Getting out of the grey bubble

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

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.