Thanksgiving 2011

I just realized that I had not written anything about Thanksgiving........So, here we go!
In September of 2011, our church purchased a dude ranch in Oregon....yes, a dude ranch!  The Bar M Ranch has been in existence since the 1800s!  It has changed hands over the years, and you can find out the history of it on-line, and now it will be a retreat center for our church.  We have been hard at work fixing up the place, and it has been a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work.  I love the history of the original house, it was a stage coach stop for many years, and it is the oldest occupied building in Oregon state!  By the way, our daughter Laura took these photos, since my camera is acting up....I guess that's what happens when you drop them in the ocean!

This is where we and our family spent Thanksgiving.  We rented the Ranch house for 4 days, and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We ate, and played games, swam in the hot-springs pool; some of us did anyway, it was COLD.  We made "some-mores" in the fireplace, and had many tourney's of ping-pong.  We went for walks along the river, and looked at the stars.  All of our grands loved it....the little ones played and watched movies, the older ones played games, and watched movies, the adults cooked and ate, and watched movies, and cleaned up after the kids  :) 

A Caananite City

Here are some more photos of our trip to Israel.  This site was the coolest....it is the actual city gate and a portion of the wall of a Canaanite City.....from before Abraham's time!!  As you can see, archeologist have to keep the area covered from the sunlight, they found that the wall would disintegrate as soon as they uncovered it.
I love seeing proofs that the Bible is true, and proof of the people who went before us!

!Happy New Year!

New-Having recently come into existence, and being other than the former or old. (From Webster's dictionary)

Don't you just love the word new! It is a word that means.....grace........to me. It is a word that invokes a sense of wonder and excitement. It is a word that can bring feelings of trepidation, and even a bit of fear. It is a word full of the promises of God.
This morning in my quiet time Psalm 25 came to mind:

Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5

It is a new year, and I am looking forward to what the Lord has for me; for I know that it is an opportunity for me to walk closer with my God. When we walk with someone it means just that....that we are with them. Not running ahead, or lagging behind, but beside them. So, as I walk into the new year, I have a sense of anticipation of what is to come, as I walk with the God of my salvation. For it is here in this close communion that I will learn of God's truth, and it is here that I will know of His love for me.