Saturday, August 30

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31

Today we went to the Thunderbirds Air Show at Glacier International Airport with Tom and Mae.  We were right up front, center stage and were so impressed with the talent, teamwork and coordination of these amazing young men and women.  At the end we were able to meet them, including Jason Curtis, home town boy from Kalispell.  Seeing the gorgeous planes flying in our beautiful Flathead Valley was breathtaking!

Friday, August 29

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Philippians 2:4

Today we visited our friend Don who had hip surgery last week.  The directions were to go three miles and take the second driveway following the ugly truck; there would be four black and white steers in the field in front of their little white house that would have a red pickup and a white car in front.  No GPS necessary here!  Here's a picture of the ugly truck.

Also, particularly for my friend, Ann; here's a picture of the yarn shop on Main Street.  They always have a spectacular array of flowers in the front of the store.

Have I mentioned how much I love Kalispell?

Tuesday, August 26

Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.  Isaiah 30:21

Today I worked in the church office for the first time; a dream come true for me!

Afterwards we went to visit a friend in Whitefish and then we were able to cross two items off our list of things to do here - lunch at Amazing Crepes and an afternoon reading our books enjoying the scenery at Whitefish Lake.  It was a gorgeous day and Whitefish was simply breath-taking, as usual!

Tonight we have been out for an ice-cream at Sweet Peaks - don't know if the big draw is the ice-cream or the sweet person serving it!  Anyway, it was a great date.

I am so enjoying being with Den and I think he likes me too!

Here's the new view we have from our RV:

And here's a picture of our fun lunch date and Whitefish Lake:

Sunday, August 24

Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  Hebrews 12:14

Here we are back at home at Easthaven Baptist Church.  We moved over on Friday in the middle of a thunderstorm, but the Lord held back the rain just long enough for us to unhook and hook the RV and Darcy and Jessi came over to help us which was wonderful.  I get to lock up and security arm the church every night and to answer the phones on Tuesday mornings while the staff has a meeting.  (My Alliant friends will know to pray for me because I am transfer challenged!  Hopefully I will catch on fast!)

We had a full, rich and fun week, which included two Silver Sneakers classes, two Bible Studies, a very lovely dinner out at the Bigfork Inn and West Side Story at Bigfork Theater, dinners every other night at Darcy's, shopping trip with Ruth and girls' movie night with Darcy, Jessi and Hannah.

Here's a picture of Den in Silver Sneakers class and of Hannah and Jessi the night we watched the movie.

The joy that I feel in being in this lovely place and surrounded by such wonderful family and friends cannot be expressed in words!

Wednesday, August 20

You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.  Isaiah 58:11

Today we visited our friend Eloise whose property is right in the middle of the forest, some distance from town.  We enjoyed each one of the beautiful flowers in her garden that she pointed out to us and ended the morning with tea and cookies.  Such peace surrounded the morning and she was a blessing to our hearts.

Tuesday, August 19

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.  Psalm 103 2-5

Today we received an invitation to relocate to Easthaven Baptist Church.  This is where we stayed during the summer when we were here before.  We are so appreciative of the generosity of Pastor Daniel who said "Do not pass Go - get your RV over here as quickly as you can!"  This will save almost enough money to pay for the repairs on the jeep.  We will be moving over there on Friday!  We will miss our beautiful campsite but are excited to be back in the middle of things at Easthaven.

Here's a picture of the morning view from our campsite one day last week and a picture of Den enjoying retirement!

Monday, August 18

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  Romans 15:13
 
This is the week of fixing things - both our RV and our jeep (Jenny 2) need work.  Jack and Alice have loaned us one of their cars so that we can still have fun in the midst of it all.

So today we ran some errands which included enjoying a frappe at my favorite coffee house - City Brew - even more of a favorite now that Jessi works there.  I think she added a little extra whipped cream just for us!

Saturday, August 16

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:6

Easthaven Baptist Church is the particular house of the Lord that I love!  Just walking through the doors makes me happy.  The last two days I was able to spend some time helping get ready for the annual Giant Sale.  So much fun to work with friends setting everything up so that it looked attractive to the shoppers beating down the doors this morning!  And since the workers had first dibs on the merchandise I have a whole new wardrobe!

Here's a picture of how it looked.  If you look really carefully you can see my little white head in the background on the left!

Also, Thursday night we attended a wonderful classical concert at Easthaven.  It was so good to witness the talent God has given to the violinist, soloist and accompanist we heard.  We also had a special treat when they also played at the shop where we had coffee with Jack and Alice Thursday morning.  Wonderful talent living right hear in the Flathead Valley and using their gifts to glorify the Lord.  

Friday, August 15

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  Psalm 119: 103

My absence from the blog has been because of much activity!  There has been time for renewed friendships and for needed repairs to our house and the jeep and of course for being with the family.

Tonight, in the middle of a thunderstorm we visited Darcy at work - Sweet Peaks in downtown Kalispell. What a treat to enjoy the best ice-cream in town and a brief visit with our girl!

Saturday, August 9, 2014 - Micah's 21st birthday

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.    Ephesians 3: 14-19

Tonight we celebrated Micah's 21st birthday.  It was so wonderful to be included and to feel so much at home and part of this family again.  God has been so gracious to answer our prayers beyond what we could ask or think!

Friday, August 8, 2014

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came and the wind blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  Matthew 7:24, 25

This morning Jack picked Den up at 5:30 a.m. for Bible Study.  So I had some time alone for the first time since retirement!  I was able to sit outside with a jacket on and blanket around me, hot cup of coffee and my Bible and watch the sun rise over the mountains.  It was glorious!

Later in the morning I met Jessi and Hannah for coffee at my favorite coffee house and we caught up on the last four years for all of us.  What a blessing to have these two beautiful Godly young women in my life.

Then it was off to my favorite mall - Kalispell Mall - just my size - not overwhelming - for presents for two babies who were born while we have been gone and who we will meet for the first time on Sunday.

Then  to visit my friend Ruth, meet her Momma, Naomi (91 on Sunday) and tour her lovely new home.

The day was topped off with dinner at Paul and Darcy's and entertainment provided by Micah and Travis who did a rendition of Gollom and Bilbow Baggins that had us laughing and crying.

This was the first day I have really felt retired, and I think I'm gonna like it!

Thursday, August 7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  1 Corinthians 4:7

We travelled through Washington on Tuesday, arriving in Newport, WA around 4:00 p.m.  It was a long day, but we had a wonderful campsite in the forest and as we were having dinner outside a doe and two fawns came through.

We started out at 8:00 a.m. yesterday and arrived in Kalispell at 4:00 p.m.  There were major delays due to roadwork - since this can only be done in the summer, they really go to town and everything gets torn up.  Of course added to that is all those TOURISTS who want to see all the glory that is Montana!  Our family, Paul and Darcy, Micah, Jessi and Travis and dear friends Jack and Alice were here to help us get set up and we have spent wonderful time with them already.  We're very happy to be settled in this beautiful place for six weeks.

We are working on a reorg of our travel schedule since we have realized we took it quite a bit too fast on the first leg of this trip.  (Chris - I know you told me so!)

Tomorrow Den gets to go to Bible Study with Jack early in the morning and I have a coffee date with Jessi and her friend (and mine) Hannah.  Blessings untold!

Monday, August 4

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  Ephesians 6:10

On this trip I have been reading Joyce Meyer's book, Battlefield of the Mind.  I have discovered that I am a very negative person.  I usually see the glass as half empty and my trust in the Lord to deliver me from this is sadly lacking.  Last night I determined to allow the Lord to show me when I become negative and to help me to trust Him in all things.

Tonight He gave me opportunity to trust Him when several things went wrong at once.  Thankfully, I recognized that this was the moment I could prove to Him that I do trust Him, rather than get hysterical.  I believe this mind set I have had for so many years can be changed supernaturally, but I really hope God doesn't give me too many additional things to trust Him for!  We are limping towards Kalispell with no air conditioning in the front and no microwave, but we can live without those things and know we can get it fixed when we get there.  Den managed to get his insulin pump situation sorted out with the help of a very kind person at MiniMed.  We know what to do about the medication that didn't get delivered where it should have been.  And I actually was calm and in prayer through the whole thing.

I am learning a whole lot more than how to connect sewers and water hoses!

This is such a beautiful and interesting place.  It is a haven for wind surfers and there are many kite-boarders.  We are staying on the Washington side of the river.   This morning we visited the Chamber of Commerce and had a nice visit with the ladies there who gave us so much information we would have to stay a month to see it all!  We decided to go across the river again to the Oregon side of the river and drove a little bit of what's called the Fruit Loop, because there are so many orchards.  The pear trees were absolutely loaded  and we were sorry we bought so much fruit at the market yesterday - should have waited!  Who knew?  We found a wonderful Lavender Farm and I picked my own bunch of lavender for $4.  Lovely to have it hanging in the RV.  We then drove very high up to Panorama Point for a fantastic view of this beautiful place.  You should see all the sweet houses with flowers everywhere and orchards that extend for miles. We found a lovely place for lunch in Hood River followed by a huckleberry shake for Den at Mike's Ice Cream.  A very wonderful day!

Tomorrow we have a long drive ahead of us and are leaving early in the morning - destination, Newport, Washington!  Next day - Kalispell!

Here's a picture of the lavender field and Den enjoying his shake.  If you look very carefully at the lavender field picture you can see Mt. Hood in the background.  And Josie, note how much I am enjoying my new purse - glad you talked me into it!

God is good - all the time!

Sunday, August 3

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.   Isaiah 30:18

Pacific City Thousand Trails RV Park is take-your-breath-away gorgeous with secluded campsites surrounded with all kinds of trees and with ocean views.  It is also very large and little overwhelming to newcomers!  However, with the help of a very kind young man called Corey we got ourselves settled in and had a wonderful time.  We did take the jeep on a very short-lived drive on the beach, but had to be pulled out since our 4-wheel drive refused to work.  Feeling the need for sustenance after that, we took ourselves to Pelican Pub and Brewery for a wonderful bowl of clam chowder and then found a great parking place and watched the activities on the beach and the wonderful rock, the view of which changes from moment to moment depending on the mist.  We had a campfire that night and a restful day yesterday in our campsite.  You really don't have to go anywhere to have a wonderful time at this RV Park.

Today we have had a beautiful drive along the Columbia River and are now in White Salmon, WA getting ready to go out for a salmon dinner.  Tomorrow we plan to go to the lavender fields which are supposed to have a beautiful view of the river and Mt. Hood.