Speaking of this world.....

Today's weather

2008-01-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Today is a magnificent day, (except for the fact that I must miss Bible Study) The wind is so strong today that the rain is blowing side ways. I have been debating whether to drive in it all morning, but when the wind picked our swing set up and threw it into a tree I decided that I'd better not drive. (We really should have cemented it down.)

I have learned so much about how and why the wind blows, but the more I know the more I am amazed at God's power and grace. It seems the more I understand the scientific explanations I understand that God is perfect and has a plan that restrains the wind from completely destroying us and allows the storms to blow in our lives to remind us of who He is and how He holds us in his hands.

Here is a map of the winds pummeling California. The red flags are the highest density winds. The white doesn't necessarily represent clouds but rather water vapor in this image, while the lovely spiral is an extremely strong low pressure system pulling all that moisture and wind over California. In other words, Bible study will have to be done on an individual basis for the day.

If you're in California, stay safe and dry today and trust God to see you through your storms.

A Blessing

2008-01-03T12:27:00.000-08:00

My Mom 'tagged' me with a blessing and prayer, which I thought was a beautiful Idea, so I'd like to continue the gift. Here is the original explanation.

The idea… it’s a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for one blog friend. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image {I chose not to use the image - Mark} to their sidebar if they choose to. If you recieve a bloggin’ blessin’ please leave a comment on this thread here so that we can rejoice in just how many blessings have been sent around the world!

Here are those whom I would like to pray for blessing on.

Melissa, my oldest daughter who has grown into such a beautiful woman. Her blog is Libellus Stellatus where her writing and artistic skills as well as her love and commitment to Jesus are made clear. May her year be filled with adventure and joy as she and her husband follow Jesus wherever He leads them.

Elizabeth, my second oldest daughter who is growing into a beautiful woman also. Her blog is You Don't Even Know, where her gift with words and passion are beautifully expressed. May her year and whole life be lit on fire with the passion of Jesus and may her words continue to spring out of her with her ongoing passion and honesty.

I love all of my children very much and if the rest had blogs I would be sending more blessings. However, at the moment my blogging community is quite small. But I can send back a blessing to my Mom who originally sent me one. Her blog Naming His Grace is rich and encouraging and speaks beautifully of Truth and Grace from God. So thank you Mom and may your year be rich with God's Grace and I will always pray that you are rested in Him and filled with his hope and joy no matter what is going on around you.

Here are some pictures of my wonderful family from 2007

Katie and her cousin dressed as sprites

My husband Derek graduating from Bible College

Emma and her Squrrel in our beloved Redwoods

Ethan at his Sabre Graduation with Royal Rangers

Liz going to the ball

Joshua "King of the Hill"

MAPS

2008-01-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

I hope maps don't seem boring to most people.

I started enjoying maps on our family trips to Mexico when I was little. I remember lying in the back of our station wagon with a road map and trying to follow it as we drove south. This year I took a statistics class and for one of my labs I surveyed the students on my college campus to find out how many countries they could identify on a blank world map. The results were pretty discouraging.

While I don't expect people to enjoy maps obsessively like I do, I think it is good for us to know our way around the world on a map. This past week major events have occured in Kenya, Pakistan, Chile, Indonesia and of course the ongoing war in Iraq. But how many people hear about the riots in Kenya and know where it is in the world?

I keep a world map over my computer so when I read the news I can look up and quickly identify where the event is occuring. We can have a better perspective of the big issues when we know where they are. You understand the crucial position of Syria and Jordan if you know they lie between Iraq and Israel, and the strain on Sudan if you see that it is divided between northern Africa which is predomenantly Muslim and sub-Saharan Africa which is more Christian.

I have really enjoyed my Human Geography class and have learned much more about the relationship between people and where they live and how they move.

Here are some tips for knowing where countries are.

-Keep a map over your computer
-Keep an atlas by where you watch the news so you can look things up when you hear about them.
-Get a blank dry erase map to quiz yourself or your family periodically. (my nine year old can now identify up to 34 countries correctly)
-If your reading a book, make sure you know where it takes place (There's even maps of Narnia and Middle Earth!).

Enjoy maps, there not as boring as some would suggest.

Happy Mapping!

I've temporarily emerged out of the enchanted portal of higher education

2007-12-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

If anybody even bothers to check this blog anymore.....

I wouldn't blame you if you quit bothering.

This was my first full time semester as I wrapped up community college, took a crossover class at CSUS and tutored fellow students in physical geography. That's it though, I'm off to California State University Sacramento in January, and I promised I wouldn't tutor for now.

Just a statement of what I plan to do for the next five weeks...

Read
Knit
Play my clarinet
Read some more
Knit some more
go to a movie
Read some more
Knit some more
and clean my house.

I am glad for the education that God has allowed me and I look forward to continuing it January 28th, but for now, I am going to enjoy my break.

I might even blog some more.

Mercy River

2007-08-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

The most fascinating encounter I've ever had with water was a visit to Yosemite National Park two springs ago. Water is in such high demand in California, but you wouldn't know it during spring in Yosemite. Water gushes over almost every cliff face and thunders over rocks on its way to join the rolling, speeding, forward driving current of the Merced River (Mercy River, which is a beautiful image in itself.) I can imagine that early Californians saw all of this water and thought California was limitless and for the taking.

We depend on water, we can't go long at all without it. That which we must have to survive is also at times capable of ending our life in an instant. I was awed as I stood close to the waterfalls of Yosemite and rejoiced in the glory of God. I can't help noting that God's mercy gushes forth and pours into our lives filling a river that hopefully flows out to the people around us. May my river never follow the way of the Hetch Hetchy and be dammed up for personal use.

Rivers

2007-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Sacramento is a fairly safe place to live. No one ever worries about tornadoes or hurricanes in the Summer, there are no volcanoes close enough to endanger our lives (we'd be lucky to get some ash fall), and the faults of California surround us but never near enough to scare us. The only earthquakes we feel are the rolling waves from big ones in the bay area.

So what are we afraid of here in the great California valley? Water; that which we long for all summer gives us reason to worry in the wet winters. Not every year is frightening in Sacramento, but occasionally, such as in some El-Nino years, we face the threat of swollen rivers bursting out of the levee systems and ruining our homes if not our lives.

The City was built where the Sacramento and American Rivers meet and join on their journey to the delta. Both rivers are moderated by dams, but the dams can only hold back so much water, so the rivers are filled.

I remember the flooding back in the early eighties, when a certain man I know told his family to pack up their bags and prepare to leave home in the event of the creek overspilling its banks and flooding the neighborhood. The thing is, the creek was at the bottom of the hill and the house was almost at the top of the hill. What does living near the possibility of a flood do to the mind? I've never really worried, myself. Maybe its the memory of playing in streets flooded with water when I was very young and the gutters clogged and backed up. When I was a kid I associated flooding with fun outdoors. Now I've seen suffering from flooding, but I still don't seem phased by worry.

Water, Water everywhere.

2007-07-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

For a while, I think I will be focusing on water in our world, because, as you can imagine, water is more precious than gold in many parts of the world, and I think it is healthy to look at some of the situations people face.

We take water for granted in America, as I have griped about to an obnoxious degree. We don't even think twice about getting a drink from the tap,(or buying water bottles if we don't trust the tap), or washing dishes, or showering, or watering our lawns. However imagine living in a shanty town in a developing country.

Your water access would be something like this:

Grab a few jugs or buckets and find a spigot or well somewhere, some distance from your so-called house.

Have a minimum of clothes, because you can't afford more, and also because you must wash them by hand, either in a stream or a bucket from a small amount of water you collected at the previously noted spigot or well.

No flushing toilets.

Carry all sorts of parasites and abdominal troubles because the water is never quite what it should be in your part of town.

What's a lawn, anyway?

I watched a video last semester where a nomadic tribe in Africa only drinks one small glass of water each per day, because they want to make sure that their bodies are not dependent on more, since more isn't always available.

Enjoy your ready access to water, but remember to pray for those who's access is not so easy. And pray that they will know the Living Water as well.

Our backyard friend

2007-07-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

This past year we put our adorable guinea pig speedy outside in his enclosure for some fresh air and grass. He liked it so much that he escaped the little fence and hid himself in our backyard.

As you can imagine, by his name, he is quite the fast little critter. All attempts to catch him and put him back in his cage failed (lucky for him.) We began leaving him food and he is now our permanent ferrel pet. When I'm outside hanging laundry to dry he comes near me and watches me, making the most adorable squeaking noises. He's probably hoping I have a carrot hidden amongst the wet clothes.

He eats quite well out there. Apricots seem to be a treat, as well as all of the strawberries that the snails took first dibs on, plus he gets all of our vegetable scraps from dinner preparation. What a happy critter! If only life could be so easy for all of us.

Finished one of my summer books

2007-07-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

I just about swallowed "Searching For God Knows What" whole. Donald Miller challenged me to recognize my tendency to look for acceptance and shows how we all have a deep set need for acceptance. He compares our search for acceptance to those old 'life boat' projects I had to do in school, and to circus people looking for applause. Throughout the book I was encouraged in my growing understanding that it is relationship with Christ that is important and not any formula or action I do to be accepted. When we accept God's provision of salvation by His Son Jesus Christ we are accepted, even though there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable. Once in a relationship with our great God it is a desire and pleasure to honor Him and bring glory to Him by our actions.

This is definitely a good book to read.

As for 'A Tale of Two Cities' I'm almost done, but I can't say I love it. It's good,definitely better than the Wishbone version on PBS, but I'll be glad to be done and move on to a new book.

Water

2007-07-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

If giving a cup of water to a child in Jesus’ name is important, should we possibly consider what it means to use so much water needlessly in this world, that somewhere else in this world a child is trying to live day to day in a parched land with a throat as dry as death valley? I’m not posting this to convict anybody or judge anybody, its just that in an attempt to have a green lawn, or spring salads in August, I wonder, are we causing someone somewhere else to lack this necessary element?

Clean fresh water is a scarcity in many developing countries. We need water to grow crops, that much is true, are we being efficient about it? We don’t need green lawns, especially here in the west where the phrase “…..when it rains in July” was probably coined. Green lawns are one of my pet peeves. I have one because my husband likes them, but I shrink it a little every year, and I try to only water it two or three times a month in the summer.

Many developing countries are strained for water and I realize that we can’t take our water and transfer it to another continent. But maybe we can learn to use water more wisely and then use the money we might have used trying to maintain our own taxed water supply to find ways to help developing countries, as well as our own, use water more efficiently so that the poor can have clean water to drink every day.

I hope that this post doesn’t detract from my posts recently expressing the joy at knowing God as my father and provider. After all, ultimately he does sustain us all and provide water for the thirsty, but once we discover how much he loves us it’s good to think about how we can extend that to others.

Let’s make sure our good deeds do not arise from an attempt at acceptance or to work out our own salvation, rather let our good deeds extend from our relationship with Jesus who’s good deed on the cross is greater than anything we can do, and who offers us living water.

More Redwoods

2007-07-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the most wonderful experience of hunkering down in Humboldt Redwoods State Park with my husband, five of my children and one niece. If you haven't seen a redwood tree in its optimal environment, you’re really missing something. Sharing a twelve man tent with six other people under the shade of redwood trees and California laurel trees was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had this year, enhanced by the fact that many of the really big trees I had read about in 'Wild Trees' were in that park. Unfortunately I would have had to do a huge amount of detective work and go off trail to find them since biologists, understandably, would rather the average traveler not trample around these huge wonders of God's creation. I'm not about to take children bushwhacking in search of these trees, they were worn enough just following the nine mile Bull Creek Flat loop trail. Maybe my husband and I will go bushwhacking some other year. (It’s really fun to say you’re going to go bushwhacking by the way, it just sounds adventurous.)

After spending a good amount of time among these redwoods I had a dream that I would love to share. I dreamed I was standing at the foot of one of these 300+ foot giants looking up into its spectacular green canopy. I stood there, dwarfed and holding a plastic jug of water. (According to an article I read, redwoods transpire 500 gallons of water a day.) In my dream I was told that I was responsible for this one redwood tree. It was my job to make sure it had enough water and nutrients to allow it to not just survive, but thrive. I have never had such an intense feeling of being overwhelmed and under equipped in a dream before, how was I supposed to deliver enough water to this tree everyday to keep it from dying away? Fortunately, when I woke up, I sensed God reminding me that only He could sustain a redwood tree, and in fact he does sustain the entire redwood forest as well as all other life on earth.....including mine. Just as I cannot sustain a redwood tree, I cannot even sustain my own life. I am sustained by Christ alone. Why do I continue to worry about how I'm going to get by, when I have the One who sustains the largest trees in the world promising to sustain me? My father is the sustainer of all, and I want to gladly follow Him and know Him. I believe if I do that, I need never worry about my life or my lives of my family.

Another great book

2007-07-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

During my trip to Lassen, I found opportunity to read when my friend proved her ability to fall asleep instantly while I lay awake for hours waiting for sleep to come to me. I finished my current book “A Road Runs Through It” which is really good because I have three books lined up behind it waiting to be read. (I’m now reading two books at the same time, how’s that for enjoying my summer!)
The book was fascinating and beautiful at the same time. In the book various writers explore the topic of building roads through public lands and why America has done much harm with these roads.
Of course we all know roads are important because they provide us necessary access to things such as stores, hospitals, vacations, and family who live on the opposite coast, etc. However, when is enough, enough? The book explored the problems when we build roads that allow access to logging forests which shouldn’t be logged, access for off road vehicles which destroy whole ecological communities, access to wild lands that might be better explored slowly. One of my best friends and my oldest daughter pointed out that the slower things are the easier they are. I would add that the slower things take, the more wonderful they are. The best way to experience nature is walking and bushwhacking is my favorite. What wonders we miss when we speed by in a car trying to get to a location. If we visit Yosemite and only stop our car to ogle at spectacular waterfalls and rocks, imagine what we can be missing. I have always wanted (rather unrealistically) to start at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and hike to the summit and down into Nevada through some canyon. This way I could see everything and experience so much more than from a car.
Roads fragment ecological habitats and diminish their health. The book ends with stories of roads which are being undone and as I read I was reminded of the bridge of Beruna in C.S. Lewis’s “Prince Caspian”.
“They turned a little to the right, raced down a steep hill, and found the long bridge of Beruna in front of them. Before they had begun to cross it, however, up out of the water came a great wet, bearded head, larger than a man’s, crowned with rushes. It looked at Aslan and out of its mouth a deep voice came.
‘Hail, Lord,’ it said. ‘Loose my chains.’……
‘Bacchus,’ said Aslan. ‘Deliver him from his chains.;
‘That means the bridge, I expect,’ thought Lucy. And so it did. Bacchus and his people splashed forward into the shallow water, and a minute later the most curious things began happening. Great, strong trunks of ivy came curling up all the piers of the bridge, growing as quickly as a fire grows, wrapping the stones round, splitting, breaking, separating them. The walls of the bridge turned into hedges gay with hawthorn for a moment and then disappeared as the whole thing with a rush and a rumble collapsed into the swirling water. With much splashing, screaming, and laughter the revelers waded or swam or danced across the ford.”
We can do our world well by undoing many of the roads we’ve put in unnecessarily put in (500,000 miles on federal forest lands alone, which were mostly abandoned when exploitation was complete according to the book). This book was definitely a good and recommendable read.

"A Road Runs Through It; Reviving Wild Places" Edited by Thomas Reed Peterson

Retreat

2007-07-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

I recently took a mini retreat with my friend Mary. We felt that it would be good to go camping somewhere and spend time together getting closer to God. Here are a few of the valuable lessons we learned. Some can be applied to our relationship with God. :)

1. When the signs keep telling you that the road is closed and to follow the detour, the road is probably closed. We added an extra five miles to our late night drive because I wasn't completely convinced the road was closed that late at night. The man with the stop sign didn't seem to mind though, he apparently appreciated an occasional conversation with the drivers who weren't easily convinced the detour was necessary.

2. Cinder cone volcanoes are really amazing and it's worth the 1000 foot grueling uphill hike to see inside the crater and to view the lava flows. If you can ever get the time to go climb a volcano (dormant or extinct are best), I highly recommend it. To stand on top of a mountain that at one time spewed or oozed out molten rocks from deep within the earth's crust gives an amazing view of just how powerful God is. imagine picking up a rock and trying to wrap your mind around the fact that the rock, in some recent period of time (in this case 300 years ago) was deep below the surface of earth as magma.

I must admit that I am a bit obsessed with rocks, I love the stories they tell, whether they cooled deep beneath the surface of earth, or were thrown out and cooled as they flew through the air or crept along the surface. Then there are ones that hardened as sediment containing in them the fossils that tell their story. Most fascinating are the metamorphic rocks that were heated and bent and changed by the pressure, often of two plates colliding.

To me rocks and mountains do cry out in praise of God. They remind me just how powerful He is. He puts the rocks where he wants them. True we can explain them scientifically, but that doesn't leave God out of the picture; He is still the one who forms them and makes them what he wants them to be.

My point is, standing on top of Cinder Cone volcano in Lassen Volcanic National Park, I was overwhelmed with the beauty God had placed there and the power he displayed when he brought these rocks to the surface changing an entire landscape.

3. (This is most important.) We all need Daddies. A woman had carried her precious 35 pound child up the mountain on her back, stopping often to rest but determined to make it to the top. How she managed, I don't know. It was quite a feat since the angle of the trail was about 55 degrees most of the way up. Upon reaching the crater rim she discovered she was actually the second mother with a baby on the mountain that day. She offered this heartbreaking encouragement to her healthy boy, "see, you don't need a daddy, that mom carried her baby up the mountain too."

What a statement! That led to a prayer and conversation with my friend Mary. You see, recently I have been spending much time trying to grasp the fact that God is not just my FATHER but my Daddy. Father always sounds kind of severe to me, like I'd better behave or I'll be in trouble. Daddy means I'm cherished, I'm loved and the apple of someone's eye. What I thrill I have recently found, that I am the apple of God's eye. We all are! Suddenly I don't really care so much for the approval of others because my Daddy loves me. Of course I have a good earthly daddy, and I love him very much, but I think he would agree with me that the most fulfilling and wonderful relationship is with my Daddy God.

We all need a daddy. There isn’t a person on this planet that doesn’t feel the need deep within their soul. Deny it if you want, but how wonderful it feels to be loved by a father. It is those who have a good father here on earth who can best grasp what it means to have a heavenly Father, but those whose father was far from perfect or not even there, can come to a joyous discovery when they find they are cherished by a Father greater than any man could ever be.

Katie's version

2007-07-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

This is my daughter Katherine's version of the same event with the bird. I thought it was so beautiful I asked her if I could share it here.

It jumped out, spread its wings and fell to the ground unhurt. Suddenly a murderous scrub jay attacks the young bird then is scared away by humans. It layed there, surrounded by huge beings. Then one picked it up and carried it away into a house. It struggled to get up; the pain covered its whole body. Then the pain stopped and it got up and saw a bigger being with a pair of huge white wings so big it couldn't even fit in the house. Then it said "Come with me and take the ultimate flight." The bird understood and flew onto the winged beings shoulder. It looked back and saw itself in the humans hands, lifeless, then looked at itself and saw it was ten times bigger and ten times brighter. The being said, "It's time to leave," and they flew off, past the sky and out past space.

Birdslaughter

2007-07-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I witnessed a gruesome murder. Our neighbor Scrubby the Scrub jay, whom we’ve always enjoyed the company of, revealed his most violent side. As I pulled up on my bike I saw him holding down a fledgling mockingbird and attacking him. I steered toward him and he picked the poor little thing up and tried to fly away, only to drop it on a driveway occupied by a gang of small children (my neighborhoods version of the little rascals). When everyone was alerted that a bird was bleeding on the driveway calls came out of the gang’s house that any child who touched a bird would die of rabies. I came over, picked up the little bird and carried it home, promising that I would try to nurse it back to health or take it to the local bird hospital.
As I carried inside it quickly became clear that Scrubby would soon be guilty of birdslaughter and therefore banished from my backyard (only when I was out there of course.) The little fledgling had a pierced skull and was fighting for every breath. Lying in my hands for less than two minutes, it breathed its last breath.
Now I’ve always felt a justified sense of injustice when an animal lies dead on the side of the road. They just want to find food or a mate and “Wham!” their days are ended by our transportation machines. Or the poor cows crammed together waiting to become fast food burgers. How greedy we are for beef. There are plenty of ways I could list that humans over do their mistreatment of God’s animals. However, having always been taught about the balance of nature, I did not expect to feel angry at the scrub jay for killing a fledgling, anymore than I expected to react in anguish and frustration at the discovery of a decapitated sea lion on the lost coast, apparently the victim of a shark. After all, don’t they keep each other from overpopulation?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the study of ecology and I’m very grateful for the balance that keeps us from being overrun by rats and allows for such a variety of species to coexist. But it is all so violent and bloody. Surely there is a better way!
Roman’s 8:22 says that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. Doesn’t nature groan and cry out to her Creator because she is kept in check by violence and bloodshed? I realize that the natural world functions quite gruesomely since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, but there is hope for all creation.
Revelation reminds us that all things will be made new and Isaiah speaks of that time like this:

“The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra
and the young child put his hand into the vipers nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

Of course what I worry about more is what vile and evil predator the gang of children may come to meet when they are fledglings. They are some of the most at risk children I know and I must pray for them daily and remember that though they are not my own children they are God’s children and he would not want their souls murdered, but rather wants his other children to show them who He is and guard them from the enemy who wishes to tear them apart.

Wandering

2007-06-28T23:48:00.000-07:00

My husband and I recently hiked to Lover's Leap in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was quite an easy hike, much to our surprise. After about forty-five minutes of hiking we began to feel tired but ready to face the next hour or two. Fortunately that was about when we discovered the "false summit" we thought we were looking at was the real summit and our hike was done, at least the uphill segment. We sat and enjoyed a spectacular view of Pyramid Peak, admired pine trees twisted and bent by relentless wind and attempted to comprehend the great height we had achieved in such a short time as we watched ant sized cars winding on Hwy 50 below us. We watched rock climbers ascending a nearby cliff face, impressed by their skill and speed. They reminded me of the aforementioned book "Wild Trees" and I wondered, "Why would I climb a cliff face if I can hike up the backside of it and enjoy the trail with its streams, trees and birds. There is no way up a tree but to climb, but hiking is a much better option for mountain tops in my opinion.

After resting a bit we decided to take the hard way down the mountain and followed the edge of the cliff over to where the rock climbers were ascending. It felt just right to scramble down boulders and past steep gorges in the cliff rather than amble down a smooth trail. Eventually we met up with the trail the rock climbers follow once they've ascended their wall. It was a beautiful hike and I found a spring. I have never seen a spring before and I found this little miracle of water completely wonderful. Imagine, water coming from the mountains. Sure it originated from snow melt somewhere, but here it was gurgling out from under some rocks, with no apparent source but the deep mountain. It kind of reminded me of Tangle traveling to the depths of the earth to find the place the Golden Key belongs to in George MacDonald's "The Golden Key". (You'll just have to read story.)

Eventually we met up with a wider trail and followed it until we discovered an uncompleted house filled with shrubs. It was quite a mystery as to what happened. The house was built of granite cemented together with windows and doors everywhere. We surmised that either the builder was injured or perished, or he was stopped by the Eldorado National Forest people before he could finish. "Hewn out of the very rocks" as Derek said in his brilliantly realistic Scottish accent.

After we finished admiring the granite house we continued on the trail. Unfortunately the trail abandoned us at the south fork of the American River. Knowing we had parked next to the river we decided to follow it back to the car instead of going toward the freeway and following it. That was an adventure in itself. We had so much fun climbing boulders, crossing logs and navigating through the shrubs along the banks of the river. Three hours after we had decided not to take the easy trail back to the car we arrived at our car exhausted but glad for the adventure.

I could, here, discuss the significance of the wilderness experience, or talk about trails in our forests as opposed to roads, or discuss tourist travel versus exploring nature and getting to know God's creation, but really I just enjoyed the adventure and the time alone with my husband, not to mention the delicious pizza after the hike. Sometimes its good just to get out and enjoy God's creation, to get dirty and exhausted exploring the course of a river, or enriched sitting at the base of a really big tree and listening to the wind blow through its high branches, or discover something you've never seen before (like a half built house in the semi-wilderness).
Picture by Derek McHenry

Don't sit around too much or you may miss something wonderful.

Wild Trees, a very good book

2007-06-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I'm terrible at keeping a blog. I almost decided to not bother, but a close friend told me she really wanted me to write more, which I can do because I am reading so many amazing books right now that I have plenty to say.

I just finished reading a book called "The Wild Trees" by Richard Preston. This is a book about the biggest trees in the world and the people who find them, climb them, and research them. It's incredibly amazing that there are trees in California that reach over 350 feet tall and in whose branches can be found more life than anyone ever imagined. The book inspires conservation practices. I don't think I could ever consider owning anything made of redwoods. I realize that we need wood for various products, such as houses, desks, etc., but couldn't we avoid building things out of redwood regardless of how long it lasts?

Even more wonderful in this book were the people. I was so impressed with the people who climb these trees. It must take amazing personalities to be bold enough to climb a tree and cooperate in a group in order to climb over 300 feet. These people seemed so compassionate and good, I feel tempted to drive to Humbolt University and meet Steve Sillet and Marie Antoine myself. What a treat it would be to hear their stories first hand and learn more about the canopy of one of my favorite trees.

The book left me tempted to learn to climb these trees for myself, but with six children, four of whom I'm still raising, I'm not sure I should take such risks....but then again if I'm careful and learn well....
hmmmm, probably not yet, I have enough big goals to keep me busy for a while.

I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in trees, plant biology, geography, or good books.

Picture by Derek McHenry

What defines a country

2007-06-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

I got this list from Matt Rosenberg's website .

•Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).
•Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
•Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.
•Has Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
•Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.
•Has a government which provides public services and police power.
•Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country's territory.
•Has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries

For anybody interested in geography, his website is a great one.

Nations

2007-06-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

My very old dictionary (Webster’s 1965 edition) defines a nation as such:
“A stable, historically developed community of people with a territory, economic life, culture and language in common.”

My very new regional geography textbook (Bradshaw et al, copyright 2007) defines a nation similarly:
“A nation is an “imagined community,” or politicized ethnic group, in which people believe themselves to share common cultural features, usually linked to a specific area of land.”

The concept of a nation is not all I once thought it to be. When I say “One nation under God” I would automatically understand the definition of a nation to a country or state with political boundaries, an established government, and most often an established military. However this is not always the case.

While America is a nation based on its common language, government, and culture to some degree there are, within this country other nations. The Cherokee are a nation, as are the Miwok, the Yurok, and various other tribes.

There is a set of reference books called Stateless Nations which gives a reference to an unbelievably large number of groups of people who can be defined as a nation but have no state, no government, and are not recognized by any large group such as the UN. I think of one of those groups often as I peer into the mirror to deal with my eyebrows which show a distinct Welsh characteristic.

Another good example is the Basque people fighting for their own government and country in Spain. This leads me to the first point of my ramblings.

What do we do for all of these various nations without states? Should the Basques have their own nation? Could Scotland survive if it separated from England to form its own government? What about the small nations around India and China, should they be swallowed up by their larger neighbors becoming nations without states?

When one of these nations is localized in one area what is holding them back from becoming their own nation. Usually it is probably economics or political pride on the part of the larger nation.

Often times the nation is interspersed throughout a country and cannot feasibly claim a specific area and the people would be hard pressed to give up their land to move to a more localized place. Likewise the other people of that country would be even more stubborn when asked to give up their land to let the asking nation have it for their own.

Here in America, we have the problem of the native nations that we have removed, attacked, relocated and mistreated. I can’t imagine America actually giving them land to call their own country, although I would cheer if we did (as long as it wasn’t in the middle of some practically unlivable desert.) A friend of mine suggested we give them the national parks to maintain and dwell in. I think he’s on to something.

There is another point to this ramble. We are all a nation without a state. In Christ we have a home that we are waiting for. When he returns and makes everything new we will have a government ruled by Him. So often when we feel a longing for something more it is the desire to live in our homeland with Jesus. We are, for now, a homeless people longing for the King who will bring healing to the nations and make us truly one nation, under God.

God really does have a sense of humor

2007-06-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today I took my daughter out to dinner because she was having a hard time with the rules we laid down for her recently. I thought a bit of a meal with her would help her. We had Chinese food, and I prayed that God would help us to laugh together. After a tense meal she opened her fortune cookie and read her fortune. It said "You can do things that others say you cannot." We both smiled a little bit and I told her that if my fortune cookie told me to lighten up she could take hers seriously. We talked more easily about the situation after that. Then I finished my meal and opened my fortune cookie. It told me "Your perspective will shift." Of course my daughter really appreciated that and we had a good laugh and a pleasant time after that.

Of course neither of us looks for fortune cookies to tell us how to live, but I think they were a tool for laughter and healing.
Isn't God wonderful, that he would plan it just so in order to help us laugh and communicate when things might otherwise have stayed difficult and tense?

Interesting book

2007-06-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading an interesting book called "One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka. Mr. Fukuoka lives (or lived possibly) on a mountain in Japan where he farmed with a method he called the do-nothing method. He doesn't till the soil or use any chemicals whatsoever. It sounded so beautiful to work with the rhythm of nature instead of wearing out the land with intensive single crop farming. I enjoyed the book for the most part, but I got bogged down in his philosophies in the end, which I definetely didn't agree with.

His method was quite a contrast from the typical American method of farming. How much of the land do we bring near to ruining because we think it would bring us a greater harvest? How possible would it be to bring our farms back around to community based methods and become dependent more on nature instead of large single crop farms and ranches.

I'm often a little hard on our nation, especially when I read about other nations suffering hunger while we stuff ourselves and cause depletion of fish supplies, red tides, and environmental degradation. But can we really change where we are. Could we of Sacramento live well enough from sustainable agriculture produced solely in California? It's definitely something to think about, but I don't expect things can really change without bringing a heavy toll on the economy.

I wish we could go back to such a method:
"Make your way carefully through these fields. Dragonflies and moths fly up in a flurry. Honeybees buzz from blossom to blossom. Part the leaves and you will see insects, spiders, frogs, lizards and many other small animals bustling about in the cool shade. Moles and earthworms burrow beneath the surface.
This is a balanced rice field ecosystem. Insect and plant communities maintain a stable relationship here. It is not uncommon for a plant disease to sweep through this area. leaving the crops in these fields unaffected." Fukuoka p. 29

At least I can apply some of this method in my own yard.

After the Finals

2007-05-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

My plan for this blog was to post something new every week, but I find myself hesitant to post anything this week since I feel like my education balloon burst one week after school ended.

What a crime to have put so much of myself into my education that I forgot God was the center of my life. I realized, once my finals wrapped up, that I had so allowed my life to focus around my education that I had all but completely lost my focus on Him. Education is important, and I'm even sure that God called me to it, but it is by no means the most important part of my life. What does it matter if I know that the continents are shifting slowly if I fail to center my life around the One who is directing the movement. It will never matter how well versed I am in Intelligent Design If I fail to worship the God who is that intelligence.

So before I ever publish another post, acting like I know so much, let me make it very clear that I don't know much. I still have a lot to learn. But most importantly; it doesn't really matter if I know much or not. If my heart and mind aren't focused on my Savior, then I am useless.

So in response to a professor who told me I deserve a great summer; I will reorient my heart from its orbit around my cranial activities and back around The Trinity and have a glorious summer.

Global Warming

2007-05-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

I was debating whether or not to actually start a blog last week, but that was finals week. This is Summer break and I think I will start one. So here it goes.....

I was recently encouraged to give a presentation on global warming to my geography class. When I began to look at all of the evidence for and against global warming, I found it pretty convincing that we are speeding up the natural warming cycle of this planet God has entrusted us with. Especially significant is the amount of carbon dioxide wealthy countries are pumping into the atmosphere daily. It's true that the planet was already warming due to normal cyclical changes, but we have sped up that process. However you won't find me standing at the doom and gloom pulpit.

Let me express, as a Christian, what my attitude should probably be.

First of all, nothing is sure, no scientist knows everything. Much research is based on extrapolating from the past so there could be variables we just don't understand yet, that can make things better (or worse) than we expect. Maybe things are going to get better.

Second, I cannot ignore global warming. It is happening, permafrost is melting in the north, Greenland's glacier is beginning to recede more rapidly than expected and will likely continue, causing sea levels to rise approximately 1 meter in the next 100 years and the Arctic Ice is decreasing in both summer and winter. It's seems pretty clear that we're in for changes. Since I can't ignore it, I should do my best to reduce my own co2 output, which is pretty tough considering I drive a passenger van.

Third, it's not about the environment, it's about the people. It often looks like global warming is an 'environmentalist cause', but as important as the environment is, masses of people may suffer from the eventual effects of a rapidly warming planet. I have read that in Alaska people are having to relocate because as the permafrost melts, their towns are sinking and falling apart. If the sea level rises 1 meter in the next 100 years all of the Maldive's will be covered and their populations will have to relocate, Bangladesh, Egypt's Delta as well as many other coastal areas will be inundated and have to relocate.

Fourth, and most importantly, GOD IS IN CONTROL. So many times I fret about the environment, global warming, poverty, wars and persecutions, but really I need to remember that God has this all figured out already. And yes, He will renew the heavens and earth, totally unexploited and brand new. Humanity may yet persist in selfishness, exploitation, war, destruction and every other form of ruination on this planet, but Jesus is going to come back, with His balm for the healing of the nations and this old earth will pass away and He's going to make a new one, where we can fellowship with Him forever.

A friend of mine says "there's no mechanic to fix the earth so we'd better start taking care of it."
I say to him (and he cringes) "Yes we should take care of the earth because we are its stewards, but there is a Mechanic who will not just fix it, but make it all new."

So....think about your co2 emissions, always lend aid to the poor and suffering, no matter what the cause, and "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart."