Decisions, Decisions....

Who do you turn to before you make an important decision? Spouse? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Ex-bf/gf? Parents? Philippians 4:6,7: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ. If we look to God and God alone for the answers, He is faithful and in HIS OWN TIME He will show us the way! What an awesome God we serve!!

Five Minute Friday

Ok, here goes my five minutes...

Reflections of the study of 1John (so far.) 

I am really enjoying this study of 1John. I am so thankful that I was invited to participate. In my meditations over the first few verses, one of the things I realize is that John wanted to be absolutely certain that his audience was aware that he was telling the truth. He stresses the fact that he writes about that which he saw, heard and touched with his own eyes, ears, hands.

Considering that he begins to tell us about Christ, our gateway to eternal life, the author is careful to be absolutely sure we know that he did witness Christ, and that He is REAL.

It is so important when we relay information that it is 100% truth. I really appreciate that about John. It is so refreshing to begin the study of a book in my Bible and have the author be adamantly reassuring his audience that he is being honest, and WHY we can be certain of that. 

Another thought along that line is that when we DO believe something, we should know why. We ought to be able to back it up somehow. If I was the Biblical scholar that I should be, I would quote the place in the Bible that says so, but I am not. I'll simply tell you that I know it's there. (What a contradiction that sentence was, huh?--I guess that's what I get for publically agreeing to type for 5 minutes without editing, erasing, changing anything.) 

OK....my time is up. I shall continue to share my reflections as I get further into the book. For now, I'll simply say:

Have a Fabulous Weekend! 

God Bless! 

Behind the Scenes

SOAP

If you've been reading my blog, then you are already aware of the fact that I've started a Bible study, using the S.O.A.P. method.

I am thoroughly enjoying it! There is something really really cool about knowing that you are "with" women from all over the country, learning more about the Lord every single day!

Something that's been on my mind since I began is the people who function behind the scenes. Regardless of whether you're talking about church, business, or a family reunion, any time you get a lot of people together they will inevitably "divide" into groups.

Some will naturally be leaders while others just go with the flow. Some will be outgoing while others will be more behind the scenes.

Where do you fit into the group?

Have you ever considered how important the latter group is? I believe that many times we forget about them.

Abuse?

I needed to share this...it is SO very true. Click on the link:

Silent Treatment

Thank you Angela (Ambroise) !

S.O.A.P.

I am so excited about the places God takes me in the blogging world!

Beginning Monday, I will begin studying the book of 1John with ladies from all over the world! How did this come about?

Blogging!

I have been following Angela Talks for quite some time now.

 I am very encouraged and uplifted by her blog.

**Side note: The first time I emailed her to comment about her blog, it took her a good while to get back to me. The reason? Her name is also "Angela Marie" and she thought she had accidentally emailed herself...haha.

No, it's not just the fact that we share the same name that makes me think she is so awesome. She IS! I admire her devotion to the Lord and the positive attitude she always displays on her site.

Recently, she mentioned something called

"Good Morning Girls"

A diverse group of women connected via internet who follow a study plan which includes daily quiet time, Bible study, reflection & prayer.

Following our individual study, we then will get on line (on Angela's site) and share our thoughts, insights & opinions regarding the verses we have studied.

What a great encouragement to stay in the Word daily!

Obviously no one will come beat down my door if I don't participate, however, it is wonderful to feel somewhat 'accountable' to do my part.

We will be using the "SOAP" method of study:

This is how Angela described it:

 "1.  S-write out the Scripture passage of the day.
2. O- write down one or two observations from the passage.
3. A- write down one or two applications from the passage.
4. P- pray over what you learn from that day's passage.

By the end of the 12 weeks, we will have written out the entire book of 1 John in our journals.  And, we will have meditated on every single verse in the book."

I am thrilled to be a part of this study!

I am excited about the new (to me) method of studying God's word!

Again, I thank God for leading me toward these wonderful, godly women through the blogging world.

What an AWESOME God we serve!

Badger Valley Loop

A day of hiking with Mom is always pleasant, and this was no exception.

There are several different trails to choose from in the Olympics and this day we chose to

head out to Obstruction Point and take the Badger Valley Loop trail.

I (intentionally) didn't tell Mom how long the trail was (4.5 miles) because she may

not have agreed to go along if I had....tee hee hee...

You have to look really close, but you can see the zig zag going down the mountain

in just about the center of the picture?  That's how the loop begins.

What goes down must come up....right?

No, it's not a badger, it's a marmot...

but he was nice enough to greet the hikers.

A shot of Mt. Baker in the background with

wildflowers, taken from the 'Obstruction Point' road.

One of the few creeks we crossed along the trail.

Yes, the trail continued to drop in elevation....

The blue sky waaaaay up there is where we would eventually end up.

Whew...long & quite steep in a few places!

Here comes Momma!!

We were huffin and puffin....but we made it up the other side!

Once we reached the trail at the other end, it was a downhill slope back to the car.

Mom did such an awesome job! I am so proud of her for making it the entire way

without a word of complaint! It was quite a strenuous hike once the climb began. She wouldn't have made it a few weeks ago. She was very proud of herself as well!

A great accomplishment and a beautiful Mother/daughter outing.

Rainier Trip

Can I describe our Rainier trip this year?

In 20 photos or less?

I'll try!

Beavers are natures best dam builders!

The classic shot from the bridge at Myrtle Falls.

Randall Hodges, the professional, giving us a short macro lesson.

Not 100% sure what the names of all the wildflowers are

but they're pretty!

If you look closely, you can see the road in front of Rainier.

(The diagonal line)

Notice the bumper to bumper cars parked along the road?

The parking lot at Paradise was completely full!

The place was PACKED!

From the 'Sunrise' side.

A shot of me and Mom on the Sourdough Ridge trail at Sunrise.

Another shot from the Sourdough Ridge trail.

I call these "mopheads" and I've only seen them growing in

subalpine territory. Not sure what their true scientific name is.

A red Indian Paintbrush!

Sunrise was the place for wildflowers this year.

We had a lot of snow last winter and there were very few flowers on

the Paradise trails.

Mom's about to come across the suspension bridge in

"The Grove of the Patriarchs"

You have seen how incredibly wide I am...

So you KNOW these trees are pretty darn big!

...and TALL!

They were as tall as 300 feet according to the signs & flyers.

I don't know why this fallen trunk fascinated me so....

BAXTER!!

Yes! We saw 2 black black bears (yes, I said black 2X on purpose)

AND

One cinnamon black bear! It looked like a grizzly but it's face and legs were black,

hence the title, 'cinnamon black'.

They were wandering around in the "Paradise Valley" area.

We also saw 3 foxes. This black one with a white tipped tail,

(You can barely see through the weeds) this light tan/white one

and a solid gray one. They were not bashful, in fact they came up to

people and cars in the parking lot and on the road.

Signs explicitly tell you not to feed the wild animals, but obviously not

everyone heeds signs.

I can't remember the name of this little waterfall, but Mom and I vowed

to go back soon, hopefully before it snows us out, and hit all the waterfalls, making note of

their names. There are quite a few.

OOPS!! 22 Photos....I was close!

Another wonderful trip to my favorite place in Washington...possibly the country.

God's art is the very very best!

Bucket List

I remember recently seeing a post related to one's "Bucket List".

Another post I see every Friday is one with a link to "5 Minute Friday" where people are encouraged to write, unedited, non-stop for 5 minutes about whatever comes to their mind.

I don't have a whole lot more than that to spend at the moment, so even though it's not Friday anymore as of 4 1/2 hours ago, I'm going to try combining the two!

WELL

I'm in the process of learning how to really blog.

I want my blog to be interesting enough for people to read and actually comment on. I have seen several suggestions on line and I'm working on it. Right now, I have an actual written out "bucket list" in the back of one of my diaries. (Yes, I have more than one, AND my blog...obviously, I have a lot to say!)

Some of the things on my list are:

-Summit Mount Rainier

-Summit Mount St. Helens

-Summit Mount Hood

-Summit Mount Adams

(Yeah, you get the idea...this will take training and an extremely good physical condition.)

-Travel across the country on a Harley.

-Visit each State in the US at least once.

-Visit the Florida Keys...ALL of them.

-Spend time in Italy

-Travel to where Christ lived and walk where Jesus did...(Like my Dad did)

Okay, my five minutes is up. I did go back real quickly and edit a couple of words.

I cheated...but it's Saturday, so I made it

"SIX minute Saturday"!!

Rushing back to work now...I was just on a little break.

I'd LOVE to hear some of the things on YOUR Bucket List!!

God Bless, Take Care...

Talk Soon ;-)