March Visitors

We LOVE having visitors! At the beginning of March my parents came to visit, and last weekend some of our Georgia friends came to visit.

We went to the Space Needle, and it was clear enough to see Mt. Rainier. I know it's tough to see from the picture because of the clouds, but it's behind the stadiums and to the right of the skyscrapers.

My parents and me on top of the Space Needle

The first car wash in America.

We went on a tour of Theo's Chocolate Factory. This is the roaster.

My dad and me at Whidbey Island.

We went to Coupeville on Whidbey Island.

We drove all the way through Whidbey Island and made it to Deception Pass.

The water is a beautiful green under the bridge.

We went on Seattle's Underground Tour. This is an old toilet (obviously).

Underground Seattle--The oldest part of Seattle is Pioneer Square. This is the original part of Seattle. During high tide, the city would be covered in water. After the city burnt to the ground, there was a chance to build a better, more efficient city. So the city was eventually built 10-30 feet above ground. What you see here would be considered the basement of a shop. There are actually doors down there that are used to enter into shops. And above this are sidewalks and the street.

As the sign says, this was Seattle's original water system, hollow logs placed above ground. Pretty disgusting if you ask me...It was a blessing in disguise that the city burnt to the ground. This allowed everyone to design a more efficient city without sewage in the streets.

We went gray whale watching and saw a whale. Notice the heart shaped water from the blowhole.

We also saw California sea lions. Aren't they cute?

Our guide told us it's good luck to see a whale tail, and we did.

Steven, Rebekah, Me, and Christopher

They are moving from Anchorage, Alaska back to Atlanta, Georgia and decided to stop and visit us along the way. We went to Kerry Park to get some photos of the city. Of course it was sunny about 10 minutes after we took pictures.

Our beautiful city

Steven and Christopher at Pike Place Market. We had a lot of fun with them! We went shopping, ate lots of good food, and enjoyed visiting with great friends.

We love being tour guides, so come visit us!

Joy in Trials

"Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. " James 1:2-3

There's a lot going on with me personally. I'm not going to go too much in depth since they involve others, but I will share some struggles and things on my heart. My grandparents almost died this week (not even due to their particular illnesses), and along with that I'm dealing with some anger at family members. I'm struggling with the job search. It intimidates, frustrates, and discourages me. And I'm having a tough time being joyful at this particular time.

Yesterday, everything hit me at the same time. I tend to avoid emotions until I explode. I didn't explode, but I did end up having to deal with everything at the same time. I got on Facebook and saw a quote from a local pastor, Judah Smith, "First things first...Focus FIRST on God's love for you, not your love for Him. 1 John 4:19" That was just what I needed to hear, so I decided that I needed to listen to worship music.

God put everything in perspective for me. He consistently does that. While listening to music, a Father by Hillsong was playing, and a few verses really stuck out to me,

"You restore the broken hearted

You bring freedom to the captive

For one and all

Forever this means love"

God is so kind. Even when I'm not kind or faithful, He is consistently kind and faithful. He was showing me His love when I was being anything from loving. He's done so much for me, so how can I not be joyful?

You can't say that God doesn't know what He is doing. I'm studying the book of James, the guy who told us to be joyful whenever we experience trials. It's not a coincidence that I read and studied this verse today.

"Trials don't get to steal from followers of Christ unless we hand over the goods (Beth Moore)." How many times have we handed over our goods and completely given up? If we give up and surrender to satan, we end up building up his kingdom. But the testing of our faith produces endurance or perseverance. Perseverance means nerving oneself, like a person determined to stay on her feet, holding tight to Jesus, while storm wings try to toss her like a rubber duck on a swelling sea (Beth Moore). I want to persevere, not surrender and hand over my goods.

Perseverance must finish its work in us, so we will be perfect, lacking nothing. (v4)

"If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5

James brings up another thing, wisdom, we may lack that we need to become "perfect." We need wisdom to know what to do with knowledge. Verse 5 says all you need to do is ASK GOD FOR WISDOM. It's that simple, but read verses 6-8.

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1:6-8

I definitely don't want to be characterized as unstable or double-minded, but when I'm doubting and not living by faith, that's exactly what I am--unstable and double-minded. Being double-minded means living for both God and the world. But we're called to live only for God. If I speak things but don't really believe them, I'm being double-minded. If I claim to be for God and speak perverse words, then I'm being double-minded. It comes down to faith: Do we really believe what we say we believe? We must go to God with confidence that we've already received it, and be grateful in advance for what you know you will receive. That's faith, and that's living for God. Doubt robs us of wisdom, but also other priceless provisions. "Faith receives more than it asks. Doubt loses more than it disbelieved (Beth Moore)." There's a lot at stake!

If we are double-minded, we are also unstable. I love the comfort of this verse:

"He is your constant source of stability." Isaiah 33:6

[Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.]

1 Kings 18:21

Instead of Baal, insert whatever is taking place of God in that blank, perhaps the world.

I don't know if any of what I said made sense, but it does in my brain. I write this for encouragement for others and myself. Instead of letting satan rob me of my joy, I'm going to hold tight to God and only follow Him.

So what are you going to do with all you're going through?