Getting out of the grey bubble
Since we moved to Seattle we have gotten in the habit of exploring. There are so many great things to see here that it feels like we have an endless list of good things to do on the weekends. In the last month we've taken our weekend outings to the extreme and have had the chance to explore to both Oregon and Idaho.
The Oregon trip was really planed on a whim when we were still battling with the fleas and were making a desperate attempt at regaining our sanity by vacating our house. We checked into a really nice Hotel in downtown Portland that boasted about their luxurious pet accommodations. Since this was really as much a vacation for the dogs as it was for us it seemed like the right place to be. This is a picture of the gift the hotel had waiting for the dogs when we arrived and the smile of their faces after we ordered doggie room service on the second night. Totally ridiculous i know. 
While we were in Oregon we drove to beautiful cannon beach where we hiked with the dogs to a light house look out point. I dont know if you can tell from the picture but this is the same beach where Goonies was filmed. I must say it was absolutely gorgeous. After the hike we went into town and completely binged on fresh saltwater taffy and fudge that we bought from an incredibly cranky candy shop owner. She scowled at us we asked for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of free fudge samples. Maybe my judgment was a little off. 
When we returned home...the fleas were right there waiting for us. Apparently all we did was successfully starve them for a few days. Needless to say we bombed the house the next weekend and it was finally over.
1 peter 2: 1-3
First things first, the fleas are gone. It was a long hard battle which included a couple of weekends away from the home..several different forms of pesticides and powders and finally we won.Then the spiders came.
That is right. Spiders. Wolf spiders. Ive been calling it spider season here because all of the sudden they are everywhere. We were in Idaho visiting friends last weekend and in the two days that we were gone they completely boobytraped our back yard and porch with large webs (as a side note it is worth mentioning that while we were in Idaho it rained there for the first time all summer of course). I had to go out there with a broom and take care of the webs. I call it doing my daily rounds. At about noon now every day I go outside. Tear down the webs with my trusty broom and step on the giant spiders. I know its cruel but its the only way I feel safe in our yard.
moving on.
So I realize that we haven't posted anything interesting in a while. Part of this is because we don't really do much here, but mostly its because I feel like spiritually things were starting to come to a lull here. Its scary how subtle and patient Satan is in influencing our daily choices. About three months ago I found my self not really wanting to read the word as much as I had always wanted to in the past. This slowly turned into reading it occasionally begrudgingly because I felt like I ought to...then it turned into avoiding the bible at all costs. Tim and I still read together every morning, but its not been enough to actually feed my spirit and give it the nutrients that it desperately needs to stay alive and healthy. Slowly everything has been getting worse. Every Sunday I do NOT want to go to church (there are several reasons for this that I can get into later), Tim and I had been arguing a lot more consistently, Ive been feeling really distracted at work, basically everything has felt out of sync. The tricky thing was that we were doing more ministry work and being more involved in actively serving in our church and praying together than we every have before. On the outside everything looked right and good. Finally Then this weekend while I was outside squishing the spiders God got through to me and revealed to me just what a desperate condition my spirit was in. Id been basically starving it for months now and as a consequence everything was spiraling down. I say this though with a smile on my face knowing that God is faithful and he can take a weak and starving spirit and fill it with the goodness and truth of His Word and nurse us back health in no time at all. I had started looking at the Word as something that I read to increase my knowledge and
understanding and desiring this alone was not enough to motivate me to desire it daily. Anyways, read1 Peter 2: 1-3, I hope you will find it hard not to continue reading after this.
FLEAS (*&@1!....arg...&*!)
Apparently fleas live here. They thrive especially in damp wooded areas.....such as our back yard. No one bothered to tell me that in order to not get them you need to PREVENT them by treating your dogs all year round. So as a consequence...the dogs have fleas. I am so traumatised that I just had to share with all two of you who actually read this blog. I have freaked out and completely sterilized the whole house but unfortunately I don't know for sure that they are gone. I will only know if they arent back in a month. I am not doing well with this. Last night we decided that the guest bedroom was the only safe place in the entire house since we generally keep the door closed. But no. When I woke up a flea jumped off Birdy right on to me. This is war. I would bomb our house but I am pretty sure it would kill Leo. Wish us luck.
making my peace with the rain
Let me just start by saying that this post is not another rant about the weather here. Yes the weather has been really hard for me, and yes I LOVE to complain about it, but I think God has been using it to grow me in ways I never thought possible....and now.... I'm starting to love the rain.
When we went back to Colorado last week I was anticipating ninety degree dry hot heat, dusty hikes and sweating in the car. What I got was low drippy clouds, cold temperatures and a whole lot of happy Coloradoans who desperately needed the rain. I cried. A lot.
But then I reached a point where I knew that I could not let the weather affect my attitude any more. It was about to ruin a wonderful time at home with our family and there was no reason for that. So I prayed and prayed and prayed. And God started to speak to me about it. In fact he dealt with me. Ive never been so glad to be "dealt with." I realized that although God may not have caused a cold summer in Seattle and a rainy weekend in Colorado just to teach me something important, but he sure used it. I was letting my personal discomfort get in the way of the work that God has for Tim and I out here. Something I thought I would never do. I became more concerned with my fatigue and weight gain and inability to run everyday with the sun shining on my back than the true reason we are here in the first place. I had lost sight of the path and I realized in Colorado just how long I had been sitting in the same spot waiting for God to present me with a path that "looked better" until I would agree to move on.
So last night Tim and I went to a worship concert at the Evergreen state fair. We went to see Leland and Jars of Clay. I was looking forward to the show all summer. But yesterday afternoon it started pouring down rain. I thought for SURE they would cancel the outdoor show, but of course they didn't. The rain doesn't stop anything or anyone here. They still do outdoor landscaping including mowing the lawn in all right downpours . So we attended in true Washington style, with sweatshirts, jeans and two tiny umbrellas which we couldn't use anyways. At the very first song, I stood up and opened up my hands and felt the rain fill them up. My eyes watered and I began to sob. Not because I was sad that it had rained on our concert, but because I was filled with the most unbelievable joy, the joy of freedom from my bondage. The Lord brought me into the most amazing worship right there in the freezing cold rain. At that moment it didn't matter what the weather was or what I looked like or what any of our circumstances were, all that mattered was God.
I will wrap this up by saying that God is so good to me. He has been more patient than I ever imagined and he is faithful beyond my comprehension. I feel him healing me as I continue the process of surrendering my fear and hurt from the depression that griped me after our move. And today it is raining, but I feel better than I have in a long time.
Here is a new photo of us at the rose gardens in Seattle. Surprisingly it
was sunny that day : )
Here is a new photo of us at the rose gardens in Seattle. Surprisingly it
was sunny that day : )
the Truth shall make you Free
I thought I'd share a piece of a great devotional I read today. It seems the enemy has been somewhat relentless lately, and it is so easy to lose sight of truth and become ignorant of the enemy's devices...The problem of Satan's binding, hindering, restricting influence is not ended at salvation. Many saints (though headed for heaven) are still bound in areas of their thinking and behaving. They are still influenced by the enemy's lies. They cannot make the liberating confession of Paul and his missionary team: "we are not ignorant of [Satan's] devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). Ignorance of the enemy's tactics will persist in the lives of those who do not know (or will not yield to) God's liberating truth. On the other hand, all who are willing to embrace the truths of God's word will increasingly enjoy freedom from the enemy's lies. They will grow in understanding of, and reliance upon, the victorious purposes of Jesus' coming to this earth. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…that they may know the truth…and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him. (John 8:31-32; 2 Timothy 2:25-26)
As followers of Jesus Christ, it is so important that we abide in His word. We are called to live in the word of the Lord that we might know His truth. Then, as we are embracing God's truth, we are impacted by its liberating power. "The truth shall make you free." Bondage from the enemy is one fundamental area where people need spiritual liberation.
You can read the rest of this devotional HERE if you'd like.Anyway, here's a new picture of our little family. It was taken by Lynsi's parents when they visited over 4th of July weekend...
quick little update
A couple of weekends ago our good friends Mark and Christina took us out on a ferry ride to Kingston to get some ice cream at sunset. It was beautiful being out on the water and expanding our knowledge of the local area a bit. Ive posted some pics of us on the ferry as well as all four of us before we rode the ferry back home.
The more time we spend here the more we realize that we really live in a beautiful and unique place. But don't worry, we don't exactly love it yet and are still secretly plotting to move back to Colorado as soon as the Lord is willing...maybe
We have been getting some sunny weather here in the last couple of weeks so we have been able to get out on the weekends and explore a little more. We went to a local strawberry farm recently and picked over 10lbs of strawberries to bring home. So far we have made one delicious cobbler and are not sure what to do with the rest. I planted some strawberries in our garden at the beginning of the season, but the dogs seem to enjoy them just as much as we do, so they get little bite marks in them as soon as they are red and ripe. We will post more pics of our recent adventures soon.
Acts 4:29
God's word is good. Here's a little bit of what he's been feeding us with:A prayer by the disciples in the midst of persecution and threats:
"And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word..."
Acts 4:29
They did not cower in response to the threats for preaching the message of the Lord (though it's possible they were afraid). They did not scatter. They did not pray that God would protect them and keep them safe from harm. They did not pray that God would soften their persecutor's heart to cease their hostility towards them. They prayed for boldness to continue to speak his word despite the circumstances.
Lord, may our prayer be one which is kingdom-centered and not me-centered, especially in the face of opposition and circumstances. May our hearts and minds be focused on your will rather than our convenience and comfort. May we be quickened to pray for your purpose to be accomplished and your glory to manifest before praying for our own safety and security.... because greater things will happen.
I will not fear the grinding wheel, for my maker will only refine me and make me useful.
battle wounds
Its month three here in Washington and strangely enough it feels sometimes like year three. Its amazing how quickly things become habit, and how quickly you adjust to the feeling of driving to the same places and seeing the same people every day. Even though its been only three months a lot has happened. We are really excited about how God has been speaking to us and what he has been moving us to do here. He continues to give us guidance about our involvement in the youth ministry we volunteer with. We are currently helping them to design their new youth room in the new church building they will be moving into in a couple of weeks. Its wonderful getting to start with a completely blank slate and pray to God about how he would have it designed and built.
However, in the last couple of months we have met some opposition from Satan like we had never experienced before. Tim has been sick for three months, he had a cold that started the week we got here. We expected him to get better on his own but somehow never did. We have been struggling on and off again with depression from the really cloudy weather. The clouds here block the sun 99% of the time which makes it difficult to feel normal if you were born and raised in a state where the sun shines all year round. Last week our puppy Tiger ate 1/2 of a rat carcass that he found under our porch. Apparently the rat had died from eating rat poison and therefore tiger was poisoned. We rushed him to the emergency vet, where he spent the day in intensive care and was given tons of shots and fluids etc. We are so grateful that he is still with us even though most days when I get home from work and see that he has utterly DESTROYED our kitchen, I just want to throw him outside and wait for one of the bald eagles we have in our back yard to scoop him up for a snack. So far we have only called poison control once and had one ER visit with him. This is pretty good considering that Birdy spent the first year of her life at the vet.
So this week my car went into the shop because it has been leaking mass amounts of oil. It turns out that it needs $1800 dollars of work to get it back up and going again. sheesh. And while it was in the shop...Tims car completely broke down and we had it towed to the same shop. It turns out his isn't as costly of a repair, and I think we might even be able to do it (fingers crossed). So all those things are just the surface issues. In fact they haven't really been bothering us too much they just add to the stress of a stronger, never ending spiritual battle. We have been hit hard continually in our minds, our hearts and our marriage. We are praising the Lord for this opposition as we know that God is using it for his glory. Here is a beautiful excerpt from the book Wild At Heart that reminded us this week just how real and important this battle is.
"You will be wounded. Just because this battle is spiritual doesn’t mean it’s not real; it is, and the wounds a man can take are in some ways more ugly than those that come in a firefight. To lose a leg is nothing compared to losing heart; to be crippled by shrapnel need not destroy your soul, but to be crippled by shame and guilt may. You will be wounded by the Enemy. He knows the wounds of your past, and he will try to wound you again in the same place. But these wounds are different; these are honor-wounds."
Wild At Heart pg 176.
Lately we have been finding ourselves worn out, tired, sometimes afraid and overwhelmed, angry and frustrated. Our spiritual wounds feel far more real than anything that happens in the physical realm that discomforts us. But through all this we are finally learning how to fight together and to use the glorious weapons the lord has equipped us with. Praise His beautiful and awesome name!
For more information on spiritual warfare click here
2 Corinthians 4:2
So finally we write a new post on this little blog of ours. Its not that we have been too busy to write, or that we have lost interest in giving regular updates, its more that we have felt that there has not been anything fascinating going on here that you must know about. However, Tim got an e-mail this week from Ryan. It was a link to a daily devotional with a particularly wonderful entry for May 16th. It really touched us both so we thought we would put it on here to share with you. The basis of the contents of the devotional are 2 Corinthians 4:2. It just so happens that we are studying 2 Corinthians, but we must have missed this verse. God has a funny way of bringing things to your attention if we are too dense to miss them the first time around.So before you read the devotional here is a quick update on life here in the rainy part of the country. Things here have been moving right along. We are struggling most with learning how to find contentment in God alone and not focus on our circumstances so much. What an impossible task. We are finding the move to be a little more challenging than we initially though, mostly because the weather is difficult to get used to and we feel a little out of our element at times. Because of this we praise God! He has been speaking to us about a ministry that involves getting together people our age, so we are praying about what he would have us to do to be a part of bringing His vision to pass.
Here is the devotional: You can also link to it directly by clicking here.
"Our Approach to Ministry"
We have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2)
God has made us His servants under the new covenant of grace. "God…made us…ministers of the new covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). Those who desire to serve the Lord by grace have a very distinctive approach to ministry. "We have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully."
It is so sad that the many ministry approaches in the church world include motives and methodologies that are kept hidden, because their true character is shameful. Some of these dishonorable approaches involve "walking in craftiness" (such as, manipulating people through carnal enticements). Others involve "handling the word of God deceitfully" (such as, preaching what people want to hear, instead of what the scriptures actually say). If we are going to serve God by grace, we must reject such tactics.
Instead, we want to serve God "by manifestation of the truth." We minister by a candid declaration of God's truth, not by a deceptive operation of man's tricks. Also, we desire that our lives be a commendation of our message, not a contradiction of it: "commending ourselves to every man's conscience." As we proclaim God's truth, we humbly ask God to impact our lives by that truth, in order to become an example of what we preach. The Lord will use this to touch others deep in their consciences.
It is God's will that our ministries impact more than men's minds (which can be reached by mere ideas, concepts, or systems). It is His intention that our testimonies reach beyond men's emotions (which can be touched by exciting stories, condemning insinuations, or inspiring ideals). He certainly does not want us to appeal to people's pride ("let God make you someone others will envy") or to their covetousness ("give to our ministry, and God will give you ten-fold in return"). Rather, God desires to reach their consciences, that "image-of-God" imprint that convicts people of sin and of their need for God: "who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness" (Romans 2:15).
O God of truth and holiness, I long to serve You by grace. I want to reject manipulating people and distorting Your word. Make my life a vessel of honor that confirms Your truth. As I minister to others, touch them deep in their hearts, by the power of Your grace, stirring them to seek after You, Amen.
Tiger
He's finally here! Our new little puppy finally arrived Wednesday morning. His name is Tiger. Birdy has already taken him under her wing and already loves him more than us. All they do is play together, sleep, play together, sleep, eat, play together and so on.
He's a cutie for sure. Not like the "oh you're as cute as a button and so adorable I just want to squeeze you" cute. But more like the "you got a crazy look in your eye and all the fur on your head makes you look like you're wearing a helmet, and you look ridiculous" cute. We love him.
Here's a few pictures of him taken on the first day we got him. He's just under 10 weeks old in the pics.
there's less Son here than you think
We wanted to share with you a little about this town that God chose to send us to. The more we learn about it, the more it seems like no random chance or coincidence at all. We live on the boundaries of a small tight-knit and exclusive city whose foundations seem rooted in darkness. A brief history of the town is this:A few decades ago several communities were developed around a high class, very wealthy, ritzy country club which lay on a nice golf course. Over time the area developed more communities, most of which centralized around this country club and golf course. Sometime in the 70's this small area managed to become recognized as an official city. A very small city, but nonetheless... a city. It's new, more expensive to live in, and from what we've heard, carries a little bit of the "snooty" attitude, and the people here are extremely liberal and quite anti-God.
The interesting thing about this city is that they have intentionally written in their constitution that there are no churches allowed. None. From what we've been explained, they were quite clever in how they went about this, and covered their tracks perfectly. With the exception of a very few select churches that were sort of "grandfathered" in to the city (that is, they were there before the area became an official city, and therefore they can't do anything about them), you cannot have any church here, nor use a building for the sake of large bible study gatherings. This is just a glimpse of how dark this place is. It isn't just physically dark here.... but quite spiritually dark as well. There's no sun and no Son. This impression gives us just a little understanding to why this state is the most unchurched area in the country.
May the Lord break the rulers of darkness in this world, the spiritual wickedness in high places. May he set at liberty the captive with his unconquerable light.
Romans 13:12
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."
II Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness..."This has been the word God has reminded us several times of since we got here. For the first two weeks we were here Lynsi just couldn't get that scripture out of her head . Perhaps this is because we have already experienced how not slow God truly is in fulfilling his promises, especially those he made to us in regard to moving us here.
Before we even knew God had plans for us to move away from our home in Colorado he gave us a specific vision for a purpose and ministry. He told us that he was going to "send us to the ends of the earth to bring people into his church." He did this through a powerful dream and then confirmed it through several good words. Moreover, while we were preparing for our move we heard from the Lord that there would be people here waiting for us. That is, people would know that God had sent us, and it would be an answer to their prayers for help.
We also knew that God wanted us to continue to pour into students (high school/middle school) as well many people who live in this area.
We hadn't been in this state 3 hours yet when we got the first phone call. It was a friend of a friend who lives in this area, and who knew of our heart for God and for youth. He asked if we would at all be interested in serving in a youth ministry at a church here. And went on to say that the Director of the Student Ministry was currently seeking out people to serve on his "team", and that he had told him about us and that he was excited to meet us. We agreed to go to the church the following Sunday. When we arrived we met a few people there that said some interesting things that strangely related to what God told us before moving here: an elder of the church proclaimed, "Oh, you're the couple I heard about that was moving here right?", the senior pastor of the church found his way over to us after the service because he noticed we were new, and once we told him our names he proclaimed, "OH, you're the couple from Colorado!". We've been to the church several times now, and that was certainly not the end of hearing those kind of remarks... needless to say, it seemed like somehow people here were "waiting" for us and "expected" us. We just looked at each other each time that happened with the expression of "what is going on??"
In the few short weeks we've been here, the Lord has already put awesome, solid people into our lives and confirmed to us in cool ways that we are at the very place he wants us (to live and to serve) at the precise timing that he wants us here, and that he has a plan for us here. It seems he has placed us in a church where their vision for the future lines up perfectly with the heart and vision God has given us for our time and purpose here. Moreover, he has reiterated that our sole reason for being here is for his Kingdom.
It all is happening in such a funny, uncanny way: we haven't really done anything at all. It has all just happened. Somehow we were plugged into the student ministry without doing a thing. Somehow we've been given the opportunity to share our testimonies to the church on Easter Sunday during the service. But we haven't done anything. It's so weird, but God's style.
Besides, we have to believe that no one is really interested in us, they just somehow know that God is moving. That God is in control. And all we know is that somehow God is moving, and God is in control.
not sure what to make of this picture...we've had to entertain ourselves since we are our only friends here right now.
Welcome
We really want to be able to share what is going on in our lives with our family and friends. We'll be updating this blog with things that God is doing in our lives, as well as any other shenanigans we find our selves in.So... we thought it might be appropriate to share some photos of where we just moved to in the great pacific northwest. We'll get some more photos up in time, but until then... Enjoy!
Photos (From Top Left to Bottom Right): Front, From Back Deck, Driveway, Living Room
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