Songs On Sunday and Belated Faith on Friday

Last night I was reading Virginia Queen Bee's blog last night and enjoying her music. One song on her play list was the Vineyard version of I Surrender All, which I also have in my CD collection. This song has long been a favorite and has been a theme along the way for my journey of faith. Surrender is not always a one time event. As I grow in Christ and encounter struggles along the way, I find that He is asking me to surrender another piece here and another piece there. It's not that it is easy, but I look at it this way - He is the Creator of all the Universe and He made me to be me... likely He knows best, right? I find it to be one of the ironies of the Christian walk, that the more you give over yourself, the more you, you become. Currently, I am walking in frustration, or more appropriately, hobbling along. Last night He gently tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Surrender." This morning in church, the adventure continued. (see below)

I Surrender All

by J.W. Van Deventer

1. All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

2. All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.

(Refrain)

3. All to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.

(Refrain)

4. All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.

(Refrain)

5. All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. When I have land of my own, I have to plant several in different areas to see all the different colors.

These bushes were at my friend Jeanene's house. I'll be posting more about our visit soon. She is a good friend from my pediatric nursing days.

Today during the service, I went forward to one of our elders and his wife, to ask for anointing and prayer for healing. As he and his wife prayed, peace swept over me. The worship team seemed louder than usual and drowned out some of the specific words of the prayers, but I think God wanted me to hear these words from another old favorite:

Trust And Obey

John H. Sammis, 1846-1919

1. When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.

(Refrain)

3. But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.

(Refrain)

4. Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.

(Refrain)

Trust is a continual issue for me, given some of my early experiences, but He has been gently leading and teaching me to the point that I do trust Him. I need nudges once in awhile to remember how Trustworthy He is and that I don't need to hold on so tight, but don't we all?

Pastor Mike began a new sermon series this week on the life of Abraham. There will be several small groups on Sundays and in the week to study him further.

Tuesday I will join other ladies at our church for a study led by one of our Pastor's wives. Ever since I heard her speak at a lady's "Mug and Muffin" last year where there was a panel of mature women in the Lord sharing their experiences as wives, mothers and Believers, I have longed to sit at her feet in a Titus 2:4 learning situation. I am looking forward to this and connecting with other ladies. Shhh... don't tell anyone that I will be walking! I'll be good though with my immobilizer and cane!

For me, the key reminder from the sermon today was that faith in God does not mean that we do not have questions. But it does mean that we obey Him and trust Him to answer those questions as we need them. I have walked with the Lord for more than thirty years now, sometimes more faithfully than others, but He has NEVER been unfaithful to me. I do not expect that to happen now.

We all need faith boosts along the way. Often mine comes through music, but I also appreciate the fellowship of other Believers. I know many people say that we do not have to go to church or that their church is in the mountains or on the beach. And there is some truth to both of those statements. However, we are instructed not to forsake fellowshipping with other Believers. That does not say, "Thou shalt go to church." But it is important for us to fellowship with other Believers for encouragement, to encourage, for learning, teaching and simply for the reason that one of the main ways that God can reach out to love us is through His other children. Today it was nice to be back in fellowship, to sing His praises, to worship with my Husband and to see the joy and delight on my children's faces as I watched through the window of kids' church.

Tonight, I feel more encouraged and uplifted. I feel fresh strength to face the next leg of the journey. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Last but not least, Thank You to everyone who has been writing me and encouraging me through your comments and emails! I feel privileged to call you friends! :o)

Hurricane Ridge Part Two

If it seems like you have seen some of these things before, you have! Hubby and I went to these places on our honeymoon trip last week and we are having even more fun sharing them with our kiddos. Strange I know... but we love being a family, even with all the idiosyncrasies, whining, sticky hands and eternally long potty stops (you just try to get two 5 year olds and a 6 year old to the potty and their hands washed in a timely manner! lol). The kids enjoy exploring out doors and have their moments of being bored or whiny, but are really having a lot of fun.

I'm learning some new things digitally in processing my images and trying to learn Nikon Raw format conversions in PS Elements 6. I'm doing it all on my own and hit or miss. Anyone have any advice? It looks great in the Raw converter then some of them when they come up on the screen here are horrible and look over worked and over pixelated! Yuck! Also, I am doing super low resolution images (and have been for awhile) because I post so many pictures. The files need to be small for readers to download and so that I can fit many images on. If there is anyone photo/blog/computer savvy out there who can help me, I'd be much obliged.

Anyway, today we headed back up to Hurricane Ridge which was much nicer without the road crews working and all the fog. It was like a whole different place than last week.



Some of the flowers that had been there before were now gone, but others had bloomed in their stead. I love how God plants!


Paintbrush.



The Olympic Mountains are incredibly beautiful and the panoramic views at Hurricane Ridge are especially awesome!

Before taking too many pictures we had lunch of home made bagels and snacks. A, J, D and Hubby. I'm on the bench opposite with my bum leg elevated!

I took about 7 GB of photos, shooting mainly in Nikon Raw format, so about 1000 photos. I'm still learning my camera and settings. (slow learner!) This is Mount Olympus.

Hubby, J, A and D went exploring for awhile as I rested my leg on another bench and offered to take pictures of couples and groups who were at the same view point. I always appreciate when people do that for me, so I offer to do for them.

J and A laughing in the wind, they don't call it Hurricane Ridge for nothing!

Mom with A and J. This photo was taken by a really nice teenage boy who I had a great photo conversation with. It was so refreshing to talk to a young person who didn't have a bad attitude and who could articulate. He enjoyed checking out my lens, which he wants to buy for his Nikon D200. We discussed the D300 and D700... on that want list... you know the one... the one that is just a far, far, far away dream! lol

It's fairly common to see deer at Hurricane Ridge. But, today, we saw a LOT - we lost count, but at least 20. It was really fun. Some were close enough to touch...but I didn't. I also don't follow and harass them. They come right up by you. They seemed to love the foliage of the pearly everlasting. Many of the does sought it out. While I was taking pictures of does on one side, Hubby and the kids watched a buck and a doe on the other.

D had some binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa and he enjoyed using them to watch a doe and fawn on the ridge, down hill from us.

This is one of those pictures that turned out kind of pixellated looking and funny. But it is such a rare thing that we actually got all five of us in one shot semi normal. :o) J, A, Hubby, Me and D.

The Olympic National Park is a magical place!

I Is For...

Well, it's time for the "I" post in the ABC Along and at first I thought that would be difficult but as time went on, many things came to mind.

First, I is for insects and one of my favorite insects is the bee.


This insect is called a Hummingbird Moth and the only reason I know that is because I saw one on Marguerite's blog.

My favorite insect is a Pipevine Swallowtail. This one is probably one of my top five favorites of cards I have made.

I is for Iris. Bearded Iris are new to me, as in my home state one is more likely to see Dutch or Japanese Iris. These photos were taken at High Sierra Iris Gardens near me. I really love flowers that have infinite color variations like orchids, iris and pansies. Each one is a miniature painting from God!

These iris are another one of my cards. I like to take pictures of "twins" in nature.

And this photo brought two songs to mind, first "She wore blue velvet..." Here are the lyrics. My Grandma Johnson loved Bobby Vinton. He has a lovely voice, but he has joined the ranks of those freakily artificially preserved people who though well into their senior citizen years look much younger than me, unless you get in close range! LOL The second song I thought of was Deep Purple by Donny and Marie Osmond... and excuse me, but who allowed Donny Osmond to become a grandfather?! That's just not right! :o)

I is also for Idaho. This photo was taken the summer of 1956. My Dad on the left is 10.5 years old and Grandma Johnson is holding up my Uncle Jerry who was born November 1955.

I is also for Index where my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson had a beautiful lot on the Skykomish River. We spent many happy hours and camping trips there. This is Mount Index. (scanned from a dirty slide)

I is for ice. Look at all those icy and snowy glaciers. The large volcano is Mt. Baker which is "my" mountain, seen both from my home town and my adopted home town, wherever you go. The water above is part of Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.

I is for Innsbruck, Austria, which I visited in July 1984 with my friend Jutta and her family.

We climbed a church tower and looking down we could see this. The famous Golden Roof is pictured at right.

Another view from the tower. Innsbruck is a beautiful city, though very crowded with many tourists. I would love to see it again as well as more of Austria.

Here is Friedhelm, Jutta's father, checking out a guide book. The architecture of the city is fascinating and I especially enjoyed all the arches.

And lastly, I is for Italy, which I also visited with Jutta's family in July 1984. Here Jutta and Friedhelm look out from castle ruins on a hillside.

The castle ruins from the photo above.

Every hill top seemed to be covered with a castle. This is in Sud Tirol (South Tyrol, which is northern Italy and in the Dolomite Mountains area).

It was so HOT, triple digit heat, but we did a lot of hiking. Here Renate photographs Jutta petting a horse on the side of the mountain.

Jutta, Renate and Friedhelm on the trail ahead of me.


The trail wound around the side of a hill. This is again, Jutta.




Amazing to me, is the European tradition of climbing and hiking and ending up in a restaurant out of nowhere! I never ended a hike in the mountains with a spaghetti dinner before! LOL

This is the city of Merano, Italy. We stayed near here.

The country side was beautiful. This is a zwiebel dome (onion dome) church, typical of the Tirol. This part of northern Italy used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Vineyards covered the hillsides and were planted in all different directions. In some places they looked like green quilts on the hills!