if you see this today...

would you pray? Our neighbor is having surgery to remove cancer. They're also checking some spots on her liver, where the cancer may have spread. She's 21 with three tiny kids. We long for life and fullness and hope and healing for her body and her soul. Her name means Noble and we pray that she would be that.

my journal still smells like campfire...

Sun through trees, over trees, lighting morning
pulling steam and mirroring mountain
on the pane of the lake.
Trembled--and the mountain shudders,
shadows, shimmers.

Slowly squinted eyes, stillness & imagination re-
clarify and remind my mind.
Re-flection, re-fraction,
obscures the unobscured.

I thought about the mountain in the morning. The mountain on the water. Real or not real? I got annoyed at my philosophical-ness. And yet, I kept coming back to the thought.

Yes. The reflection is real.
Yes. It can be moved, it is not sturdy.

I'm thinking...is this the kind of authority Jesus has given us over mountains?

love is a good thing!

We were at Kennan & Becca's wedding last weekend. It's such a joy to be at a wedding, celebrating with the families and remembering the blessing and the journey of this covenant called marriage.

Lately, we're living close with a few families that have grown and developed and lack the foundation of a covenant, and my heart breaks.Marriage can be so, so good. The everyday, richer/poorer, sicker/healthier, better/worsness of it. This commitment is probably the hardest, scariest, transformingest thing in the world and it's a good thing. This is one of our favorite love songs. Go Reckers!!

(Love is a Good Thing by Andrew Peterson)

the Volcanos!

I hadn't really heard of the Salem baseball team before, but we sure did have a great time!

Debby (David's mom) was invited to sing the national anthem with her acapella group and we got free tickets to go with! (Thank you!!!) They did a great job, just notice how reverent the people in the background look. We all jumped when they actually made some bombs burst in the air...

Ha ha! The mascot is a crater!

I was super duper excited because this is my first real baseball game. David even bought me a $4.50 bag of cracker jacks to celebrate.

After the game--which lasted a riveting TEN innings there were fireworks! It was just perfect.

spear fishing

When I thought of spear fishing, I envisioned something I think I'd read about in fourth grade.

Now, I have a different picture in my head. Our neighbor, Abi, has been bugging David to go fishing with him for about nine months. Originally, Abi would head down to the river and sit on the side, fishing pole dangling over the cliff, pretty normal-style, relaxing fishing. More recently, Abi's taken up spear fishing. By this he is talking about under water, foggy snorkel mask, slippery rocks, five-pronged spear, fish hunting. David's gone a few times and we've eaten a few really yummy (and free!) small mouth bass.

  

Yowzers! What a wild and crazy man I'm married to!