I am so greatly privileged to be a part of CB Northwest's Annual Enrichment Conference for the fourth year. It is for Pastors associated with CB and their families. We get to listen to a keynote speaker, spend time at the coast, catch up with fellow families working in ministry around the state (and some from other states), and praise God for the work we do in His name.
Love in Action- Preparing for the trip was pretty easy since I got my spring wardrobe (still super excited about that btw) and the two older girls wanted to pack themselves. I still packed for them because I knew they would forget stuff. I did the smart thing that I learned from my mom, which is to make sure you clean up as much as as you can before you leave for a trip. You do NOT want to come home a mess. This is the best I ever did on this- kitchen clean, trash completely emptied, living room vacuumed and picked up, and dining area cleared of clutter. It was so awesome to step into the house yesterday! Thanks, Mom, for a lesson learned. I love serving my family.
Hunger- Lent has led me on up and downs in the hunger department. I have failed miserably some days and have been victorious other days. It has taught me dependence on God and so much self-control. I knew the conference was going to be during Lent so I allowed myself grace to eat in moderation whatever was available and dessert on the special dinner night. We were really blessed not to worry about preparing meals. The Friday night before our trip I made a trip to McDonalds for my husband and the girls. I did not order anything for myself. For some of you that maybe so easy and maybe, like me, you would find this tested your will power. God is blessing this journey every step of the way.
Purple- Okay, so honestly I didn't look for purple but my husband took us to Mount Angel Abbey to see the church. It has beautiful architecture and I can't wait to visit for Mass or prayer sometime. The Abbey looks over part of the Willamette Valley and you could just feel spring pressing in all around us in all its color, smells, and feeling the warmth of the sun.
Sabbath- Unless this is your first time reading you will know that I am not Catholic. I am a Christian. My husband works for a Baptist church. I have attended Baptist churches my whole life, but I deeply adore Lent and all it symbolizes for me as a Christian and follower of Christ. My day of rest and praise is spent every Sunday at Bethel Baptist Church.
Hope- I don't think God works in coincidences, but when I was looking for a picture to represent hope I was not disappointed. This was the first day of the conference and one of the first songs we sang was "Our God Saves". Here is the song if you are unfamiliar with it.
I snapped a picture the slide with the lyrics (it was a little blurry) and a few of Pastors worshiping. It brings hope knowing we are not alone in our ministry to see many reached for Christ.
Weakness- Again, not coincidentally, Hermione woke up with a stomach bug so I was instantly weakened to having to take care of her and put my personal plans aside. I took her with me to the upper area so I wouldn't miss the morning session, but the rest of the time I spent in the hotel making sure she got enough rest. Another appropriate song played while I took the picture. "Here in our weakness you find us."
Poor kid, at least it only lasted for the day and I only missed one session.
Creation- We were blessed with gorgeous weather on our check out day so we drove back home slowly. We stopped to climb the Astoria column, visit the maritime museum, stopped at a lookout, and got ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Ariana and I even saw a bald eagle. It was the perfect time to look for a photo of creation.
FAMILY AND HOMEMAKING
While I wasn't at home Hermione was sick for a full day on our trip which gave me a lot of time for cross stitching. I am so glad I decided to take it with me. I have been debating whether cross stitching is really a worthy homemaking hobby, but it is so calming and relaxing for me that I think I will stick with it.
We got to eat out a lot this trip so both me and my husband probably will be on some kind of detox diet. We had fun family time swimming and watching a lot of TV (not really my choice family time activity, but weather and illness kept us in most of time).
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| Girls at Mount Angel Abbey |
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| Dundee Donut at Seaside |
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| Before getting sick we had a nice walk on the prom |
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| Seaside, OR |
So Lent is about half way over and I still feel excited as ever, which is a big deal because if you know me I would have given up or moved on by now. I have a lot of reading to catch up on and have no idea what homemaking things are in store this week, but that is half the fun. I guess there is St. Patrick's Day and gardening to look forward to. Next time I post will be the first official day of spring!
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