Escape to a Winter Wonderland

AS SPRING settles-in, it's not too early to begin planning for your next cold-weather getaway. A ski trip might be the perfect escape to a winter wonderland - and an adventure on the slopes!

Snow skiing - also known as downhill or Alpine skiing - has been gaining in popularity as a winter recreation activity for individuals, groups, and families for the past several years. In the United States alone, there are four regions of the country (including sixteen states) where skiers can enjoy the downy, dreamy, white powder. The Rocky Mountains region includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Other regions and states are Western US (California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin); Mid-Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia); and New England (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont).

Perhaps the finest all-around snow skiing is found in Colorado. The state offers 54 peaks as high as 14,000 feet, 18 resorts, an average of 300 sunny days, and an average of 300 inches of snow each year. Some of the top ski resorts for beginning skiers and families include Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Steamboat, and Winter Park. There are even some mom and pop operations which advertise slopes, open bowls resting above the tree line, and a bluebird colored sky. Of course, skiing and beautiful mountain vistas naturally go together.

Most family ski resorts will offer well-groomed conditions, wide runs, lifts, segregated beginners only slopes, marked routes, ski schools, and amenities beyond the slopes once the skis are taken off. Shops, cinemas, arcades, wi-fi areas, and restaurants are among the extras which are often available. When it comes to skiing, education is priceless. Ski instruction helps make skiing fun, pain free, and rewarding.

Equipment required for skiing includes skis, bindings, boots, poles, and wax. Ski resorts provide these items for those who do not already have their own equipment. Necessary wearing apparel for skiing includes a ski suit which is water and wind resistant, insulating garments, thermal ski socks, helmet, gloves, sunglasses, ski goggles, and lip balm.

Ski trips must be scheduled, and reservations must be made, well in advance. With proper planning, however, a vigorous and enjoyable recreation activity can be anticipated, and can become an escape to a winter wonderland!

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--Photo from Colorado Tourism Office

Leisure Calendar Overload

IT IS POSSIBLE to overload your leisure activities calendar! It is possible to have too many social or recreational events scheduled too close together. It is possible to have too many places to go, too many people to see, and too many planned things to do in a short period of time - even during your leisure. Perhaps we need to recognize that we can become overloaded especially during the time when we are free to choose our activities - our leisure.

Most of us can easily understand how our work-related calendars can become overly crowded. It's fairly easy for us to see how the necessities of life, coupled with our required duties, responsibilities, and obligations seem to pile-up. A more difficult concept to grasp, however, is the idea that we can also become "overly booked" during free-time hours as well. Of course, we can do it to ourselves, or it might be - at least partially - imposed upon us by someone else.

What complicates our comprehension of this notion is that we're making arrangements for doing things during our free time which we would usually enjoy. However, when we schedule our leisure calendars to excess, what would normally be fun activities can begin to lose their glow of excitement. Further, if we feel harried about planned fun activities, we are likely experiencing calendar overload.

Perhaps we need to learn to say "no" more often. Perhaps we need to realize that we do not have to accept every invitation that comes along. Perhaps we really don't need to go to every game, concert, movie, rally, outing, dinner, or horse race that is happening! Leisure activities ought to be fully enjoyed - and perhaps scheduled at a more leisurely pace. It should not be a question of how many leisure activities can be planned within the next month. What matters is the recognition that quality is more important than quantity regarding leisure experiences. And, at times, engaging spontaneously in some leisure acitivity can be enormously refreshing.

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What we do during our free time can bring balance to our lives. However, our leisure activities should not take on the characteristics of work or other obligations. We should not feel squeezed or pressured in our leisure involvement. We should play playfully; we should feel the thrill of fun and recreation; we should experience rejuvenation in free time activities. For these reasons - and several others - we need to avoid a leisure calendar overload.

An Ideal Leisure Choice

THE SINCERE and heartfelt worship of Almighty God is an ideal choice in the use of free time. For hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people around the world, acts of worship occur while attending services at a place of worship on a regular basis. This is not to say that merely being present at a church service automatically, in every case, always guarantees true worship for every person in attendance. The percentages are good, however, that many will experience genuine worship by attending church because the setting, atmosphere, and activities have been created in an attempt to make possible a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father for every individual.

Worship has been defined in the dictionary as "to pay great honor and respect; to consider extremely precious; to hold very dear; to demonstrate great love, admiration, or adoration; to take part in a religious service; and, ceremonies or services in honor of God." Services of worship in a Christian church often include music, with instruments, choirs, and the singing of hymns or praise songs; the reading of scripture; opportunities for giving of tithes and offerings; prayers; a message or sermon; and an invitation for a personal response to Jesus Christ, God's Son, either in private or in a publicly announced decision.

Individuals may join in worship with others in a congregation of any size. Or, they may gather in small groups of friends or family members to study the Bible, pray, and worship God. It is possible, of course, for individuals to worship alone. This type of personal and private worship could include the reading of scripture; the reading of a short devotional or other printed material; and a quiet time for reflection, meditation, and prayer.

Some people claim that their form of worship is sitting on the bank of a creek, river, or lake with a fishhook in the water every Sunday morning. While it is possible to appreciate the beauty of nature and the handiwork of the Creator during a fishing trip, chances are that this activity - or others like it - will seldom, if ever, constitute meaningful worship.

The essence of worship - whether in a crowd, a small group, or alone - is a person's encounter with the Living God. It is focusing attention on the Creator of the universe. It is a connection - a relationship - with God in order to enhance communication. It is reverently coming into His presence with a sense of thanksgiving and gratitude, and a desire for fellowship.

The worship of God is time well spent, and an ideal leisure choice.