This world is a large and magnificent place. Get out there and explore!
To all of my beloveds, if you ever get the chance, explore the west coast of the United States, particularly the Pacific Northwest coast. My friend Mandy and I recently returned from a tour of the area, and I constantly found myself in awe at the works of our Creator's wonderful hands. We kept saying to one another, "I didn't think I would see anything more beautiful than the last place we were at, but this may be more beautiful!"
Not only did we see the mountains, the shores of the Pacific (for the first time!), the Redwood forests, magnificent waterfalls, and many beautiful sights in between-- we also experienced the grace, the goodness, and the healing hand of God. At one point in our trip, we were out to eat, and when we came back to the car, we found that someone had smashed in the back window and stole our backpacks. It only took a few moments to realize that our cameras, some clothes, and a few other belongings had been taken from us. We all were silent most of that night. We felt sadness for the loss of our belongings and photos, guilt that we should have placed our things in the trunk and saved our friends' car window, and anger that someone could do such a thing.
This event could have easily become our focus and ruined our entire trip.
Thankfully, the Lord intervened and softened our hearts.
Mandy and I sat back and realized, "You know what? This sucks, but this trip is still awesome. We have seen so many beautiful places on this trip so far, and we still have a week of adventures ahead of us. God is still good, and He has shown us this through His beautiful landscapes."
We continued on our trip, down highway 101 through the Redwood National and State Parks; down through the Northern Coast Mountains; down across the Golden Gate Bridge; and into San Francisco. Every turn we made we saw a new sight more magnificent than the last, so we stopped quite frequently, turning a 10.5 hour drive into a 17 hour drive. Rolling into San Francisco at 2:30 am was worth all the stops. We dipped our toes in the Pacific once again, hugged (and drove through!) Redwood trees, and stood in disbelief under trees more than 350 feet tall!
Once in San Francisco, we explored parks with awesome views of the city and the San Francisco Bay, biked around the city and down to the coast, and went on a boat tour out on the Bay that took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We spent one afternoon reading books and eating ice cream from Ghirardelli while sitting on steps leading down into the Bay. The sun came out, and we had a view of the G.G. Bridge and the mountains!
In each place, in addition to exploring cities and the nature within and around them, we were able to spend time with many dear friends. I am grateful to all of our hosts for providing us with places to sleep, food to eat, and for showing us around the places they call home. These people, through their actions, showed us that there is a lot of goodness in this world, even when one bad event can make that seem not so.
As my pastor, Jeff Manion, said the other day, "Evil makes headlines. Goodness does not." Evil can seem so big and bad at times, but it's so important that we continue to focus on the good and the beautiful, even when it seems difficult. This trip, overall, was a great reminder of this.
To all of my beloveds, if you ever get the chance, explore the west coast of the United States, particularly the Pacific Northwest coast. My friend Mandy and I recently returned from a tour of the area, and I constantly found myself in awe at the works of our Creator's wonderful hands. We kept saying to one another, "I didn't think I would see anything more beautiful than the last place we were at, but this may be more beautiful!"
Not only did we see the mountains, the shores of the Pacific (for the first time!), the Redwood forests, magnificent waterfalls, and many beautiful sights in between-- we also experienced the grace, the goodness, and the healing hand of God. At one point in our trip, we were out to eat, and when we came back to the car, we found that someone had smashed in the back window and stole our backpacks. It only took a few moments to realize that our cameras, some clothes, and a few other belongings had been taken from us. We all were silent most of that night. We felt sadness for the loss of our belongings and photos, guilt that we should have placed our things in the trunk and saved our friends' car window, and anger that someone could do such a thing.
This event could have easily become our focus and ruined our entire trip.
Thankfully, the Lord intervened and softened our hearts.
Mandy and I sat back and realized, "You know what? This sucks, but this trip is still awesome. We have seen so many beautiful places on this trip so far, and we still have a week of adventures ahead of us. God is still good, and He has shown us this through His beautiful landscapes."
We continued on our trip, down highway 101 through the Redwood National and State Parks; down through the Northern Coast Mountains; down across the Golden Gate Bridge; and into San Francisco. Every turn we made we saw a new sight more magnificent than the last, so we stopped quite frequently, turning a 10.5 hour drive into a 17 hour drive. Rolling into San Francisco at 2:30 am was worth all the stops. We dipped our toes in the Pacific once again, hugged (and drove through!) Redwood trees, and stood in disbelief under trees more than 350 feet tall!Once in San Francisco, we explored parks with awesome views of the city and the San Francisco Bay, biked around the city and down to the coast, and went on a boat tour out on the Bay that took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We spent one afternoon reading books and eating ice cream from Ghirardelli while sitting on steps leading down into the Bay. The sun came out, and we had a view of the G.G. Bridge and the mountains!In each place, in addition to exploring cities and the nature within and around them, we were able to spend time with many dear friends. I am grateful to all of our hosts for providing us with places to sleep, food to eat, and for showing us around the places they call home. These people, through their actions, showed us that there is a lot of goodness in this world, even when one bad event can make that seem not so.
As my pastor, Jeff Manion, said the other day, "Evil makes headlines. Goodness does not." Evil can seem so big and bad at times, but it's so important that we continue to focus on the good and the beautiful, even when it seems difficult. This trip, overall, was a great reminder of this.
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