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• Wearing a huge puffy jacket that goes to your knees while wearing a skirt is worth it if its below 30 degrees out. Brrrrrr
• My new love: Tall americano with white chocolate mocha and room for cream
• No alcohol January is officially over!
• New book (Bittersweat: Thoughts on change, grace and learning the hard way) is on its way! The anticipation is too great. You know those books that change your life forever? Well, this one will... actually already has. Thank you Bethany! And I have to include an excerpt so you can maybe understand what I'm about to jump into (and and expect a ton of posts on this book): This collection is an ode to all things bittersweet, to life at the edges, a love letter to what change can do in us. This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good, in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good. By that I mean that it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that is has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along, except that you were too busy pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be. So, this is the work I'm doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.
• Homeopathy... a bit unsure, but have to give it a shot! Please knee heal faster.
• Second Chances by Paper Route... great song
• Kiwi and blueberries are the best combination
• How do you find the perfect merino wool hoody? I've searched every online store. No one has what I want. In these moments I often wish I was a clothing designer.
• I need decorating ideas for my room. Its still too boring... almost like there's too much wall space.
• I'm going to be Chinese tonight and celebrate Lunar New Year... and eat tons of amazing chinese food. Yes!
• Oh and I need to do laundry. ASAP.
• And because I can never post anything without including a little substance (and by the way, this applies to everything): So, we might as well learn that our freedom to indulge must include the freedom to abstain - otherwise its not freedom at all. It's slavery. - Richard Dahlstrom

Hosea 2

I have a new favorite chapter of the Bible. Hosea 2. I know its an obscure favorite, but seriously. It is remarkable. A perfect illustration of our sinfulness, God's jealousy for our hearts and His redemptive power to rebuild what we break. Truly remarkable. Hope filled. Humbling too. I urge you to read it.

Some favorite parts?

Verses 14-15: Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of Egypt.

Verses 19-20: I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.

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This chapter simply strikes a chord within me unlike any other. You see, the world has allured her. And she has prostituted herself to everyone and everything. And He is a jealous God who wants her heart - the heart He created for His glory.

And so she is stripped naked. Her path blocked. Unable to catch desire. She is exposed. Her celebrations put to an end.

And that is when He allures her... gently leads her to the desert.

There she confronts Hurt. The barren, rolling hills emanate emptiness and despair. Why here? There are no distractions. Nothing to run to. No way to hide. Her heart is laid bare and her mind peeled open to Truth and Understanding.

It is here that He speaks. Every so tenderly. Piercing her heart with Truth.

"You've come. I've been waiting."

And then emotion comes. A cry for help within her withered and broken soul pleads for deliverance from the heavy chains. No more hiding. No more running. The dam breaks free and washes everything away.

And then the rebuilding begins. Troubled lies are brought forth and the door of hope gives way to freedom.

And then she feels it happening. Her rusting heartstrings are replaced and re-laced with ones of fine gold. And she can't hold back. A song of joy and redemption is released from within her soul and she is free!

The names of the past fade from her lips. A new covenant is made. A betrothal for eternity... in righteousness, justice, love and compassion.

Adultery gives way to faithfulness as LOVE is acknowledged. And LOVE responds. A booming voice over all creation.

"I planted you here for myself. I will show you my love for you are mine and I will fight for you."

And out of the desert she comes. And she responds, "Yes, I am yours and You are my God."

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Incredible! He is so jealous for her heart and purposefully stripes her of everything... and instead of condemning and judging... he leads her to the desert and speaks tenderly to her!

Do you get it? God is jealous for our hearts. He wants us for His own. In our days of trouble, He will lead us to the desert where we may feel lost, confused, tormented by who we have become and the choices we've made in the past. But it is from the desert that He provides a door of hope and redemption. It is from the desert that He speaks tenderly to us; where He waits for our hearts to respond.

Will we open our hearts to Him? Will we respond to His grace and love? Or will we remain in the desert? Will we become comfortable and take up residence there? Will we ignore the slavery that constricts our hearts? Perhaps our slavery is indistinguishable... perhaps it has become the norm in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are slaves at all. But if we become comfortable in the desert we will only keep ourselves from being rebuilt and molded into who we were originally created to be. We will instead be lost forever. Never finding our way. Chasing after things we will never catch.

And so the question remains... will we listen to His tender voice? Will we be released from the bondage that so easily consumes? Or will we remain lost forever?

Night Hiking it Up

Last night was one of the most amazing experiences ever! No joke.

Two of my amazing friends, Renee and Shelby, and the forever energetic and fierce dog, Charlie and I all decided to hike Mt. Si after work. And I'm not joking when I say, I was truly LOVING MY LIFE! 

We made it up to the top in an hour and a half - which for those who don't know, is a pretty darn good time - and was the perfect pace for my Mount St. Helens training. Once at the top, the view was simply breath taking. It was that perfect time of the evening when everything seems dream-like. The sun wasn't quite setting, but projected a sort of peaceful knowing that it's role for the day was soon coming to a close. Simply dream-like. Rainier was beautifully magnificent as always. 

After a few pictures to document the surreal feeling at the summit, we decided that it was time to make the descent back to our cars. The sun would soon be setting and we wanted to give ourselves as much daylight as possible to hike down. Knowing that we'd be hiking in the dark for the last 2 miles or so, we were prepared with headlamps... and of course Charlie the super dog to protect us :) We began hiking at 6:45pm and returned to our cars about 3 hours later. It was the perfect mid-week trek. 

In fact, I think that was one of the many reasons why last night was SO amazing... we decided to go on a week night. Instead of staying home, doing the normal and expected thing, we changed our routine and did something abnormal. We broke the chains of routine and challenged ourselves physically when our bodies and minds really only wanted to relax. Maybe that's why I felt like I truly accomplished something last night - because I've done Mt. Si before and its never felt this purposeful or good before. 

I'm learning that breaking free of routine is important for my well-being. Otherwise I end up feeling contained and limited... 

And maybe that's why last night was so exhilarating and perfect... because it had a sense of freedom to it...

I believe more mid-week night hikes are soon to come.