california road trip!!!

Stace and I at the farmer's market in the Bay Area

Cami, Deidre and I at the top of Hollywood Mountain above the Griffith Observatory.

Me with Sarah, Nina, and John Paul at the junior high group "Messy Night."

There is something about being with good friends that is so freeing.  Even if it has been six months or eighteen months, somehow I can just pick back up as if it's only been a week. There is something very profound about these friends who understand the depth of what I am saying because they've seen the process and they know the story of my life. They are the kind of friends who can listen beyond my words and actually hear ME as not many people do. They just get it.  

A week ago I got back from a two week road trip where I was able to visit some of these friends--yay!!!  Josh and Stacy are in Mill Valley across the Golden Gate from the Bay and we had an awesome time just being together--great conversation and a adventure too. We walked through Muir Woods (which was beautiful), listened to a comedian in downtown Mill Valley, and went to the Farmer's Market at a nearby town. It was so good to just share life and catch up!

 Then I went South to LA, where, as most of you know, my life has been deeply impacted. I stayed with Deidre and Cami at the Dream Center in downtown Los Angeles where they are teachers.  It was so amazing to see their ministry and the place and people that the Lord has called them too. I went with them to a couple services at Angeles Temple and at one was able to hear Scott Harrison, the founder of a 18 month old ministry called charity : water who shared his absolutely beautiful and compelling testimony of simultaneously returning to the faith and starting this non-profit to provide drinking water to communities that do not have it. It was incredibly encouraging to worship with this community!

While I was in LA I was also able to see Bob and Susan, a couple I served with through Here's Life Inner City while living in LA and the couple that the Multnomah team partners with on Spring Break.  My time in LA was very reveling of my own heart and desires. It's been and always will be a monument in my life, but for the first time LA didn't feel like home. It was perfect to share that time with them and to have the chance to process with Deidre with whom I have shared so much passion for and memories in LA.  We had a fabulous time!

Then I headed back North to Salinas, a farming community a couple hours South of the Bay.  It was so cool to go from watching the sunset in downtown LA to John and Sarah's house on the farms where they have a view of the sunrise over the mountains.  It was so wonderful! I was able to meet Nina (their 8 month old daughter) for the very first time and she is absolutely beautiful!  John is the junior high pastor at their church and I was able to go to a couple events and see him in action. It was amazing to see him doing his thing and using his gifting!  We hung out with Sarah's family on the 4th of July and watched fireworks from their porch later that evening. 

It was incredibly refreshing to see the places the Lord has placed friends who are so dear to me...incredible to see them working for his kingdom in such different contexts...incredible to consider all the thoughts and dreams we had years ago and how they are bearing fruit in the present.  I was encouraged in the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord--that He always brings to completion and often works beyond and outside of our expectation! 

A week ago I woke up early and drove from Salinas to Portland and enjoyed a really incredible 12 hours on the road.  It was a sweet drive. I guess one of the coolest and mysterious things about it was that I got the giddy feeling coming into Portland that I usually would get driving into LA. Maybe I'm finally at peace with coming home. 

Thank you friends for opening your homes and your lives to me--I love you all!