It´s been awhile

Sorry for not getting on and blogging for the past several days. I´ve been spending every moment hiking, visiting church buildings over 1,000 years old and catching up with my friend Urs and his wife Silke.
The beauty here in Switzerland at times has been overwhelming. I spent my obligatory time going to the tourist spots, but most of my time has been spent going to the little hideaways that only a local would know about. Like the hike on the first day in Davos, that took me up to 8,000 feet and overlooked the entire valley. Hundreds of miles layed out in front of us and I (believe it or not) was silent for much of the time. Hearing the bells of the swiss cows, watching the marmots play, and being amazed at how good God is to give us such beauty and the ability to enjoy it.
My life will be forever changed by this experience. Especially in a couple of ways.
First, is the love that has been expressed by Urs and Silke. Urs lived with my family for a year back in 1972-3. He was an exchange student from Germany my senior year of high school. It was a year of turmoil in my life and yet Urs has given me a new perspective while we have been together. The turmoil I felt, he never felt. For many years I have felt bad for Urs during that year because of my craziness. But he has many good memories, memories that were good for me to remember.
Second, is God´s desire for me to continue to learn to trust Him. I don´t do well traveling by myself. I like someone else around. So this has been a good education for me. Because part of trusting God is also learning to trust myself. Which I have had to do, as I´ve made decisions as to where to go, and which road to take. For many years I have thought that trusting God and trusting myself were two different issues. But now I have realized they are one. Not the same, but tied together.
Over the past two years I have learned to trust God in new and exciting ways. Yet in the past two years I found also that I´m now trusting myself as never before.
Thanks for all of your prayers. As this journey comes to an end, it has also been a launching pad for several new adventures in the future. Adventures I never would have considered if I hadn´t learned to trust.