Do you hear bells?!

It started just outside of Vail with a little hike

We were happy to be out from the city


Just soaked in the outdoors

Made it to the top (the falls are just right behind us)

Took some pics and ate lunch

We like taking pictures ;)

Ate some Kvikk Lunsj (A Norwegian hiking tradition!)

My personal Kvikk Lunsj model ;)

The Turtles came with.... of course
(Erika takes these guys EVERYWHERE she goes)

After a few gifts at the top for our 1 year anniversary (they were just decoys) we hiked down and stopped along the way. I washed her feet, read a letter, and seamlessly popped out a little box with a shiny ring!

Through her tears and sobs she managed out a faint YES!



We're Engaged!!!

Take Time

I'm learning to take time....Time is a strange fellow. He is around all the time, but usually tends to be a cruel ruler over our lives, dictating our actions. My life in the past two weeks has gone from having a decent amount of free time to a more rigid schedule of events, but I am realizing that if I take a hold of Time and make him my servant instead of my dictator then there can be a freedom within that. It's a process....learning what's priority and what isn't....who is priority in my life and who can I wait to talk to later. I don't have it down. I'm DEFINITELY still learning and fighting with this old man Time... He's been around a bit longer than I and knows his way around; so I'm trying to learn my own ways or tactics to beat him into submission :)

The School of Worship just started last week, October 5th. I'm so excited to finally have met the students as I have been praying for over the past month. We split the 16 students up into 3 bands. I have 5 students that are so excited to be in a band and are hungry for what God is going to speak to them and how He will be challenging them in this time! Their first songs were due this past Monday and we were able to gather at my house for them to share them with the rest of the band. (I just received a beautiful upright piano on Monday afternoon at my house!! Praise the LORD) They were nervous but excited. It is such a joy to be able to see the life and talent that God has placed inside these students and I can't wait to start to transform these songs from just an acoustic feel to a full band! Our first song presentations as a band are next Friday where we will be able to hear what the other 2 bands have been working on and get an idea of what the album for this school may start to sound like.

From Left to Right:
Cory, Rebecca, Kevin, Katrina, and Mary
(they affectionately call themselves "The Will Strickland Project")

This is the beginning of a great 3 month journey with so many challenges of my own within that time... I am moving... hopefully towards the goals that God has set before me...and with a grace that encourages those along my way.

A thought for today

"You can only multiply the quality of your own life; and if the quality of your life is needy then what you create will then follow that." Patrick Dodson

Not a new concept, but just a good reminder and challenge for me to be checking up on my own quality of life.

This guy has TONS of podcasts... and he has SUCH amazing wisdom.. check him out.... just click on his name.

These times... They are a changin'

In 2 days I will be helping to lead the School of Worship here at YWAM Denver. We have 16 students that are coming to dig deep into the reasons of why their heart beats so strongly to the rhythm of leading people into the presence of God. I hope to be a part of that process as I personally lead a band of 6 students; coaching them, encouraging them, challenging them, and pushing them forward in their gifts, talents, and desires. We have students from the U.S., Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Albania, England, and Canada. It's going to be a fun next 3 months!

Over the past several weeks God has been challenging me about the word "Expect." There are two different realities that I am seeking to plunder into my heart and figure out. The first being that of the expectations that are put on our lives... either by other people or ourselves... but mainly how those expectations affect us. I make certain decisions, be it positive or negative, because of what is expected of me. Seeking to find out what those expectations are can be as simple as noticing how someone greets you with a hug (expecting that you will reciprocate) or maybe more personal, like how you react to certain stressful stimuli. The challenge for me currently is that I would not let any expectations dictate how I act or who I am. When I feel as though I "should" be something, but know that maybe that's not the true "Will" that I want to be, I am now trying to respond, react, or be the reflection of Christ that I know I am... rather than what is just simply expected of me.

The second "expect" part is that of an expectancy. I woke up a few weeks ago on a normal Monday morning and was just having a chat with God. After the typical greetings and salutations I sensed that He was asking me what I was expecting from worship at the base that morning. Slowly I began to realize that I expected nothing.... I expected that we would sing some songs, maybe someone would give a Scripture or a word of exhortation/ encouragement, there would be a few announcements, and then I would leave and begin to prepare lunch for the base. In that moment, I had this sense of broken heartedness come over me. How could I go into the presence of God and not expect one single thing from Him? Why don't I walk in hoping, praying, and expecting God for miracles, for chains to be broken off peoples lives, for relationships to be restored, for His manifest presence to be so thick that we have to fall on our faces in humble adoration and holy fear?!

So here I am, seeking to identify the expectations that are on my life that hold me back from being the man of God I truly desire to be, and desiring to live in an everyday expectancy that God is going to miraculously transform lives. These next three months are going to be intense and I am expecting God to do GREAT things.