Friday Foto Dump

As usual, September went by in a blur.  I posted about our niece, Leksi, visiting us over Labor Day, but didn't post any pictures of her!  We went for a hike on Labor Day:

We had an earthquake on September 12th!  We definitely felt it at our house!

 

In between days of extreme heat, it felt like Fall for a few days.  The leaves are starting to change and fall:

We tried a new coffee creamer, Southern Butter Pecan, that had a special message.  If you can't read it, it says, "This Southern Butter Pecan creamer is just delicious.  Bless Its Heart!"

I got some new trail shoes.  They will never be this clean again!

I've already taken them on two different runs.  One was cool and cloudy:

 

The other was just as the sun was coming up:

Leksi was back for another visit last weekend.  God really touched her at church on Sunday.

We then met up with Brian and Barb Abernathy (Les's cousin and her husband) who were in Long Beach.  It was wonderful catching up over lunch!

From Long Beach, we drove to Anaheim to drop Leksi off at the Amtrak station.  We had just enough time to go to Holy Roly.  I had never heard of rolled ice cream before.  They use a special freezing technique, mixing the cream on a freezing pan.  It was so good!

This week feels like a blur as we are preparing to go to the Philippines!  We got a message late Wednesday night that there had been changes to our flight from LAX to Manila, but with the help of Sister White here at home and Sister Aida in the Philippines, we got it all straightened out.  Pray for us as we travel on Sunday.

 

I enjoyed a run this morning.  The actual running wasn't great, my legs felt dead.  But the sunrise was definitely worth getting out the door to see!

The Northridge Earthquake ~ 30 Years Ago

I didn't mean to disappear for almost two weeks!  I got really sick last week.  I saw an article yesterday about the 30th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake.  That is still the biggest earthquake I've ever felt.  I wrote about it in 2010 after the massive Haiti earthquake and thought I'd re-post it here today: 

With a jolt we were awakened that morning. Sleeping on the third level of our townhouse it seemed someone had taken our little place and was violently shaking it. An earthquake with a 6.7 magnitude struck the Southland at 4:31 that Monday morning. Along with the shaking there was the noise - dishes falling out of cupboards, pictures falling off walls, drawers flying out of dressers, the crack of our kitchen window as it broke from the force.


It was still dark when we hurriedly dressed and made our way outside looking for safety. The normal LA sky glow was gone. Power was out and the freeway was empty. The same freeway that would be closed for more than a month due to extensive damage.


We spent the day in numbness. Shock kept the tears at bay as we viewed cracks in nearly every wall. Power and water were both off. We purchased plywood to cover our kitchen window and began the process of sweeping up glass and figuring out what was salvageable.


As night fell, we were unsure of the stability of our home and chose to move our van to the street and sleep there. Still no electricity. It would be many weeks before I slept peacefully as aftershocks were a constant reminder. One large crack in our bedroom seemed to haunt me.


I remember later that day standing on the sidewalk talking to Les' boss.  His dog started getting very agitated just before we experienced a large aftershock.  It was so big, our car BOUNCED in the street!  

 

My Bible reading today included Proverbs chapter 18.  I'm very thankful for verse 10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Strong

Pastor White recommended a couple of books during last Wednesday night's Bible study.  He taught about "Persecution and the People of God."  (You can listen to Part 1 and 2 here.)  The books he recommended were "Fox's Book of Martyrs" and "The Way Called Heresy."  We have both of these books but I have not been able to located "The Way Called Heresy."  

 

During my searching, I stumbled upon a book that belonged to my Mom.  It is a journal that was given to her on her 54th birthday - January 1, 1994.  All the staff from Truth Tabernacle Christian School signed it.  She was going to be off work for a few weeks because she was having knee surgery.

 

My memories of 1994 are tough.  The Northridge Earthquake happened on January 17th.  Rod's declining health and his passing on June 22nd.  Mom's cancer returned later that summer.

 

Mom's writing in this particular journal are more raw than anything else of hers that I have.  At times she wrote words of encouragement, but then she wrote how she was feeling:

 

January 6

Sometimes the Lord calms the storm; sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

I don't feel calm today.

 

January 7

I survived the surgery.  PAIN  PAIN  PAIN  PAIN all day, all night.

 

January 8

Everything seems better in the daylight.  I feel tough again :)

 

Mother's Day weekend - went to Kathy and Les'... had a great time.

Mother's Day banquet very nice, church on Sunday A.M just for me.

June 22

I can barely read, much less type, all that she wrote on that day.  She spent the day with Rod until an ambulance came around 1:30, two hours later: "Rod is at home with the Lord.  My heart is bleeding."

Two days later she wrote about his funeral, "absolutely beautiful...  I feel the peace that passeth understanding, I know Rod is safe at home with Jesus."

The next two entries are not dated:

People say I'm strong but I don't feel strong.

 

Summer has been a blur: times of happiness with the grandkids but all tinged with my deep hurt.

I remember that summer well.  One of the things I remember the most is seeing Mom and Dad for the first time after Rod's funeral.  It seemed like they had aged a decade in about a month's time.  The blur that was the summer of 1994 didn't get better...

August 20

Time for yearly chest x-ray.

August 23

Call from nurse Lynette, changes since last year.

August 24

CAT scan

August 25

Call from Dr. Medrano

Cancer

I really don't feel strong now, but God is still in control.

August 26

Start chemo

September 7, 8, 9

Helped out at T.T.C.S.  I didn't know how much I would miss it...

That was the final entry.  Her cancer battle went on another four years.  Highs and lows, joys and sorrows.  The one thing that stood out to me was what she wrote twice, "I don't feel strong."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

David Guzik's Enduring Word Commentary says:

What triumph! What can the world do to such a man so firm in the grip of Jesus? God did not allow this thorn in the flesh to punish Paul, or to keep him weak for the sake of weakness. God allowed it to show a divine strength in Paul.

Think about this man Paul. Was he a weak man or a strong man? The man who traveled around the ancient world spreading the gospel of Jesus despite the fiercest persecutions, who endured shipwrecks and imprisonment, who preached to kings and slaves, who established strong churches and trained up their leaders was not a weak man. In light of his life and accomplishments, we would say that Paul was a very strong man. But he was only strong because he knew his weaknesses, and looked outside of himself for the strength of God’s grace. If we are going to live lives of such strength, we also must understand and admit our weaknesses, and look to God alone for the favor, approval and work of grace that will strengthen us for any task. It was the grace-filled Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

 

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible says:

When I feel weak; when I am subjected to trial, and nature faints and fails, then strength is imparted to me, and I am enabled to bear all. The more I am borne down with trials, the more do I feel my need of divine assistance, and the more do I feel the efficacy of divine grace. Such was the promise in Deuteronomy 33:25; “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” So in Hebrews 11:24; “Who out of weakness were made strong.” What Christian has not experienced this, and been able to say that when he felt himself weak and felt like sinking under the accumulation of many trials, he has found his strength according to his day, and felt an arm of power supporting him? It is then that the Redeemer manifests himself in a special manner; and then that the excellency of the religion of Christ is truly seen and its power appreciated and felt.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible says:

This is a Christian paradox: when we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we see ourselves weak in ourselves, then we go out of ourselves to Christ, and are qualified to receive strength from him, and experience most of the supplies of divine strength and grace.

We don't always feel strong, but I think that's the way it should be.  When we feel strong because of our own strength, we are actually weak, and we're setting ourselves up for failure.  But when we find our strength in Jesus, when we are weak, His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Divers Places

I saw a headline this morning that read "Oklahomans ask: What's causing these quakes?" A record 5.6 quake hit on November 5th. As of Monday, the area had seen 22 quakes of magnitude 3 or greater since the record quake and more than 200 smaller aftershocks. Geologists are trying to figure it out. Some Oklahomans are blaming the oil wells that have been drilled for decades.

I'm a native Californian. The place with "all those earthquakes." So I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. But the thought that immediately came to my mind was, "earthquakes, in divers places." The words of Jesus in Matthew 24:7. Japan, Chile, Haiti, Turkey, Colorado, Oklahoma, Virginia ~ it doesn't get any more divers than that.

Man spends so much time trying to figure out why things happen on this earth, forgetting that the One Who created all this with His Word, can shake things up just as easily. No, I don't care for earthquakes, and I'd probably freak out completely if a tornado came our way, but I trust the One Who causes the earth to tremble. I want to do what Jesus said a little further on in Matthew chapter 24, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
~Ira Stanphill

Choosing Heroes

Bro. May's title on Sunday night ~ "From Bad to Worse" ~ brought back a time when I said, "things can't get any worse" and they did. 1994 was a year of trouble on every side. It started with an earthquake in January, followed by Rod's passing in June. Just a few weeks after that, I said, "this year can't get any worse..." Two months later Mom's cancer was back. As I recalled that painful time, I remembered some words of wisdom from Rod...

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were brutally murdered. Nicole's former husband, O.J. Simpson, was charged with the murders. On Friday, June 17th, instead of turning himself in, O.J. became the object of a low-speed pursuit in a white Ford Bronco SUV.

The next day, Rod and I talked about this on the phone. It seemed many were in shock that someone "so great" could commit such a horrible crime. Rod told me, "Kathy, that's why you have to be careful who you make your heroes. You can't choose athletes as heroes. They might do great things on the field, but that doesn't make them great people. True heroes are people of God."

That was the last conversation we had, as Rod passed away the following Wednesday. Those words resonate in me still. We have to be so careful whom we choose to admire. That grey haired saint might not have the flashiest clothes, but if they've lived a life of consecration, they deserve our admiration.

It's actually not too difficult to find heroes if you look in the right direction:

Pastors and pastors' wives ~ heroes.
Foreign missionaries ~ heroes.
Home missionaries ~ heroes.
Sunday school teachers ~ heroes.
Parents trying to raise their kids in the things of God ~ heroes.
Young people who stand for what's right in high school and college ~ heroes.

I'm thankful for the many heroes in my life.

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?

January 17, 1994

With a jolt we were awakened that morning. Sleeping on the third level of our townhouse it seemed someone had taken our little place and was violently shaking it. An earthquake with a 6.7 magnitude struck the Southland at 4:31 that Monday morning. Along with the shaking there was the noise - dishes falling out of cupboards, pictures falling off walls, drawers flying out of dressers, the crack of our kitchen window as it broke from the force.


It was still dark when we hurriedly dressed and made our way outside looking for safety. The normal LA sky glow was gone. Power was out and the freeway was empty. The same freeway that would be closed for more than a month due to extensive damage.


We spent the day in numbness. Shock kept the tears at bay as we viewed cracks in nearly every wall. Power and water were both off. We purchased plywood to cover our kitchen window and began the process of sweeping up glass and figuring out what was salvageable.


As night fell, we were unsure of the stability of our home and chose to move our van to the street and sleep there. Still no electricity. It would be many weeks before I slept peacefully as aftershocks were a constant reminder. One large crack in our bedroom seemed to haunt me.


I remember those details again as I think of Haiti. An inspector told us our homes were built for earthquakes - to bend and not break. Very few lives were lost considering the magnitude. The dishes we lost were more than most Haitians will own in a lifetime. My terror was real, but at the end of the day my home was still standing.

Also, the difference between a 6.7 earthquake and 7.0 is much larger than you might think. The Richter magnitude scale is a mathematical equation that I won't pretend to understand or explain, but here are some differences:

2.0 = 1 metric ton
3.0 = 32 metric tons
4.0 = 1 kiloton
5.0 = 32 kilotons
6.0 = 1 megaton
6.7 = 16.2 megatons (this is what we experienced in 94)
7.0 = 32 megatons (this is what Haiti experienced)

I can barely look at the heartbreaking images. It will be months and possibly years before they recover. But recovery for Haitians will still be poverty.

I'll say it again, Please Pray for Haiti. Give if you can. Pray because you can.