Reflections

 When I went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass last month, I was drawn to the beauty of the reflections. Sometimes it was difficult to see where the "real" glass stopped and the reflection started. 

Live in such a way that people who know you but don't know Christ 

will want to know Christ because they know you." (author unknown)

reflecting beauty

reflecting love

reflecting Christ

Thanksgiving

 WITH THANKSGIVING

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10 

We are thankful for Christ and the abundant life He made possible. We are thankful for family and friends who are the major part of our abundance. 

When we had holiday meals at Grandpa and Grandma's we often sang grace. 

Father, we thank thee for the food we eat.

We thank thee for fellowship sweet.

We thank thee for memories here that cling.

We thank thee Lord for every thing.
Amen

Thanksgiving 1953

AMEN!

Click here for more about singing grace

Enduring

"Patient endurance is to be distinguished from merely being “acted upon.”  Endurance is more than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance; it is not only acceptance of the things allotted to us, it is to “act for ourselves” by magnifying what is allotted to us. 

Therefore, true enduring represents not merely the passage of time, but the passage of the soul – and not merely from A to B, but sometimes all the way from A to Z.  To endure in faith and doeth God’s will therefore involves much more than putting up with a circumstance. . . .

Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance.  Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling, we are being carried forward, though battered and bruised. 

With enduring comes a willingness, therefore, to “press forward” even when we are bone weary and would much rather pull off to the side of the road. ... Without patient and meek endurance we will learn less, see less, feel less, and hear less." — Neal A. Maxwell

More thoughts on endurance 

Winter Fun

Tom, Susan & Julia - January 1956

Our back yard was the best! Dad built the fort and the slide. It looks like Tom is getting ready to ride a sled down the slide. Notice the dog sled in the front of the picture. That was our uncle's Christmas gift to us. 

Becoming

This life is about becoming. Becoming the best person I can be. Becoming like Christ in thoughts, words, and actions. Shining forth His light and love in all I think, say, and do.

Recently I read the prayer given at the dedication of the Fort Collins Colorado Temple. As I read it, I thought of the scripture in 1Corinthians 6:19 that likens us to temples. 

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."

Holy edifices are not built overnight. It takes time and effort before a site and those materials BECOME a holy place. It takes time and effort, and help from the other side, to become like Christ. 

Phrases from the dedicatory prayer that reflect what I'm trying to become - 

“ Wilt Thou sanctify it by Thy Holy Spirit for Thy sacred work and purposes. Bless this temple with a mantle of holiness. May it stand as a beacon of everlasting truth and light and as an invitation to come unto Thee. Wilt Thou protect this temple from any harm or defilement….May their hearts be lifted and their minds be elevated to things divine. …bless … with a desire to receive an understanding of Thy work by study and also by faith. Bless them with courage, moral strength, and an enduring trust in Thee to press forward and become true disciples of Thy Son. Bless [them] that Thy sacred covenants and ordinances may be deeply anchored in their minds and hearts. May they know that the service they give is service unto Thee, and may they find joy therein."

Becoming - an eternal journey.

Whidbey Island

Day trip to Whidbey Island

bottom X - where we live

xx - ferry ride

Taking the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton, Whidbey Island

That's the Mukilteo lighthouse in the background

Those blue openings in the clouds are officially called "sun breaks"

from our car on the ferry

Coupeville is one of the oldest towns in Washington

We had lunch at Toby’s Tavern - red building

Very nice county museum

 The first permanent white resident of Coupeville, Isaac Ebey, was from Dublin, Ohio! The Ebey story is told on signs in town. Their family cemetery became the town’s cemetery. Isaac liked the area so much he had his parents, wife, and children join him in Coupeville. 

Oak Harbor is at the northern part of Whidbey Island. When Joe was in the Navy, he was stationed in Kodiak, Alaska. He flew to Seattle, then was driven to the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, and eventually flew to Kodiak. That's when Joe fell in love with this part of the country. If you look closely at the photo you can see planes on the other side of the white car - entrance to the Naval base. 

At the northern tip of the island we drove over Deception Pass. 

Stopped at North Beach then at the overlook between the two arches of the bridge. 

Pictures below were taken at the beach on the upper right 

of top picture on the other side of the bridge

North Beach (the bridge is upper right of picture)

This is one VERY happy dog. It ran back & forth, full speed, 

at the edge of the water for at least 5-10 minutes

The beach is full of beautifully weathered wood and water-smoothed stones

I think this one looks like a rhinoceros

See the eye in the middle & the horn?

two bald eagles & their nest

map from googlemaps

Seattle's Underground

Seattle does have an underground city. I visited it recently with family.

Pioneer Square is Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. In 1889 most of downtown Seattle burned down. When the city was rebuilt, it was decided to raise the street level due to frequent flooding and problems with gravity-assisted flush toilets that backed up during high tide. The new stone or brick buildings were built on the original street level knowing that the streets were going to be raised and the second story would become the new street level. 

Check out the above illustration.  Walls were built on either side of the original street at the curbs and extended up to the new street level. Fill was added in the middle between the walls. Sewer pipes were buried in the fill.This left the original street level sidewalks and building entrances accessible - Ladders were provided so you could get from one level to the other. Eventually sidewalks were extended to the old second story. This finished the new street level and created the underground. Businesses continued to flourish in the underground until the city shut it down in the early 1900s out of fear of bubonic plague (lots of rats down there). Then illegal businesses took over much of the underground. Eventually they were shut down. It’s a very interesting story. 

These glass tiles were installed in the new street level sidewalks to let light into the underground

decorated wall

All sorts of objects were stored/discarded in the underground

On the tour you walk on the original street level sidewalks

You can see original street level entrances to building

interesting colors & textures in the discarded objects

elevator parts

For $1we caught a bus in Kirkland across the street from where we live and an hour later we were on the tour in Pioneer Square. No traffic hassles, no searching or paying for parking. Fantastic!

Click here for a video about the underground
More information here

Seattle's Space Needle

From the top of the Space Needle - Elliott Bay

Colorful building - EMP 

The building's shape is supposed to "evoke the rock 'n roll experience"

Lake Union from the Space Needle

Seattle's Chihuly Garden and Glass

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Seattle

Space Needle reflection

Click here for more about Dale Chihuly