Today's Walk in the Park

Today I walked to Pacific Community Park, which is located about 1/2 mile from our house.  It's a new park and is known as a "dog park" because it has a large fenced off area for people to let their dogs off their leashes.  The weather was warm but the sky was cloudy.  I took my camera along on the walk.  Along the way I saw blossoms:

the path I took to get to the park:

Oregon's Mt. Hood hiding behind a cloud:

and the bell tower from Holy Redeemer Catholic Church:

Letter to the Editor

Dave's letter to the editor of the Columbian newspaper was published today.  Doesn't his idea make good sense?

Click here to read his letter.

C.S. Lewis Quote

I admire the writings of C.S. Lewis.  Here is a pithy but powerful quote from him:

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Chapter 27

TuneGlue Music Map

Click here to try TuneGlue Music Map.  It shows relationships between musical artists or bands, allowing you to plug in the name of an artist you like at which point it will find some recommendations of others you may enjoy.

Type the name of the artist in the upper righthand corner.  When the name appears on the screen, click on it and hit "expand". 

I need this kind of utility to find new books and authors to read!

More Quotes from Of First Importance

More good quotes from Of First Importance: Living each day in the good of the gospel:

“Everything that a man leans upon but God—will be a dart which will certainly pierce his heart through and through. He who leans only upon Christ—lives the highest, choicest, safest and sweetest life.”

- Thomas Brooks

“When we are trusting Christ most authentically, we are not thinking about trusting, but about Christ. When we step out of the moment to examine it, we cease what we were doing, and therefore cannot see it. My counsel for strugglers therefore is relentlessly: Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus in his word. And pray for eyes to see.”


- John Piper, Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul

The Father cannot resist fellowship with His own dear children when they embrace Christ in all His offices as prophet, priest, and king.”


- C. John Miller, Repentance and 21st Century Man (Fort Washington, Pa.: CLC publications, 2003), 51.

“In order for the Christian gospel to be good news it must provide an all-satisfying and eternal gift that undeserving sinners can receive and enjoy. For that to be true, the gift must be three things. First, the gift must be purchased by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our sins must be covered, and the wrath of God against us must be removed, and Christ’s righteousness must be imputed to us. Second, the gift must be free and not earned. There would be no good news if we had to merit the gift of the gospel. Third, the gift must be God himself, above all his other gifts.”


- John Piper, God is the Gospel (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2005), 14.

Lacamas Lake Trail

We just got back from a walk along the trail at Lacamas Lake.  We walked for a little over an hour.  Here's a view along the trail:

And a view of the lake from the trail:

We parked at the east end of the three mile trail, at this park:

Another view of Camas Heritage Park:

Heart-Shaped Watermelon Pieces

Our younger son, Jonathan, age 20, has worked at a Fred Meyer store for the last year and a half while he finished his college B.A. degree and now while he's waiting to get hired by the Washington State Patrol.  He works in the produce department and one of his tasks is to cut up fruit and make fruit trays. Jonathan got the idea of using cookie cutters to cut heart shaped watermelon pieces for Valentines Day.  It was evidently a great success at his store, so his boss told corporate about the idea, and now all the Fred Meyer stores are going to start offering specially shaped fruit for each holiday.  Also, of the 21 stores in his region, Jonathan's store does 10% of all the produce sales.  Way to go, Jonathan!  This picture is from the internet, not Jonathan's store, but you get the idea: