Craziness continues

It became very dark yesterday afternoon just before it did this:

The sky opened up, and little balls of ice careened to earth. It lasted more than a few minutes, blanketing my yard in white. Crazy.

-Liz

Hooray for Mabel!

I had a weekend packed with fun and adventure! My mom, dad, sis and I left home about 2:30 p.m. Friday and headed north for Ichiro bobblehead night at Safeco Field. The Mariners lost to the A's - actually, pitcher Batista lost it for them by giving up 3 runs in the first inning! But it was a very nice night with the stadium roof open. We all wore matching Ichiro shirts in our top-row seats:
The view in front of us:
The view behind us:
Big-league baseball and a sunset over Puget Sound from the same seats - not too shabby!

Saturday, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and drove out Interstate 90 to North Bend, Wash., for a hike at Little Si. I have never been on a more crowded trail, but it was still fun. Sunday, Steve and I went up the Angel's Rest trail. Since it was a conditioning hike for our upcoming Mount Adams climb, we loaded our packs with weight and worked our legs and lungs up to the viewpoint. Adams was barely visible peaking over the hills across the way.
Brad spent the weekend at Smith Rock in Central Oregon with his Mazamas Advanced Rock class. Hopefully he'll have a few minutes to tell you his story.

-Liz :)

Blood Brothers

I just finished reading Blood Brothers, by Elias Chacour. I never knew much about the Israeli-Palestinian history and fighting other than that they both lay claim to the same land. This book, a short, quick read, is written by a Christian Palestinian who was a child in the late 1940s when the Zionists took over what is now Israel. He recalls the soldiers coming to his village and warning that the villagers were in danger. They were to leave everything behind and head for the hills - and the soldiers would protect their homes and tell them when it was safe to return. They were never allowed back. It's a heartbreaking story.

Elias was sent to live in a city orphanage so he could be educated. He eventually went to seminary and became a priest. He is currently the Archbishop of Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and works for peace and understanding between Jews and Palestinians.

In the western world, I think we most often see Palestinians as the bad guys. This true story shows another perspective. However, the point is not to turn the tide on the Israelis but to promote peace and reconciliation. It explains the history and puts faces to those involved in the ongoing war.

I would highly recommend this read! Anyone want to borrow my copy?

-Liz :)

Earth Day music

While I strive each day to be kind to the world that God has provided, yesterday's Earth Day holiday prompted a little extra. I decided to walk, rain or shine, to my volunteer work at Medical Teams. I also suggested that my sister, mother and father join in the human-powered transportation since they all live close to their places of employ. I'm happy to say that we all walked or rode bikes in the cool drizzle. Hopefully we can make that a habit and, as they say, make every day Earth Day!

In the evening, we were treated to a concert by the Tualatin Valley Community Band. The group's timpanist recently stepped down, and my mom was asked to fill in. She easily took over the mallets and did a kick-butt job! (that's her standing in the back, house right)

The band shared the stage with high school musicians preparing for their upcoming solo and ensemble competitions. I was very impressed by each student, as well as the community band. It was a lovely night of entertainment!

-Liz :)

Come listen to jazz!

If you like jazz, plan to be at Tigard High School Sunday 4/27 as The Mel Brown Quartet holds a benefit concert for the THS band program!

The group, a regular at Portland's Jimmy Mak's, will play at 7 p.m. in the THS auditorium. $10 for adults, $5 for students.

See you there! :)

Living in a post-Christian world

If you didn't see the latest issue of the George Fox Journal, check out this article called "Rethinking Evangelism." I thought it was very interesting and insightful. Here's a short passage:

"Our mechanistic approaches worked when you had a vaguely Christian world. In some of Billy Graham’s latest interviews, he says he realizes in hindsight that he basically went around to the Western world saying, “Come on home to what you know to be true.” Back then he could say, “the Bible says,” because everyone knew the felt-board Sunday school stories of the Bible. But now in a more post-Christian world, we don’t have the luxury of doing that anymore. People don’t know our story or doctrine. There’s no Christian home for them to come back to. So it requires us dropping approaches that seemed sensible in a Christian world and adopting post-Christian ways of doing evangelism — which has more to do with faithfully being the people of God."

I immediately thought of a friend who didn't know the story of the Good Samaritan. She understood the concept that it was someone, perhaps a passerby, who helped out someone else. But she didn't know the story. She was raised completely outside the church and had never heard the story. I was truly shocked, but it really emphasized where she was coming from in her personal and spiritual life.

Interesting....
-Liz

Tired legs

Today's outing took us up the BPA access road in Portland's Forest Park. It's a favorite training hike for us because it's close to the city and gains lots of elevation very quickly. Brad, Steve and I strapped on our weighted packs and trekked from Highway 30 to the top of the hill. While the clouds were higher we could see Kelly Point, Sauvie Island and Vancouver. Several times the clouds lowered and a snow shower moved through. One shower brought giant, wet flakes. It's almost May. I'm so confused!

-Liz :)