Dreams

My home church in Washington, Faith Assembly of Lacey, is halfway through a series on dreaming--about having God-sized vision for what can be.  Since I'm not there, I'm a week behind what my friends there are hearing, but I LOVE seeing all of the Facebook posts about people who are inspired to re-open their hearts to what God could be accomplishing in their lives.  My friend, the lead pastor there, is excited to see what God is going to accomplish in their community through hundreds of people dreaming once again--and it makes me smile to know that God can communicate even to those who don't know Him because of one simple message: Dream Again!

You know what I love about living in Las Vegas?  There are a lot of things, actually, which completely surprises me.  Let me list a few--and then I'll connect them all.

DTLV from the top of the Stratosphere

I love that LV is transient.  That people come here from somewhere else.  We're all travelers here.  We're all looking for hope and purpose.  We're all looking for something that is different from where we were before. It's scary and it's new and it's an adventure that we all hold together.  It's an instant understanding of most other people in the area.

I love that Downtown LV (DTLV) is bubbling with newness.  There are artists and entrepreneurs and risk-takers and dreamers.  People who have given everything to share who they are with the people who are connected to DTLV.

I love the sun.  I had no idea.  I am a pluviophile at heart and that will NEVER change.  However...  The sun is life-giving and it affects me and the people around me every day--causing reactions that are totally different than those encased by rain.

I love the people in LV, especially those in DTLV.  I have found, when I've told them that I moved from the green Northwest to the brown desert to help start a church, that they are excited.  Believers or not, they see the good that can come from people working with people to bring light and hope to a neighborhood.  They sense the risk we're taking, they see the potential for good, and they're excited.

Isn't it amazing?  I love the dreamers.  DTLV is, if you look for it, filled with dreamers and hopers, and people who aren't satisfied with sitting back and watching others live out their dreams--they want in on the adventure, too.  That's why I'm happy.  God has asked me to join the adventure... and to bring people with me.

Sense of Smell

I remember when I lived in Minnesota and used to walk to work.  There was a parking lot in the middle of Minneapolis that I managed to cross every single day, just because I could smell the new pavement and I knew it reminded me of something--something near to my heart, but something I couldn't put a finger on.  Day after day, through the hot sun, I would trudge across the lot, inhaling deeply, trying to drown out the smell of exhaust and city and focus solely on that one olfactory memory.  Months went by.  One day, in the middle of the parking lot, something changed.  I'm not sure if it was the clanging of a bus that sounded like another form of transportation, if it was the hot spring wind blowing on me reminding me of summer days, or if my memory simply decided to disclose this delicious secret, but I knew... I was smelling the tar from the pavement baking in the sun, reminding me of days as a toddler spent around the docks on our sailboat.  I was smelling the creosote on the wood of those docks and it was reassuring, familiar... HOME.

I hadn't been on a sailboat since I was little.  Obviously not recently enough to recognize the smell.  But the memory it evoked... THAT was still real, still present.

There are many smells out there that bring me HOME like that tar smell did...  The smell of rain.  Hay and llamas.  Blackberry blossoms at the first hint of summer.  When I catch the scent of these, I physically stop and inhale... I let my body absorb the emotion associated with them.

The last few weeks, as I walk out of my new workplace, I pause.  I don't smell the damp air like I did in

Washington.  I smell something different, something new.  It makes me stop and breathe deeply because in it not only do I smell the desert, the dry, sun-baked ground, the plants flourishing even in the middle of winter, but I also smell change and hope and new life.  This is a memory I want seared in my brain.  Something exciting to come.  I call it the smell of anticipation.

Peace

Sometimes you just have to go where you hear Jesus the best.

Where you can pause...





































The place where wandering isn't just acceptable, it's the norm.





































The place where you feel completely at home.


The place where you stand and simply... breathe.

Psalm 114

OK, this is a never before seen FOOTBALL post on MY blog... AND it's about God. Crazy? I know. But bear with me.

First, check out Psalm 114:7

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into the pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.

OK, the Psalmist is celebrating at the presence of God, and at Israel leaving Egypt. Good stuff. And the earth TREMBLED at God's presence... Crazy stuff. It doesn't REALLY happen, does it? I mean, just because God is around, the earth doesn't actually MOVE, right? It's just poetry.

Well... think about this. On Saturday, the Seahawks made a crazy, unexpected win in a playoff game. About three and half minutes from the end of the game, Marshawn Lynch ran a crazy 3,000 yard run (OK, not that long, but close...), scoring a touchdown. The crowd. Went. Wild.

Wild enough to make the earth... tremble.

A minor tremor was recorded on a seismograph near Qwest Field. The 12th Man brought it so loud and strong that the earth literally shook.

Seriously.

If a few thousand fans screaming their heads off can make the earth shake, don't you think that the poetry in Psalm 114 might just be talking about the earth actually trembling at the presence of God?

Now one question remains... when YOU enter God's presence...

What do you do?

Gotta Love Election Years...

So... it's an election year, as we all know. With the upcoming election, we get attacks on candidates, campaign promises, and yes... the incumbent in any position does everything he or she can do to keep his or her job.

In Washington, our governor spent 8 billion dollars more than the previous governor did in his 8-year term... in just four years. How does she make up for it? Hiring freeze. Personal Service Contract freeze. Minimizing travel. Oh yes... and today she said, several of you (state employees) have suggested four 10-hour day work weeks. I have shared this with agency directors and we are definitely looking into it. Smile smile, grin grin, all is happy in O-Town.

Anyone else feel played?

So... why do we have this law again?

State's drivers answer call to go hands-free

Law restricting cell phone use in cars takes effect July 1

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published June 22, 2008

In a little more than a week, Washington drivers will risk a $124 fine unless they either stop talking on their cell phones while driving or use hands-free phone gear.

Other states

The National Conference of State Legislatures says that as of July 1, the District of Columbia and six states will have outlawed the use of a hand-held phone while driving. They are California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Washington and Utah. The laws have exemptions for emergency personnel and emergency situations.

Local bans are in effect in such places as Chicago and Santa Fe, N.M.

• Washington banned text messaging while driving effective Jan. 1. New Jersey followed suit, and Minnesota recently passed it.

30 states and Washington, D.C., now have some law related to cell phones and cars — including 18 states that restrict young or novice drivers from using a cell phone. Oregon is among 10 states that pre-empt local jurisdictions from acting on the law.

Those are the simplest options for drivers starting July 1, when a law restricting the use of hand-held phones while driving takes effect.

After that date, drivers holding a cell phone to their ear can be ticketed. Using a phone with a corded or wireless earpiece, or with a built-in loudspeaker, will remain legal. Also, drivers still will be allowed to touch the phone's keypad to answer calls or dial numbers.

Four other states -- Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Utah -- and the District of Columbia already have hands-free laws. Washington and California join them the same day.

But insurance-industry research shows that hands-free devices might not make driving any safer.

"Simply banning hand-held cell phone use isn't taking care of the safety problem. It's sending the message that hands-free phoning is safe, when in fact it is not," said Russ Rader, spokesman for the national Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by the auto industry. "The research is pointing to the conversation as a major part of the distraction."

The Insurance Institute's 2005 study in Western Australia found that cell-phone users were four times as likely to be involved in a property-damage crash as those not using cell phones while driving. But the study found that crash risks did not differ for hands-free users.

A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute report in 2006 found a link between crashes and driver distractions. A news release at the time said: "Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell-phone use, and drowsiness."

Washington's law makes driving with a cell phone held to one's ear a secondary offense. That means a state trooper or police officer must first stop the driver for speeding, defective equipment or suspicion of violating some other law.

Sunblock

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas season

So tonight it's POURING down rain when I leave work. I turn to 106.9 or 105.3 (can't remember which) because they're playing all Christmas music. The song is "Christmastime is Here" from Charlie Brown.

I am happy. It is Christmas in Washington.

The only thing that would have made it better is if the song had been "Christmas in the North West."

Please, PLEASE pardon the video. These two sure had fun... lol


CHRISTMAS IN THE NORTHWEST
Brenda White - 1985

The wind may not blow
Might not even snow
But there's nothing like Christmas
Right here at home

It may not be white
Might be a rainy night
But there's nothing like sharing
The sounds and the sights of ...

Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift that we can share
Christmas in the Northwest
Is a child's answered prayer

Take away the presents
And they still will have a dream
For Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift God wrapped in green

That first Christmas night
Under just one light
In a small town, a child came down
The Father's gift of love and life

And so, I dedicate this prayer
To the children in our care
That we teach them of the gifts of love
He has planted everywhere
Just like ...

Christmas in the Northwest
It's a gift that we can share
Christmas in the Northwest
Is a child's answered prayer

If you take away the presents
Why, they still will have a dream
For Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift God wrapped in green

And I know it may not turn out white
But it's still 'silent night'
So gather those you love
And tell the story of the gift of living
Believe we see from the one who's giving
Giving us ...

Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift that we can share
Christmas in the Northwest
Is a child's answered prayer

And even if you take away the presents
I still would have a tree
For Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift God wrapped in green

That God wrapped up in green

Christmas in the Northwest
Is a gift God wrapped up in green

The beautiousness of yesterday...

My favorite things

I saw someone else do this recently, and thought I'd share, too. :) These are a few of my favorite things in the world.

My favorite drawing of my favorite Person:

My favorite state - ever:

TREES - I think that says enough:

My favorite place in the world - Ocean Shores:

My favorite memory (one of them at least) - clam digging:

My favorite holiday season (this is in Leavenworth in Eastern WA):

My three favorite restaurants:

My favorite beverage:

One of my (new) favorite pictures:

My favorite book:

My favorite flowers:

My favorite sign (and a bit of trivia - John Stamos was the winning bidder in an Internet auction (Ebay) of the huge galvanized steel sign that greeted park visitors from 1989 to 1999. He paid $30,700 for the portion of the marquee that contains the nearly 14-feet high "Disneyland'' letters.):

Aaaaannnnddd... the favorites before and after (I've seen all three!):

My favorite musician (besides my sister of course, smile):

Probably enough for ya. ;) Hope you enjoyed!