A New Glory

Though already a few hours into the morning, the forest is still seemingly cloaked in barely lightened dawn. A lone bird quietly sings the day's arrival as we make our way through the eerily silent trees. Muted yellows and puddles of red mixed with the green trees among the hills, autumn slipped in among the leaves. "BOOM!!!" thunders through the clouds, wave upon wave of drumming rolls through the air followed by a flash of bright light. Across the swinging bridge, over the creek, the heavens open, keeping their whispered promise of poured out buckets upon our heads. Every drop releases a fresh breath of forest air into our lungs as if God was in the air, in the rain, and he wants to infuse our bodies in baptism, close to his spirit. His waters of renewal run down our faces, soaking through straight to our souls, to join us with the bird singing his name. Out of the forest, our baptismal pool, we arise with a new glory, a new moment to cherrish for the eternal gift such moments are.




365-09 #300

Dog Mountain: Most Difficult

The upside down sign, "Most Difficult", should have been my first clue. The 36 degree upward trail should have been my second. Deanna and Jessica, who are both quite fit, blazed their trail while my smoldering ember of self lagged behind. About three switch backs into the hike, my legs were already tired. About five, and I was holding Deanna's hand. Six she was pushing me from behind. Around that time, she offered to switch packs. I really need to learn to pack lighter on hikes but if my camera is with me, so is it's backpack. So she took the camera and backpack and I took her little camelpack. That helped a ton, until...

We met a man on the trail with an Australian accent and I asked him with great hope if the trail leveled out a bit at some point. He said, "Not a bit, it's brutal!" Then he grunted. My face blanched and Deanna's eyes shot lethal lasers at him. We continued on anyway finally reaching the split in the trail for the "More Difficult" hike up the mountain and the "Less Difficult" hike up the mountain. Note they both use the word "difficult". At one point, Deanna turned around and simply said, "You're going to kill me." With the steep mountain side, it would have been easy enough to do.

More huffing and puffing, a lot of breaks, and we finally reached a lookout point looking out over the Columbia River. It was beautiful and incredibly windy. We took some pictures, quite a challenge in itself with our hair blowing in our faces. Stopping in the forest, we snacked for a nice LONG break then continued up the trail. After a while, I truly thought I didn't think I could go much further when Deanna turned to us and said she was ready to turn around. In that one moment, she completely redeemed herself.

What I did not fully comprehend was that the trail going down could be as every bit as "difficult" as the trail going up. I figured at this point, having my own pack back was useful as the weight on my back might add to the gravitational pull and get me down faster. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, down we went on the steep trails. Every time we passed someone coming up, I had to fight the instinctual urge to grab their shoulders and beg them, "Please, for the love of God, turn back now!" I held it in though and am now sure some of them are asking themselves why I didn't say anything.

When we finally did get home, Deanna served strawberry rhubarb pie. It was delicious so I'm letting her live. Next time, moderate is the name of the game. Dog Mountain is for the dogs. (But it was fun, just don't tell Deanna!)







365-09 #217

Hearing the Earth

Today my friends Julie, Shawn and I went hiking in the Columbia Gorge. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a hike and we picked a good one to do. For those in Oregon, you start just west of Multnomah Falls and go up two miles of switch backs to the top of the ridge. Then you go for a mile toward Multnomah Falls then two miles of switch backs going down. It's 5.5 miles in all. I'm sure I will be sore tomorrow.

Today particularly reminded me how much influence my Native American roots has over me. When I live in the city, I feel like I'm suffocating and every so often, I just have to get OUT. Out into the woods with creeks, lakes, small trees, and wild flowers. MOUNTAINS. It's like hearing the song of my soul in discord among buildings but when I go into the woods, I hear the harmony of the earth and of God in perfect sync with the beat of my heart. The earth speaks to me in a way I can't explain, water, especially like the creek I drank from today, sings to me and touches me deeply. I feel like myself out there in the wild, I feel free.

Particularly on the second half of the hike as we stayed close to the Multnomah Creek before it reaches the famous falls, I saw all these wonderful places I would have loved to stay at and just talked to God. Sunlit with shade, the water flowing past, it looked like Heaven to me. I wondered if that is what it will be like after I die. That God and I could take a walk through this beautiful and wild garden, talking, sitting, just being together. It sounds wonderful to me. At one particularly beautiful and inviting spot, I said, "It looks like you created this place, designed it like a gardener would." He simply replied, "I did." He did indeed. I will be (hopefully) hiking a lot this summer.







365-09 #145

Please Pray

Between cleaning out the kitchen, getting my car fixed, and getting ready to be with four other board members for the next two days, I have had a very full day. I feel like central command coordinating and overseeing the movements of four people through the Northwest. In fact, when I'm talking to one of their hosts, I have to take a moment and think of who they're hosting, what that person's itinerary is, and then I can answer their question, help them, or coordinate pick ups and drop offs. Assuming I have all my ducks in a row, I am looking forward to spending time with them.

Tomorrow I am giving the four of them (John, Emma, Angelina, and Harriet) a personal tour of the seminary, then we are going to the tulip festival in Woodburn, and then taking the five mile hike through Silver Creek Falls. I have promised myself to hold back on the picture taking. I'll take pictures of my friends though I am sure I will sneak in a couple of my own of the waterfalls and trees when I'm not looking. Taking lots of pictures on hikes is fun when you're with others who do the same but it can also extend the time the hike takes by a lot and I don't want to do that. Besides, Silver Creek Falls is my most photographed hike already.

In the evening, most of us are joining Marge Abbot for dinner then I'm staying where Harriet and Angelina are for the night before going to Newberg the next day. Though I have been quite busy these last 2 1/2 days, it's been nice to get back to my normal life with work and dancing classes before going back with them for two more days. I have needed this time to see myself and to just be by myself and with God.

If you would, please pray for me. The car is fixed and I would REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY like it to stay that way as I drive them around the Willamette Valley. If the car could stay in working order while I drive these next few days, I would absolutely love that. Thank you for praying. I will be praying too.

365-09 #113

There are Better Days

Today was a hard day. Tigers don't like hard days. Here is a photo to remind me there are better days.
365-09 #12

Breaking the Limits - Beyond

This weekend I learned first-hand that I can do far more than I ever thought I could. Finding this out was very freeing and opened my eyes to a new whole world of possibilities, not anything specific, but a general question of, "What can I now do I didn't think I could before?" Limits were removed, labels fell away, and I saw myself anew.

Sunday afternoon I joined my roommate and her young adult group on a trip to Glen Eden Beach, south of Lincoln City. While people unloaded their bags around our chosen spot, I took my camera down to the shore to take pictures. I love photography. It is much like poetry. In both, you bring people's attention to beauty they might have missed. When I was satiated with that, I walked back up and joined a frisbee game a couple of people had going. I also love frisbee. It is so much fun! We were tossing it back and forth in a large circle which included a very skilled stranger who had joined us in the fun. Then someone came up with the bright idea of altering the game to ultimate frisbee. Ultimate frisbee, for those of you who don't know, is similar to football in that you want to get the frisbee to your team's goal. Like in basketball, you can only take two and a half steps until you have to throw to a teammate. There is no tackling.

Let me paint another picture for you. Me in the ninth grade. Actually, this probably goes for anytime from fifth grade on. I was not sports inclined- to say the least. I had low self-confidence which was convenient as it matched my low place on the social totem pole. I was the one slowing walking back and forth along the basketball court trailing behind the kids zipping back and forth. I did this because I had to, but I hated it. My mind was usually somewhere far away.

Slowly over the years, my youth group's softball games helped, I have become much more comfortable getting in the middle of a game and having fun doing it. Still, running up and down a HUGE field of sand did give me a half a moment of pause. But that was it. I hardly even noticed it, I just thought, "Fun!" This thought alone surprised me later when I realized how much I'd grown. But that wasn't the end of it. Soon after the game started, I helped my team of three get a goal. I was so excited! Then after a lot of running up and down the field, we were a little tired by this time, the other team got a goal. We were now tied. I then found myself near the goal racing to catch the white frisbee above me. Not only did I catch it, but when I caught it, I was within the two and a half steps of the goal. I leaped across the goal line and commenced jumped up and down wildly, shouting the whole time. A little thing for another person, a HUGE thing for me. I made a goal. Me! No longer am I inept at sports, but I can do it! Not only can I make the goal. But I can make the winning goal! I am that cool, I can play sports and love doing it! Bring it on!

The other thing I learned this weekend was not to underestimate the mountains I can climb. In this case, literally. My two friends, Sean and Julie, and I do a lot of hiking together. Yesterday was our first one of the season and our chosen path led up to Angel's Rest in the Columbia Gorge. The guidebook said it was a 1,400 feet ascent in 2.3 miles and then you backtrack that for the way down. That's a lot and I was nervouse. I had a dress rehearsal for a dance show the next day and didn't want to dance for two and a half hours on sore legs. But let me tell you, the climb wasn't that hard and it was worth it. Step by step, joy by joy, we walked the trail and enjoyed the magnificent view at the top. It would not have been my first choice to start the season with. I would have started with something simpler, not so challenging. But now I'm glad we started with this one because for the rest of the season, I'll look at the more challenging hikes and think, "No problem! We can do that!" We broke the my self-contained limits first thing out of the gate. It will make a difference for the rest of the year.

I don't tell you this just to share a neat adventure, though it was. These were limits I had placed on myself, which for me, also represents limits I put on myself in my life. Making that goal and climbing that viewpoint showed me the person I really am, the one God sees fully, who is so much bigger than who I see myself to be. I am sure this is true for all of us. We put so many limits on ourselves, even backed up with previous history. But don't let your past limit who you become now and in the future. You can still do things you never thought you could.