Colossians 3:23

"Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."

This has been a huge lesson to learn this week. It's been a weird week in the sense that we weren't assigned to a church for vacation Bible school or backyard Bible club or anything. Instead, Saturday and Sunday we worked a booth at a Renaissance Fair here in the Tri Cities (our home base). All of the money we made went straight to missions here in the northwest. And we actually made more than the booth made last year. But... our booth was described as water games before we got there. When we got there we discovered that the "water game" was actually a contraption which had a bucket of water poised over your target (that would be us ;) ) and the paying customer has three tries to hit a bullseye and try to soak the target. So we were really pumped about being dunked all day. But we also got to wear lovely costumes to stay in character with the time period. And we were monks in long robes, getting soaked in freezing water. So we repeated over to ourselves every time a kid came by with an evil grin- colossians 3:23. Because whether or not we enjoyed the cold water, our efforts resulted in $330 over the weekend. And that money pays for one college student to go to Alaska on their mission trip! So that was Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.

Monday we were picked up bright and early by Pastor Bill and Aunt Bea- they were our host home in Hermiston, OR. And they took us on an amazing road trip through the northwest! All we knew was that we were headed to the Oregon coast and that it would be a long drive. So we had come prepared to play games in the car to pass the time and nap and things like that. However, shortly after we began our journey, we realized that there was so much to see that we couldn't stop for games! We drove down through the Columbia River Gorge, where the huge Columbia River flowed between two tall mountainous sides. It was breathtaking! But that was just the beginning!

We stopped at a replica of Stone Henge built by Sam Hill when the area was first settled. He was in love with Mary queen of Scots and wanted her to visit him. So to make her feel at home, he built a replica of Stone Henge as well as a replica of her castle. Too bad they were both married...

Next we traveled along the gorge and up to a spectacular view of the river from the height of surrounding mountains. We actually stopped at two of these and from both you could see the next city! It's hard to describe how absolutely obvious the work of God's hand is in His creation. From the river sunlight and drifting lazily to the thick forest atop craggy hills to rocky edges, the beauty was almost overwhelming.

All along our drive we peeked the Cascade Mountain range! They were so big and absolutely beautiful with their snow caps.

Then we stopped at Multnomah Falls- which used to be the tallest free falling waterfall at 542 feet. But then a rock at the top broke loose. So it no longer free falls right there. But it was still amazing! It was the first waterfall I'd ever seen and probably my favorite stop on our trip!

As we neared the coast, we pulled into a little state park where the oldest living thing in Oregon was- a giant spruce tree! It was 17 feet in diameter, so big we could climb up the roots like stairs. But there must have been a wind storm come through there pretty recently because the top half of the tree had blown over. I kind of felt like it only accentuated how mammothly large the tree was though.

Then we finally got to our hotel on the beach in Seaside, Oregon. Our room faced the beach- we had an amazing view! So we played in the water for a little while, on the swingset on the sand, and then went out for dinner at a little seaside cafe. At this time, we were all bundled in sweaters and windpants because the beach was quite breezy and at a comfortable 60 degrees. The sun sets around 9 or 930 here so we had a little worship service at sunset on the beach. Pastor Bill spoke to us about the disciples. In Mark, the story of Jesus walking on water does not include the part about Peter joining him on the sea. Pastor Bill suggested we look back at what happened before that and try to understand why Mark would leave that out. Before that night on the sea, Jesus had been preaching and fed 5000 people with just two fish and five loaves of bread. And when the disciples saw him walking toward him on the water later, they genuinely worshipped him and said- "Truly you are the Son of God!" Mark says that before, they hadn't understood. So even after seeing 5000 people fed, the disciples didn't understand that Jesus' power was from God himself! But as He came to them on water it clicked. Well I've seen amazing things happen in my life. I've seen the sick healed, sinner cleansed and lives changed. But staring at this earth, noting the hills, the valleys, the differences in plants and colors, I have seen the power of God in a whole new way.

We sang several hymns and worship songs as the sun set and it was a real highlight of the evening- just fellowship and worshiping together in awe of what we could see. After the sun went down, Pastor Bill and Aunt Bea said good night, but us four girls got some firewood and smores makings and started our own campfire! We spent a couple of hours out on the beach enjoying each others' company and eating way too many marshmallows. I LOVE these girls. We're all introverted people but God is using us to be leaders! Imagine that! Well I've learned that God knows way better than I do what works so I'll trust that this is the team He wanted serving here this summer.

Well, this blog is already long enough and I'm getting sleepy so check out my pictures at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2024141&id=1534440048&page=2 and I will continue about day 2 of our vacation tomorrow!

God bless!