Good Reflection

"Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? ... How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation? ... Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him?" My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers daily devotional for January 21.

Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation? Hmmm, depends on what part of my life you are looking at.

The end of the devotional says "...I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates to bring godly sorrow and 'godly sorrow produces repentance ...'(2 Corinthians 7:10)"

Obviously this is speaking to me on a very personal level right now. The thing is, I ain't ready to face the shame, humiliation or repentance right now. My pride is getting in the way.
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In other news, its fricking freezing cold here. I think it was 9 degrees when I went to work this morning. This is part of the 6 weeks of winter where I wish we had a better heat system in the house, instead I have become an expert fire-starter. The fireplace is going almost non-stop either from the time I wake up or from the time I get home after work until I go to bed. Brrrrrr. Thankfully there is no wind or it would be unbearable out. Trouble is it's deceptively beautiful. Bright blue skies, the sun is shining, but its COLD. Since there were no clouds last night with the nearly full moon it was really, really pretty. I was wishing I was out in the sticks taking moon-light photos of snow covered fields or mountains or something. That would have been really (cold) cool.

Vacation

Here we are in Issaquah. Its been kind of nice to escape the heat. Did I mention the heat? It was 110 degrees on Tuesday at 5pm. For the fourth or fifth day in a row. When we left yesterday at around 11:00 it was already 94 degrees. We got to Issaquah and it was in the 70's. Its pretty refreshing but I cant wait to get home where its hot and I can lay by he pool and relax.

Its kind of nice to have nothing to do for vacation. When my return-to-town plans changed, it was no big deal. Grandma & Grandpa want to keep the kids Saturday night in Issaquah and then exchange them half-way on Sunday - BONUS an extra kid-free-day.

I'm sure I have more to say, I always do, but I'm done for now.

Sunscreen & Chlorine

That word, "chlorine" doesn't look right. But spellcheck says it is so it must be.

That's the past week summed up. Everyone has enjoyed the pool this past 100 degree week. My tan self included. When I am not working that is.

I happened to be at work when the first huge fire of the season started this weekend. No kidding, we probably handled 50-80 calls each in a 20 minute span when this thing took off. The whole north end of my fair city is toasted. Black, black, black. There are some great aerial shots at the (only) local newspaper website. I just hope the dumb ass that started the fire with his fireworks gets ticketed (at the very least). Who plays with fireworks in a dry field on a windy day???????

I say "first huge fire" because we live in an area where fires are the norm this time of year. The fire departments have a whole plan for it, but its always a bit of a learning curve when the first one actually takes off. And its usually in a forested area, not a rural area. Thank goodness, there hasn't been any loss of homes or injuries that I am aware of. There were several hundred evacuations on Saturday night and into Sunday, but the wind has pushed it away from the residential areas.

More later, have to run to work.