Transparent Freedom

twelve

Portland became a rival as my favorite city in the world – rivaling Austin, TX for that top spot – had coffee & Bible Study in one of the many parks downtown, went to the Portland Saturday Market (just beautiful), and then visited Western Seminary after a very fulfilling lunch on fake “South Congress.”  Drove to Seattle that evening just in time to scalp some tickets for the Seahawks/Broncos pre-season game.

thirteen

Mars Hill Church…another top spot rival for best church I have ever been to-very spiritual experience where I was reminded that forgiving for any motive other than a response to how you have been forgiven makes it about you and thus counter effective.  Drove that afternoon to Idaho, saw an 18 wheeler slam a Saturn on the way (everybody was OK), & ate dinner at a floating restaurant.

fourteen

woke up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho … had our last wonderful round of golf – taken to the golf course by boat (a little much for me, but a great experience none-the-less).  Steam roomed it that afternoon with Miles while Ash went to the spa (surprised her for being such a trooper).  Finished with a huge dinner at a Japanese restaurant talking over predetermination, before the world, & purpose.

fifteen

left the hotel early enough to forget my golf clubs, breakfast in Montana at “The Huckleberry Cafe,” and driving … lots of driving & talking & wondering & “Marley and Me” & debating & “Homeword Bound” & pb&j sandwiches & laughing & convictions by the Holy Spirit…amen.

sixteen

the Marianna Inn provided a full nights rest, surprisingly.  Bryce Canyon was the first on our list…the erosion was mind-boggling.  Grand Canyon was next and proved to be even more mind-boggling.  After a four-mile hike into the canyon we decided that it should probably be re-named the “Grand Irrationality” in hopes that people would have a more accurate image in their mind when trying to comprehend it without being there.

seventeen

5:51 sunrise over the grand irrationality as Ash, Miles, & I sit on a boulder just inches from 1,500+ foot drop (a smaller cliff) and pray…thanking God for the trip of a lifetime.

There are a ton of things that were not included simply because my brain isn’t powerful enough to recall all of the moments at this time & I don’t have words to explain many of them…however, notes were taken (some lost in the toilet at Bandon Dunes) & over 1,600 pictures taken.

I will post soon.

Thank you for your prayers.

What is your favorite thing about getting home again?

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six

-worship-full morning at cornerstone community church (Francis Chan wasn’t there, but the service was still very filling), we got a “juststopandthink.com” bumper sticker for the drive to monterrey bay and beyond

seven

-played THE pebble beach golf course after a very large breakfast in the room…after lunch in the pub at pebble beach, we drove to san fran & walked fisherman’s wharf-sea lion’s and alcatraz combined for a fairly accurate description of the evening

eight

-wonderful work out to get the juices flowing followed by a bfast @ boudin bread factory…very cool watching a breadmaker create 75+ cinnamon rolls from scratch in the amount of time you ate your scrambled eggs…we walked the golden gate bridge (& I found out how much of a fear heights has become for me-weak, I know)…great lunch in salsaledo (?) overlooking San Fran & the bay and drove to the redwood forest…found out that the town were going to stay in was just starting classes at the local college & every motel w/in 100 miles was booked SO we drove into the redwood forest and slept in the car in the “elk viewing” pull off area…

nine

-bfast @ the “cafe” followed by a redwood forest tour-ridiculous. then drove up the coast into mystical oregon and arrived at bandon dunes (instead of Eugene b/c of a message I received from popps that morning…GREAT surprise)

ten

-played bandon dunes and our photographer joined us…really beautiful stuff followed by a relaxing afternoon of bible study & reading…then an awesome dinner overlooking the golf course we would end up playing on day 11

eleven

-played pacific dunes-number 2 golf course in the US-and then left the coast for the final time on this trip and drove up to Portland where we just had a great dinner outside by the bridge in downtown

San Fran was a trip-busy, busy everywhere…the following morning was much better than the previous night because we toured a little more of the city outside of the “super tourist” areas.

The amenities, food, views, weather, and course were all top notch at Pebble Beach – much like an expected dream day would play out.

Unexpected, however, was the world class car show that was going on in Monterey the day we pulled in … the nicest cars you could imagine in mass amounts … all the way up to a $1.3M car sitting on the 18th fairway.

The fallen trees we ran on and living trees we ran around blew my mind into a different shape.  I couldn’t comprehend that these giants were trees.

Speaking of giants…had we not gotten pulled over we would have missed the “Avenue of the Giants.”  Really nice police officer in Northern Cali just gave us a warning and told us the scenic path worth taking…hard to imagine sort of stuff.

And speaking of getting pulled over, it has been such a blessing to be able to see God’s hand all over our trip-putting us in situations that seem unfavorable to our human emotions and end up as a beautiful spiritual blessing.

The golf courses were two of the top ten courses I have ever played in my entire life, the Oregon shoreline was stunning-literally we were frozen in action and speech a couple of times, especially our encounter with the “Piston River” – the most beautifully peaceful place I have been in my entire life, and Portland has continued the very positive and peaceful energy through the evening.

We are either going to Seattle or Boise tomorrow and probably won’t decide until we get in the car.

I know there have been a lot of “in my life” statements in this post and I was hesitant to include them all in one post because I did not want you all to think that it was an exaggerated mindset in which I am writing.

This trip has blown my mind and expanded my perspective in so many ways.

I am incapable of expressing my gratitude accurately for this opportunity, am constantly praying for presence of mind and spiritual growth, and cannot wait to see what days 12 – _____ hold for us.

I’m sorry if there are multiple errors or scattered thoughts…I have been meaning to update for a while & it’s been a long day-I’m off to bed-I love you all.

What do you think-Seattle OR Boise?

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