Museum of Flight

Since our hopes to go east to Yellowstone didn't come to fruition, we decided to go west to the Seattle area. We hopped out of the house early this morning and headed for the Museum of Flight. It was an amazing museum if you like airplanes, space, WWI/WWII, and Boeing. The displays were done superbly and there was an over abundance of information - you could spend hours in just a room reading all the signs. We had fun looking at the era of the Space Race between the Soviets and the US, the World Wars, and remembering back to our year of Astronomy. They also had a few flight simulators the kids enjoyed.

Tomorrow we are off to Mount St. Helens...hopefully for two days if the weather cooperates. We hope to do a hike and see the viewpoint from the West side. Then Friday we hope to check out the Ape Caves (underground lava tube), Lava Canyon (has a suspension bridge!), and some other sights on the long road home.

Space food - Left Soviet food, Right US food

Reconstruction of the original Boeing factory

Planes, planes everywhere

Sauer Mountain

We went on a fantastic hike yesterday morning...Sauer Mountain. It is located right in Peshastin and has amazing views of Cashmere, Peshastin, and Leavenworth...beautiful, beautiful. Another great feature is that it has a variety of terrain that you hike through: open mountainside, woods, wildflowers, etc. This time of year is the ideal time to go as so many flowers are out and are found everywhere. We saw a number of new and beautiful flowers while walking. Josh also caught a really neat lizard with blue on it's belly that I'll show pics of in some post to come. The hike itself is just over 3 miles they way we went (stopping at Glacier View Point), but you can go on to the summit of Sauer Mtn. and that is about 5.5 miles. I recommend that you take the left fork where it shows a viewpoint, rather than continuing right to Sauer Mtn. If you keep on going past the viewpoint, that trail eventually hooks back up with the Sauer Mtn trail. Then when you return, you can take the other trail back.

There is no trail use fee, but you may want to bring a couple of bucks to purchase some cute painted ladybugs at the trail-head (some child nearby perhaps?) We purchased a family of them. Bring a good amount of water as the first half is pretty much all uphill, but that makes the return trip quick and easy. It was a wonderful day enjoying God's amazing creation...

Setting Captives Free

Setting Captives Free in an online ministry that has a daily bible study for people who have all sorts of addictions - food, pornography, gambling, smoking, anorexia, etc. I'm pretty sure all the bible studies have a similar format and content since they show that the answer to overcoming our addictions is satisfaction in Christ. Each day has a bible study with questions and some accountability questions. You generally receive a mentor who will read your submissions and have limited contact with you for support. It really does a great job at being God-centered and showing that He is more than sufficient. The studies are challenging especially as they are focused on an area of weakness in your life - I completed The Lord's Table (regarding eating) probably about 5 years ago.

They also have other good studies available. Some are on The Cross, Christian Soldiers (Eph 6), Glorifying God, and others. A good option if you are looking for some focused study especially over these sometime lazy summer months.

There is no cost to enroll and participate, but they are a ministry worth supporting as well.

Escape from Warsaw

Well, our car was packed, the food was organized and we were ready to leave for Yellowstone today right after church. But, the weather kept getting worse...more rain, more clouds, more wind, in the 40s...so, we decided not to go. :( It's been a bit of a depressing afternoon, but at least my house is tidy and the chores are done...

Anyways, this was another book that correlated with our history. It's set towards the end of WWII and is about a family of three children, their mom who was taken away, and their dad who began in a prison camp. The story progresses to tell about the search the father has for the children and then in turn, the search the children have for their mother and father. It is a story of courage and sad reality, of people who help and people who are unlikely helpers. I guess it is based on true accounts from that time period. Definitely an enjoyable and exciting read.

Read for Yourself

This summer, I have the privilege of teaching a 6-week series on the Holy Spirit. The topic has been bouncing around my head for a number of months, and I'm not teaching on it because I have a great grasp already of that doctrine, but because I don't. One of the best things teaching does for a person is require them to dig in, comprehend, and then spit back out coherently. You always learn something the best if you have to teach it.

Anyways, I've started digging in and Francis Chan made a comment that I really appreciated...he said that a lot of people have ideas about the Holy Spirit from what they've heard or what they think, but those ideas often don't fit with scripture. If you were to just read through scripture, a lot of what is believed today would be proven in error. So, I decided to spend some time reading through the New Testament. I read through the gospels this past week and wrote down all references to the Holy Spirit, the point that was made, and any thoughts I had...and I loved it. Never before have I taken the time to just read straight through a section of the Bible with one single topic in mind. I've already learned a bunch, and I still have all the epistles to go through.

If there's been a topic on your mind, I think you'd also enjoy delving into the scriptures for yourself...

Last weekend, my family had a photo shoot (our first) with my friend, Heather, from church. We were her first official group, and I think she did a marvelous job - I'll post more pics to come. If you're interested in getting some pics done of your family, let me know, and I'll give you her number - she'll give you a special deal if you tell her I sent you ;)

Step Through a Piece of Paper

Just something really cool tonight...I'm pretty sure we first came across this during Abeka Math 2 or 3. It's a neat paper trick where you take an 8.5 x11 sheet of paper and cut it so that it enlarges to a multi-foot circle. It was hard to find a good explanation on the web, but here's a video that seemed to do a good job of it...



If you want to make the space even bigger, you can cut more increments per side. This website has a diagram if that helps. Hope you'll be as amazed as we were. :)

Praying with Praise #2

Probably one of the biggest blessings I have received from being in leadership at BSF is their philosophy of prayer. At each leader's meeting we spend time in prayer...beginning with a time of adoration, moving to a time of praise, and ending with specific requests. It is a wonderful thing to be a part of 20 plus ladies chiming in randomly about God's greatness and giving Him thanks for a whole variety of things.

The idea behind praise/adoration is that of focusing on Who God is. It's different from thanksgiving which is generally regarding specific helps in our lives. I knew the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) formula prior to participating in BSF, but had never actually used it as a tool. Seeing it in action (minus the confession) has encouraged me to be more diligent about it in my life.

After I wrote yesterday's post, I thought it might be helpful to give some more specific examples about adoration. Personally, most of my thoughts about that come from my readings. If I've been reading in the gospels, I may praise Him for His compassion, salvation, faithfulness, and power. If I've been reading in the Psalms, I may praise Him that He is my rock, my deliverer, and my hope. Genesis reminds me that He is creator, He fulfills His promises, and bad things work out for good. Revelation reminds me that He is triumphant, the King of Kings, and the Holy One.

Praying through His attributes or His names in scripture and their meanings is another way I spend time in adoration. Sometimes I will go through the alphabet and think of a description based on the letters: A-Almighty, B-Beloved, C-Creator, etc. Since we have a limitless God, there are a myriad of ways we can give Him glory. I hope you'll be seeking out ways and times to praise Him each day.

Comments

Well, I decided to give comments a try...I'm not exactly sure how it will go, but I have a smidge more time these days - not that I am promising to comment on a comment. :) It will likely be short-lived, so don't be surprised if it is here today and gone tomorrow...

----update, comments don't seem to be showing on the main page, but if you want to leave one, you can click on the post title and it appears on the page that comes up...

Praying with Praise

I was part of a brief conversation the other day on the topic of prayer. It was mentioned how hard it is to take the time to praise and adore God prior to jumping into requests. I can totally understand how natural it is to do that, especially if you have a lot of hurting people/trials in your life. But, I've come to see that prayer isn't so much about us as it is about God.

If you ever come across a prayer in the Bible, the prayer often begins with exalting the Lord. When we spend time in praise, thanksgiving, and adoration, we give God glory which is our primary purpose. We also change our perspective when we reflect on how great our God is. As we marvel about Who He is, our trials and hurts are reduced because we see God rightly - He is big enough to take care of what concerns me, He is strong enough to overcome the obstacles that are in my way, He is wise enough to lead me along the right path, He is loving enough to desire my perfection rather than my ease.

So, if you only have a short time to pray, I encourage you to spend most of it in giving glory to God...and trust that He knows and can accomplish what concerns you even without your asking. But, of course, the ideal would be to have plenty of time for both. :)

Serve Wenatchee Valley

Back to the regularly scheduled Missions Monday today...Serve Wenatchee Valley is a local organization that is serving the needy in our valley, our community as a whole, and our pastors. Anyone is able to go to their office and receive help whether it be food, furniture, perhaps helping with payment of some bills, and other things - one day while I was shopping at the grocery store, the clerk mentioned how SWV helped her get her life back on track. They desire to unite different churches in the area to support the community and spread the gospel. Pastoral help and encouragement is also given through prayer, luncheons, seminars, etc.

Dave and I both know a large number of committed Christians that volunteer at SWV. And, although we don't agree down the line with everything they do, we like to support them as a faithful organization committed to serving this valley and reaching out for the cause of Christ. You can also support them in many ways from donations (food, clothing, furniture, etc.), monetarily, and time.

1st time up at the lake this year...

Homemade Granola

My husband in wonderful in many ways, and one of those ways is that he is generally a simple eater. He eats the same thing for breakfast and lunch most every day. He does, however, enjoy a variety of dinner foods. :) Granola is his breakfast of choice and there was a specific type of granola he liked best from the store. Then, one day, that granola was no longer sold! What's a wife to do!??!?! Make her own, I guess... A delightful friend at church gave Dave some homemade granola a few years ago that he liked so I called her for the recipe and have then changed it a bit since. Here it is:

Granola

3/4 c butter melted, not super hot
3/4 c honey
1/2 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
12 c old fashioned oats

Now, all these ingredients are completely subject to change pending on how you like your granola - you can make it sweeter, more cinnamony, etc. My friend uses oil rather than butter as well.

Measure out the oats into a large mixing bowl. Add in the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Then pour in the melted butter and honey and mix it all together so that the oats are well coated. Dump into a large pan - I use a 10x15 glass baking dish and it fits well. Bake - this is also subject to variation - this last time I baked it at 225 for 2 hours and it gave it a more toasty taste. The original recipe said to bake at 200 for 2 hours. You will need to give it a stir every half hour or so.

As you can see, you can't really mess this up. You can also add in nuts (in with the oats, I suppose) or dried fruit (added after baking). I generally just add in something random each morning as I dish it up for Dave - he's not a big nut guy so I don't add those - cranberries, apricots, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, mango, etc. Also, this is not a clumpy granola (not sure how to do it that way), but more of a loose granola. The way this recipe is written is also not particularly sweet so add more honey or brown sugar if you like it sweet. Hope you enjoy!

One Year Bible NIV Devotional NT

I wrote a while back about how the kiddos were doing some short bible reading each morning when they woke up. They were working through a whole variety of bible books (Old and New Testament) and have now finished the books we wanted them to read at this point. So, we needed something new to use in that time slot. A friend mentioned at one time that she was reading through a New Testament (it does actually do Proverbs as well) only daily bible that had commentary by Alistair Begg. That sounded like a good fit for the kids...New Testament, some explanation, broken down into small chunks. The format chooses a selection from a gospel, an epistle, and from Proverbs - going in sequential order. Begg gives commentary on the gospel and epistle with purposeful application. It actually takes the kids less than 10 minutes to read the daily portion so they go on to the next day until their time is up. Since we're starting in May, they probably won't surpass the days by the end of the year. Also, a fun thing, I ordered one through my PaperBackSwap account. That made me happy. :)

Parvana's Journey/Mud City

Somehow there hasn't been a kid book review for a while, so here's two that we finished a number of weeks ago. Parvana's Journey and Mud City are the second and third books of the series that begins with The Breadwinner.

Parvana's Journey continues on with the main character from the first book and tells how Parvana travels to find her mother and siblings across the country of Afghanistan. The oppression of the Taliban and poverty/difficulties of the Afghan people once again made me feel for them and realize how little I understand about that part of the world. I actually "liked" it better than the first book...I think because it was a story of overcoming. A couple of things to mention: there is quite a bit of bickering between two of the characters (but it somehow fit?!?), and there is some stark reality - a young child dies from a land mine, a baby is trying to be sold and is stated to be likely to die. Hannah had a hard time with those concepts...it actually provoked us to talk about supporting some mission work in that country - but it is practically impossible to find a good solid organization there. We commented the other day that in fairy tales everything turns out well in the end. Only in real stories do things sometimes turn out sad. This is somewhat a story like that.

Mud City is the last of the series. It chronicles the story of Parvana's friend, Shauzia. She is in the country of Pakistan and is working towards fulfilling her dream of going to France. Most of the book she is living in Mud City - a women and orphan's refugee camp. I must say, I didn't really like the book...Shauzia was not an overcomer, more of a constant complainer. She always had an overly inflated view of herself and was frequently unwilling to abide by the rules and powers that be. Nonetheless, it was an interesting look into a refugee's life in Pakistan during the 90s. The idea that these stories took place in such recent history was really quite amazing to me.

Although these books are not the top of my favorites list, they were very insightful and broadened my very limited understanding of these two countries. I would recommend them if that is the purpose you are looking to fulfill.

Some more Sun Mountain pics

Sun Mountain Lodge

Dave and I are enjoying a lovely night away in celebration of our 15th anniversary tomorrow....we decided to drive up to Sun Mountain Lodge (about 2 hours away), and spend some time mountain biking. This afternoon was perfect temperature and perfect weather so we hopped on some bikes after we got checked in. The trail system here is absolutely amazing...so much fun. Dave is a pretty good mountain biker, but I've only been 3 or 4 times. The trails were nicely maintained with a good variety of levels. We mostly went on easy to moderate trails through lovely trees and flowers. Then, we spied a "most difficult" trail that looked like fun, at it was super! We actually went back up and did it again. Needless to say, I'm sure we are going to be sore tomorrow.

Our room is nice with a good view of the mountains. We also enjoyed a dinner outside on the deck overlooking the beautiful valley. The menu was a bit limited, so Dave ordered a hamburger, but I ordered Chicken Curry Soup (yummy!) and some goat cheese/mac nut/glazed fig salad - also scrumptious! Dave did also order a side of morel mushrooms that were amazing. So, overall a wonderful dinner.

They also have a great game room with ping pong, Foosball, and pool tables. We played some of each - I think Dave won them all.

The weather for tomorrow is forecasting rain, but I hope we'll get enough time to play a few games of horseshoes. :)

Josh's 8th Birthday

Today was Josh's official birthday, and we had our family party this evening. We had a bit of school this morning and some free time...then a nice bike ride around the loop -first of the year - it was great to get out and do that. Then we had Dave's brother's family and my folks over for a waffle dinner followed by chocolate chip cookie bars for dessert (we already had cake on Fri so Josh wanted something else). What was especially nice was having all my kid's cousins together at one time...

Blackbird Island

A place I love to go visit is Blackbird Island...it's a great place for kids, for older people, for people seeking beauty, for people just wanting some peace and quiet...you can't go wrong spending an afternoon there. It's located just outside of downtown Leavenworth. There is a nice, mostly smooth, sandy trail system that weaves around the island near the water and more inland. If you go towards the western end, there is a great play area for kids (a little on the younger kids side). And, what kid doesn't like to play in the sand/mud? This time of year the water is up quite high so the beach areas aren't quite as accessible, but later in the summer it's a great place to play in the water. Hope you'll get a chance to head out that way sometime soon...

Friend Birthday Party

The year of friend birthdays has arrived and we celebrated this afternoon for Josh's 8th birthday. We only have friend parties on every major year and since Hannah is turning 10, this is it. The last year was 3 years ago when Josh was 5. We're always quite low-key about parties...we have them at our house, make our own cake, make our own decorations, and create our own games. 14 friends were able to come including his two cousins from CA which was a special treat. We played "Pin the Hat on the Lego Man", pop the balloons and assemble a Lego man (a piece of Lego was placed in each balloon), an obstacle course, and our traditional gift exchange (this year the kids were asked to bring Legos).

Monday, Josh's actual birthday, we'll have our regular family party...

I was looking at this picture and thinking you couldn't have
a lovelier backdrop to a relay :)