Morning Devotions

Some mornings my morning devotions come more easily than others.  

On days like this one,

it is so easy to praise God for the beauty of His creation and how His creation reveals His character.  It makes me sad (and reminds me to pray) for my neighbor who thinks the view is magical, but doesn't recognize the God created it.

I am so thankful for the beauty of God's creation, which I get to enjoy everyday, and for my senses that enable me to enjoy it.

First Day of School - stream of conciousness

So, that day when you are really sore from doing a workout you shouldn't be sore from, on a day that just happens to be the first day of school, and because the sun is out after school - aka around 6pm when you finally leave even though it was a half day - you go for a run to enjoy the weather and you feel your sore muscles with every step. 
But, in all that, you feel so blessed because the first day went better than expected, the sun is shining after a number of gray rainy days, the ocean water looks so blue, the mountains are beautiful, there is a rainbow in part of one of the clouds near the sun (apparently rare for the cloud to turn into a rainbow), and despite feeling sore and stiff you actually feel really good while running; seeing the sun peek through a hole in the fast spreading clouds after noticing you have a partial shadow, and thinking that maybe God did it just for you. 
And, feeling incredibly blessed by a good God and a good day.

Last day of Official Vacation

Today was my last official day of Summer Vacation.  I have gone to school most days in the past two weeks - including a family work day this past Saturday.  Today, instead of going in and doing prep work, I enjoyed my last day of vacation going hiking with a friend.

We stopped to enjoy the view of Mount Baker along the drive.  It was cloudy when we left home, so we were very thankful to have such a clear and beautiful view!

We took a trail called Rainbow Ridge.  After climbing 1000 feet in the first half mile, we got out to some great views.  First was Mount Shuksan.

We got to see many different views of Mount Baker as well.  The clouds came and went, but only at the end did they come in front of the mountain.

As we were leaving some clouds moved in.  This view reminded me of artistic depictions of Mount Sinai, except it is missing the lightning bolts, I thought it was a fun connection.

Summer Smoothies

Summer is a great time to make smoothies!  The other day I decided I wanted a smoothie.  I went outside and picked what was left of mom and dad's strawberries.  Then I moved to the raspberries and picked a bunch of them (there were more of those left than strawberries).  I went inside and added some frozen saskatoons - I would have had to go for a walk to get enough saskatoons.  The only drawback was that because the berries were warm, I had to add ice to make the smoothie cold.

Delicious summer treat.

When does this happen?

The best view I've ever had while playing piano.  The acoustics were excellent too! 

I wish I brought some music along.

On Sunday we hiked up to Crater Lake with some friends.  On the way we stopped to play piano in an alpine meadow.  The piano was brought up by helicopter a few days before and will stay up there until September.  It is part of a local program promoting music in Smithers.

Special Treat

After school today a parent gave me a cup of frozen blueberries.  Frozen blueberries make a delicious snack at the end of the school week, and are especially appreciated when the classroom is around 74 degrees. (I have been thoroughly enjoying our beautiful weather)

I was blessed by the gift of frozen blueberries.  It may seem like a small thing, but this mother and daughter took the time to know that I love frozen blueberries and then brought them simply because.  I love gifts like that because they are completely unexpected and straight from the heart.  The gift was more than just the blueberries, but also the gift of being known.

Thanks Margo and Taryn!

Productivity

This weekend I have a nice long list of things to do for school.  I was anticipating a productive day.  So, I slept in and actually noticed that sun can get into my window (under the carport) if it is at the right angle.  Then, because the weather is beautiful I sat outside in the sun to do my devotions.  I even thought that if I sat there too long I might get a sunburn.

After breakfast I put dinner in the crock pot - basically some beans, onion, garlic, and a ham bone (thanks to Green Eggs and Ham lunch at school).  Then, because it was sunny and windy, when I thought it was supposed to be rainy, I decided I should mow the lawn.  I knew it needed to be done, but wasn't expecting to be able to do it because of the weather.  Now I smell like gas mostly (and maybe a little like fresh air), but I have a couple of windows open.  I would love to spend the rest of the day outside.  Looking out at the water made me miss sailing.

So, instead of school work, I have prepared dinner, mowed the lawn, and gotten some exercise (yay for multi-tasking).  I feel like I have been productive, but sometimes productivity doesn't look like I expect it to. 

Now, time to get down to my list of tasks for school.