Place of Refuge

Here's a little "blurb" I wrote the other night. I'm not sure what inspired it-I just sort of started writing. Hope you enjoy it :)

Here in this never ending darkness, this place of fear and hopelessness, of trials and temptations, of desolation and desperation; here she kneels, feeling destitute, abandoned, lost. Silently weeping, tears running down her face and falling onto her knees, wanting nothing more than an inkling of hope, a scrap of courage, or even to feel a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder-someone to save her.

This was where He wanted her.

With hands clasped, desperately trying to make sense of it all, her silent weeping turns to sobs, bursting from the very depths of her being.

This is where it starts.

She's crying out in anguish, her desperate pleas evaporating into the emptiness that seems to engulf her. She screams out: "Why? Why am I all alone? Why won't somebody help me?"

That's where restoration happens.

Suddenly she feels the sensation of someone near, and she begins to hope once more that there is a way out of this deep, dark hole. She turns her face upward, hands outstretched, surrendering herself to Him. A nail-scarred hand reaches touches her shoulder, sending a surge of hope through her. The feelings of rejection, abandonment, and loneliness fade away, and the darkness begins to recede. Then a strong, powerful, gentle voice says "I have you in my arms. It's all going to be okay."

That is the place of refuge.

Fourth of July

This past weekend has been quite eventful. Thursday night, our church had a Youth Service. Both of our pastors were out of town, so the youth ran the service. I gave my testimony, and also danced my "testimony song". (It's "If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens.) A testimony song is a song that basically tells your testimony. It's like it defines where you are coming from, where you are, and where you are going. I managed to tell my story without stumbling or passing out from fright. Faith "preached the message" that night. It's a long story as to how that came about, but she did fantastic! She set up a little pulpit (a stool with a cloth draped over it), stood behind it with her Bible (which was really in Spanish, but no one knew ;), and told the church what Jesus means to her. She announced she wanted to lead Worship when she grew up, then prayed over the church. Eli read his "I Am" statement, which is a list of what he is in Christ. The whole night went great, and I think many people were blessed.
Friday, Faith managed to land herself in the Emergency Room. While playing at the park, she fell off the monkey bars and somehow cut her face on the mulch underneath. From what we could tell the cut was pretty deep, so Eli and Lydia went home with friends, Mom rushed Faith to the local clinic, and I ran home for the insurance card. When I met Mom and Faith at the clinic, they were being told that the doctor was not seeing new patients, and they couldn't treat her. We had to take her twenty minutes away to get her treated, Faith crying the whole way that she was NOT getting stitches. If you know Faith, I don't need to tell you that once her mind is made up, there is no bending her will. After being examined, disinfected, then examined again, Faith insisting that she didn't need stitches the entire time, the final conclusion was that she did not need stitches. Faith heaved a sigh of relief with this news, but when she was told that instead they were gluing her face back together, once again she was determined not to have it done. After a bit of fussing, the gluing was done, and she was free to leave, she hugged the doctor, then marched herself out the door like she owned the place.
Summer decided to finally make an appearance on Friday. Saturday was spent in the sun, barbecuing with friends and swimming. The whole family was rather burnt by the end of the day, but it was well worth it to finally be out in the sunshine. Sunday was spent in much the same way, picnicking and enjoying the sun. We watched the fireworks with new friends, every whistle and boom echoing throughout the town. I can't think of a more perfect way to spend the Fourth of July than watching everyone's eyes light up with the brilliant colors, widening with each "BOOM!", then turning and seeing the colors cascade down the dark sky with sizzles and crackles with your own eyes.

Posting soon

Will be posting a long post early next week, a lot has been happening but more will be happening through the Fourth.

~Saige

Exciting things are happening with the Expressive Signing ministry! First of all, we now have a name. We didn't want the "Happy Hands Club" name one of our pastors came up with to stick, so we came up with 3D (which stands for Dance, Drama, and Deliverance). We also have our first male dancer, and he does amazing things with flags and streamers. We aquired white gloves, which not only looks really cool when signing, but is symbolising pure hands. 3D Dance Ministry did a song at a different church for the very first time last Monday. Everyone did wonderful, and people were blessed. Here are some pictures:

I edited this one just for fun, but it looks pretty cool.

Sound to Narrows

Mom, Faith, and I ran the Sound to Narrows race this morning. Faith did the 2K (a little over a mile), Mom did the 12K (7.46 miles), and I ran the 5K (3.1 miles). Faith was very excited to run in her first race, proudly wearing the neon green over-sized Sound to Narrows T-shirt and her number tag all day. This was Mom's first 12K, and she did great! The last 5K I ran was the one I damaged my ACL in, so I was happy to finish this one without any injuries ;)
I can't post pictures at the moment (something's up with my computer), but I will as soon as possible.

Random Pictures

Since it has been a while since I posted about things that are going on (because of the 30 Day Challenge), here are some pictures of what we've been doing.

Faithie, Mom, and I were able to go on a whale tour in Seattle. We did see whales, but didn't get any good pictures of them. Above is some sea lions we passed, resting on a buoy.

We took a mini field trip to a tulip farm, which was something we had never been to in Ohio.

Faithie

Lydia

Oh, that goofy grin she always gives in front of the camera...

Massive field of tulips.

30th (and last) Day

A picture of me a year ago and now, and what has changed.

A year ago in Polson, Montana

This spring

Besides the obvious changes, like height and hair cut, a lot of other things have changed in a year. A year ago, I was in Colorado Springs, my parents were doing a DTS, and I was a little confused as to where we were going. We wound up serving in Washington, and now my family is helping to run a missionary flight academy. God is still at work, too.