Happy Day of Thanks!

Over the weekend my family was in town and we had a great time hanging out! Troy came in on Friday from Germany so he just missed Thanksgiving with us but we made up for it on Saturday by going to the beach and walking through Christmas lights. Here are a couple pics from Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Maddie! 

She loves her tongue and everyone loves her. It was great to play and be silly with Maddie all weekend! 

Our Feast

We made food for 20 but there were only 6 of us. One more reason I'm glad Troy came home- he is cleaning up on left-overs with me. 

Bath Time 

Maddie is our little dolly. It's amazing to me how many different expressions a baby can have on their face. 

I wish I still had my hooded towel! 

SoCal On Fire

This weekend I was planning on going to a monastery in Santa Barbara for a retreat with several people from our church.  The retreat is focused on getting away from the noise of life to listen to God and reflect His work in our life. I attended the retreat last year as a participant and this year would have been one of the leaders. The beauty and peace of God rests in that place. It was also there that God began to heal some deep wounds in my life. Needless to say, the monastery is special to me and many others.

 Well, we did not go because there were some serious fires close to the area and the roads were closed.  Soon after we realized that the monastery had burned down along with hundreds of homes and a portion of Westmont College, a nearby Christian University. Not only has Santa Barbara had severe fires but also many places in Orange County, about 15 miles East of where my brother Tyson lives, and Sylmar which is north of us by about 25 miles. Many of us are mourning the loss of homes, keepsakes, and even lives. Please pray for those who have lost so much. Please pray for a friend of ours who is a pastor with a young family in Sylmar who lost their home and everything in it while they were helping others. 

I have attached some pictures of the Monastery including the courtyard, a reading room and a place where I sat and took pictures of the sunset until it finally was dark one evening.  

November in LA!

It is kind of cold here but I don't think that counts as fall. After being in New York (where I took about 100 pictures of trees, no joke) I notice that the leaves are either green or dead- there is no in-between of orange, yellow, burnt orange, red, burgundy. Green and brown is all we got. Maybe because you either water the plants or don't and then they die. Or maybe because most of the trees are palm trees. I love trees! The longer I live in LA, the more I have a passion for and need to see trees. 

Here are a few pictures of Central Park trees.

Troy comes back home again on Friday and I think he is going to try to post again soon.  He has a bunch of pictures from Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris.  I hope I get to travel to those places someday.  

Currently, I am thinking of the holidays: How I can honor Jesus and serve Him in a culture that values serving ourselves first, which is very easy for me to get wrapped up in;  and how to love my family and friends well as we celebrate Christ together.  I have to be honest, I have been very anti-gift giving lately.  I just want to hang out and let people know how much they matter to me without having to buy something that they probably don't need.  I do have a great burden to spend my time and money on those that I see in need- like my neighbor who is having trouble finding a job, the villages I visited in Ethiopia who are facing possible relocation due to the vast deforestation of their land, and my baby nieces whom I love and want to make sure are well cared for.  

I want to start new traditions of sharing Christ with those in need and spending quality time with one another without the need for gift-wrap and Christmas sweaters. I need to pray that God help me be loving toward those who want to continue traditional gift-giving... I know Troy is dying for a new keyboard- how can I not love him. :)