A birthday in the country

Yesterday we spent the day with Brian, Morgan and Harper in Livingston. After the rain (and rain and rain and rain), everything was especially green and beautiful. I so enjoyed watching Brian as he showed us around the farm and explained the nature of organic farming. It's very inspiring to watch him as he works to cultivate the ground - the same ground that he's determined will be his burial ground!

I love my family, and I was so glad to spend my birthday with them. Even though I forgot to take pictures of anyone except Harper. (She just has that effect on me.)

This picture is Harper in a nutshell. She was seriously in need of a nap (you can see the pool of tears forming in her right eye), but she was still smiling and prancing about the yard squealing and screaming with delight.

Exploring the big wide world of the front yard

Brian's crops

All the little wilburs - but of course no one is allowed to name them!

Hawai'i Part Two

Our time in Hawai'i was excellent. We were truly blessed to get to go.

We're confidant that the Lord used Dan's music to encourage believers and unbelievers alike. I was commenting to Dan the other day on the remarkable power of music in communicating truth - a power that spoken words often don't have. It has the capacity to expose and break down barriers that would otherwise remain hidden. And in it lies an incredible opportunity to communicate the beauty and goodness of Christ to a broken world.

We often wonder what difference two people and a guitar (and only one person out of the two who can play it) can make in the world. But God has shown me over and over again how creative He is in using the most ordinary means to draw people to Himself. The real power, then, lies not so much in the music - but rather in the Holy Spirit, who Alone awakens our hearts to the truth. He takes pleasure in using two broken people to show Himself to others. That is our prayer - that He would use us as He wills.

Here are some photos from the last few days of the trip.

One of the mornings, we hiked up to the Lanikai Pill Boxes (built during WWII) with Harley and Sarah.

Oh my! I nearly fell off the cliff! It was a close one!

On our day off, we kayaked to one of the two Mokulua Islands that we could see from the Pill Boxes. We had to hike around the island to get to the other side - where Dan bravely jumped from a small cliff into the water. We brought snorkel gear, but the water was a little too rough that day.

Enjoying a little sun after a hike.

During our last free time, we went snorkeling in a bay. Here, Dan has a face-off with a one-legged Turtle.

Thanks, Harley and Sarah, for putting up with us for 10 days. You are a gem!

Good Friday Reflections

"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell." (Colossians 1:19)

This verse was part of a New Testament reading at tonight's Good Friday service at Cornerstone Pres. I've read this verse multiple times, and tonight the power of these words finally made its way through my thick skull and sank deep into my heart, penetrating it to the core. Tears welled up in my eyes.

In Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He didn't just resemble God (though he did), and he wasn't just close to God the Father (though he was). The fullness of God - his glory, his beauty, his wisdom, his strength, his love - was actually pleased to take up a dwelling place in this perfect human being, called the Son of God and Son of Man. I can't even begin to imagine what the fullness of God looks like. God, perfect and whole, chose to take on flesh and show his fullness in one human being.

All along, God knew that blood would have to be shed. He wanted to reconcile us to Himself, but sin stood in the way. And sin, which is no small thing, deserves a penalty. So, according to God's merciful plan, a perfect being would be crushed in our place. The fullness of God would absorb the penalty. And we would be ransomed from our futile ways.

The fullness of God dwelt in Christ, and now we are filled in Christ. We have everything we need through Christ himself. When Christ declared, "It is finished," he meant that nothing else needed to be done. He had done all the work necessary to bring us from a state of emptiness to a state of fullness.

Thanks be to God.

You, O Lord, are enthroned forever

One minute you're wearing old, worn out, smudged lenses that are too small for your eyes. And the next minute someone removes your outdated spectacles and replaces them with a brand new pair. You're dizzy for a few seconds, but then everything around you seems to come into focus. Within a single moment, your perspective is changed forever.

Dan was just launching into a second song at a house concert when suddenly a girl began having a seizure. Everyone's state of shock quickly turned into a state of panic. No one was medical. No one really knew this girl, so no one knew whether she had a history. As a few gathered around her to figure out how to keep her breathing, we all launched into earnest and desperate prayers: "Lord, help her."

The EMTs soon arrived and delivered her to the hospital where she underwent cat scans and other tests. And we were all left to contemplate life and what this all was supposed to mean for us. The lessons we learned:

- Life is precious, life is fragile.

- We owe every single breath to a Sovereign, Holy God.

- When we're in a state of panic and chaos, God is in control. Unlike us, He knew this girl. He knew that he wanted her to be surrounded by people who would pray for her, and not suffer through this alone. And He knew the lessons He wanted us to learn.

- "My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever. You are remembered throughout all generations." (Ps. 102)

Snow White goes to Hawaii...

...and, amidst all the excitement and adventure, forgets to put sunscreen on her legs. Ouch.

Aloha from Oahu - part 1

The Hawaiian greeting, "Aloha," is an all-encompassing word meaning love, peace, compassion, mercy and... oh, what's the other one? Well, something else nice-sounding. Anyway, I've thought about how cool it would be if we greeted one another in the other 49 states with such high hopes. (HOPE! That's the fifth one, I think.) "Hello" just doesn't generate the warm fuzzies quite like an "Aloha".

Here are a few pictures from Week 1 in Hawaii.

These big fellas come ashore to do a little sunbathing. There's just nothing uptight about these creatures. Sometimes I wish I could relax like this.

When God created Hawaii, He seriously picked some gorgeous color combinations.

We're staying with the Thompson Family on the Hickam Air Force Base. Even the base is gorgeous with a beautiful walkway along Pearl Harbor.

No close-up shots yet. Not until I get a little bit of a tan! (Which may take a while...)

The Pearl Harbor/ USS Arizona memorial. The history of the 1941 Attack is brought to life when you step out onto the memorial that hovers above the remains of the sunken ship.

Dan playing for a chapel-sponsored event at Pearl Harbor.

We hiked the Makapu'u to see this fantastic view.

Chinatown

We just happened to pick a restaurant in Waikiki that had a view of this sunset. Pretty incredible.

Digging in the dirt

It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Yesterday we spent the heat of the day digging in the dirt. I planned to put the herbs in the pots as fast as I could, among all the other things I had to do. But I learned an important lesson: Planting herbs shouldn't be a hurried event. I should plan for a shower afterwards so that I can dig into the dirt so hard my fingernails turn black. And if I'm not taking time to smell the rosemary, it quickly becomes boring business. Everything else on my list must wait while I cultivate this little garden "for the nose."

Flat Italian Parsley

Red Basil - this will be great for salads!

I've never planted a cherry tomato plant. Any wisdom?

We use basil in everything imaginable, so this is essential.

Lavender. And yes, those are weeds growing up in the yard behind it. Ahem.

Rosemary - another essential for cooking. We love cooking it with our rice.

This curious little plant has a slight cucumber taste. It should be a great compliment to salads, as well.

Norway

Norway was a first for both of us. Last year, Dan contacted the chaplain of a NATO base in Stavanger. The chaplain agreed to pay for our way from Germany with the understanding that we wouldn't be compensated for his playing. We were still willing to go, hoping we could survive on CD sales and love offerings. God is faithful, and the people were generous. In fact, on the first day, one precious lady came up to us and handed us some Norwegian cash (kroner). It was exactly the amount we needed for the entire 5 days. We couldn't help but smile thinking about how incredibly faithful our Heavenly Father is to provide our daily bread.

The beauty of the country was quite overwhelming at times. Hopefully you can taste a little of the beauty from the pictures!

Hello, Norway. Nice to meet you. What a beautiful sunset you have.

This is Chaplain Mike Howard and his wife, Shannon. They were such awesome people and wonderful hosts. They took us to see the Fjords on a free day. Is that view not incredible? We rubbed our eyes and pinched ourselves a few times to make sure it was true...

My husband's artistic eye at work. The houses are all very colorful.

At the Howard's house - our first attempt at making sushi! Mmm....

Playing for a youth group

Playing for a Power Lunch for the troops

Serenity

The lake in view from our hotel.

This was a first! Dan played at Karisma Youth Center for a sweet group of students. I've never seen him play accented by a smoke machine and spotlights. He was quite the rock star.

He looks all glowy.

We really enjoyed getting to know the youth leaders at Karisma.

If I were a bird, this is exactly where I'd like to perch.

This is called the Three Swords Monument. We're not sure why, but I guess that's the name they randomly picked.