Saturday, July 19, 2008

SUNDAY - A Day of Sabbath

Today was a day to worship, and to remember that God, too, wants us to play and be rested.

We began by "sleeping in" until 7:30 and then getting all dressed up for church.

We attended worship at the Church of the Red Rocks, situated on the crest of a hill overlooking Sedona and its surrounding rock formations. Quite a spectacular venue, and an even better welcoming. (These are the folks who have given us the keys to their building so we could cook our dinners and have meetings in the evening). We were welcomed by everyone, and introduced to the congregation. Emoli spoke from the pulpit on our behalf, and did a great job representing us. She thanked the congregation on our behalf for their incredible generosity.

The view at the front of the sanctuary (that is not a painting - those are big windows, and that's the actual view!)



After a quick lunch, we ventured up the Slide Rock canyon


We found ourselves a wonderful swimming hole and just played in those cool waters for a couple of hours. It was heavenly!

Seb struts his stuff!
Rachael just goes for it

Keir does it with style
And after much thought, Emma takes the plunge
Finally, the afternoon was capped off with a couple of hours of shopping on Sedona's main street.Ahhhh, the pleasure of it all!



GROUP LEADER'S REPORT

BENJAMIN LINDSEY-CLARK CAPTAIN's LOG STARDATE 2678.4 (Sunday the 3rd)
"Today began with a “sleep in” to the late hour of 7:45. We had already planned the day before (with my help). We ate and got dressed. In our formal clothes. Why we couldn’t wear our pyjamas like we normally do to church is a mystery to the whole group. (But we looked really pretty) Then, upon our momentous arrival, we were greeted by an onslaught of happy, heartwarming, church people. We sat near the front and listened to a “fairly” liberal sermon. (More than I expected) Then Emoli gave what can only be called an awe-inspiring speech explaining our group, journey and to thank them for their generous hospitality. Then we left for a quick jaunt to the bookstore where we collected our remaining books and ate subs. Now comes the interesting part. The journey to slide rock. As you can see from the pictures this is clearly not the place in the postcard because the slide rock was so incredibly packed that we had to relocate downriver. Thereupon we had fun. We swam, we laughed, we jumped but most importantly, someone conquered her own terrible fear of height. Emma climbed to a rock twenty-five feet high and jumped into a pool which you could see the bottom! We all cheered her on and felt especially proud of little Emma. Also Wendy jumped too. Then we went to the edge of Sedona for shopping. Of course the shopping was magical, but during the trip a flash storm rolled by, drenching the majestic red desert in the promise of continued life. A day of rest was just what we needed. This is the Captain, signing off."

1 comment:

Linda Stengel and Melissa said...

Hi everyone!

I am in absolute awe of all of your accomplishments, one of which is this blog and the amazing photos and reports you are sending back! It is a real gift for us back home! Thank you so much! What a BEAUTIFUL place! And the view of the front of the church there is almost as gorgeous as our stained glass window at our old church!

A big hug to you Josh from your mom and sista.

Love you!

Linda Stengel and Melissa