Thursday, June 28, 2007

Breathe




I just had the best day. Not only was it special because Zach and I got to have a whole day alone together (that doesn’t happen often!), but also because we spent the day in Glacier National Park in Montana which is just about the most gorgeous place I have ever seen.
This week we are vacationing with Zach’s family in Montana and since we are staying so close to Glacier, we decided we needed to take a day trip to the park. I don’t know what it is exactly, but something about spending an entire day surrounded by beautiful scenery and untouched wilderness brought a refreshment that would be hard to find anywhere else. I sat back and took it all in. I felt I could breathe deeply and even just take time to listen to myself breathe. I noticed things I don’t usually notice….both in nature and in myself. I sat and watched and looked and listened. I felt at peace with myself, free for a moment from the demands and stress and insecurities that make up many of my days. I think there’s something about being in the vastness of creation that gives a bit of perspective….helps me see outside myself, helps me see that maybe I’m going to be okay and maybe the things that are stressing me out are not quite as overwhelming as they feel.
On the way home we had the windows down, music blaring and the wind whipping across our faces….a glorious end to a glorious day.
I hope for more days like today….

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Beautiful Wedding Day....


Today my brother got married. I can't believe it!! It's a crazy feeling sometimes remembering how we all grew up together as kids, but now that we really are adults. Having my brother get married really made me feel like an adult....those moments just hit me sometimes!! Sometimes I still feel so young, but then things hit me and I realize, wow, I really am growing up. That's how i felt today. But it was so good. We just love the girl my brother chose to marry. And it was magical to see them get married in an amazing setting on the Chesapeake Bay with so many people surrounding them that loved them. I could not be happier for them as they start their new life together and for our family to gain another sister.



Oh, and I can't forget that Zara made her debut as a flower girl today!! She was so adorable and did make it all the way down the aisle by herself....even though it seemed doubtful for a few moments!

If you're happy and you know it....

We flew back to the east coast last week to visit my family and to be a part of my brother's wedding. It's always a long travel day coming from Seattle to Baltimore, but this day was even longer than most....First, the thunderstorms.....we got delayed in the air because of storms surrounding the ciy we were supposed to land in. After circling for a while, they ended up diverting our flight to another city. Once we got there, they told us we could not get off the plane. We had to wait in the airplane for the weather to clear so we could leave right away. This was after being on this plane already for 6 hours! After a while we could not contain Zara in our seat any longer and had long run out of things to entertain her so I begged the flight attendant to let me get off the plane with her just so she could run around. After some desperate pleading, she let us get off. Zara got to run around for a while and we just waited and waited. They finally announced we could get back on the plane and that we would be taking off right away. We head down the runway and then stop. The pilot announces he will be shutting off the engines because we are not able to take off as there are now too many planes trying to take off......I was about to lose it!!! I was so anxious to be home and with my family and I was SO tired of being on that plane going nowhere! About this time Zara was playing in the aisle and had caught a second wind of happiness. She soon started in on a rousing chorus of "if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!!" she clapped her hands and stomped her feet and even got a few people sitting nearby to join her. Ahh, the innocence and joy of a child.....
About 4 hours later, at 1am, we finally arrived home.....
P.S. the adventures didn't stop there....to read a bit more, check out our friend chrissie's blog (she came on this trip with us!)
http://chrissieinseattle.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

The "Grey House"


One large project that we've been working on the last couple weeks is the potential purchase of some property for YWAM Seattle. (Not US buying the property, but YWAM buying some property!)



Here's the link to the page on YWAM Seattle's website that details the purchase, including a flyer that hopefully most of you received in the mail. If you haven't received it, and would like to, we can get one in the mail for you right away.

The website gives many details, but we also wanted to communicate personally what this house means to us... This house we're trying to purchase has been a place where we have invested many hours over the last 4 years. This is the house where all of our students stay when they go through our Discipleship Training School. We've had many meetings there, eaten countless meals, and had lots of meaningful conversations with both students and staff. For more details on the program we direct, feel free to check out the Urban DTS page on the YWAM Seattle website. We've been responsible for most of the content, and it does a good job of summing up what our primary roles here are all about.

YWAM Seattle has been renting this house for 4 years, and we believe that now is the time to make some steps towards purchasing the property. We (both us personally and YWAM Seattle) love this neighborhood and are ready to put down some tangible roots here. If you're interested in hearing more please let us know.

This has been something occupying much of our time over the last few months since we've been back from Thailand. We've been busy designing promotional material, planning open-houses, and meeting with potential donors. You can be praying for us this Thursday evening as we're helping host an open-house for some potential donors. This has really been a big step of faith for us as an organization, considering that we're quite small and we don't have much extra money. We'll keep you updated on the process. Thanks for your prayers.