We stopped at the junction and it as Grand

Good Morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

Yes, we made it to Grand Junction Colorado.

We left Twin Falls Idaho Yesterday and rode into Grand Junction Colorado last night.

We rode through Salt Lake City and hung a left at Spanish Fork Utah. Once again I was left wondering, what is a Spanish fork? I guess I will have to wait for Demi, my admin assistant to tell me. After all she told me what Biggs Junction was. I sat there on my bike wondering, "What is a Spanish fork and how is that different from a German fork, or an Irish fork, or even a dutch oven? Hmmmm, things to ponder.

We saw many beautiful things in God's creation along the way. By the time we arrived at Grand Junction we were rode worn and very tired. It struck me how many people come into our YMCA feeling the same way. Life has a way of wearing you out at times.

People come into our "Y" and want to join. They say the want to get into better shape or lose a few pounds. The membership desk will ask them some open ended questions and many times these same people end up in my office. You see, there is a reason they ended up in their current in the first place.

Life has a way of wearing you out.

A homeless couple came in a while back. Life had been very hard on them. All they wanted was a shower. I came into relationship with them and before long I had offered them a 3-month membership, chaplaincy footing the bill. I introduced them to one of our healthy living people, her name is Mattie.

Mattie runs a program called "adaptive fitness." This is a program that was the brainchild of my friend Randy Scheel. He was a board member and owned a rehabilitation center for those that needed physical rehabilitation. We dreamed of the YMCA being the third space for people that needed extra help. Life is hard, people get hurt. People go to hospitals and hospitals do a good job of patching them up. Then, they send them to a rehab center. The rehab center works with them until the insurance runs out and then gives these people some exercises to do at home. Many times this is not enough. Randy and I dreamed of sending these people to the "Y" so they could completely heal, Mind, Spirit, Body.

Randy passed away last year. He never saw this come to fruition.

After Randy passed a young lady by the name of Mattie showed up. She had a special gift for people that needed adaptations to their fitness goals. Needless to say, Adaptive Fitness was born.

So I buy this homeless couple, their names are Loyd and Falon, a membership. I introduce them to Mattie. Mattie starts working with them.

Falon left my this note a few days ago, "Chaplain Roger, thank you so much for your help.I feel so blessed. For the first time I feel like a beautiful wife for my husband.. God Bless you and the YMCA."

I contemplated this note as we rode through Utah. I looked around and saw landscape that at first looked barren and hard. As I continued to look I saw how God was molding and shaping His creation. I thought about all the people that come to the "Y". I thought about how Mattie works with these people and helps God mold them. Seeing a girl come into the "Y" in a wheelchair and walking out all of her own accord a short time later is an amazing thing to see.

God is doing great things, all we have to do is have our eyes open to Him to see them.

Blessings,