Wyoming

Well, here I am in Wyoming - at the Western Frontier YWAM base. Driving in a couple nights ago from Cody, I smiled to myself when I saw the sign for Meeteetse - Population: 351 people. And I thought Valdez was a small town. :)

Meeteetse is a Shoshone Indian word for "meeting place". It is 32 miles south of Cody. The east gate of Yellowstone National Park is just 80 miles away, and the infamous Butch Cassidy was a resident of Meeteetse until he was arrested in 1894.

When I first stepped into the classroom here, I joked, "It feels like I just stepped onto the set of Little House on the Prairie!" It was a small classroom, with log walls and wooden beams across the ceiling. I'm thinking this is a perfect set for a western!

The first morning here, I awoke to the sound of bleeting sheep and a rooster sounding off. They also have horses, goats, and even a few barn cats. The students (ages 17-23) seem to have connected very well already, even though this is only the third week of the school.

This school is focused on discipleship, but it also focuses on horsemanship. One thing I found to be interesting was something Daniel (the school leader) shared with me on the drive in.
"Some trainers give their horse grain, pellets, or sugar whenever they do something right. It’s almost like a bribe. Not me. I want my presence to be enough."

Wow. This made me think of the way we relate to God. Heaven is great, but I should thrill more at the prospect of being in God's presence. Crowns, rewards, natural consequences of righteous living are wonderful, but the true reward of knowing God is His presence.

In Psalms it says, "In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Where does the occasion for eternal pleasure arise? From the delight of discovering more of who God is. This is our reward. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

I won't stop there, though. Knowing God is not an end in itself. The true measure of learning is not the ability to regurgitate dry information. Rather, it is our application of those truths which brings confirmation of absorption. In other words, we know we have learned something if our actions change.

Hmm... maybe I'll make more sense later.