Palouse Falls

This past weekend, Hannah, Emi and I went "camping" (in the back of my pick-up) at Palouse Falls, one of the many beautiful proclamations of God's glory in Washington State. We slept under the stars, woke up to a dawn chorus of birds singing (couldnt have been more beautiful) then we hiked all around the falls on the surrounding cliffs. What a day!

Freedom

So, the other morning God popped this into my head, some thing to ponder...

Picture a little Indian girl, thin, dirty and about 8 years of age, she is sitting against an old brick wall with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her head is downcast and she refuses to look up. A big, strong, rough hand appears in the corner of the picture and deep gentle voice asks her to take His hand, the hand of the Father. She shakes her head and refuses to look up or stand, ashamed of all that she has done. The Father says, I know all that you have done; the child begins to remember the times she had stolen things, lied, hurt, etc. and cowers further. He goes on, I died so that you don’t have to remain in you sin/filth, I offer you freedom and grace in exchange for all you have done. The child still remains on the ground, wanting to look up in the eyes of the Father and run into His arms but in her stubbornness she remains on the ground. The Father gets tears in His eyes and says “my child, I love you… come to me, you are tired. Let me heal you, let me set you free.”

How often are we like this child? Realizing that we are wretches, fallen, selfish creatures, we sit in our guilt wanting to better ourselves, but forgiveness seems too easy, we desire to work. The Father stands there, arms open wide, His eyes full of love and His heart is full of forgiveness.

Get up, run.

Grace is free, be free, it is for freedom that He has set us free.

A new day

So I just spent the day with 3 of my favorite people in the world, Daddy, Mama and Emi. We really haven't spent a whole day together or at least gone on an adventure together since Dad and Mom moved over to this side of the state a year ago, it was high time. So as family trips (for our family usually go) we spent a total of 7.5 hours in the car and 3 hours hiking/exploring, it was an amazing day. We drove into northern Idaho to Jerry Johnson Springs, natural hotsprings forming pools right on the edge of a tributary of the Clearwater river. We waded in hot pools of flowing water and gazed at the river rushing by flooded with snowmelt. The forest was vibrant with new green growth and wildflowers, of which Mama, Emi and I took countless pictures while Daddy watched his girls, smiled and shook his head. We climbed rocks and chased butterflies, the day couldnt have gotten much better...except for the "cabin fever" that took hold of me and Emi (especially me) in the back seat of the car after 7 hours of driving, at ages 21 and 23 we might as well have been 6 and 8 again...sigh, I love my family.

Hola Todos!

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my little blip on the web :) This is the location/address where I will be posting stories, pictures and notes from my current and future ventures. I will be posting weekly updates, so, if you want, you can follow and see what I am up to as I move on from WSU.
God is so faithful, and the future is entirely in His all powerful hands, I am just gonna trust Him and we will see... Life is certainly never boring when God is leading and we are following His lead. Adventure awaits! Talk to you soon!
~Alana