountain until 10PM. My sister's best friend from Clemson, Barbi, arrived later on Saturday. She decided to snow board. The day was exhausting but we each got some good rest to begin Sunday. Sunday was another incredibly long day of skiing. We started at 12 noon and ended at 10 PM. Katie broke her poles, I almost got my car stuck, Barbi freaked out on the slopes, Page and Katie were influenced by me to do a terrible black diamond (Katie walked back up, Page slid down, I laughed), and we relaxed by a terrific fire made by Barbi. 
The weekend was so much fun but not too detailed since it was really more of a relaxing trip. However, my favorite parts of these trips is seeing the hand of God everywhere I turn. So, here are some thoughts on creation.I think it is so mesmerizing to consider all the different ways humans enjoy creation. For example, God made water-we water ski, swim, tube, boat ride, sail, snorkel, all the things we can do in the ocean. God made mountains with snow-we snow ski, snow board, build snowmen, snow tube, all the things we can do in snow. God made forests-we hike, explore, enjoy animals, eat fruit from it, all the things you do in forests. God made mountains-we hike, climb, mountain bike, camp, all the things we do in the mountain. Think of all the nature that we all enjoy. I too often take for granted the majesty of our Father. It's so amazing to think about how he made these things for His glory, yet I take pleasure in them too. It's like he gives us all these playgrounds and it's up to us to invent and decide how we will play. He loves us so much! How fun is our heavenly father? I think He beams in His glory to see His children who, He so dearly loves, enjoying His creation that He set in the beginning of time!
This also made me think back to a story from Hong Kong. Some of our sweet students went with us to a beach called Stanley Beach. The beaches are so beautiful overlooking the South China Sea. Anyways, if you can picture a beautiful sunset over the water in China, you can imagine how beautiful this creation scene appeared. I then explained the word "Majestic" to my students. I told them the word meant something like... man can't make it or do it-only God. Even though they may not believe in God, they understand that man can't make mountains, oceans, and sunsets. As I was standing on top of Sugar Mountain this weekend, looking out at the mountains topped with white snow, this word echoed in my head. MAJESTY. So many parts of our lives are wrapped in the Lord's majesty and we just don't take time to notice it. I love taking trips to play in creation and enjoy the majesty of my Father.
