Rover adventure stories and pics soon. We're busy washing the dirt off!
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Soaking up Summer
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| First time using a skim board...he loved it. |
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| The Oregon Regency Society Pittock Mansion Party, an afternoon of loveliness. |
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| Taking a turn... |
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| Blind Man's Bluff |
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| Smoke bomb protection. |
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| Master Consumer of Frosting |
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Birthday Girl!
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| In her new dress for a special party! More pictures to come... |
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| At Sylvia Beach Hotel |
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| Reading the book/card her dad made for her. |
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Guided in the Dark
A final reflection on Learning to Walk in the Dark.
We are birthed in the darkness and brought forth into an even harsher
darkness, but one day the darkness will give way to the Light.
I set my feet in a dark
world, often not of my choosing. I was born here, but without a choice of my landing pad. Yet the direction I embark upon, is entirely of my own
choosing. Or is it? Search and Rescue Coordinators inform me,
that years ago people always headed down when lost. They descended
in search of water. But today, when lost, we are likely to
scramble up, seeking a cell signal. When I'm lost, what direction do
I point my compass? I'm an up kind of girl, when I'm not down,
that is. When lost, many questions are posed: should I look
inward, outward, or upward? What's my bearing: men, me, or the
Messiah? What do I listen and look for, when lost in the woods? It's
tempting to sit and scream into a dark wood. But maybe, being lost is the
way to finding found.
They will not
hunger or thirst, neither will mirage [mislead] or scorching wind or
sun smite them; for He Who has mercy on them will lead them, and by
springs of water will He guide them. Isaiah 49:10 (AMP)
Maybe the paths I wander, searching for (living) water, remind me of
other yearnings within that require filling. I am thirsty for
connection with God and others. Maybe the thirst, if I listen,
will point to a spring in the wilderness. A wild spring, hidden
and discovered, only when I am thirsty enough to stumble down paths not normally taken. Desperate thirst
causes me to look and listen for the Light in the woods that shows the way through, and desperate thirst enables deep filling. Be still. But, there's always something rattling around in the woods that scares me stiff. Maybe what threatens is simply an illusion or an impostor?
I
meander up to the house, lost in thought. The call of a hawk, down low and near, startles me. Is he there, in the fir? Looking through the dim
light, reveals a pesky and mischievous blue jay. He is a threat to
no one: not mouse, kitten, chicken, and of course not men. But
for one moment, I'm sure the sound of this presence is ominous for a
beloved pet; it's simply an illusion. Much of what is spoken
over you and I in this life feels like a curse, or even worse, is a curse. Words. They rattle us in the dark. But, these words will not alight. What rests upon us will be words of Life. Breathing and living. Creating and
caring. Safe in the woods.
You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse as from the
dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow. Proverbs 26:2 (MSG)
Prayers muttered in the darkness
of procedure rooms and answers...
I abide in the darkness. You can
too. Peace is possible in the unknown, which is pregnant with
possibilities. You know fear in the darkness, but I know only light.
In the darkness, let my light lead you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. My plans are perfect for you – you are being perfected
in my plans for you. Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil, for I am with you. Your darkness is not dark
to me, it is an opening into the ways of Life. Reality is not as it
always seems. Sometimes there is more to darkness than meets the eye.
You have to look with the eyes of your heart in order to see what is
Real. My paths of darkness lead to ever greater Light. I am healing
inner places. They are not dark to me. I will do exceedingly beyond
all that you ask or imagine if you will trust me. Walk confidently
into the darkness. I AM there.
Thankful...a young girl on
the eve of her 11th birthday who handled an MRI with IV and barium
and contrast well. For the dove that met us on the wire at the car
shop before the MRI, for the loaner Rover to take up to the hospital,
for the gal in the waiting area who taught C another crochet stitch
as she waited for procedures, for the dove that flew right in front of
us three times in the cafeteria window, for a finished and ready Rover upon return to the
shop, for being able to stop at almost 70 mph when the guy in front
of me slammed on his brakes (For who knows what, I wasn't tailgating.), for the sky that opened up and gave us a glimpse of divine
light and shining blue on an otherwise pouring day, for a watered
garden, so I didn't have to water or think of plants, for the rainbow
over the line of firs last night, for the deer in the yard, and for a
birthday. So very blessed.
They will say of me,
‘In the Lord
alone are deliverance and strength. Isaiah 45:24
Monday, July 14, 2014
The Darkness Within a Harsh Light
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33: 2,3
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| Until the dawn arises... |
Just now in the darkness, what am I
afraid of? The light of day shines full, but the darkness hangs around. She's hard to banish, and doesn't obey like the
moon succumbing to the sun. She lingers and lurks, and this darkness speaks to me.
Occasionally, in the dark, the whippoorwill calls. He's not native, but we hear him nonetheless. I
think him a dastardly bird, an omen, not a song. But I can't escape
it: he sings in the dark. His eyes gleam, as does his
song. Does he sing of the darkness, or in spite of it? What am I
compelled or inspired to sing in the dark? Will I sing, no matter what?
Saturday night, I hear the owls. Once in awhile I hear one, but two is unusual. They call to each other. Responsively, their soft hooos echo through the window into our room, and I hear Him saying, "I am here. Call on me." Will I? Converse in the dark? Surely, the darkness is alive. Calling.
Near midnight, on another evening, I close up forgotten chickens. It's pitch dark, but for the beam of my flashlight, and I'm startled by white petals caught in the light. Daisies open in the dark, their petals in full bloom. Who knew? And I wonder: Do I bloom full in the darkness? Do I remain open?
There's treasure obtained by venturing into the darkness, for treasure of worth is not stored in day light spaces.
I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. Isaiah 45:3
A solitary raven pokes for worms and hops like a robin. I hold out fists. No. Open hands. I think like Elijah. Fill me. Give me. Manna for the dry riverbed of my soul. I receive like the hunted, a wild manna, given and known, only in dark barren places. The darkness delivers a special manna that day does not.
Walking the dark path is a gift few
possess. I know only a few who have navigated the dark path daily,
praising in the darkness. Like the whippoorwill, their songs remind me that the darkness is not nearly as dark as I
imagine it to be. There is life in the night. Alive, there is One who calls into the darkness, our darkness. Walking in the dark with God, these darkness docents have accessed a light many of us have never beheld. They have learned. I am
learning, that there's life in the darkness. We are not alone. I am not alone. God is in the shroud, but I must go up the mountain, in the dark, to meet Him.
Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor
Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor
Adjusting to the Dark by Pastor Susan Garlinger from the Night Vision Series, Seeing God in the Dark
Coveting prayers for Doernbecher procedures this week.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Pondering
I am not a photographer.
I am a watcher.
I gather memories.
I scoop up moments.
I look to remain thankful.
Loveliness flees my mind far to quickly.
Lately, the lens is angled and soft.
All is blurry, but one: the moment in the middle.
The soft lens makes more palatable the hard days we face.
I drill down.
The essence in front of me.
Find joy in curve of cheek and bend of eye.
Simple and small, made large.
I see the world really there, not just the trial.
A world that is soft and luminous with light.
Blessing me...
Monday, July 7, 2014
A Monumental Fourth!
It was hot, hot, hot, but we had a lot of fun.
He used that squirt gun all weekend.
Time to work.
Time to ride.
Time to hit the river for some float time.
There was fireworks, then fire, then a finale, and then more fire!
Thankful for volunteer fire fighters and water tankers.
Speaking of water...getting even for one to many squirts.
More horsing around.
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