Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” – John 1:50

Our Old West trip has continued with God’s blessings along the way. We have passed through Wyoming stopping to see the town of Lead, where the greatest amount of Gold has been mined in the US. The gold mining has long since stopped leaving a huge hole with the town hanging on the precipice.

From there traveling the byways cutting through amazing rock formations mountains and lush green plains it’s not hard to imagine Indian camps and settlers struggling over and through these impassable barriers.

In Montana visiting the Little Big Horn and being educated on Custer’s Last Stand. A story that drips with the raw brutality of the Old West and a testament to the downfall of man driven by ego and pride. Then a day spent exploring the Big Horn River and parklands.

Then on to Montana’s Big Sky territory and settling into a stay at a vintage western Dude Ranch. Hiking, fishing and horseback riding through the Montana mountains just north of Yellowstone Park. We were being transformed into Cowpokes.

While at the Dude Ranch, a family mentioned they were going back north to see the Livingston Roundup Rodeo going on from July 2^ndto the 4^th. It has a long and colorful history, dating back to the Roaring 20s. We thought, Why not get the full cowboy experience?

This would be our first rodeo!

It made me think back to the first time I heard a particular phrase. I was trying to explain something to someone who knew more about what I was explaining than I did. He cut me off saying, “This ain’t my first Rodeo!” In other words. I’ve been here before and I know all about it.

We drove up to Livingston not knowing exactly where we were headed and if there would even be any tickets available. It was opening night and it was cold and rainy. As we were driving up to the venue we prayed a little prayer for God’s favor and guidance.

We pulled up and asked the parking attendant if he thought there’d be any tickets and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Still, we parked and just as we walked in totally overwhelmed by the unfamiliar attack on our senses, a young lady asked us if we wanted 2 tickets for the ticket price. The lord sent angel Kaitlyn with our tickets.

The skies cleared and we then sat down with her and her party. Kaitlyn included us and coached us through the whole evening of riding and roping. It was a hoot! Being July 2^nd the rodeo concluded with patriotic music and awesome fireworks. A fantastic old western, Independence Day experience!

While this was literally our first Rodeo, I thought of it in spiritual terms and it was just another (seemingly inconsequential) step in praying and trusting in God for the little things as well as the big things. God has kept showing up and providing all along for us this trip. With regards to expecting God to show up, this “Was not our first Rodeo!”

Jesus’ teaching regarding faith being like a mustard seed is that it’s about the DNA of something small growing into something very big. Trusting and believing in God for little things – God responding – and then believing in God for even greater things.

I believe that God would be totally blessed if when someone asks us to pray for some seemingly impossible thing that we would turn to them and say (perhaps in a cowboy drawl),

“Hey, this ain’t my first rodeo! I done seen it before and expect it agin!”

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Postscript:

Now, in Estes Park, Colorado. Once again their annual Rooftop Rodeo just happened to be in town during our stay. So, we attended our second rodeo last night. I went to the ticket counter and the gal asked me, “Is this your first rodeo?” What a perfect setup!

I had to smile, “No Ma’am, this ain’t my first rodeo!”

Next, we’re on to Idaho and back into Wyoming for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Go West Young Man (and Woman)!

“Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:10

My wife, Eleni, and I finally embarked on our long awaited RV adventure to America’s Old West. Trekking across Rout 84 to route 80 to Route 90 we landed in South Dakota. From there we will cover Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, before heading south to Colorado. We’ll be visiting all the National Parks and Memorials we can manage.

It’s not exactly what we envisioned. Instead of traveling in a spacious, all amenities, RV we are enjoying the road trailing our little 13 foot SCAMP. We call it Scglamping. Not a lot of room in this little baby. But, it’s cozy!

Now a week out and we have made our way through South Dakota and into Wyoming. We have seen the Black Hills/Needles, Badlands, Custer State Park, the incredible Mount Rushmore and the stupefying Devils Tower.

But, what I have been most awed by is what I consider to be one of the truly great sites and human endeavors – the in-progress mountain carving of Crazy Horse.

The project was started by the Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and continues as a family passion/mission. It is far from completion but if completed as designed, it would become the world’s second tallest statue, after the Statue of Unity in India.

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. The sculpture is the memorial to the western Indian nations. In the museum the Native Americans danced and taught of their beautiful traditions.

(I will not take this occasion to judge the horifying brutality and inhumanity the US Government/Settlers or the Natives perpetrated on each other. At it’s core it is a testament to the degradation and sinfulness common to all men.)

2 powerful impressions from this monument:

Firstly, I was saddened to think of the attempts – many humble and Christlike, while many more brutal and oppressive to “win” the native people to Christ. Going back to the Puritans and even further back to the Spanish explorers, an expressed purpose for conquering/settling these new lands was to convert the natives to Christianity – their Christianity. Many of these oppressive attempts sought to obliterate the Indian culture and past.

Is it surprising that a desire would burn to recover their heritage and reject the western ‘culture’ of Christianity that was imposed upon them? However, not in all, but certainly in many tribes there was a knowledge of a supreme being.

As the writer of Romans indicates in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,”

I was blessed to find this old Lakota prayer as confirmation of that truth in the museum gift shop. These people understood from the evidence around them that there is a Supreme Being who is active in their lives.

As is the inclination of many men, we get stuck looking to creation rather than beyond to the creator. Further in Romans 1:25 the author writes, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator”

It is a reminder to me that we as Christ-followers are charged to allow God’s truth and reality to be revealed through us – not imposed by our own strength, cleverness and connivery. This is a true path to lasting faith in Christ. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Secondly, the persistence, perseverance and fortitude of the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski is awe-inspiring. His willingness to engage in this effort so massive, that he had every reason to know from the start that he would never live to see it’s completion. When it is all said and done, many of his children might not see the project to it’s completion.

When Korczak died 7,400,000 tons of granite had already been removed from the mountain. In terms of volume, the entire project is the equivalent of moving a mountain. Jesus was recorded as saying in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I don’t know where Korczak’s faith lay, but he certainly understood something of the Character of Christ with His passion for honoring others in a work that was bigger than his lifetime on earth.

I wonder about my own willingness to step up to answer the call for some effort to honor and serve others that I may never enjoy seeing to it’s completion? Do I have the perspective of Moses, who never got to enjoy entering the earthly “Promised Land” but who now lives in eternity enjoying the Heavenly Promised Land?

Well, for now we continue enjoying this Promised Land. This vast landscape, with amazing God creations – some built by the hands of men and women – the good, the bad and the ugly. The rugged old West. What a history! As my good friend Dimitrios says in a thick Greek accent, “Nice country, America!”

God’s fingerprints are all over this land. Job declared in Job 12:7-10 to see God’s creation is to see God. “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

As we can assuredly attest; God has truly Blessed this land called America!

Thank God for your freedom and independence this 4th of July.

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BTW – Thanks to Missionaries, Dan & Krista Brown for their infectious enthusiasm about visiting our National Parks. It inspired us to get the National Parks Pass and we’ve been wearing it out. Thanks Guys.