Favorite Quote of the Week...

Last week held many special communicative moments...and many of them would be worth repeating.

Such as when my nephew Jonah expressed his disapproval over having to end our hike a tad bit early: This is the most horribleist hike I've been on in my life! (I tried to help him out by reminding him that if this is the worst it could be, then all the rest of his hikes for the rest of his life will never be this bad and will always be better than this one...he picked up dirt and threw it at me. :) I deserved it).

What I didn't deserve was the note he wrote later that said: Beootiful Bepo.

But my niece Ava won quote of the week when she draped herself over me and said: Don't go!
I asked her why I shouldn't leave and she said: Because I love you and will miss you when you go.

This kind of love I do not deserve.

Hiking in the Columbia Gorge

My sister Elisabeth, her kids Jonah, Ava, and Brynne (only 3 months old)and I have taken to enjoying the Oregon sunshine and beauty by hiking in the gorge on the weekends. Here's some pictures I took of our first jaunt. Sometimes I can't believe I live so close to so much beauty.

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On my birthday I had to drive to the coast for a training. When it was over I took a little drive along HWY 101 and captured the day on film...the Oregon coast is exquisite. I also took some pictures of a covered bridge. I hope to visit a lot of covered bridges while I'm still in Oregon.

The Orphan

Photo courtesy of Courtney Steever, on the streets of Kolkata





This weekend (June 2 and 3) has been chosen as the weekend for people all over the world to pray for children at risk...which mean remembering foster kids, street kids, child prostitutes, child soldiers, or children trafficked for the purpose of labor. My friend Rebecca always says that she cannot understand why anyone would hurt a child.

Please remember children this weekend. Think of your own kids, your nieces or nephews, a neighbor kid, any kid you love and let that love drive you to your knees as you consider 'what if?' Pray for the protection of all children, pray that they would know God's love and because of that love, they would be driven to serve Him and others. Pray that they would have food, a place to sleep, a teacher so they can learn. Pray with gratefulness, for but by the grace of God...

To learn more, check out the Viva Network and click on how you can get involved through prayer...

None of His Words Fell to the Ground

I was reading this article in The Cry (Word Made Flesh advocacy publication) about the prophetic voice and it said that Israel confirmed Samuel's role as a Prophet "because none of his words fell to the ground." And those words caught me...

Lately I've begun (finally) a small private counseling practice. I only have a couple clients, but the act of actually having clients has been a long time coming...and I'm finding that I enjoy it more than I ever thought I would. It is so hard and so rewarding and so humbling. While I would not put myself on the level of Samuel as prophet, there is the prophetic voice that is a part of counseling because ultimately, the voice of the prophet is about revealing and healing and this is much of what happens in counseling.

As I read that none of Samuel's words fell to the ground, none of them were wasted, all of them were worthwhile and true, I prayed that mine would do the same. That as I am filled with His Spirit, the same Spirit that filled Samuel,none of the words I speak would be wasted, but that they would bear fruit and glory to my King.

Picture from United Church of Christ Electronic Library

Cuter than just about anything in this world...

My almost 2 year old niece decided to climb into this tiny box and got stuck. My sister said she cried: I stuck! I stuck! Being the responsible mom she is, Jamie made sure to document the incident for posterity and then 'unstuck' her baby. At which point Gracie was as happy as a clam in her little box.
Don't you agree? It doesn't get much cuter than that...

Bergstrom Pictures of Moldova

A couple weeks ago, when both our schedules finally allowed, I told my good good friend Rebecca about my plans with Word Made Flesh and Moldova/Romania, she told me that at that very moment her brother-in-law Jonathan (married to her sister Emily, father of Noah) was in Moldova with his parents making contacts for a ministry that his parents would like to begin serving the elderly in....MOLDOVA! It's crazy how such a small country would be calling both of us! I know the Bergstroms because of Emily (Jonathan's wife), who I know well because of my friendship with Rebecca, and Emily and I lived together for a brief time before she married (Jonathan). It's just a small world.

From what I can gather from the Bergstroms, the elderly in Moldova have to live on a around 40 dollars a month. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the pensions and retirement savings of these people who had lived under the regime longer than anyone, was lost. And now, they suffer more than anyone. I look forward to learning more about the vision the Bergstroms have for the elderly of Moldova, truly the widow and orphan in this country of extreme poverty. Please enjoy these photos they took of their trip (it isn't all of them, just a few).