Father’s Day

What a day today is! First of all Father’s Day. What words could I possibly use to describe how dear and incredible my Father is? I’m afraid that when I think about how much he means to me and how much he has taught me I come up with very little words and quite a few tears. I am blessed beyond measure. This I do know, he has been beyond supportive, compassionate, wise, kindhearted and most of all has taught me how to love by loving me. I have watched him pretty closely as I’ve grown through the years; as a child, a teen and finally now as a young adult. His integrity, strength of character and servant’s heart have guided and taught me so much. My heavenly father couldn’t have picked a better person to show me the love that a father has for a child. So much of my relationship with Him and my understanding of Him is rooted in understanding that a father’s love is boundless in so many ways. I am confident in saying that my Dad has been one of the most influential people in my understanding of the love that God has for His children. I will never be able to thank you enough for that. Thank you for loving me, thank you for showing me that God loves. Thank you for teaching me how to love Him. My understanding of what it means to have a relationship with God is so deeply affected by the security and comfortability that I have in my relationship with my Dad. There is no better inheritance that a father can give his daughter then this and for that I am forever grateful.

Me with my dad and mom this last summer at my brother, John’s graduation.

My Dad holding Lily when she was a baby. I love this picture of my dad, it is such the image of a loving father.

Summer Solstice

Today is also summer solstice, everyone grab your party pants and celebrate the longest day of the year with me. The sun is at it’s greatest distance from the equator. This only happens twice a year so party up! It was so nice to have more daylight today, I am such a light hog! I love the night too, don’t get me wrong. There is the moon, fireflies (lightning bugs), stars, headlamps, camp fires, the dim fire from my amazing jetboil backpacking stove (quick shout out for jetboil :D ), and of course the chance to burn yummy smelling candles. As you see even my favorite things about the night is the light that we bring into it. Today my heart is drawn to the influence of light in my life. All the things that I can do because there is light, both physical light and light for my spirit, mind and heart. I remember when the electricity would go out in Bangladesh (daily). We would use alot of candles and gas lamps. I remember my dad reading us devotions by the firelight and all of us huddling around. Our day would wind down, significantly getting slower, simply because things were more difficult to do without lights. I wonder if our lives aren’t like this in general. Christ is the light of the world and without him shining energy and love into us, we simply slow down. Everything becomes much more difficult. I find that it becomes harder to love people, I get exhausted much more quickly. I become short tempered, my desire to serve is fleeting, I am haunted by my insecurities and constantly reminded of my weaknesses. While I was out hiking the JMT (John Muir Trail) in the Sierras it brought me so much comfort to finally see my jetboil light up at the end of a long day. The warmth it brought to my cold hands and the signal to my aching feet that it was now time to rest and to eat. Now whenever I think about Christ being the light of the world it takes me back to that feeling of pure joy, that I can sit and relax in His presence and trust Him for my needs. There is also nothing like having a good headlamp when it is pitch dark outside and I have another few miles to go before making camp. It keeps me so often from getting lost and then when I am lost it shines light onto my map so that I can find the trail again. These are such simple illustrations but the terror and fear that I may never find my way out again can do funny things to a single gal out hiking in the middle of nowhere! Haha, thank goodness for headlamps and maps, I would definitely not be here today! (probably still out there wondering if that tree looked familiar). This is Christ to me, his wisdom and love help me from getting lost in life and losing focus of the way that He desires me to go. When I do get lost His love and the knowledge of His mercy and grace open my eyes to His Holy Word. He is indeed the light for my feet and for my heart. My hope in the terror of the night.

*It is also the first day of Extremsportveko, could luck to all the participants! May you compete to the best of your ability & then some. ;D One day I will be there climbing along side of the best of you. :D