05 July 2009

"For the beauty of the earth...." California ~ July 5th




Brianna (my sister) is doing research at University of California - Davis for the summer, so my parents had the terrific idea of flying out there for the 4th of July holiday to visit her and see California. Family vacations have of course gotten to be far more complicated to plan now that we're all older and have individual schedules: Dad has his job at MED Institute and is taking an online masters class, Mom works at the Music Shop and at home, and I have babysitting and strange research hours up at Valpo. Bri's schedule was the easiest one to work around, since she was already at California. But my parents' and my schedule meant we had to take different planes out of different airports - mine went from Chicago-Midway and Dad and Mama's went out of Indy. Both planes (not surprisingly) got delayed during the transfer in Las Vegas, but it meant that we managed to have time to connect up with each other in the airport there and figure out the plan for when we arrived in Sacramento. We managed to get in real late, but hey, we were in California.

So that is the actual logistics of Day 1 of FFA (fun family adventure), but believe me, not all of the travel portion was boring-sit-and-wait. I think I'll just choose to remember the good parts....which can be best described by giving you an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a friend:

"The flight from Midway into Las Vegas was, well, long (4 hrs) but it was daylight the whole time so I had quite a view from my window seat. I read practically the whole flight, but near the end, I got bored, so I glanced out at the sky......and the first thing I saw was the white clouds....parted slightly to reveal the majestic red, craggy earth, the light of the sunset glancing off of the air and forming a perfect rainbow, arching over the canyons. The canyons were like wrinkles of the earth, with their wandering cracks and jagged breaks, cut by the slithering rivers and small patches of dry green. The sunset made the edges clearer and painted them burnt umber, orange, goldfire. My eyes felt so trapped, in that small, confining metal space of a man-made thing called a plane - I was impatient with how much it limited my view of the gorgeous landscape. We had been chasing the sun all this way west and this was our reward - and oh what a reward!! Sheer, utter, beauty, untarnished from the heights. The canyons gave way to the mountain-hills, like fingers of the earth - tantalizingly strong and sprawling out along the land, breaking up to reveal the ground's heart of bronze. Then suddenly, I saw the huge, clear glassy river, just like a puddle amidst the hills. I cannot believe that people live right at the edge of such beauty."

The flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento was no less exciting. It was night-time, but I could see huge thunderstorm clouds and big flashes of lighting. Exhilarating to see from the ground, but even more so, when up in the air. I love rainstorms!!!

~E.

01 July 2009

"And through the times I've faded and You've outlined me again, You've just waited patiently to bring me back again, and then..."

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" ~ I Timothy 1
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." ~ II Timothy 2
"But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.....Be joyful always; pray continually;give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus...Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." ~ I Thess.5

One of my first thoughts, after I had typed those verses here, was "Wow, I hope people don't mind that I write down some much Scripture on this thing." No sooner did I think that, I was reminded of this verse in Romans: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.' "

This just reminds me of yet again, of who I am without God. I am not righteous, I do not seek God as I should. And it makes me read those first verses more closely. They put a fire, a passion, in my heart, as I look with hope and excitement to see what God is doing in my life. Purifying me, sanctifying me - and! - all this, I have not done - it is God's work in me!

So, though I have been battling worries and guilt and selfishness of late (when do I not?!), God grants me peace and reminds me of his love, and takes those things away from me, pulling me towards him, telling me to trust him with the desires of my heart, and to give him my all. He continually turns me around, to face him, and gaze into his ever-loving, ever-forgiving face, the one that would blind me except for the grace of the Savior. How amazing! He lifts me up, gives me joy, and happiness! How can I not give him my praise?

~E.