Yesterday's service at New Life Church in Colorado Springs was pretty somber, and yet hopeful and healing, as we commemorated the anniversary of the shooting death of 2 of our young members 1 year ago. It was an amazing service really, and Pastor Brady Boyd did a great job covering the subject of Good Grief (available for online listening at the New Life link above). David Works, who lost 2 of his daughters and was himself wounded, spoke for a few minutes, and then Pastor Brady delivered his sermon. The church is dedicating a memorial to Rachael and Stephanie Works tomorrow afternoon. Because the church is so large, this tragedy affected many people, and listening to a father share about the loss of his daughters a year ago, just before Christmas, drew tears from many of us, myself included.
You can see from today's photo (taken yesterday) that the meltoff from our last storm is pretty complete in all but the north facing yards. It is pretty common for the sunny areas to get melted and dried up fast, one of the better arguments for a south facing driveway. Today we are under a winter storm watch, we'll see what this one does.

We just returned from the funeral of the Rachel and Stephanie Works, who were killed in the shootings at New Life Church on December 9. It was an amazing experience to hear of the impact 2 young girls had already had in their short lives. One of the girls had especially asked for us to remember Phillipians 4:6-7, which was read at the service and I will repeat here:

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

About 4,000 people or so were there to support the family. The Works Family Fund at New Life (www.newlifechurch.org) has been set up for financial support for the family (David Works was also wounded, and was only released from the hospital yesterday). Many thanks for the outpouring of support for all of us here during these trying times. I have received a number of calls and emails personally, in addition to churches and individuals that have been praying for us and otherwise offering their support.

Last night was the our "family meeting" at New Life Church, in the wake of the shootings on December 9. I have to say, I was proud of our church family. Despite the shock and grief that goes with such tragedy, the room was filled with people, hope, and courage. Pastor Brady Boyd summed it all up with his statement that "we will not be governed by fear", and his reading of Psalm 27:1-6 was so appropriate, I am including it here:

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh, [fn1]
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

4 One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

We deliberately chose the east entrance of the church, where the shootings took place, to enter the church. This was in part because that is my most frequent area to park anyway, but last night it was also to confront the situation. The staff had done a marvelous job of repairs, and other than some new glass that still was taped off, you'd never know it had happened.

Todays photo is of a new listing that I took in Briargate this week. It is a great house with over 4,000 sf, central air, stucco, a view, and only $340,000, and while normally I don't post every house I list on this space (should I?), I thought some of you might be interested in this one. Click Here for Details on this house We also have a Visual Tour for this one that shows off the interior pretty well: Click Here for the Visual Tour See the remnants of our snow from the weekend? It's already melted off quite a it, but it makes for a nice Christmas feel to things!

The financial markets always surprise me. Because almost all major news is "discounted" in the markets before it happens (translation: bets are placed), when actual news happens like todays rate cut, the market seems to "flip out" if it doesn't match their bets (translation: lot of people were betting the Fed would cut rates by 1/2 % instead of the actual 1/4% they chose). No matter how you slice it, lower rates are good for real estate, so I'm happy. Well, almost. Mortgage rates actually jumped since last week back into the low 6's, apparently because some folks felt it would be better to own stocks than bonds when rates might be falling. Argh.
I'm not going to devote a lot of space to the morbid details of the tragedy we just experienced at New Life Church, but I have to say I was SOO proud of Jeanne Assam the security guard, and her brave action. Larry Bourbonnais also acted fearlessly, and between them saved a lot of lives. I know it sounds weird to have armed guards at church, but in the this day and age, it is the prudent thing to do, and virtually all large public gatherings have them. I for one, am reassured that our church leaders had that foresight. Tomorrow night we have a congregational gathering, and hopefully this will be a time for mourning and healing as well.

December 9 will live as a new day in infamy. Yesterday a lone gunman attacked out church after the 2nd morning service had let out. Although one of our security guards shot and killed him, it was only after he had killed one and wounded several people. One them died last night, the others are expected to make a full recovery.

Our son Daniel was in the building when this all happened, and we are very grateful to the staff that rushed through the buildings to evacuate everyone. He seems to be handling it all very well, and has made contact with his many close friends who were also on site at the time.

Little is known about the person who did this or why. I'm sure that as the facts unfold, we'll all have a better understanding of the situation. I am convinced that even this will not weaken our resolve as a church, as a community, and as a family, to live our lives without fear, to continue to be faithful in service to God and our fellow man, and not let tragedy define us.

We were not at the 2nd service because we had attended the early service. I had the opportunity to be working with some out of town clients on Saturday and again on Sunday. Todays photo was taken of one of the houses we viewed on Sunday in Black Forest. While I did not get a Pikes Peak shot yesterday, it was such a spectacularly beautiful day in the forest that I had to at least get a picture of the house and trees in the fresh snow.

The weather was kind of typical winter storm, with a little freezing drizzle and fog at the beginning to make it interesting. Many of our snow storms end as this one did, with incredible blue skies and a fairy land of light snow on the trees afterward. More snow is expected tonight and tomorrow, and the ski resorts are finally really getting their due.