Hello to all my faithful friends and family--

Highlights from the past week:
- Seeing my best friend Mark for about a day, and his girlfriend Jessica
- A failed attempt on Long's Peak. Too snowy for tennies. Still a great way to kill a morning! I did manage to summit Mt. Lady Washington which hails an elevation of 13,281 ft. That means I traversed an elevation gain and loss of almost 8,000 ft and was done by noon!
- A visit up to Estes Park to see my girlfriend and her new stomping grounds. Truth be told, any time I've been with Esther or been on the phone with her has been a highlight!
- Landing a job...big answer to prayer.

I've now been in the Denver area for going on three weeks. This has been my first week of working at Zio's Italian Kitchen. I am almost done with my training week; I'm training to become a server. It has brought joy to my life in the sense of something to invest myself into, using time purposefully, and building relationships with more people.

I'm living with a 25 yr old craftsman named Wayne Winkler. He is a vibrant Christian, and has been an encouragement to me in a lot of ways. He is generous, loyal, dependable, and shares Jesus with everybody...so watch out! God was definitely involved in leading me to land on his floor for the summer.

In some ways I still have more time on my hands than I know what to do with. It has led to some great Bible study, prayer, and journaling times. There is a hankering inside of me for some more purposeful ventures though.

Preparations for Crossing the Globe are still underway of course. It is looking more and more like Keith Jagger is going to be joining Mark Schmerse and I on this grand adventure and ministry opportunity. He is a recent graduate of Augustana College in the Quad Cities, IL and is also heading towards a life of ministry. Great guy!

Keep in touch...write me at pauldkind@hotmail.com

I spent the last 3 or 4 weeks with my girlfriend Esther in various ways and states. I spend a chunk of time at her folks' place in northern indiana, some at my house, some roadtrippin' out to Colorado, some spending time with her and my folks out here in CO, and then the last few days at a family reunion for her family near Rocky Mountain NP. It has been a blast! I have come to care for her a ton, and am missing her too. It looks like we will be seeing each other on weekends.

Stuff here in Denver is starting slow. I have some job leads and am working away on those. The church plant I'm helping with is very much an infant: small and tottering, but has huge potential! (Especially considering they haven't had their official launch yet.) It is exciting to be a part of it. I know that God is going to do some amazing things through this community of faith here in Aurora.

The last couple days have not been easy as I am transitioning to living pretty much cut off from all of my loved ones. I am fending for myself and sorting out this new phase of life. Not surprisingly, I am already learning a lot.

So I’ve been sorting out the graduated life for about nine days now. It’s been a crazy time to sort much of anything out because I’ve been going here and going there. Just about all of my going’s have been shared with Esther Rosentrater. First I spent a couple days at her home in Bremen, IN. It was a great time of getting to know her family better. One unexpected highlight from those couple days was taking an IN-DEPTH tour of the Bremen Police Department and Fire Station. It was exciting! Esther and I felt as though we were being trained as the new recruits. One of our favorite quotes from a police officer/fire fighter guide: “We also have AR-15 semi-assault rifles…people settle down real quick when you pull one of those out!” This struck us as funny since his turf is Bremen, a town of about four thousand, not what you might call a major metropolis!
We then spent a couple days in Noblesville with my family. We also shared a meal with Jeremy and Andrea, in which they announced that they are going to have a baby within the year! This will be their first and will make me a very excited uncle all over again. What makes it even better is that my other sister Kara will be having her fourth child about the same time!
The weekend was enjoyed on a road trip to and from Lancaster, PA. I went out with Esther’s family for a Bible Quiz meet that Esther’s two younger brothers were in. Of roughly 18 teams they finished on top without losing a single quiz! I must say I was very impressed by the level of commitment that Nathan and David have made to memorizing the Word. They knew Hebrews and 1 & 2 Peter forward and backward.
I’m continually enjoying Esther more and more. She has been a wonderful blessing in my life this year! Her family has proven their generosity and kindness over the course of the last couple weeks as well.
A final “Thank You!” goes out to all of you who sent me a card or note regarding my graduation. They were all very much appreciated!

God Bless