2nd Anniversary Trip

May 16th marked our second wedding anniversary. We had a nasty cold and didn't feel too great that day, but luckily we celebrated the previous week when we went to New York City...

We arrived late on a Friday night, so we weren't able to do anything until Saturday. Big Apple Greeters are an organization in NYC that take you around the city. You apply to get a greeter, and like a job, you just wait and hope they pick you. Well, we were picked! So we had a great morning in the city. We spent half of the morning visiting different neighborhoods and the other half checking out Central Park. We passed this building on the way to Central Park, the Dakota, the infamous building where John Lennon was shot.

Central Park by the fountain

Central Park is so beautiful in the spring! The tulips and azaleas had bloomed. It was a nice change from Seattle, where it feels like we're between winter and spring (and have been) for months.

Tulips in the British garden

We went to the gardens in the park. I love tunnels of trees! There was a British, Italian, and French garden here.

Joanna, our Big Apple Greeter, and me in front of the Italian garden

Grand Central Station--I love the hustle and bustle of the city!

Times Square is a madhouse, which is why this photo was taken from the Minskoff Theater.

There's a new park in the city, The High Line, located in the Meatpacking district. It was the most unique park I've ever been to or seen. It follows the train tracks where meat used to be distributed to various businesses.

You can see how the train tracks go through this building.

You can see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. This was taken from The High Line.

View of the Empire State Building from our hotel room

Another view from our hotel room overlooking the Hudson River

Manhattan Bridge

We walked the Brooklyn Bridge. It was designed with pedestrians in mind. We walked in the middle of the bridge, with cars on either side of us.

On our last day we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We went to one of Mario Batalli's restaurant, Del Posto. It was one of the best meals we've ever consumed! We were given an amuse bouche for dessert and one for an appetizer as well, so we had a five-course meal.

The dessert I ordered, chocolate ricotta torta with olive oil gelato...yummy!!! We had a great anniversary trip!

Psalm 102

A lot has happened since I have last posted anything on here, but I only have one thing on my heart. The devastation occurring throughout the south, particularly Alabama, has been constantly on my heart and mind. Since I haven't seen the destruction with my own eyes, it feels unreal. I've only seen photos and videos, but what I've seen is unrecognizable to me. I can only imagine what it feels like to have lived through the tornados. I'm so grateful that my loved ones are safe and okay with minimal damage. I'm also grateful that God protected our house in Alabama. The tornado was about a mile away from the house, and our house was a few feet of being flooded. I am praying for those who did lose all they had. The only way they'll survive and truly live again is by the grace of God. I can't wait for the day when God rebuilds the cities and people's lives!

Psalm 102 is such a comfort to anyone overwhelmed with troubles. When I was reading it the other day, anytime I saw Jerusalem, I would replace it with Tuscaloosa. This psalm was written with you in mind.

Lord, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
² Don’t turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down to listen,
and answer me quickly when I call to you.
³ For my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
⁴ My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
⁵ Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like an owl in the desert,
like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
⁷ I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
⁸ My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
⁹ I eat ashes for food.
My tears run down into my drink
¹⁰ because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
¹¹ My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
I am withering away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
Your fame will endure to every generation.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
¹⁴ For your people love every stone in her walls
and cherish even the dust in her streets.
¹⁵ Then the nations will tremble before the Lord.
The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem.
He will appear in his glory.
¹⁷ He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
He will not reject their pleas.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for future generations,
so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord.
¹⁹ Tell them the Lord looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked down to earth from heaven
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.
²¹ And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion,
his praises in Jerusalem,
²² when multitudes gather together
and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.

²³ He broke my strength in midlife,
cutting short my days.
²⁴ But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
don’t take my life while I am so young!
²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
and discard them.
²⁷ But you are always the same;
you will live forever.
²⁸ The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children’s children
will thrive in your presence.”

In the first part of this psalm, the writer is pouring out his heart to God. He's telling God all of his problems. I can picture him down on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, crying out for help. I love how verse 27 begins. It begins with the simple word "but." Even though all of this destruction happened, God is still God. He is still worthy of all our praise. He is always the same. I love the last line, "We will live in security." We can't be secure in our circumstances, but we should be secure because of God's character.

I'm believing in this psalm. God

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?

Intentions

A couple hours ago I got back home from a Hillsong concert. It was such an amazing worship experience! It's late but I'm too excited to sleep. It's so comforting to be in a room of fellow believers worshiping the same God.

While I was worshiping, God put the word intention on my heart. After a song ended, I caught myself clapping, and I was thinking, "Why am I clapping? Am I applauding Hillsong or God?" I was just clapping because that's what you do when someone plays a song, but I wasn't there to worship anyone but God.

To do something with intention is to do it with a specific and distinct purpose in mind. How many times in a day do I do things that have no real purpose or meaning attached to them? Too many to count. My goal is to rid myself of the desire for the things that don't matter, the things that serve no purpose and to be intentional in all I do. And this is why...

Aftermath by Hillsong United

The skies lay low where You are

On the earth You rest Your feet

Yet the hands that cradle the stars

Are the hands that bled for me

And in that moment of glorious surrender

You were broken for all the world to see

Lifted out of the ashes

I am found in the aftermath

Freedom found in Your scars

And in Your grace my life redeemed

For You chose to take the sinner's crown

As You placed Your crown on me

And in that moment of glorious surrender

Was the moment You broke the chains in me

Lifted out of the ashes

I am found in the aftermath

And in that moment You opened up the heavens

To the broken, the beggar, and the thief

Lifted out of the wreckage

I find hope in the aftermath

And I know that You're with me

Yes I know that You're with me here

And I know Your love will light the way

Now all I have I count it all as loss

But to know You and to carry the cross

Knowing I'm found

In the light of the aftermath

The Visit

This post is a continuation from the previous post...

We went on a Duck Tour. Mimi had fun as you can see.

On Saturday we went to Vancouver, but before we left Mukilteo, we had to go to the Red Cup Cafe. They went there every morning, so we had to continue the tradition.

The Red Cup Cafe has panoramic views of the water from the inside and outside.

Prospect Point at Stanley Park in Vancouver

Back home -- Beautiful Mukilteo Lighthouse

On Sunday we explored Mukilteo.

Yesterday we went to Leavenworth, WA. It's a little Bavarian town over the Cascade mountain range.

Leavenworth has lots of shopping and great German food.

Horse Drawn Carriage

Today I was supposed to take my family to the airport, but when I woke up, I found out that one of them was sick. Sandra caught what Mimi and I both had a few days ago. So they pushed their flight to Thursday. I hope the weather doesn't affect them, since it's supposed to snow on Thursday (it's snowing now too). Time to deep clean the house so Chris and anyone else that enters our home don't catch the very contagious stomach virus.

February so far

It looks like I've been behind on posts. February has been a busy month so far. We've been working on keeping the house prepared for visitors, I've been studying for my certification exams, and we spend our spare time together to explore the Pacific Northwest.

We explored Whidbey Island recently. Whidbey Island is just across the bay from Mukilteo, the town in which we live. It was a bit of a rainy and dreary day, but we still had a great time!

It was a bit windy on the ferry ride over to Whidbey Island.

Chris at the beach on Whidbey

If you come to the Pacific Northwest, you'll notice totem poles around the area due to the influence of Native Americans.

Downtown Langley on Whidbey Island

We also went skiing again. We went with friends on Valentine's Day. It was Boeing night, so we were able to buy lift tickets for only $13/person, as opposed to $40/person. Skiing is always tiring, but it's always a rush of excitement too. I went down a black for the first time in 10 years. It wasn't a hard one by any means, but I'm getting over my fear when it comes to skiing!

Katrina, Derek, Me, and Chris

My family came to visit last Tuesday and are stayed for about a week. Mimi, Aunt Jan, and Sandra came to visit. Mimi and Sandra are still here. Sandra is a cousin on my dad's side of the family. She is who we lived with when we first moved to Huntsville and were waiting on our house to close. We actually lived in Sheffield, AL for a little over a month.

Only my aunt had ever been to Seattle, so it was my job to be the tour guide. On Tuesday, when everyone got in, we took it easy and didn't do much of anything except eat. On Wednesday, we woke up and planned on doing indoor tours and activities due to the weather, but it was such a clear day, so I decided that we needed to go to the Space Needle.

My aunt and I did go to my favorite coffee shop in Fremont, Peet's Coffee & Tea, and we saw this sign...

Every morning we went to the Red Cup Cafe here in Mukilteo for breakfast. This is the view from the windows in the cafe. This picture doesn't even do it justice!

Me, Sandra, Mimi, and Jan after breakfast

Space Needle

View of Seattle taken from the Space Needle

Cheesy photo they took and e-mailed to us

View of the water from the Space Needle

Mimi, Sandra, Aunt Jan, and Me on the Space Needle

After visiting the Space Needle, we went to Pike's Place Market to grab lunch. We stopped at Beecher's and had a sandwich and a cup of mac and cheese. I love cheese, so naturally this is one of my favorite places.

On Thursday, I caught a stomach virus from Mimi, so I was understandably miserable and laid in bed all day, when I wasn't being "sick." I ended up going to the doctor that night due to the severity of the sickness and to make it end. I felt so much better on Friday and was able to be half of a tour guide.