While Dad's Away...

...the kids try very hard to entertain Mom! This is what happened when I sent Benjamin in the bathroom to put his pajamas on. He came back out with pajamas...and warpaint (i.e., my liquid eyeliner) all over his face. I assured him that it was definitely funny this time, but next time...not so much. Life is certainly not dull when Dad's gone. The kids keep me smiling!

"You Gave Me A Mountain"

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry." She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there. She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calmness, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.



When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the Bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens? Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!



The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load...and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him....I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

First Summer Beach Trip

Saturday morning I continued my training for the half-marathon (walked 10 miles!) while Garth took the kids on their first beach trip this summer. The kids had a great time during low tide looking for shells, rocks, and crabs. No beach trip is complete for me without a feet picture!





Garth is loving his new camera. Here are a couple of pictures he shot at the beach as well.

Bridge Closed!

One big thing affecting our life right now is the closure of the Hood Canal Bridge. It is our normal route to grocery shopping, piano lessons, church, and friends! In order to get to the other side while the bridge is closed (for six weeks), it means a 2 1/2 hour drive! We will sure be thankful for that bridge when it reopens! A few days ago we drove down and got some great pictures of the project from this side.





The road near our house is also closed...making it difficult to maneuver around anywhere. At least they are getting everything done at once. We're just staying at home a lot, which has been nice.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day too all the mommies out there! I hope your day is a special one.





Today (Saturday) my girls and I joined my mom at George Washington Inn for a Mother's Day brunch, hosted by Mom's church (Grace Baptist). The food was delicious, and I chose mostly fruits and veggies and tried to stay away from those oh-so-good breakfast casseroles and doughnuts. Because of an emergency in the pastor's family, Mom was asked to bring the challenge. Her theme was "Be Still and Know". She did an excellent job in sharing the gospel with lost people that were there and challenged my heart to really be still and get to know my God more personally.

How Many Miles Can You Run?

For all of you training for the half-marathon/marathon or for those of you that love to run, here is a great new tool that I found online. It is the Google Maps Pedometer. You can figure out how many miles it is for any track you ran or want to run. First, enter the road or area that you want to look at. Then, click on "start recording" in the upper left corner. Double click on where you want to start your run. Then double-click on the first point where you turn (for instance if you run down Werner Road and then turn left on Auto Center Way, click on that intersection). Then double-click (which adds a new point on your map) on each intersection and your chosen route will display on the map. In the upper left corner of the page, it shows you how long your selected route is. Have fun playing with this...it's pretty neat!

Book Review: His Name Is Jesus

I recently had the privilege of doing another book review as a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger. Max Lucado has beautifully written a picturesque view of Christ in his latest book His Name Is Jesus. The book describes our Lord's birth, mission, death, resurrection, and legacy. The words draw on our senses as they tell of each point in Christ's life and you can visualize so vividly each and every scene the author is painting. The graphics in the hardback book add to the text to help you more easily visualize what is being talked about. I felt that this book helped me to get to know my Savior even more as I read texts from Scripture in the book as well as paragraphs depicting what Christ may have seen or heard. My favorite chapter was the one on the cross. Near the end of this chapter the book reads "It was not the soldiers who killed Him, nor the screams of the mob: It was His devotion to us." I came away from this book with a new realization of what Christ did for me and feel closer to my Saviour who lives for ME! It was such a challenge to me to live each and every day for Him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to know more about Christ.