God's Faithfulness

"Thy loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Thy faithfulness reaches to the skies. Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God; Thy judgements are like a great deep. O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How precious is Thy loving kindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings." Psalm 36: 5-7
It has been a while since the last blog entry. It has been busy but in my busyness I find going back to God's word to be very comforting and encouraging. This morning on my way to work, 30 minutes away, I was reminded of God's Faithfulness. Through all the craziness of life, all the distractions of life, God's unconditional love for us extends to the heavens, His Faithfulness stretches to the skies. God never changes in this busy world and I can Trust in Him to always care for me and the family. No matter what we go through, He is faithful. Overall we are doing well.

Since the last entry, my brother John came in from Houston to stay with us awhile. It has been a very fun visit. John has been able to relax after his busy time teaching at a university this summer. We went camping last week at Farragut State Park. Nice and relaxing, fished, hiked and the kids swam in cold, cold water. Only the younger girls were able to make the entire camping time. The others had work but Nathan and Hannah were able to come up on Sunday and Tuesday.

Hannah also participated in the Valley Girl Triathlon in Liberty Lake WA. This is an all female competition. Hannah did a great job and completed the 1/3 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 3 mile run in 1 hour 42 minutes. Hannah did this race in honor of Susan. This is the race that Susan was training for last summer but did not compete because she couldn't swim in the dark lake waters. She practiced in the lakes around here but the choppy, dark waters with some moss, just was too much for her. Hannah finished what Susan started last year. Sarah said she wants to compete next year with Hannah also. So that was exciting. Here is a picture of Hannah with friend Hope just before starting the swim. It was a beautiful morning.
And here is a video of her finish. What excitement when she crossed the finish line. We were all there to gather round her. God is faithful.

Praises:

1. Teresa our nanny is working out great. The girls went to Silverwood Theme park last week for the two days. So they are having a great time together. The kids really like Teresa.
2. Johnny's visit from Houston, very relaxing for him. We all are having good times together. Last night went to Snakepit restaurant in Enaville and played in the river. Today, we are riding the Hiawatha trail with Johnny and Hannah on our bikes.
3. Hannah's outstanding race on Sunday. What an encouragement to us all.
4. Leah is back from fighting fires in CA. Long days, 16 hours ususally, for two weeks. But now is back at home camp in Oregon, somewhat normal hours.
5. Jason and Aaron are working very hard at their jobs this summer.

Prayers:

1. Sarah's hand. The tendon that was operated on weeks ago, ruptured. She had to go back into surgery yesterday, Monday, to have another tendon surgically attached for her thumb. We think that Sarah went into Physical Therapy too soon last time and the tendon ruptured. She is in pain but has medicine and is resting for the next couple of days, at least. Pray that she heals properly and the surgery was successful.
2. The everyday grind around here. Pray for our focus to be on Jesus and not on ourselves. Pray for all the family and our daily walk with Him, that we would totally surrender to Him and trust Him. He is faithful to us, we just need to rest in that. "The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing that I want....."
3. Hannah, Mary, Laura and I go to Creation Festival at the Gorge in George WA next week. Pray that we would be used by God at this Christian Music Festival. We are on staff all week out there. Pray also for cooler weather.
4. Pray for Gail Smith and Gene Bailey who are going through their own Cancer Journey's. Pray that they would be filled with Joy and Peace, and be encouraged by those around them.