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of this day. I will praise the Lord wherever I go.
November 2008
Well, as I write this it's November 1st ... only 3 days until election day. Seems like it's been an ugly election campaign ... and I have this sinking feeling that after the election is going to be even uglier.
On the brighter side, there's the video clip to the right, which was recorded on October 31st. It features Curt Landry of House of David Ministries. He is currently leading a prayer tour in Israel, which is being co-sponsored by the ElijahList (where I work). During their prayer times they have been praying a lot for Israel, but also for the U.S. elections. He has some interesting insights on the election ... check it out.
I have a number of issues stirring in my heart these days, but I don't have the space to share everything here. So I have created a new blog called Brian's Bits, where I can share at greater length. My first article is called Reflections on the 2008 Elections. You can always get there by going to briansbits.com. Check it out!
Like I said, there are A LOT of things stirring in my heart. I've just added a second article to Brian's Bits called The Tragedy of the Non-Profit Church. Don't miss it!
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As I write this, it's only 26 days until the presidental elections, the results of which will have a major impact on the future of this country, and the future of the world. I've recently run across a few videos that seem to summarize the situation well. Please take a few minutes to watch them.
This first one on the top right I found at CatholicVote.com. You can view it larger on YouTube. (Right under the video on YouTube, click on the link that says "watch in high quality".)
The second video clip to the right is from a ministry called Eagles' Wings. It is a prophetic word given by a lady named Julie Meyer.
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From a human point of view, things do seem hopeless. But I do believe that if enough Christians seriously seek God in prayer, that He can tip the balance His way.
These are definitely interesting times! Maybe you have heard that saying, of uncertain origin, that is used as a curse: "May you live in interesting times". If a book I just read is any indication, one day things will get a lot more interesting!
In this book, he compares the main points of Islamic eschatology (Last Days events) to the main points in the Bible regarding the coming Antichrist and his Last Days world domination. The two scenarios match to an amazingly chilling degree. This is a VERY profound book, and I encourage you to get a copy and study it for yourself. This is another matter for very serious prayer and inner preparation for what the Bible promises us will surely one day come.
After a not-quite-two-hours drive from our house, we started with a hike around the lake. But fortunately there was no snow on the trail, unlike a few months ago in June, so it didn't take us as long to get around. Actually it was a gorgeous day, and a little on the warm side, especially when we walked through the lava beds.
Once we had unloaded the car and hauled all of our stuff into the upper-floor cabin, the kids pumped up their rubber dinghy and carried it the short distance from the cabin to the lake. Joanne and Jeremy took turns rowing out on the lake individually, as well as taking Olivia for rides with them. Olivia wasn't quite convinced that the ducks wouldn't bite her, so at one point she was ready to jump overboard even before Jeremy got the boat back to shore! (See the 4 mintue video below for visuals, including underwater video!)
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. For dinner we barbequed sausages on the cabin balcony, and then roasted marshmallows and bananas stuffed with pieces of chocolate. Yum! After a good night's sleep for those who chose to wear ear plugs, we got up early for a breakfast of sausages, hash browns, scrambled eggs and biscuits. Then we headed to the marina for a row to the end of the lake and back. Even little Olivia took her turn at rowing ... watch those muscles bulge!
In the middle of September, I, Brian, spent the weekend by myself in Tillamook, Oregon. After all of the family activities this year, I was ready to "get away from it all" and enjoy some silence and solitude in Tillamook ... a town which has haunted my consciousness since we first visited there a year ago in August 2007.
After lugging the four gallons of Karo into the trunk, by 7:30 AM I was off to the Portland International Airport ... what?!? Yes, it's true! I had bought some pottery there last year, when taking Catherine and the kids there to fly to Switzerland, and I wanted to see what else they had. I found a really cool, unique mug ... check it out!
Now that my errands were done, it was FINALLY time to head for the coast! After about an hour-and-a-half drive I arrived in the beautiful Tillamook Valley, where cows outnumber people 5 to 1 ... this is quite evident when you open the car door and take your first whiff of the "fresh country air!"
Now I thought it's time to work off my lunch. So I drove back to Oceanside, and walked down the beach back to the restaurant, then back to Oceanside ... about six miles in all. To get some visuals on what it was like there, check out photos 1 through 5 in my Tillamook Photo Album!
Once I made it back to the car I headed back to Tillamook via Cape Meares, on which is located a 118-year-old, 34-foot lighthouse, the shortest in Oregon (See photo 6 in the album).
Once settled into my hotel room, I cracked open a book I had just picked up at the library, The Copper Scroll, by Joel C. Rosenberg. This is the fourth book in a series of five political thrillers that will get your heart pumping and keep you on the edge of your seat. And the amazing thing is that his fiction has a way of appearing in tomorrow's headlines. Highly recommended! So I enjoyed eating sunflower seeds and reading late into the night. Very hard to put down!
The next day, after reading a few more chapters in the morning after breakfast, I headed south to check out Munsion Creek Falls, which, with a drop of 319 feet, is the highest waterfall in Oregon's Coast Range (see photos 7 through 11 in the Tillamook photo album).
My feet were already a bit sore from my six-mile walk the day before, and I really wanted to take it easy and read some more of my book, but I thought that I should take advantage of the gorgeous, warm weather and my presence at the coast for another walk. Seeing that the average temperature in July is 58ºF, and that it was more like 80ºF on this day, how could I pass it up? So I parked at the base of the Bayocean peninsula, which forms the western part of Tillamook Bay (check out the map for more details).
From the parking lot I walked all the way up the east side of the peninsula (See photo 12 in the album), across the top, back down on the west (ocean) side, and then cut across back to the parking lot ... seven-and-a-half miles in all! During most of the walk it was quite warm, and by the time I reached the car, the soles of my feet hurt so much I could barely walk! I was exhausted! Time to head home!
I took the long way through Portland again, stopping at the Red Lobster for a late lunch, and then making my last stop of the trip at Trader Joe's to pick up some of our favorite foods we can't find around Albany.
Once I arrived home, I pulled off my tennis shoes to find that I had a large blister on the ball of each foot. The one on the right foot was especially large and painful, so I carefully drained it, and felt better. For a few days I had to wear my Birkenstock sandals to work, but by the end of the week I was able to wear my tennis shoes again. Almost every day since then I have been telling God thank-you for being able to walk ... it's so easy to take such a gift for granted!
After visiting Clear Lake on the Saturday of Father's Day weekend (see the June 2008 blog entry below for more details and a map), we thought it would be fun to go back and spend the night there. So we headed for the hills to celebrate Catherine's birthday on September 6th.
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In March 2008 we had mentioned that Joanne finally got her braces off. Well, we can now inform you that Jeremy finally got his braces ON! As you can see from the photo to the right, he was really excited! If you look carefully at the the photo you can see the braces on his bottom teeth (move your mouse over the photo to zoom in). Now poor Jeremy has to endure for 2 years what Joanne experienced: no buttery popcorn, no crunchy peanut butter, no juicy ribs! But at least he will end up with a million dollar smile .. and hopefully it won't cost that much to get it!
Tillamook Valley, Bay, and region. Click map to enlarge
We spent the next few hours walking down back to our car. And because the gondola tickets were good for the whole day, we took a ride back up again, but this time we took it down too. On the way back home we went to the Trader Joe's in Eugene for the first time in two years, and then had a good old Swiss cheese fondue at home to round out the Swiss Day festivities.
If you are anything like me, you avoid reading the books that everyone says, "You just HAVE to read this!" So I never thought I would read The Shack. But Catherine wanted to read it, so we got a copy, and I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Now I know what everyone is talking about! It is one of the most awesome and profound books I have ever read, and I've read a lot of books in my time. So it's true, you DO have to read it! Click on the book cover image for more details, or to buy it from The ElijahList, where I work.
Saturday we took the Metro to the National Mall, to participate in twelve hours of prayer and fasting with tens of thousands of other Christians. To pray and stay focused and stay engaged for that long is hard work! It was somewhat hot, but with our chairs under some trees, a fairly steady little breeze, and a bit of cloud cover, it wasn't as bad as I had expected. We ended up leaving a bit early so we wouldn't have to walk the streets of DC in the dark, but by that time we were kind of on overload anyway.
Sunday, after taking the Metro to the Mall again, we walked to a lot of the important monuments and buildings: the Washington Monument, the White House, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, down the Mall past all of the Smithsonian museums, and around the Capitol building ... eight miles in all! After all that exercise (and sweating!), we treated ourselves to a Swiss fondue at The Melting Pot restaurant.
For more photos from our trip, don't miss our Washington DC Photo Album!
I had mentioned in our April blog entry that Joanne was going to audition for the Corvallis Youth Symphony. Well, she made it! A couple of days after getting back from DC, Joanne had a three-day symphony orchestra day-camp to prepare for the coming year. Then, a couple of hours after the music camp finished, her and Catherine headed off to nearby McMinnville for another old-fashioned English dance. But instead of the "Pride and Prejudice Ball" they went to in April (see the blog entry for that month), the theme this time was Days of Robin Hood ... hence the "Maid Marian" look of Joanne and her friend Bethany.
Jeremy with his friends Jacob,
Michael and Antonio at camp
Well, August is here before we had time to finish sharing with you what was happening in July. In mid-July, Jeremy went to a wilderness boy's camp, run by Canyonview Camp (the same place Joanne goes for her horse camps). He and his friends had a great time sleeping in teepees, going for hikes, archery, Bible studies, and lots of other "boy" activities.
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The eastern end of Odell Lake, looking
eastwards over the Cascade Mountains
The western end of Odell Lake, with
Diamond Peak towering in the background
To help us celebrate, Brian's parents drove the 825 miles from Santa Maria for their annual trip to Albany. In addition, we invited some friends over, and together we all ate barbequed sausages and enjoyed watching the kids light lots of fireworks, in addition to the professional fireworks fired from a park about a mile away. As you can see in the photo above, Joanne even decorated the house for the festive occasion. Thus we passed our first 4th of July in Albany since moving here 2 years ago this month.
Once we were back on terra firma we took a walk around the cabins to see the one we will spend the night in for Catherine's birthday in early September. Then it was time for our hour and forty-five minute drive back home. It was about time to make our first visit to the Cascades after living in Oregon for almost two years! Check out our Clear Lake 2008 photo album to see 18 of the best photos. And when we go back in September, we will be sure to add more photos to the album.
June ended with the girls getting sportive. Each morning for two weeks Olivia was to be found in the city pool, having fun and learning more about swimming. She passed her level 2 class, and was ready for more.
Making her annual pilgrimage to Canyonview Camp, for six days Joanne rode a fleabitten horse (the color of its hair, not its affliction!) called London, learning new riding techniques and improving old ones. When not on the back of a horse, Joanne was kept busy with Bible studies, chores, singing around the campfire, swimming in a small lake, getting to know the other girls in her camp, and more. She came back home positively glowing!
May 2008
At the very beginning of May, I, Brian, was listening to a message by Lou Engle called "Horton Gets a Clue" (available from the ElijahList as an MP3 download or on CD), and I really felt stirred to attend TheCall DC II on August 16th in Washington, DC. Why I felt stirred is a long story that you can't really understand without listening to Lou's message, so I really encourage you to get a copy and get stirred yourself!
Anyway, to make a long story short, I talked with Joanne about it, and so she and I will fly to Washington, DC on August 15th to take part in a 12-hour gather for prayer and fasting on the National Mall. You can watch the video clip to the right, which shows highlights from the previous TheCall DC in 2000, for more understanding of the "what" and the "why" of this solemn assembly. As we gather with hundreds of thousands of other Christians from all over the nation, to pray and fast for our country to turn back to God, during this critical time right before the presidential elections, we hope that we will see you there too!
While I totally disagree with him on all the vital moral issues of our day, many of his other policies and ideas make a lot of sense. He is a compelling candidate, and I would not be surprised if, for better or for worse, he ends up being our next president. Pray for him, that his heart and life will be totally surrendered and committed to Jesus the Messiah.
Here's a funny joke I found in the latest edition of Israel Today magazine:
The man asked, "God, what's a million years to you?"
And God said, "A minute."
Then the man asked, "Well, what's a million dollars to you?"
And God said, "A penny."
Then the man asked, "God, can I have a penny?"
And God said, "Sure, in a minute."
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Be sure to check out our Seattle 2008 photo album for more pictures from our trip.
'Tis the season for concerts, and Joanne was in yet another one, this time a Baroque concert, playing a 20-minute Bach piece with Stephanie, a fellow violin player. Click on the video to the right for excerpts.
April 2008
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So she dusted off her Civil War Dance dress, slept all night with curlers in her hair ... and then she was off! She really enjoyed a fun evening out with some of her homeschool friends. Click on the video to the left to watch some highlights.
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The same day as Joanne's Ball, April 19, we had a late taste of winter with a big hail storm. Olivia quickly bundled up and rushed outside to enjoy the fun.
Click on the video to the right to watch Olivia's reaction to the crashing peals of thunder close by!
April was also the month in which Olivia lost her first tooth! She had been wiggling it for ages, and was so happy when it finally came out. Luckily, big brother Jeremy was there with his camera to capture this momentous occasion!
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Last but not least, at the end of April Joanne performed with the symphony orchestra that she joined at the beginning of the year. The Willamette Valley Junion Honors Symphony, which she is a part of, started off a musical evening at the LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis.
After four musical pieces, the Corvallis Youth Symphony (which Joanne will be auditioning for in May!) took the stage for a second concert. Then for the grand finale, BOTH orchestras, plus about 20 alumni, packed the stage (about 130 or more musicians!) for one final piece.
We are really blessed that Joanne has these musical opportunities in the Albany area.
It actually hasn't been the greatest month for us. The beginning part of the month Olivia, Catherine, and I, Brian, all had the flu for a good week. Homeschooling slowed to a crawl, and I missed quite a bit of work, although I was able to work some from home. We'll spare showing you any photos of us sick!
There have been some exciting changes for Joanne lately. First of all, after nearly three years, she finally got her braces off! Hurray for popcorn night! Also, she is in a different orchestra this semester, the Willamette Valley Junior Honors Symphony in Corvallis. Joining this orchestra gives Joanne an opportunity to take her experience of playing with a group of musicians to a much higher level. She will be performing a number of demanding pieces with the rest of the orchestra next month...stay tuned!
March 2008
Well, as I mentioned last month, starting with this blog entry, we are going to be recounting the events of the current month, rather than recounting the events of the previous month as we used to. So, what's been happening with the Byrd Family in March?
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January is always a special month in the Byrd Family, as Joanne and Jeremy both have their birthdays that month, 7 days apart. But actually there is not much to report ... we had low-key family celebrations, some nice meals and a handful of gifts. Now we have 2 teenagers in the family, with Joanne turning 14 and Jeremy 13.
Last winter we had just a dusting of snow, so when a storm blew through the week between Joanne's and Jeremy's birthdays, the kids were quite excited to go out and make snowmen and have snowball fights.
Jeremy has been interested in knights and armor and Lord of the Rings and things along that line for quite a while now. He had been dreaming of getting a "real" sword made of metal, so he took some of his birthday money and finally took the plunge. He likes to go in the backyard and swing his 51 inch sword around, while Olivia tries to keep her neck out of the way!
Well, that's about it for January. And since not much other than ordinary daily life has been happening during February, I suppose that we have now covered two months in one blog entry.
Well, we will just keep on doing our daily duty with homeschooling and work, and see what the future brings.
So why open presents on December 6th instead of the 25th? Again, as it says on the St. Nicholas Center Web site, "gift-giving in early December helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child." I can't really think of a better reason than that! Maybe you should give it a try this next December ... you might end up liking it as much as we do!
January 2008
It's now 2008 and the holiday season has come and gone. Happy New Year! Joanne was very busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas with her watercolors, painting picture after picture for a 2008 calendar we made for family and friends. You can see small and large versions of each painting at Joanne's new Web site: Joanne's Gallery (www.joannebyrd.com)
On December 4th, big-girl Olivia turned six! To celebrate her special day, we went ice skating at the Lloyd Center, a big mall in downtown Portland. We were all kind of on the rusty side, but after a while it seemed to come back. Jeremy was the quickest to get back into form, and before we knew it he was speeding around the rink and doing fancy turns. Later, Olivia finally got to open the birthday presents she had been looking forward to for so long, and then two days later she had another opportunity to open presents, along with the rest of the family....
As has been our tradition for the past 10 years, we did all of our "Christmas" gift-giving and opening on St. Nicholas Day, December 6th, rather than at Christmas. As you can read at the St. Nicholas Center, gift-giving on this day has a long tradition in Europe, and according to their Web site, "There is growing interest in reclaiming the original saint in the United States to help restore the spiritual dimension of this festive time." Looking around that Web site some more, I found that a major motion picture about the life of Nicholas will be released at Christmas 2008 ... go to the Nicholas of Myra movie Web site and check out the preview.
For all of my adult life I have never been very keen on all of the American trappings of Christmas, so you can imagine the astonishment of Catherine and the kids when I told them that I wanted to hang some "icicle"-type lights on our house ... they just couldn't believe it! How did this come about? Well, one day when I was taking a walk around the neighbourhood, it struck me that some lights like that would be really nice for the short days and longs nights of winter. And the verses in the Bible were coming to mind where Jesus says that He is the Light of the world. Our neighbourhood felt kind of dark and dreary, so it seemed like a good idea to let the light shine in the darkness. I really enjoy seeing them light up when I come home from work each day, and it does make the neighbourhood brighter.
Since I was little, we have had a family tradition to make aebleskivers for breakfast on Christmas morning. Because this was the first year since moving to America 10 years ago that we did not spend Christmas with my family in Santa Maria, we decided to carry on the tradition ourselves here in Oregon. So we invited some friends over for brunch, made up a big batch of aebleskiver batter, fried up a huge mound of bacon and sausage (and linguica), and thoroughly enjoyed a Danish breakfast feast. Too bad that you couldn't be there! My cousins who recently moved to Gig Harbor in Washington established the tradition in that state this Christmas too. So now if we can just get someone in Santa Maria to carry on now that we don't live there, we will have the entire west coast of America covered!