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Pre-Littleton Entries:
June 20, 2004:
One more day
It has been a busy two days. I am
just now slowing down and taking it easy this evening.
But I am ready, I am packed and my truck is ready. All I have
to do is jump in my truck and go. Anyways this is going
to be sort of a short post as I am on the laptop and simply just
testing it out to make sure it publishes correctly. I hope
everyone had a wonderful Lord's day! Talk to you guy's later.
God bless!
June 17, 2004:
Just around the corner
I sit here and can not believe in 4 days
I will once again be embarking on yet another adventure to the
Littleton Colorado area. It seems just like yesterday that I
was I was doing my very first trip up there. A little scared
not knowing what to expect and never been on such a long road trip
it was a totally new experience for me. Now two year's later,
these yearly trips have become a annual thing. And boy let me
tell you I am looking forward to it this year. I know with out
a shadow of a doubt that this is where God wants me to be. I
am looking forward to a time of fellowship with fellow brother's and
sisters in Christ and not only that a time of spiritual refreshing
and renewal. I have and still continue to go through emotional
issues in regards to the death of my grandmother, and other various
struggles and issues that have arose this year. It has been a
time of testing of my faith. Testing so much that there are
times I really thought about throwing in the towel. My
faith has been shaken badly this year, but I have held strong to my
faith and belief in Jesus Christ, even when the enemy has tried to
utterly destroy my faith.
So these last few day's as always are
going to be hectic. For those of you who left a message to
Rachel in that section of the website, as I said, I will print these
out, lamented them, put them in a weather proof folder and leave
them at Rachel's grave. So many people may want to visit her grave
or the Littleton area, but may not be able to. This is
just my way of giving people the chance in a small way to do just
this. All of this comes sincerely from my heart and I pray
that as people visit her grave and read these messages they will be
encouraged and blessed by God.
I will do daily updates to my journal
and I also am doing something a little different this year. I
created a photo blog which is hosted on yafro.com. This will
serve as a temporary place to store pictures that I take during my
trip. Once I return home I will have the time to move them and
place them in the photo album on this site. There will be a
flash slide show on the main page and on this journal page so you
all can view these photos. Click on the photo to view a larger
photo and to see the comments I placed with the photo.
Anyways, I pray all is well with
everyone. I will comment more later on my plans for this
year's trip later. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun
as always. God bless!
April 24, 2004:
5 Years
I thought I'd write a few words.
The preparations for my trip to Littleton in June continue to advance
smoothly. The other day I got a brand new set of tires. As
I come into a new week, I will began doing mechanical check ups on my
truck. So slowly but surly things are coming together. I
am un sure on all the traveling I will end up doing this year, as
money is really tight, but anyways for sure Colorado is going to
happen.
It is hard to believe that it's been 5
years already. I created a special section on the website in
honor of Rachel and the others that lost their lives that horrible
day. Check it out
HERE.
You may have noticed some new graphics
around the site. I have decided to freshen things up a bit. And
God has blessed me with a wonderful new friend, her name is Jamie.
She has used her wonderfully gifted talents to help me out with the
site and has provided all these new graphics that you see around the
website. So a big ole shout and hug goes out to Jamie!
Thanks for your help and I look forward to working more with you and I
think this is the start of a really awesome friendship.
That's about it, time continues to march
on. I am ready for June to be here already. But anyways, I
will continue to update as things progress.
April 2, 2004:
The planning begins
It is hard to believe yet another year
is here and that my annual trip to Littleton Colorado is looming just
around the corner. I am filled with excitement and
anticipation for this year's trip. Not only because I love
visiting Colorado and my awesome friends there, but it is a much
needed break that I need from stuff. This year's trip will bring
me to Littleton toward the end of June and into July, celebrating the
the 4th of July in Colorado. I'll be staying with good friends
Michael Tamburello and his daughter Nina at their beautiful home in
Highlands Ranch. I will be staying a full 2 weeks like last
year.
This year also marks one of my longest
road trips to date. If all goes as planed, the trip will start
off in Jefferson, Texas and I will be there for the weekend in order
to attend a dear friend's wedding in Louisiana. From there, I
will be a week in London Ohio, visiting friends there. From
there, 2 weeks in Colorado, and from there a week in Oklahoma, and
then to Rosenberg, Texas, and then home. I will be all
over the country almost 5000 miles all together. So this should
be really awesome and a wonderful blessing not only with my annual
Littleton visit. So the planning begins. I have already
put together a itinerary if you care to view it you can
HERE.
Well it's been a while since I've
written in these journals. Looking back I think my last entry
was back in November of last year. So here's a little re-cap of
what's been going on with me. 2004, has marked a sorrowful and
rough year for me. Just like the Scott/Nimmo family lost their
grandma recently, I too lost my beloved grandmother last Christmas.
Only a few days before what was suppose to be a joyful holiday, she
passed away. My world was shattered, we were extremely close,
she was the women that helped raise me and helped install values that
shaped me and my character. While others were all happy and
ready for a joyful Christmas, Christmas eve I got to see this women I
love, lowered into the cold dark earth. Christmas this year was
meaningless and I was glad when it was over. I still continue to
grieve over her even now, I am still dealing with waves of depression
and sadness. This year has been nothing but heart ache after
heart ache. I continue to deal with other issues in my life, and
problems. From losing our youth pastor at church to current
issues at Church, this year has been plagued with challenge, and has
really been a total test of my faith. I know where my heart is,
I love God, I will always cling to Him, but there sure have been
moments where my faith has been shaken. So that's where I stand.
If you'd like to find out more information about this wonderful lady
that was my grandma please check out the
memorial page I made for her.
Anyways, I will be writing in these
journals more frequently from now on and I'll have a similar lay out
as I've had during my past trips. So I just wanted to get the
ball rolling with this entry and kind of give everyone a heads up on
what's going on with me in my life. I know it's been a while
since I've done any sort of update to this site. So I hope
everyone has a wonderful day. Take care!
Littleton Entries:
June 23, 2004
First day in Littleton
Click here to hear a audio post
June 24-29, 2004
Busy, busy, busy
 It
has been five days since I've been here in the Littleton Colorado
area, actually highlands ranch area. I have been so incredibly
busy these past few days that I have had absolutely no time to do
any sort of journal entry. However, as the busy weekend has
come to a close, I now have a little time to write in this journal.
Instead of going day by day, I decided I'll just summarize the past
few days. So here we go.
I had a good drive up to Colorado.
I took the drive in two days, stopping in Dalhart Texas the first
night and continuing on into the Littleton area the following day.
I was much more rested and not so tired as I have been the past few
days.
The first place I went was Rachel's
grave. It was a weird feeling as I drove into Chapel Hill
Memorial Gardens. My mind went to my grandma and then thinking
about Rachel then back to my grandmother. It was weird.
I got to the Columbine memorial and the first thing I noticed were
the new crosses. They are made out of huge marble I think and
are really beautiful. I drove up to the area and stopped and I
walked up to Rachel's grave. The first thing I noticed was it
was cleaned. The stuff I had left over the past few days were
not there anymore. I guess the cemetery cleans the grave
periodically. Anyways, I spent some time there. It was a
beautiful day. I sat at her grave for a long time. It
was very emotional for me. I sat there and read "She was the
joy of our lives" and my thoughts ran to my grandmother, as my
grandma has the same phrase written on her head stone. I sat
there and thought of this past year. Of all the trials,
heartaches, and hurts I have been through. And the tears just
began to flow. I sobbed and sobbed!!!! I thought of my
grandma, I thought of the problems I have been dealing with this
year, I thought about everything. As the sobs subsided, I
began to pray. I talked to God about a lot of stuff, and just
poured my heart out. After that I left the notes that some of
you left for me to put on her grave. All in all I was there
for about an hour and a half. From there I went to highlands
ranch and got something to eat before I went to my friend's
Michael's where I am staying this trip.
The next few days consisted of lots of
busy events with my friends up here. The big thing was going
to Lake Dillon and spending time with the Rachel Joy Scott Ministry
team. We had a wonderful time spending time with each other
and just hanging out.
Sunday I went to Church at Trinity
with my friend Will. Will is from Oklahoma and he too was also
deeply effected by Rachel's story. We had a very enjoyable
Lord's day. I was a bit touched by the fact that they played
the song "here I am to worship" just like they did last year when I
was here. That song is such a moving and blessed song.
There are so much stuff that has been
going on that I couldn't possibly begin to write all down here.
But summing everything up, I really feel that this trip is a trip
for healing and discovering. The first thing God showed me at
Rachel's grave was that I have been come calloused and bitter and I
didn't even realize it. This past year has made me somewhat
bitter toward stuff, with the loss of my grandma and other various
problems I have been dealing with. The fire has dimmed in a
way. It hit me so strongly at Rachel's grave and I know that
the Holy Spirit is going to work on my heart this trip. He
already has big time. It is a time of healing. The hurt
and wounds that I deal with still even now as I type this entry
regarding my grandmother's death, are still very very strong.
In fact just today I was trying to get in one my depressed modes.
We went to visit Rachel's grave, me, Will and Charlotte. And
as I stood there at Rachel's grave thoughts of my grandma hit me so
strong that I just wanted to lose it there. I held back the
tears though and tried to push the thoughts out of my mind. We
went to the movies tonight and again I begain to feel the same gloom
coming on. I sat in the theater and thought of how it was when
my grandma passed. We saw alot of movies. I guess to try
and get stuff off our minds.
Well anyways, I feel God is going to
do some big time healing, restoration, and just overall renewal in
my heart and soul this trip. God is good and I know He is in
control. I apologize for not writing over the past few days,
things have just been so busy. Anyways, I guess I will close
for now. I thank you for reading this and hopefully I can
write a little something more later. Take care, God bless and
keep looking to God!!
June 29, 2004
Georgetown
Today was a good day. I got a really restful sleep after a
rather long and tiering but fun weekend. Me and my friend Will
went to Georgetown, Colorado. This is a old mineing town with
lots of rich history. They have a historical down town area
with all kinds of shops and places you can check out. I bought
some souvenirs to remember this trip.
After that we went to lookout mountain
and took some senic shots of denver. We ate dinner at the
Subway that rachel used to work at. Afterwards we went to
Clement park and walked around for some time taking senic photos.
I have very much gotten into the whole photography thing. We
spent a quiet evening hanging out and catching up on internet stuff.
It has been a very blessed time.
I'm looking foward to tomorrow! Till then, good night!
June 30, 2004:
Trinity
It has been a very blessed time so
far. God has slowly been working on my heart over these past
few days. I have really been having a good time here. Today
was pretty good. Me and Will hung out. We ate the most
awesome breakfast at I-HOP. From there I went to Wolf Camera
and got a flash for my camera. We came back to my friend's
house and we hung out there for the rest of the day. That
evening we went to Trinity Christian Center and went to their
Wednesday night service. They are in revival with a special
guest speaker which I can't remember the name of the guy but he is
pretty cool.
The thing that really touched my heart
was as the worship was going on, everyone was worshiping freely and
you could really feel the power of God all over the place. I
looked ahead of me several rows and I saw this little girl about 10
or 11 and she was just dancing and clapping and just praising God.
She had long brown hair and she reminded me of Rachel. That
moment I almost lost it as I thought about how Rachel would freely
worship God with no worries and stuff about other people around her.
It was a very inspirational moment for me.
Anyways, that's about the highlight of
my day. I am really enjoying my self up here (as always) and I
really am considering spending a additional week here next week.
I always end up doing something like this. hehe! But I really
feel God is doing a great work in my heart this visit. There
has and continues to be healing in my life as I spend time here, as
I spend time with friends, and as I just seek God and His will in
all of these trials and troubles I have faced this year.
I continue to thank God so much for Rachel, her story and for the
ability to share her story with the world through this website and
by being involved with Rachel Joy Scott Ministries. Anyways I
guess that's it for now. Time to get some shut eye! God
bless you all.
July 5, 2004
Longer Stay
1:23 PM - I should be on the road this
minute bound for home, but god has had other plans. I decided
to stay another week, possibly even longer, just depending on what
God wants. It has been a whirl wind of activities this past
week. I won't even begin to go into all the details. But
it has been an incredible blessing. As I go into another week,
this week will be more to my self I guess I should say. In
other words, my friends will be working and I'll prettty much have
the week to my self. So I am very much looking forward to
spending more time at Rachel's grave and just with God. Which
by the way I'm at Rachel's grave as I write this entry. It is
a beautiful day out. The sun is out strong and I am looking
forward to another blessed week. Not sure what I will do today.
I just look forward to another awesome week. God has been
doing so much this visit. He's been healing me and restoring
me. Last night was a majoring touring point in my
emotional healing. I got to see a part of Rachel that the
world dose not know. I could relate and in a way just a great
source of strength and healing. Anyways, I'd better close for
now. Hope everyone has a good week. God bless.
July
6, 2004
Tuesday
AUDIO POST: click
HERE to listen.
July 8, 2004
Summertime
AUDIO POST: click
HERE
to listen.
Return Trip Home:
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