Little Highway Town Gets Cooler Every Year

My favorite little highway town in Summit County, Colorado keeps getting cooler every year. Silverthorne wasn't much more than a few gas stations and an old "BA" when I was in high school, skipping way too much school to ski. Then along came the Outlet Mall, and over the years, all that sales tax revenue has allowed the little town by I-70 to develop some great trails and bridges, an indoor water park, landscaped medians on Highway 9 and redevelopment of some high visibility properties. The Three Peaks Golf Course is looking great too, in spite of all the beetle kill. Just today, the town got conditional water rights that will allow it to build a new kayak park. How cool is that?!? We can now do all my favorite mountain sports in Summit County. I'm going to have to get a kayaking wetsuit next season, though. The water that comes out of Dillon Reservoir is ALWAYS cold. But on hot summer days in July and August, who cares?

Almost, but not quite...

These past few nights, it's almost been cold enough at night to get out my Cornice snowmaker. But not quite. Please join me in praying that the temperatures drop below 30 for at least 12 hours so I can fill up my front yard with man-made snow. If you're looking for an idea of what to get me for Christmas, how about one of the T-shirts shown at the bottom of the Cornice Snowmaker page?

Climbing Mountains & Seeking Meaning in Life

Tonight at Superior Elementary School, Tonya Riggs told us the story of her trip to the summit of Mt. Everest with the Everest Peace Project. The photos and videos and stories were utterly incredible. Ms. Riggs, a passionate mountaineer, is planning a 2008 expedition on Annapurna. Having seen the ravages of poverty, political unrest and numerous dead bodies on her trip to the summit of Everest, Tonya Riggs has united her passion for climbing mountains to a good cause, fighting ovarian cancer. But after hearing her incredible presentation tonight, I think she's still searching for meaning in life. As big as the mountains she climbs are, they are not big enough to fill the God-shaped vacuum in our hearts. Augustine's words are still true: "Thou hast made us for thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee."

Letters from Auntie D

Auntie D lives in China. I met her on Tuesday. You should visit her blog.

First Run of the Year

Arapahoe Basin is open, but barely. Today, we took our first run of the 2007-2008 ski season. On Wednesday Arapahoe Basin was the first ski area in the nation to open, with one glorious run, which is sometimes only a 20 foot wide strip of man-made snow. Who could resist having fun on skis so early in October? Certainly not the obsessive skier and his family.
This is the view looking down from the chairlift. Not much snow, huh?





See that little white strip on the right? That's the one run that was open today. Pray for snow.

A-Basin is Open!

Colorado's ski season has officially begun! Today was opening day at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. The girls don't have school on Friday, so I'm planning to head up to Summit County with them tomorrow night. There's nothing like a few mid-October turns on that man-made frozen granular stuff they call snow.

Book Review: God, Marriage, and Family

There are lots of popular Christian marriage books available today, but in my opinion, finding a good biblical theology of marriage and family can be pretty difficult. I now heartily recommend God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation to anyone who wants to go a bit deeper in their biblical study of marriage and family. You won't find many tear-jerker stories in this book, but you will find a lot of great Bible teaching, along with a lot of very direct applications that few writers today are courageous enough to suggest. Kostenberger is a real theologian who lives in the real world and he leads his readers through tough pastoral applications of clear Biblical teaching. Where the Bible isn't as clear, he leads you through the various positions held by pastors and scholars today, and suggests a way forward. Don't let the thickness of this text fool you, just under half of it is supplementary: an exhaustive bibliography, a study guide and some serious endnotes make it look longer than it is. Many of my living heroes endorse this book: Bruce Ware, Tom Schreiner, Mark Dever, John Piper, Daniel Block, Wayne Grudem and quite a few others have written hearty praise for Kostenberger's work. Men, regardless of your marital & family status, please read this comprehensive yet concise book for help creating your response to the marriage and family crisis in our culture.

God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, Andreas J. Kostenberger with David W. Jones, Crossway: Wheaton, Illinois (2004), 448 pages.