Blessings

This weekend absolutely rocked my socks off. And you know, it was all in the simple things. Rachael and I talk alot about who we want to be and what we want to spend our time doing, but we've really struggled (as I'm sure anyone has) to ever do any of the things you say you want to. This weekend we lived our hearts, and whatda know - it felt great.

On Saturday we started off by seeing off our friends who came to visit us for the weekend (or part of it), and taking Rachael to work. I always love when I can start my day seeing Rachael, because it always gives my heart something to smile about right at the beginning of the day. I treasure the time we get together, and it's neat to have someone so close to you, that you can just enjoy their presence whatever it is you're going and doing -- even if it's driving to work.

While she was at work, I got a great chance to catch up with my friend Darrick. Darrick has got to be one of the most quality people I know and he's probably the best friend I've got. He's extraordinarily patient and available to listen to both what's going on in my life and to help me sort through it, and he's one of the few people that I can go to with no answers and opinions, but only questions, and he'll help me sort things out. He also has a great and humble way of keeping me on course and correcting my stubborn spirit when it needs it. For the very stubborn, insistent, and opinionated guy that I'm finding I can be sometimes, I've come to realize what a great guy Darrick is, who often receives the brunt of all three. Though I didn't get to hear as much about his life as I woulda liked, it was a good chance to catch up; he's going to travel down here for the forth, and I'm really going to treasure the chance to sit down with him and make some new memories.

Just before noon, Rachael got off work, which was amazing because she was supposed to work till 5, and we were going to go down the river and get out on a kayak into God's playground. That was, until we pressed Dory's (Dory is my car's name) 'show me the outside temperature' button and it read 99 degrees. Are you kidding me? By the time we got home it read 104. Rachael and I looked at each other and thought about being out on a kayak in that kinda heat, and decided that was probably a bad idea. So instead, we brought the Wii to Monkeys and enjoyed the cool air and big screen TV for awhile. Rachael surprised me with a copy of Lego Indiana Jones, which is basically the coolest game ever, and we played through the 1st level and read some of Narnia (both of us have never read the Narnia books and want to read through them, so we're doing it together and having a blast). If there's any game that'll teach good communication skills it's that game -- but we had fun.

Then Saturday night we drove up to Cinetopia in Vancouver and met Darrick to see Wall-e. Now for those of you who haven't seen it I'll restrict my review, but oh man -- Wall-e is one of the best movies I've seen in ages -- it was just really really great. Rachael and I loved every minute of it and want to go see it again. Apart from being adorable, Wall-e has a lotta insight to offer into the consumerism, comfort, and the other illnesses that plaque our American culture. It's a must see.

Now to today: Church was great, and honestly I'm going to have to recommend that you find today's sermon and listen to it (which you can do here), because our pastor spoke some incredible things about the role of the holy spirit in our lives. And I applaud him for being so direct, because he pointed out that the church was founded on the works of the holy spirit and that without him we're just wasting our time. You can't get by on 2/3 of the trinity.

I also was prayed over and I was specifically hoping to recieve the gift of tongues since that's a thing I've wanted and never experienced, at least I don't think I have... not in full. But my full thoughts on that belong in another post :)

After church Rachael came home, ate amazing Mac and Cheese, and tried some more to save the world (we did manage to finish another level). And we ended off the night eating dinner with her family (a tri-tip roast... sooooo good) and getting some real time to catch up. I love Rachael's family and I love getting the chances to hang out with them and slowly become one of them. There's a lot of wit in her family and it makes me smile just to watch them interact and love on each other.

And finally I said good night to Rachael and came on home to catch up with some friends and write these posts. I'm amazed how good of time I have when I spend it with my gal -- it'd be almost easy to take for granted how much we can enjoy each other just runnin' errands, playing Wii, reading Narnia, going to movie, or just sitting on the couch without saying a word, until you realize that you couldn't have that good of time with anybody else doing those things. Like not even close. I can really be myself, and it's just such a blessing. I'm also blessed with such an amazing and quality woman of God who both experience and testimony tells me (not to mention my own heart!) is a very very rare find. She is indeed a crown on my head, and she deserves all the praise I can heap on her (and probably a little more :).

I hope all of your weekends were good and restful in their own ways. I know that some of us had birthdays this weekend and I hope that was just a great time. I also know that rest and peace is a theme that God has been workin with many people on recently -- cleaning out the old gunk and setting us free to walk in joy. I hope this was a restful and good weekend for you and I'm really excited to hear how's He's moving in each of you -- I know it just feels like He's on the move recently, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also excited to share it in such a great community. Thank you friends -- for sharing the adventure and for being such faithful companions along the way. I treasure each of you.

Blessings.