Margaret graciously drove 3 hours roundtrip to pick me up, fed me, took me to the closest Wal-Mart outside of Estes Park (which was still an hour away) and her and Heather assisted me in unpacking. So, as a side note, I want to say thank you, Marge and Heather! When I initially took in the sight of Estes and observed everyone in their routines already, I felt overwhelmed. But at the end of my first day there, I journaled about my thankfulness for friendships that involve people with hearts like yours.
I have now been here for 11 days. And I can't figure out if it seems longer or shorter than that. Time is weird here, along with other things, such as the weather. Today is also the first day I have been off work and have had the freedom to do whatever I please.
What have I discovered? To name a few:
1. Colorado is beautiful.
Duh. I'm in awe on a daily occurrence. Mountains surround me and I can't help but praise Him for the panoramic masterpieces.
2. Altitude effects everything.
I heard people say it. This included my mother who gets motion sickness from The Joker at Six Flags, seasick on a cruise and dizzy from action-packed movies. You could say I was skeptical. But as a walked up a slight incline, after having my lotion explode due to the increase in altitude, I felt more out of shape than a free-form object. I embraced my shaky breaths and then realized you could blame anything and everything on the altitude and no one would question you. Oh, you're really tired? It's probably the altitude. Oh, you're hungry? It's probably the altitude. Oh, your eyeballs are aching? It's probably the altitude. The coffee sucks here? It's probably because it's concentrated (got ya). You name it and whatever it is, you can always blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-altitude.
3. Having a full-time job isn't glamorous, even with where it's at.
It's the altitude. But really, it sucks. I said it. An adjustment is an understatement. I work in housekeeping and there have been sights, let me tell you. The day of a housekeeper consists of making lots of beds, scrubbing an uncomfortable amount of toilets and being grossed out at how unclean things are even after you leave. But really, it's not terrible. Yesterday, my crew found an unopened can of cinnamon rolls and cooked them. The best is when you find a cute shirt but when you pick it up, you realize it's a child's shirt.
But despite it all, you meet someone new every single day, LT or not. To respect her privacy, I'm going to use the name Sally to tell her story. Sally is a crew leader here. At first, I was hesitant to believe the day was going to be anything but dreadful, based off of how unhappy Sally looked. Before too long, she was sharing her story with us. Sally moved here from California due to losing her job, the father of her four children was abusive and ended up committing suicide, and she was an alcoholic. Was. She continued on with her testimony and shared the presence that God has been in her life these past few years. Some people joke and say LT stands for Lots of Tears. No, it's Lots of Testimonies. By the end of the day, she was having me search the cabin for the copy of the Bible and requested that I read her favorite verse.
So, as crappy as housekeeping is sometimes (no, seriously) it has a lot to offer.
And those are a few.
I came into LT wondering what life-changing lesson God would teach me. Especially while I'm cleaning toilets, I can't help but wonder, "What's my purpose here?" Surely it isn't this.
As of today, I've went on three hikes. I started with Margaret around 10 AM. It was sunny and gorgeous and we went through a lot of snow. After we arrived to Emerald Lake and sat down for lunch, the dark clouds hunched over us and it started raining. And then sleeting. As we arrived at her car around 1 PM, we left with an abundance of pictures, muddy shoes and wet hair.
It's hard to fully grasp what my purpose is or what I'm called to do while I'm here, especially with limited time to do so. However, today was a blast. I had it in my mind that because I'm in such a beautiful place, a spiritual change in me had to mimic that.
No, maybe I'm meant to enjoy this summer and be a mess in this beautiful place. Maybe not. Like many things, time will tell.
