room with a view

There are many reasons I am thankful for Washington. One being that it opened my eyes to God’s beautiful creation. Many people consider Western Washington "God’s Country" and now, having lived there, I might have to agree. Time and time and time again, Josh and I would find ourselves just in awe of vast snowcapped mountains, evergreens blanketing the sides of the highways, and crystal clear lakes that forced you to slow down and take notice of them. It is gorgeous there.

BUT, I am also thankful for our time in Washington, because we had to slow down, and enjoy the Creator’s portraits. We were removed from the comfort of our hometown, and given the opportunity get lost in a whole new place . . . and ended up truly appreciating what we were seeing.

And guess what? It turns out Southern California isn’t so bad either. Sure, since we have been here, we have experienced some pretty nice stormy weather, but for the most part, we have seen something like this at the end of our days, from our front porch.

Maybe its thanks to our new-found appreciation for the beauty of nature, or maybe its us having learned how to purposely slow down, but most likely it is our 2-year-old who has caused us to truly fall in love with where we live. Without prompting her, she has pointed out the orange clouds, the sunny sky, and the green "mountains" (which she refers to as Mistletoe Mountain, thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). In the chaos of moving and transition, her excitement for her new home has given us some much needed peace-of-mind that, yeah, God is providing . . . and tonight, he used the rainbow of a sunset to make us smile and remind us that He has His arms around us.