Sunsets and Road Trips

 I was attempting to write my Road Trip blog and input pictures but it didn't work the way I was hoping, so I have returned to this tried and true method and will wait for tech support from my bright adult children or someone at the Genius bar at the mac store!  Until then, here we go!  I am back, blogging again, for better or worse.  I found I just loved this method of communicating, but knew that during the past semester I would not be able to keep it up.  It is time consuming, and I needed to focus one last semester, and finish strong.  I completed my course, and now am picking back up doing some things that have had to be on hold while I focused on school.  The last few days was a wonderful example of this.  I got to go up to San Luis Obispo and be with Natalie, our third child, second daughter!  She and Brian are planning a June 22 wedding!  And yes, for those of you that have known our family over the years, she and Brian will be married on the same date that Amber and Derek were married!  How fun is that!  November 22 is Phil's and my anniversary....so if you remember the 22....you will have three anniversaries from our family!  :)  I got to be with Natalie and enjoy time up in this beautiful part of California.  We watched sunsets 2 out of the 3 nights we were together.
The above picture was from a hike that I did with Natalie and Emily from Shell Beach, straight up!!!  Along a ridge and then straight down to the cliffs above the ocean.   We stood and watched God's handiwork from the edge of the ocean several hundred feet above where waves were crashing against the rocks.  Breathtaking beauty that is free for all to enjoy, anyone who will stop long enough to watch another day come to a close, see how God paints the sky this particular night--it is always different, no two sunsets alike.  I loved getting to do this with Natalie and Emily.  The next night, Natalie and Brian and I watched the sunset again, from just a bit farther south, and from the patio of a nice restaurant!  Lovely, relaxing end to the week!

 There might be places that are more beautiful, but for me, sunset over the ocean is impossible to beat.

On our hike, I stopped to catch my breath after a particularly steep uphill stretch, and as I looked up, this is what I saw!  I immediately thought of two friends....Bekah Rollins Rice a lover of trees of all sorts, and I never see a tree without thinking of her; and Mary Kay Esswein--she and I share a love of seeing the sun shine through trees just so....and so as I rested, I prayed for these two ladies.  Mary Kay is in India on a missions trip right now, and Bekah is back east.  I love that on the top of a ridge, far from everything, I can stop and lift up a prayer for friends, and know that the Spirit of God hears that prayer and works in ways that I can't understand, but nevertheless appreciate.  I needed nothing, no fancy shawl, no beads, no head covering, no special prayer room...I was surrounded by the majestic beauty of God's creation, a "cathedral" that is impossible to beat.  How I love that He invites us to pray without ceasing, and gives us access to the Holy of Holies at all times.

 Phil, I miss you.  I miss sharing sunsets, rain, drives, laughter and tears with you.  Phil is in Ecuador, and I will join him there later this month,but for now we are in different countries again.  God has brought me to a place of being able to find peace and joy even when we are apart.  It will never be my favorite thing, not even close, but I am thankful for all God has taught me through this season of being apart so much.  It has certainly made me more appreciative of when we get to be in the same zip code!  I am grateful that after 26 years I am still crazy about Phil, and he is still my best friend.  I am a lucky girl.

 Logan we need to do this hike together some time.  Maybe all of us can do it one evening in June around the wedding!  It is just beautiful at sunset!  I think you and Sammie got to do this with Natalie one time, but this was my first time on this particular hike.  I am done with the Bob Jones trail forever now, this will be my hike of choice in SLO!  I could do it weekly and would do so, if I lived up there, at sunrise and sunset!  The perfect spot to take your Bible and Journal, or just be with God and listen!

 "What can I do but praise you, what can I do but thank you, what can I do but give my life to you..." words of a worship song that this incredible sunset invited.  Natalie's upraised hands, apt praise posture to take in God's wondrous beauty!

 Austin, this is for you!  A latte, with the foam creatively "carved/swirled" into a heart!  I love you buddy, and am praying for you in S. Africa!  Even if you don't see this right now, know when you do that I was thinking of you, loving you and praying for you from San Luis!  It is the simple pleasures in life that bring such joy....a good cup of coffee...creativity in the foam....enjoying it with Natalie, and thinking of Austin so far away...thankful for all God is doing in and through Him right now.

 Road trips!  These are the pictures I wanted to post on my previous, shortest blog ever!  But I couldn't figure it out!  Here they are!  This is just outside of Santa Barbara, I stopped at a Vista Point, to just enjoy a moment, the beauty was staggering.  The hills so green reminded me of Ireland, even to the point that they were dotted with cows!  Again, my three plus hours in the car home felt more like a worship experience than a drive.  At least until I got south of Ventura!  The rain has turned the brown hills to an emerald green, which makes for stunning views of green mountains meeting blue ocean!  God you have given us such beauty to enjoy, give us eyes to see, and hearts that stop to take it in, not missing it as we rush through life.  Give us a willingness to open to you all day, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, to see your presence everywhere.

This was a fun panorama shot--ocean for 180 degrees.  I was just a few minutes away from Dan and Dee Dee Underwood at this point on my drive.  I stopped in to see them and enjoy a cup of tea together.  There is something so rich about being with friends who go back a long way!  When we moved to Lake Arrowhead their son Casey was a year old, and Austin was two weeks old!  I was at Amanda's baby shower, she is half way through her freshman year in college now!!!!!  In a few weeks Dee Dee and Amanda will come to Amber's baby shower!  Amber was four when we moved to Lake Arrowhead, and the Underwood clan have watched her grow up, prayed for her, and been an important part of our lives, even when we were in Ecuador.  God has richly blessed us, me, with deep, enriching friendships that reflect Him and His love.  At the beginning of 2013 I am taking inventory, and saying thank you to God for all of you who have walked through so much of life, prayed with and for me/us, and cared about what God was up to in us.  Thank you for walking out life's journey, it's joys and it's pains alongside of us.  We have walked side by side, in the same towns or cities for some of that journey, and at times it has been through phone calls, emails and visits on summer home assignments.  I am learning to relish and savor those times however short and I treasure them all up in my heart.  Thank you God for giving me friends that help me see different parts and aspects of you.