Hanging in there at Sea Perch

High tide has come and gone and will come again.  We did not have to move to higher ground.  It's still very rainy and windy.  But five new RVs have come into the park, so I guess they all want to celebrate the new year no matter what.

Rocking and Rolling

Rain, wind, and waves in Yachats.  High tide is at 11 am.  We'll see if we have to suddenly move to higher ground.  We brought in the living room slide just to be safe.  That slide is on the south side and that's the direction the wind is coming from.  Charlie and Pam were going to come here today from Vancouver but they decided not to come.  Probably a wise choice!

I just took this picture from inside the motorhome, but it can't capture the power of the storm:

What the Bible is Not

From Tullian Tchividjian's blog http://www.crpc.org/blog/?p=772#comments
What the Bible is Not
Posted December 28th, 2009 by Tullian Tchividjian:

Contrary to what many Christians have concluded, the Bible does not tell two stories: the story of Israel in the OT and the story of the church in the NT. No, the Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. In the OT God revealed himself through types and shadows, through promises and prophecies. In the NT God reveals himself in Christ who is the substance of every shadow and the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy. In other words, the OT predicts God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. Therefore, the whole Bible–both the Old and New Testament–is all about God’s rescuer.

Even though it’s a children’s Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible is, in my opinion, one of the best resources available to help both children and adults see the Jesus-centered story line of the Bible.

Sunset at the beach

While our friends and family in Portland/Vancouver enjoyed an unexpected snowstorm yesterday afternoon, we had a rainy and windy day at the coast.  After one more rain shower around 9 am, we had no rain the rest of today.  Tomorrow morning a high tide event is predicted along with high winds.  We'll move to higher ground if it becomes necessary.

When we were at Newport this afternoon, I took this picture of the Yaquina Bay lighthouse.  We didn't have time to take the tour but we look forward to doing that another time.

Tonight's sunset was interesting.  In just a few minutes the sky changed from the first picture to the second picture:

Sixty-Six Clouds

OK, I admit it, I like to post things that I've seen on other blogs or websites.  This one is really cool.  Really.  Click on this: http://identity33.com/blog/?p=531#comment-443 

Quoted from the website link:

Sixty-Six Clouds is a visual exploration of word frequency in the Bible.  Each book of the Bible was individually imported into http://www.wordle.net/ to create a unique word cloud for all sixty-six books.  The significance of word clouds is that they quickly present the gist of large bodies of written materials at a glance.  Wordle gives greater prominence and size to words that appear more frequently in the source text.  Therefore, the larger the word is in the cloud, the more prominent it is in the text.

Fun in the Rain

As predicted, it's raining today.  One of the good things about Sea Perch RV Park is that they have a very nice clubhouse where we can hang out if friends visit (hint, hint!) or if we each want some time to ourselves.  We've been using the workout room almost every day.  Here are pictures of the treadmill and the bike that we use:

Last night we watched a pretty sunset from our site:

8 Months After Surgery!

It's been exactly eight months since I had my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical valve.  I am feeling great.  I am so happy that I was able to make the walk up to visit Heceta Head lighthouse this morning.  Nine months ago I would not have been able to make the climb because of being short of breath.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Today's excursion was to Heceta Head Lighthouse which is located off Highway 101, thirteen miles north of Florence, Oregon and about five miles south of Sea Perch RV Park where we are staying.  We went to the wayside overlook area first where they were also doing "Whale Watch Spoken Here".  We didn't see any whales, but we had a gorgeous view of the lighthouse.  After parking at the trailhead for the lighthouse and paying our $3 fee, we walked the 1/2 mile up to the lighthouse. 

The lighthouse was open today, so we took the tour and Dave took this picture of the Fresnel lens:

Lighthouse keeper's house which is now a bed and breakfast run by the State of Oregon:

Cape Perpetua, Oregon

While Dave watched football this afternoon, I drove the few miles to Cape Perpetua and visited Devil's Churn and Cook's Chasm.  No matter how many times we've visited the Oregon coast, there is always something that we haven't seen before.  I'll post just a few pictures, but these chasms were amazing to see.  The pictures don't do it justice!

It was rainy and windy last night.  It's supposed to rain more today but right now it likes like the sun is trying to come out. I took a couple more pictures of the surf from inside the front window of our motorhome:

And here are a few more pictures from Florence:

We have no cell service at this RV park, even with our antenna booster.  Our satellite works great and the park has excellent wifi which allows me to update the blog and to stay in touch via email.  Dave is watching the Raiders play the Browns and I am updating my blog and drinking a cup of Celestial Seasonings sugar cookie tea. 

Today we went to Florence which is about seventeen miles south of Yachats.  We went for a walk around Old Town and had lunch at ICM (International C-Food Market).  These photos were taken outside the restaurant.  It was another beautiful sunny day, but  windy and chilly.  The weather is changing now and it's getting cloudy. 

This is our new motorhome parked at our site at Sea Perch RV Park in Yachats.  The building in the background is the clubhouse for the park.  The ocean is in front of the RV.  I took this picture this morning before we left for Florence. 

                                                          

Today we drove to Sea Perch RV Park which is south of Yachats, Oregon.  When we arrived, the sun was out and the temperature was 60 degrees.  Here's the view out the front window of our motorhome just before the sun set.  (Click on the photo to enlarge):

Here's another view of the ocean:

We should have had Tim and Kiersten take a picture of Dave and me together.  Oh, well.  I'm trying to do this enough times so that I remember how to do it.

Jonathan (on left) at his friend Malissa's wedding in September, 2009.

Tim and Kiersten at our house on Christmas Eve. Kiersten is helping me learn how to add photos to my blog!

A year ago today Dave's brother passed away. He was only 58 and had suffered from cancer for five years. We're all missing him today.

I'm listening to Christmas carols on iTunes, which soothe my soul. My friend, Diane, gave me a set of 4 Ansel Adams Sounds of Christmas CDs. I transferred them all to iTunes so that I can listen to them on it and on my iPod. The set contains many good arrangments of familiar carols.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas with Tim and Kiersten. I finally decided on a menu--lasagna, caesar salad, breadsticks, and for dessert, Tim's request (and Dave's!) pumpkin pie. I made an extra pie for Tim to take home and an extra pie for Dave to eat in the RV.

On Christmas day Dave and I are taking off for Yachats, Oregon. We have reservations for three days at a park right on the beach (Sea Perch RV Park). Then we'll head somewhere else for a few days.

Merry Christmas!

Unpacking from the weekend trip (easy) and packing for the trip beginning next weekend (harder). We are keeping an eye on the weather but hope to go to the Oregon coast. We haven't made any reservations yet, so we'll stay where we can get a spot. We would like to go as far south as Port Orford in hopes of getting some milder, dryer weather. We're also interested in staying in Yachats or Florence.

I tried again to read the book The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I first tried to read it 2 1/2 years ago, but couldn't get into it. This time I not only got into it but couldn't put it down. I read 2/3 of it last night and finished it this afternoon. The story is a grim one about the survival of a father and his young son in a postapocalyptic world. But something inside them keeps them traveling and searching and not giving up. No, I haven't seen the movie but will probably request it from Netflix.

Rain was predicted for today, but we didn't get rain except for some in the night. It was a damp, dreary day, though. No sun, but at least the temperature was fairly warm, around 54 degrees at Champoeg. We went for a walk around the campground and had lunch at Biscuits Cafe in Canby. I wrote a bunch of Christmas cards in the afternoon and have decided that we should always come to a peaceful state park to do Christmas cards. I listened to Christmas music and it was oh, so pleasant!

We are camping at Champoeg State Park now, which is south of Portland and Wilsonsville, OR. It's still a nice day, not a lot of sun, but no rain. There's more than a dozen RVs here, along with three sets of [brave] tent campers. I went for a bike ride but we didn't bring my big bike, just my little fold-up bike, so it was a somewhat uncomfortable ride, but better than no ride. Dave played golf this morning before we left Vancouver, so he didn't need to get any exercise this afternoon. Now we are looking forward to having a cozy evening in the motorhome. One good thing about this park is the Discovery Season prices--$16 per night for full hookups with 50 amp! The Oregon State Parks may be raising their rates, like a lot of other parks have done, but they haven't done it yet, at least not here.

I just finished reading an interesting book, The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. It's a fictional account of the true story of Ann Eliza Young, who was Brigham Young's 52nd out of 55 wives. She became famous when she divorced him and helped to bring about the end of polygamy in the Mormom church. The book had an interesting mix of historical stories along with present day fiction.

Yes! 51 degrees at the moment and the sun is trying to peek out. I'm tired of cold weather and I'm tired of rainy weather and winter isn't even officially here yet.

I am definitely over my flu bug, if that's what it was. Interesting that now that our rainy, slightly warmer weather is back, I'm feeling better.

The water filter on our motorhome broke during the freezing weather, and Dave was able to replace it today. Hmmm, $15 at Uneek RV or $150 for a whole new system at Camping World. Which one do you think he bought? We're going to Champoeg State Park for a couple of nights to test the new rear heat pump that finally got installed and also to test the electric water heater which broke on our last trip. After Christmas we are planning on taking a nine day trip to the Oregon coast, so we want to make certain that everything is a go for that trip. Not that we are expecting perfection on the trip or anything. ;-)

Last night we sat down and looked at the map and the calendar and began planning our spring trip to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, St. George, Utah, and Zion and Bryce National Parks. I am excited! We may go to the Los Angeles R.C. Sproul conference, too, if we can work it into our travel plans.

So far, so good! I didn't have to go back to bed this morning and I just finished my indoor exercise, which consists of treadmill and exercise bike. Maybe I am on the mend!

This has been an interesting weekend. I'm still feeling poorly with symptoms of fatigue, achiness, stomach problems, and a bit of dizziness. But it's not an overwhelming, need to stay in bed type of illness. I keep trying to push through but I've been having to go back to bed after breakfast and rest for a couple more hours. Then I feel a bit better.

Yesterday we drove to Tim and Kiersten's house in Tigard to lend them an air mattress. Since we were down that way, Dave wanted to go to Fry's to get backup software for Windows 7. He suggested that I look at laptops because mine is five or more years old and I've been complaining that it is very slow. I found one I liked, a HP Pavilion, so we bought it. Dave has been loading it with all my "stuff". I am trying to get used to using Windows 7 which is quite a bit different than the XP system I had before. So far, so good, but I would never be able to do all this without Dave's assistance. This computer is MUCH faster than my old Compaq and I am liking that part!

One of these days I will get at doing my Christmas letter and cards. I had intended to do them yesterday, but our excursion to Fry's took longer than I expected. Today I didn't feel well most of the day and we ended up cancelling our home church tonight. Instead, Dave and I listened to an excellent podcast from White Horse Inn. It was titled "Is Living Like Jesus Enough?" and featured Dr. Michael Wittmer. http://www.whitehorseinn.org (Look under Listen Now).

Here is another gem from a good, very active blog that I follow: http://www.geneveith.com/

Evangelism Without the Gospel

"Have you seen the “Receive Jesus” ad on national television? (I can’t find it on the web. If any of you can find it, please post a link.) It has a rather cool-looking guy with a goatee and a black t-shirt against a white background. He says how life is hard. But that Jesus can make an amazing difference in your life. He tells viewers, wherever they are, to “receive Jesus.” It’s rather well-done, better than my description makes it sound.

But the ad nowhere includes the Gospel! He doesn’t say anything about sin or forgiveness or who Jesus is or what He accomplished for us on the Cross.

This is not uncommon, trying to be evangelistic while leaving out the evangel. Just telling someone to “receive Jesus” and encouraging a rote prayer to that effect without proclaiming the Gospel doesn’t make anyone a Christian, does it? I’m sure the makers of this ad do believe that Jesus died for sinners and that His death and resurrection grants forgiveness. So why did they go to all of the expense of this ad without saying that?"

What's up with this? The last two mornings I have had to go back to bed after getting up and having breakfast. I am so tired and my body aches. But yesterday I finally got up again and went out to get groceries so that I would be stocked up before we get our big freezing rain storm that's predicted. And today I got up again so that Dave and I could go for a walk around Battle Ground Village and the new houses there. We had lunch at the new Laurelwood Pub and Brewery at the Village. I was fine on the walk and during lunch, but now that I'm home again I'm tired and achy again. The temperare has warmed up to above freezing which is a nice change. Now my body needs to get into gear!

The gospel is good news, not good advice
“The heart of most religions is good advice, good techniques, good programs, good ideas, and good support systems. These drive us deeper into ourselves, to find our inner light, inner goodness, inner voice, or inner resources.
Nothing new can be found inside of us. There is no inner rescuer deep in my soul; I just hear echoes of my own voice telling me all sorts of crazy things to numb my sense of fear, anxiety, and boredom, the origins of which I cannot truly identify.
But the heart of Christianity is Good News. It comes not as a task for us to fulfill, a mission for us to accomplish, a game plan for us to follow with the help of life coaches, but as a report that someone else has already fulfilled, accomplished, followed, and achieved everything for us.”
—Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 2009), 20

Tonight Dave and I watched a Netflix DVD about Great National Park Lodges. We saw Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce National Parks. A few weeks ago we watched Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, and Oregon Caves. This is a spectacular series (from around 2002) and better, we thought, than the new Ken Burns series about the history of national parks. Dave built a fire in our fireplace for the first time this season and it was so cozy on this very chilly evening to sit in front of the fire watching a DVD about the national parks that we've either been to or want to visit in 2010.

“If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed. We stop trying to make others into saviors, because we have a Savior.”
- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 45.

We arrived home just in time for the cold weather. Temperatures are in the 20s and 30s and may get lower. Snow is possible. We could live in the motorhome in cold weather, but we would use up a lot of propane trying to stay warm.

Have you heard of the Manhattan Declaration? While I agree with what it is trying to protest, I'm not sure that it's an effective way to do it. I read this information today and now I know why I was hestitant about signing the Manhattan Declaration. Check this out: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/250.html I respect Michael Horton and believe that he has a lot of wisdom about the Gospel.

Home again, home again. We arrived home safely after an uneventful trip. We're already looking forward to the next trip, which will be after Christmas.

Today is our last day in Port Townsend before heading home tomorrow. It's been a fun trip and a good chance to check out all the systems in the new motorhome. We have to get our electric water heater fixed. We smelled an electrical burning smell one night and the next morning our electric water heater didn't work. Dave thinks it's a circuit board malfunction. Other than that, everything has worked. Our heat pump has trouble heating the rig once the temperature dips into the lower 40s, but that's not a malfunction. Luckily our propane furnace and water heater work just fine, so we've been able to stay showered, warm, and cozy.

We took two walks today. This morning we drove to Fort Worden again and walked around the buildings. There are 95 buildings still remaining from the original 440 buildings. And there are 12 batteries with 2 guns each, of which we saw two. Today we walked around the "forest" campsites and yesterday we walked around the "ocean" campsites.

After lunch in the RV, we went for another walk, this time along the street with all the shops. It's nice to be staying in a park that's located in town rather than in the outskirts.

Out our window today we saw one inbound freighter ship, a couple of barges, and a ferry boat on its way from Seattle to Victoria.

We moved our motorhome from the best site at Point Hudson to the second best site. Someone had reserved the site we were in. Our new site is very close to our old site and we still have a magnificent view of the water. Today has been a busy day for ships. So far today, we've seen two navy ships going outbound (west), two car carrier ships going east (inbound), two inbound container ships and one outbound container ship, plus the usual ferry boat going back and forth.

We took our walk at Fort Worden today. It's a very nice state park and also a good place to camp, except that they usually turn off the water hookups in the winter. We visited the battery while we were there. It was built in 1902 to protect Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound. It was operational until the 1950s. Two movies were filmed at the park, An Officer and a Gentleman and The Ring.

Point Hudson and Fort Worden are near each other. We can see Fort Worden and its lighthouse from our motorhome and when we walked at Fort Worden we spotted our motorhome. We always enjoy our stay at Port Townsend because there is much to see and do!

Yesterday, in the rain, we drove to Sequim and Port Angeles and had lunch at a place in the ferry building. In Port Townsend today the sun is out and the sky is blue.

"What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together . . . because . . . they have all been loved by Jesus himself . . .. They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.”
- D.A. Carson, Love in Hard Places (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway Books, 2002),61.