Shaking At the Top

Les and I have been in San Diego for a couple of days. He's working and I just tagged along. Our room is on the 10th of 11 floors. The view is pretty unspectacular- the freeway. It's really just your average room, king size bed, a little desk, typical hotel closet and bathroom. We were fine with it since it's clean (my number #1 criteria!) I wasn't so sure how I felt Monday evening when a 5.9 earthquake hit!

I've been in larger earthquakes in my day, but I've never been on the 10th floor during one! It seemed our room shook forever. I was reading on the bed and the lamp swayed, and continued to sway!

We often hear of those "at the top" taking a fall. Whether it is a politician, CEO, or pastor, their fall seems greater because they are higher up. But a true man of God feels the shaking that is going on below. When a marriage falls apart or a child is gravely ill, the pastor feels the shaking. If a family leaves the church or a teenager rebels against all he has tried to teach them, the pastor feels the shaking.

We may only see or feel our needs or those of our family, but a pastor feels the shaking of an entire congregation. When the earth beneath our feet has settled, the reverberations of our actions may cause shaking that lasts much longer.

Thankfully when we are praying, the pastor also feels that shaking! When the youth group comes home from camp on fire, the pastor rejoices with the shaking! When new saints are born into the kingdom, the pastor feels the shaking!

What kind of shaking are you causing today?

Commitment

We were blessed to have Bro. P. George from India in service with us on Sunday night. He has been preaching the gospel for over 50 years in his native country. When he was just a young man he hated the Pentecostals. He then became very ill, doctors could not help him. Finally, the Pentecostals came to pray for him - the very ones he hated! He was filled with the Holy Ghost on August 1, 1958 and has been preaching all these years.

The country of India is 85% Hindu with only 2% of the population being Christian (that includes Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal). Trying to convert someone to another religion can bring jail time of 6 years! Still Bro. George is committed to the cause and continues serving God with all his might at the age of 72!

After giving his testimony, Bro. George preached about commitment. He said we commit ourselves to God in four ways - our bodies (a living sacrifice), our salvation, our works, and our "suffering times."

It is only when we commit the difficult times to God that we can find peace. God wants us to turn it over to Him but how often to do take our problems back? Whether it be sickness, job loss, marital problems, or some other trial, committing our ways to God will make the difference. No, that doesn't mean the "suffering time" is going to end more quickly, God has a reason for whatever it is we're going through, but we must continue to trust Him even in the darkest of times.

I wonder how many have lost their way during the times of suffering? Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."

Introducing Myka!

We have a new member in our family. No we do not have a new niece or nephew...



And we certainly aren't having a little one of our own!


We didn't even get a cute puppy...


Or a disinterested cat...


Please meet my new Mountain Bike, the Specialized Myka!



Yes, it's true. I am now the delighted owner of a mountain bike! Since the fun we had on Catalina, we've been talking about it and we went shopping on Friday to do something about it! She's white with fuchsia highlights...




I even got matching gloves!


We picked her up Friday, along with her brother, this blue Cannondale for Les...




You may be wondering why Les needed another bike (he already has two). Well... he has road bikes. Road bikes = skinny tires. Mountain bikes = fat tires for trail riding.

We took them out for their inaugural ride this morning. We rode just a little over 10 miles and it was SO fun! The first 4 1/2 miles were on the road, then we did about 4 1/2 on Las Llayas Canyon Road - a real trail, then we finished on the road to get home. Our bikes will never again be as clean as they are in these pictures!

Yet Another Proud Auntie Moment!

Yesterday, June 11th, was the Indiana State Beginner Quiz Finals. Seven teams participated and Hannah's team won first place - going undefeated. They are now qualified for the National Championships in St. Louis the last week of July. There was also a guest appearance by Bill and Dolly McElhaney to root on their granddaughter.

When we were at Lance's for Christmas, we talked about his expectations for this quiz year. He was just thrilled Hannah was interested and was not going to pressure her to go beyond her own pace.

She not only learned ALL of her material, that's 183 verses, but...

Hannah finished with the 4th highest scoring average, and was the high scorer in 2 of their 4 quizzes. Her teammates were 1st and 5th.



Hannah was also Quizzer of the Year as selected by the coaches!


Congratulations Doodlebug, we are so proud of you!!

Friday Foodie

It was Salsa Week! I tried two salsa recipes and they were both yummy!

Mango Salsa (on the left)

I've had mango salsa many times but what put me over the top in my desire to make it was a hamburger I had on Catalina. It had some kind of relish on it and the main ingredient was Mango! I Googled "Mango Salsa" and this is the recipe I found from the Food Network.com

1 mango, peeled and diced (for help on how to cut a mango, click here)
1/2 cup peeled, diced cucumber
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

Directions
Combine the mango, cucumber, jalapeno, red onion, lime juice and cilantro leaves and mix well. ran this through my food processor to get everything blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

This was the definitely spicier of the two.


Watermelon Salsa (on the right)

The Tasty Kitchen had this recipe and it sounded wonderful!

1 cup Chopped Watermelon
½ cups Chopped Tomato
¼ cups Chopped Red Onion
⅛ cups Chopped Jalapeno
⅛ cups Chopped Cilantro
¼ cups Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

Toss all ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. I put everything except the watermelon in the food processor to blend well, then added to the chopped watermelon.

This was sweet as I suspected it would be, with a little bit of spiciness thrown in. It was also juicier than the mango salsa.

The jars you see are 20 and 24 ounce jars that fruit came in. I doubled both recipes and was glad I did! We had both of these with tacos and tortilla chips. The watermelon salsa was great with cinnamon tortilla chips and of course the mango salsa went on burgers!

Congratulations Graduates!

There have been an abundance of graduation announcements pouring into our mailbox this year!

College grads:

My nephew, Ryan Fultz - Bachelor of Arts in Composition from Berklee College of Music:



Vivian Gonzalez - Master of Science in Nursing:


Sarah Montano - Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Studies:


High School grads:

Eliana Tarazon, John Burroughs High School:


Gary Molina, Ulysses S. Grant High School:



Josue Siguil, East Valley High School:


Andrew Klann, Truth Tabernacle Christian School:


I pray God's very best for all of you!

How Old Are You?

“Let’s consider your age to begin with—how old are you?” asked the White Queen.

“I’m seven and a half exactly,” said Alice.

“You needn’t say ‘exactly’,” the Queen remarked: “I can believe it without that. Now I’ll give you something to believe. I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.”

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.

Last Saturday Les rode the Ojai Valley Century. He actually rode the Double Metric Century, advertised as 124 miles that ended up being 128 miles. Yes, in one day! I know he's amazing! The amazing thing is he rode with a friend named Karl. Who is 78!! Karl never slowed down, in fact he dropped Les as one point!

It's interesting how we perceive age and aging. Botox, hair coloring and five layers of makeup really can't hide a hard life. Just as high heels, sexy clothing and five layers of makeup do not make a 12 year old look 25! The real question is not how we look, but what are we doing with the time we've been given?

James 4:14 says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

Summertime Fun!

We kicked off the summer at Victory Tabernacle with our first softball game last night. There were double plays and triple errors, but everyone had a great time. Especially me, I was the cheerleader for both teams! It got a little tricky when Jasmine hit the ball right to Les. My cheer: "Go Jasmine! Aw, oops! Yeah Les!"

Cheer Up, It's Monday!

And you thought YOU were having a bad day...

Another Girl With a Purple Bike

Our niece, Galina, has learned to ride a bike. I love the fact that it is purple! I think she and I could go riding together...

Friday Foodie

No new recipe, but I just had to share this picture! Meet Miss Ella Grace Crabtree, daughter of Shannon and Heidi, Les' cousin and his wife.

Busted!


A girl after my own heart!

Youth Service Memories

Last night was our monthly Youth Service at Victory Tabernacle. We did something we hadn't done in a long time that brought back so many memories from my youth! Two of our young men gave short thoughts. I remember so many Friday nights at Truth Tabernacle, being nervous if it was Rod's turn or excited if it was the boy I liked that day! There were deep thoughts, nervous chuckles, and long pauses as they tried to speak in front of their peers and parents. I also remember hilarious times, dreadful songs, and hidden talents that would somehow be drawn out by our youth leader.

Last night was no exception. We had a skit, with the actors coming in about 5 minutes early. One "devil" decided to go to the platform while the Wakefield girls were getting ready to sing...

Our two young men both brought great thoughts. Elias talked about putting God first. He has worked the same job for the past three years, but they have been pressuring him to work every Sunday. He didn't want to miss church, so he began praying for God to open a door for a new job. He started that job this week and will not only be able to be in Sunday services, but is also going to start teaching a home Bible study!

Gary, who will be graduating this month, gave his testimony about living for God during his high school years. One story that stands out was when he wanted to go to a party with some friends. His parents said "No." No matter how much he begged, pleaded, and cried, their response was still "No." The following Monday he found out there had been quite a bit of "partying" going on, including drinking, and was very thankful for parents that would not back down.

I was so proud of both of these young men. I'm also thankful for the pastors and youth leaders of my past who instilled a desire in me to live for God while I was still young. I have no regrets!

Catalina Island = R & R & R!

Most people use vacation for R & R - Rest and Relaxation. Les and I have a third R - Recreation! When we weren't relaxing or resting, we were exploring big time!

Friday evening we left Marina Del Rey on the Catalina Marina Del Rey Flyer. Our first stop was Two Harbors, a small port on the island of Catalina. Two Harbors has one hotel and two camp sites. We considered staying there, but the hotel was booked and we were not interested in roughing it! Pulling out of Two Harbors, it was just a short 30 minute trip into Avalon Bay.


We checked in to our hotel - La Paloma Las Flores. Built in the early 1900s it has both cottages and "apartments." We were in apartment #9, a corner unit on the top floor. It was about the size of an average hotel room with the addition of a small kitchenette. It was definitely showing its age, but was clean so we were fine with it!


It had been 17 years since we were last on Catalina Island. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary there. I have no idea why we hadn't gone back sooner! We ate at Antonio's Pizzeria Friday night and quickly remembered it as the Karaoke place from years ago. No karaoke this time, but still good food!

Saturday morning our first adventure began. As most of you know, I am a runner and Les is a cyclist. Anytime we "ride" together it is on a tandem. I have not owned a bicycle since about 5th grade and it was a three speed. So we decided to rent mountain bikes from Brown's Bikes. If you look at the map below, you will see different colors. Turquoise is for all riders, yellow for intermediate, red and white checks for advanced and red is stay off.



Les started me off on the turquoise roads. We did several loops around the streets of Avalon, allowing me to get use to shifting my 21-speed bike (big difference from my old 3-speed!). We then headed up a "yellow" street to the Botanical Gardens. This was just over a mile and I made it! After coasting back down, Les thought we should do more. At this point, I did not have the map memorized, so I didn't know we were going up a red and white street. Until it got steeper and steeper!

Part way up, I had to stop for water. Appropriately, we stopped in the shade near a pet cemetery! I told Les he could bury me there!


Look closely and you'll see my "cyclist's tattoo" on my right calf - lovely grease. Proof that I did ride!

We made it to the top and the view was spectacular.



At the top we had a decision to make - turn around and go back to town or go down the backside, meaning another uphill climb. The decision seemed easy to me - downhill all the way! But my sweetheart thought otherwise. "You can do it..." he told me. I was doubtful, but agreed. We coasted all the way down to the Edison power plant, topped off our waters and it was time to go back up. I knew I was in trouble very quickly as I shifted to my lowest gear and still had trouble pedaling! I finally decided to walk my bike to the top other than risk falling off!! I consider myself in decent shape from running, but I used muscles I don't normally use and hurt in places I don't normally hurt! But it was still fun! This picture was taken from our room, the white wall is the road we were on.


Saturday night we ate at the brand new Avalon Grille. Brand new as in it opened on May 24th! The food was exceptional. We also enjoyed talking to a young couple at the table next to ours. They live and work on Catalina Island and had some great tips for us. After dinner, we had to go to Big Olaf's of Catalina. This is a wonderful ice cream parlor. We may have even seen Olaf - whoever the guy was, he was Big!


I woke to quite a bit of soreness Sunday morning. The solution of course was to go running! Afterward, we headed to Descanso Beach and rented a kayak. We had an amazing time on the ocean. My Modest Activewear was the perfect, comfortable outfit! The obligatory foot picture...



We saw lots of sea lions. They would swim close to our kayak, but I had a hard time catching them on film! If you click on this picture you can see a larger version and you WILL see a sea lion!


One hour and 2.4 miles later, we were at Toyon Bay. We didn't know it at the time, but this is used as a science school for students. They come for 3 or 5 days and learn neat stuff about plants and animals, kayak, snorkel, and hike. School was not in session, so we were the only ones there! We spent a delightful two hours, sitting on the beach, snacking, and relaxing. A few other kayakers showed up after about an hour, but none stayed for long.



Of course, we had to paddle 2.4 miles back, but it was worth it! Once again I used muscles I don't normally use and hurt in places I don't normally hurt!

Saturday night we ate at The Landing where we had ocean view dining. It was also Prom night for Avalon school. It was so fun to watch the students in all their finery making their way to the historic Catalina Casino - in golf carts! We finished the night with some more ice cream from Big Olaf's and a great time of people watching! Les has such a quick wit, his comments about so many people were killing me.

I'm not sure which of my Lori friends own this place, but I'm glad to know she sells "good stuff"...


I finally found a sea lion that would be still and let me take a picture with it...

He wanted a kiss, but his fish breath was just too much!


Before we were ready, it was Monday morning and time to go home... One final treat - we saw a bunch of dolphins on the way back! Again, they are just too fast to get pictures. I finally quit trying and just enjoyed watching them. We also saw a couple flying fish - cool stuff!



The true test of a great vacation? You feel like you've been gone a long time! We were only gone three days, but we packed in a ton of fun! We won't wait another 17 years to go back.