Micah's Thirteen

This morning, I dropped Taylor off at work (at Counterbalance Bike Shop right off the Burke Gilman in UVilllage) and I decided to swim in Lake WA down by Laurelhurst at a boat launch I knew about for a change of scenery. What I did not anticipate was all the seaweed in the water that I had to swim through. See a photo below of some of it that stuck to my suit and dried after I came home:  my souvenir from my morning swim  Anyway, as I was making my way along the shore, I found myself praying with each stroke: "Lord, bless Micah." (Left stroke- "Lord"; right stroke- "bless"; left stroke- "Micah"; and over and over again as I swam for about half an hour.)  As I was rolling these words around in my head as I was swimming, it was good to meditate on each of those words.  Lord- Wow, I am praying the God who made the heavens and the earth. It made me feel very small knowing I was speaking to the Lord of this whole world. And yet, we have also been invi...

Last night, Anna and I left Anacortes in sea kayaks and headed over to Cypress Island for the night for a pretty sweet adventure and time together.     We had a great little camping spot in the woods on Cypress Island, and this morning, as we were taking down our tent, we realized that we were camping right under an eagle's nest. We got to see the eagle leave his nest and soar into the sky, and it was a beautiful sight. It reminded me of this verse in Isaiah 40, and I looked it up in The Message when I got home.  "Haven’t you been listening?  God  doesn’t come and go. God  lasts.  He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows  everything , inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon  God  get fresh strength. They sp...

Jason's dad has said to us for years  that he prays for all of us "before his feet hit the floor" each morning. This is such a comfort knowing that someone is holding me up in prayer each and every day.  Well, I want you to know that  you have my prayers too before my feet hit the floor too.  And through the day, when I look down at my right hand on my ring finger, you will find your name engraved in a ring as another reminder.  Micah, I am so grateful for you and the gift of getting to carry you with me each day. 

This was the passage this morning that I shared with my neighborhood group that meets on Zoom for a short time together to reflect on a passage of Scripture before starting the day each Wednesday.  I had chosen this verse a couple of weeks ago and had forgotten about it, but when I read this to our group this morning, I smiled and thought of you and what I shared with you yesterday.  May God's steady, constant calling AND warm personal counsel come to characterize you, Micah,  and may you  (and me too in these coming weeks!)  be alert for  whatever he will do next in your life.  ❤

Dear Micah,  I am not sure if you know this, but today (June 29th) marks 13 weeks until your 13th birthday!!!!  I have been thinking about this for a while, and I even picked out a race that I would run in your honor almost a year ago that is coming up in August. I was going to use the time I was training to be more intentional in praying for you and taking time to journal thoughts that came to mind during that time. Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to run that race because I found out I have a stress fracture that I have to let heal over the summer.  So, I am finding other ways to move my body this summer, and I will use those times to serve as reminders to pray and hold you up to God's light again and again over the next 13 weeks.  Today, after a long day of work, I hopped on my bike and headed to Green Lake to swim for 30 minutes. As I was swimming, I remembered that today was my day to start your birthday countdown, and I let my thoughts wander while I wa...