Pictures

Here are some pictures

We hiked over deep snow in the Cascades on May 23 to get the pictures above.

Connie took this along a little out of the way street on the Oregon shore.

These blooms are at a hidden rose garden overlooking the ocean.

God's power!

Sabbatical, first entry

I woke up with a deep desire to be alone with God. What makes this so unusual is the last few days I was unsure about this season. It seemed so inadequate to plan to seek the Lord. He is so beyond me - or anything that could ever be known. How can spending intentional time make that much difference? Yet, this morning God gave a longing to be with Him.

Tomorrow, I begin fives days of solitude. My only plan is to seek Him, wait on Him ......

Papa and I are going to have some amazing times together!

Beautiful Oregon Coast

At low tide, you can see the starfish and urchins clinging to the rocks. We gathered mussels and had a tasty treat









This island below contains thousand of Sea Murrens. They look a little like penguines and have a special curved beak that allows them to dive into the ocean and gather several fish at the same time.
















The low tide also allowed for some amatuer spelunking!

















At evening time yesterday, we came upon a gentelman who was prepring to hang glide. It was amazing to watch!

Watching a minister in action

I watched a good minister in action tonight. The kids love her and she has an ability to make them behave and learn without being too harsh. (Reminds me of her mother).

Time with some good men

I couldn't understand why my preparation for this retreat was so strange. Instead of preparng a series of new messages, I was compelled to do a set of talks of keeping our points of references in right places. This was geared for mature men who have already made important decisions about their walk with Christ.
I had never met the men and had no idea what they would be like.
They were mature godly men - the Lord knew.
Many shared that this time was exactly what they needed. They are trying to live godly lives and deal with the pressures of men, father, dads etc. So many of them were tired and needing a fresh time with the Lord. I led them in individual times of devotion, prayer and allowing time for reflecting on Scriptures.
It was a great time!
The campground was along the Snake River (Washington on one side and Idaho on the other). The valley is deeper than the Grand Canyon. I saw deer, turkey and elk.
I plan to go back to this area for a time of solitude.
Next few days will be a daddy-do list for Melissa - good thing Chuck is along with me!
I will do a team-building workshop with the church staff on Wednesday.

I'm getting older.....

I'm getting older. It's not a depressing thought - but it IS true. Here are the harsh signs that have led me to draw this concusion.

• The other day I watched a squirrel for an uncomfortably long time. I enjoyed it. All I need is an afghan, a comfy chair, an attentive nurse and a good laxative.
• I'm on week two of glasses. Sure I've needed reading glasses but that made me look studious. Now I wear bi-focals. My lenses are called "progressive" but there's nothing progressive about going from nothing to two lenses. And when it depresses me, I can't even hang my head in despair. When I do I can't read what I'm typing!
• I'm out of RAM. In a gigabyte world, I have a 512 memory. It occurred to me why I keep forgetting things. In order to make room for one new thing to remember, I have to make room. There's no way to control what I will forget in order to make room for the new memory. So I remember where I left my keys and forget my zip code. That doesn't seem fair.
• I measure my time in the bathroom by chapters. It used to be short, concise articles. The good news is I'm reading more than any other time in my life.

There is some good news. I'm learning to love the journey and chill out about the destination. Of course ... I can't always remember the destination.

The start of slowing down

I am committing to sabbath - moments of reflection. Stop and smell roses impulses. One minute vacations.

I'm too busy and know I'm too busy - so I stay busy! In the weeks ahead this will change. It needs to. There are too many God-moments being missed. There are too many really good, really important things that are overwhelming the Great things.

So it begins... I have a suspicion the first phase will be a time of detoxification. Slowing down takes a lot of work! Listening to silence can get real noisy until the extra stuff finally leaves my mind.

May the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my Strength and Deliverer.