Alturas, CA

I grew up camping every summer with my parents, two brothers, and two sisters. Our favorite place to "level the trailer" and "pitch the pup tent" was Yosemite. We'd usually spend a week camping in the valley and then head up to the high country for the second week. A favorite childhood camping memory is laying in a bed of needles with my eyes looking up towards the top of Glacier Point, watching the fire falls. All onlookers would "ooooooo" and "awwwwwww" as the burning embers were pushed off the top of that huge granite slab and make its descent to the valley floor, leaving a trail of sparks and flames. I guess you could call it Yosemite's version of a fireworks show. It is my understanding the fire falls have been stopped due to the outcry of the environmentalists. Such a shame. I guess they thought they were hurting the environment in some way. (The Lord's fireworks during the day of the Lord are going to be so much more spectacular and destructive. There will be absolutely no comparison to what man thinks he's doing to the earth as compared to what the Lord will do.)

Last night my sister, my mom, and I pulled into Alturas, CA. We are on our way to Mammoth Lakes and a family reunion. Alturas is a sleepy town in Northern California where the sidewalks are rolled up at 5 pm and the restaurants play country music and some of the waitresses take three syllables to say a one syllable word. It is north of Yosemite by approximately 300 miles. As I write this it is Friday. On Sunday the family is scheduled to make a trip up into the high country of Yosemite for the day. We've a picnic lunch planned at Tenaya Lake where you will see some of the world's bluest water. It's rather cold as well.

I'm looking forward to Sunday as I treasure memories of family picnics at Tenaya Lake in my youth...however this time it will be a huge gathering which will include my grandchildren as well!

I'll post some pictures when I get home...

The Prewrath Position, Simplified

Read Matthew 24:1-31. You are the elect, right? You are a disciple of Christ. Listen to His instruction. Heed His warnings. Then you will know what to expect and what to do before He returns to gather you. Go to Matthew 28:19,20. There we learn that all His disciples from all nations are to teach and observe all that He taught and commanded the twelve. This would include what He taught and commanded in Matthew 24. He told us He would be with us until the end of the age. From Matthew 24, we learn when the end of the age falls, after the great tribulation is cut short.

That is the prewrath position, simplified.

Obedience...

...settles the heart and gives stability, peace, and joy. Disobedience creates chaos and anxiety.

I've decided...

...to come out of my blogging hiatus, at least for now. A nugget has been burning inside of me and I just have to get it out. Here it is...

Getting our minds off ourselves and our circumstances and placing them on the Lord is one of the spiritual disciplines that has wonderful dividends - peace! What do we do when we realize we are being anxious and worrisome? Determine what we have turned into an idol then confess it as sin, put on a thankful heart, and start thinking about the faithfulness, goodness, and trustworthiness of God. The dividend? God’s peace will stand as a sentry between us and the world’s commotion!

Taking a Break

My summer is about to take off at super-sonic speed. There are photography jobs lining up, VBS lesson plans for which to prepare, a grandson to watch grow. (His big sister Daisy said just the other day that his blue eyes are as big as dinner-plates. I would have to agree, and I could look at them all day long!) Next month hopefully will be a visit from my mom and sister, a trip to California and a family reunion at Mammoth Lakes - in the Sierra Nevada mountains, just south of the high country of Yosemite, one of my most favorite places in all the outdoor world! (God's creation there is breath-takingly beautiful.) And somewhere in there I have to climb on my roof, tear out my carpeting, finish refacing my kitchen cabinets, and paint my bathroom. So, you can see it leaves little time for the fun stuff, like blogging. I've decided to take a break. My son arrives back from Alaska for a week at the end of September and then Lord-willing, I'm having more special company, so perhaps around mid-October I will get back to it.

In the mean time, watch for the signs and then look for His return, and may the Lord always be your life! (That is a 100% word!)

Overcomer

If I were in Eau Claire, Wisconsin from July 16th-18th...

...I'd be going to this!

Daniel

Early Friday morning my cell phone rang at 1:29am. It was my son-in-law. My daughter's water had broken. They would be coming by in about ten minutes to drop my granddaughter Daisy off to stay with Grandpa and pick me up to go to the hospital. As we rushed to the hospital, Annie's contractions were coming hard and just two minutes apart. Annie was scheduled to have a c-section on Tuesday, June 16th, because Daniel was breech. It was apparent that he was not going to wait that long! It was Annie's desire for me to chronicle in pictures this wonderful event. If you click on this link you will be taken to the web album I put together, then click on slideshow. We begin in the triage room where nurses bustled in and out, monitoring Annie's contractions while the doctor was summoned and the OR was being prepared. There are several images of Annie enduring a contraction. She was a real trooper! Only one support person was allowed in the OR. That had to be dad! A nurse took a picture of mom, dad, and baby right after Daniel arrived at 4:46am, on June 12th, four days ahead of his due date, and the date that Gramma predicted! (Aren't the mom's always right?! Well, at least 99.9% of the time!)

Daniel mirrors his father. He has long fingers and big feet! Annie is going to be a wonderful mother. She has not received much sleep since then. I've been at the hospital during the day while my son-in-law takes the night shift as her support. Annie is so tender to Daniel. It's such a delight to watch them interact, to see him searching for the sound of her gentle voice with his eyes as she softly talks to him. His daddy adores him too. That morning has to rank in my top five, of the most joyous days of my life!

Before he was even born, I prayed that the Lord would draw Daniel to Himself. A dear friend wrote after viewing the album that she prayed the same thing for Daniel, that the Lord would bring him into a relationship with Himself at a very young age, avoiding the pitfalls of sin which accompany a youth of rebellion. Rather to walk with the Lord his whole life would be blessing beyond compare...

This truly would be a blessing.

Thank you Lord for sweet, little Daniel, such a precious gift!