De-Stressing Christmas

Happy Christmas season, dear reader!

As we all shop and wrap and decorate and hurry about, I wonder, how is your heart this season? What thoughts or worries are consuming your mind? What obligations are demanding your attention? What are you rejoicing in? What are you mourning? Are you hurrying too much? Resting too little? What do the meditations of your heart turn to when you unplug the tree lights and go to bed at night?

This morning my pastor’s message was titled “De-Stressing Your Holiday,” and he spoke of Mary and Martha. He reminded us that we don’t know the result of what Martha did that day — Scripture doesn’t record how clean her house was, what she made for dinner, how many people came over, or if her cheesecake turned out right. No one knows. But Mary… “Mary has chosen the good portion [of all the things she could have chosen to focus on!] and it will not be taken from her.”

I wanted to share a few things with you that give life and rest to my soul in the holiday season, and help me to focus on what’s really important.

• Emily P Freeman’s ‘The Quiet Collection’ podcast. While the deadline has passed to sign up for this daily installment of Christmas reflections, I encourage you to look up Emily’s regular podcast, “The Next Right Thing.”  Each episode is only about 15-20 minutes long, so totally doable even in a busy day. Emily’s voice is lovely and soothing, and her messages so gracious.
• Christmas lights in my window. So simple, but it’s something that brightens both my living room and my soul. Especially here in Alaska when it gets dark in the middle of the afternoon this time of year, something as simple as framing my windows with Christmas lights becomes something beautiful and uplifting.
• JJ Heller’s Christmas album. I’ll be honest, this plays in our home year-round! We just love JJ Heller’s voice and songwriting. Her songs Christmas Is Here and Star of Wonder are my favorites.
• Shopping small. Yes, shopping can be part of the stress of the season. But for me, knowing that the money I’m spending is going to a family, to someone’s dream, to a kid’s first trip to Disneyland, it makes me feel good about the gifts I’m purchasing.
• Darigold Egg Nog. Hey! We can spend the rest of the year watching what we eat, right? I am a firm believer in egg nog at Christmas! It’s a once-a-year treat, and whatever yours is — sugar cookies? cider? fruitcake? — I think the calories are worth being extra kind to yourself this time of year.
• The Word of God. This fall I got to hear Lauren Bourne speak at a conference, and on the topic of the Bible being our spiritual food, she said, “The Word of God is not just a salad; it’s meat and potatoes and bread.” The Word — if we let it — really satisfies and sustains us. So in the midst of holiday parties and trips to the post office, I am trying to make sure I sit with the Lord and get into His Word.

May your heart find quiet and rest this Christmas week, my friend!

30 People, Day 3: Mama

 

Shout-Out to Mama – you had a huge role in shaping who I am today. One thing specifically comes to mind, one important aspect of how you raised me up that still has great impact in my daily life.

Thank you for teaching me to memorize Scripture. It wasn’t always my favorite thing as a child and young teen, but as an adult, I’m forever grateful to have The Word hidden in my heart, thanks to the many hours of sitting around the kitchen table, quoting the passages phrase-by-phrase, verse-by-verse. Even now, on those days when I don’t know what to read, what to pray, what to even think, I find my mind returning to those old familiar Scriptures that still roll easily off my tongue — Psalm 23. Psalm 139. Romans 12. Colossians 3. 1 John 1.

What a vital lesson to have learned in childhood; what life-giving words to carry into adulthood. Thanks for this priceless gift, Mama.

Challenge to readers:
In the comments below, give a shout-out to your mom, or another mother-figure in your life. Tell us the difference she made in your life! Then reach out to her with a note, text, or in person, and tell her what she means to you. 

Speaking Truth Over My Body

I woke up early and stuck my basal thermometer in my mouth – just like every morning.

Two minutes later, my temperature reading was low – just like every morning.

If you’re not familiar with basal temperature charting, the basic premise is that body temperature rises when ovulation occurs, and drops again right before menstruation. Many women use this simple method to track the monthly rise and fall, to know where they are in their cycle.

In my case, it’s just frustrating to wake up and temp, morning after morning, and never see that elusive “rise” for weeks or months. Another low temperature meant that my hormones still weren’t right, and I still wasn’t having normal cycles. Thanks for nothing, PCOS.

All that to say, that morning I was disappointed. Angry. Frustrated. Wondering why my body couldn’t work right. And definitely not talking nicely to myself. 

So, still lying in bed, I began to pray – trying to refocus my thoughts, to be okay, to get to a mental and emotional place where I could start the day right. As I silently prayed, the Lord brought the Armor of God from Ephesians 6 to my mind, so I began to recite the pieces from head to toe.

“The helmet of salvation.
The breastplate of righteousness.
The shield of faith.
The belt of truth…” 

I got stuck on that one. The belt of truth… I’d once heard a pastor say that the belt guards your most private, most sensitive parts. And this Scripture came to mind: “You desire truth in the innermost being” (Psalm 51:6). 

So I took a deep breath and began to ask God:  What does it mean to have the belt of truth guard my innermost being? How do I speak truth over my innermost being – those parts of my body that don’t work correctly – instead of speaking frustration and condemnation to it?

Immediately, He began to remind me of the truths:

“For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.”

“I will not be ashamed, but….Christ will be honored in my body.”

Friends, this was eye-opening for me. As I fight with the disease of PCOS and am daily reminded that my female body fails to operate the way it’s meant to, it’s easy to fall into the exact mindset I was in that morning — of harsh and disappointed thoughts toward myself and my body.

The truth is that God intentionally, lovingly, and creatively crafted this body of mine, just as He did yours, and He did so for His beautiful purposes. 

Does this mean God gave me a hormonal disorder and wants me to suffer its side effects and heartaches? No, it doesn’t. Disease is in this world because sin is in this world. But I’m reminded that He is Lord over all of it.

On a recent Sunday, my pastor said that God is working on the microscopic level of our lives — the smallest of details that we can’t even see. I think that includes our hormones and our dysfunctional innermost parts.

Where are you tempted to speak harsh or frustrated words toward your body? Maybe it’s not your hormones, but maybe it’s your weight, your acne, or your invisible illness. I encourage you to ask the Lord to show you HIS TRUTH that you can speak over your body today. Our words and thoughts are so powerful.

Let truth guard your innermost being. 

I Refuse to Believe He will be Conquered

 Last week, I highlighted the following quote in Oswald Chambers’ devotional My Utmost for His Highest:

“Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling.
Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered.”

What does this mean to you? I know what it means to me.

It means I keep holding on… to hope, to goals, to my dreams, to prayers I’m praying, yes… but more than anything, holding on to my Hero, my Savior, the only One who will never, ever be conquered. 

Because as Romans 8 tells us, we are more than conquerors through Jesus, and no matter what the highs and lows or the present or the future brings, we win because none of it can separate us from Him.

Whatever your current battle, persevere, my friend. Because your God is the unconquerable Hero.

 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  {Romans 8:37-39}

Psalm 13: How Long, O Lord?

 

This morning I was in the shower, praying about what topic I should write on today. But I was coming up blank – zero inspiring ideas. Finishing my shower, I pulled on some comfy fleece leggings and my favorite tshirt, snuggled cross-legged into my glider chair (yes, I’m such a grandma), and opened my Bible to where I’m reading in Psalms.

Psalm 13:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 

It starts off a bit depressing, doesn’t it? But I could identify with the writers’ feelings.

I certainly wasn’t drowning in depression this morning, or feeling overtaken by the enemy. It was just a normal morning. But often, in the midst of normal, there can be a sorrow hidden deep in the heart, and these silent questions underlying our days – how long, O Lord? 

You know what I mean, don’t you?

It’s the single woman, longing for the husband she’s been praying for.
It’s the woman who feels lonely without true friendship in her life.
It’s the one stuck in a complicated situation and wishing for simplicity.
It’s the wife who feels isolated from her husband.
It’s the woman who can’t have children.
It’s the mom whose children are far from the Lord.
It’s the one dealing with a long-term illness.

There are so many possibilities, so many circumstances that could be the source of our sorrow and our questions. You have yours, and I have mine. Sure, we aren’t continuously depressed, but if we get quiet and look deep, the “how longs” are there.

But I love how Psalm 13 ends:

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

(emphasis mine)

I have trusted in God’s faithfulness, and I will continue to trust.

I will rejoice. No matter what. I will rejoice when He comes through for me and answers my prayers, but I will rejoice until then, too.

He has been good to me. Already – even with unmet desires and unanswered questions – He has already blessed me so much.

So I keep singing, praising, and trusting… because no matter where I am, He is good!

freedom to feel

Mourning and Dancing. I am doing a #shereadstruth Bible study this month on Mourning and Dancing. Over the weekend, we were instructed to spend time praying and reflecting over Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4:

There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance.

I wanted to share the prayer I wrote in my journal this morning as I reflected on this…

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and Holy Spirit, today I pray for the freedom to feel. To fully experience both the laughter and the tears, both the mourning and the dancing. I don’t want to hide or stifle my emotions, or to get stuck at one extreme or the other. 

Lord, you have ordained both, and both are used for Your purposes. There is a time for everything. Help me submit to You in that, and to walk faithfully with you through both the joy and the sorrow, and even when the two are inter-mixed.

In every season, help me be in tune with Your heart and with those around me. Break my heart for what breaks Yours, but let me also rejoice in Your plan, Your kingdom, Your work, Your salvation. May I rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. And God, may I be open and vulnerable enough to allow others to rejoice and weep with me. 

Amen. 

How have you experienced this topic– mourning, dancing, the intermingling of the two? The freedom to feel, and to allow others in on it? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

How I'm Pursuing God

 We all know it, there are seasons when it’s difficult to pursue God, or to maintain a growing relationship with Him. For whatever reason – whether it’s busyness, pain, distraction, or complacency – we somehow get off track, and it takes a lot of focused effort and intentionality to get back on track again.

I’ve been in one of those seasons recently, and these days are the ones of intentionally pursuing Him again.

Are you there, too? Or do you need to be there?

Here are some ways I’m pursuing God right now:

• Reading through the Psalms. I struggle with knowing what to read in the Bible. Admittedly, there are days I can just pick it up, let it fall open, and read something incredible that speaks to me. But more often, I need a focused reading plan, something to give me direction as I read.Right now that’s a reading plan called “30 Days in the Psalms.” This plan gives 3 or 4 Psalms to read through each day, each based on a theme like Blessing, Confidence, Doubt, or God’s Power. It has been helpful to focus on a specific attribute or topic each day, rather than just reading through the Psalms in chronological order.

• Writing down what stands out. I have a note on my smartphone that’s simply a running list of quotes or thoughts that have spoken to me, that I want to remember. Some of them come from sermons or Bible studies, others from emails or things people have said to me. Anything that specifically stands out, grabs my attention, or that I think – God is saying something to me in this, I write it down immediately while I still remember it, so I can come back later and contemplate it more deeply.

• Trying to grasp the Gospel. The Gospel – the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – is the basis for our faith, our joy, our spiritual life. That’s a fact we would all agree with. But at times I get complacent with it, and it becomes just a Sunday School story that I quote and nod my head to, and it doesn’t make a real difference in my daily life.I’m not the only one, right?

  So lately I’m asking God to make the Gospel real to me again, to remind me what His death on the cross and resurrection to life did for me, and still does for me today. I want to keep that always in front of me.

• Trusting His promise. The Bible says that those who seek the Lord will find Him. That’s a promise, and we can stand with all our weight on His promises. This one tells me that it’s not my responsibility to find God – that’s His end of the promise. My part is to seek Him. To pursue Him. His part is to be found. To meet me in the middle. To come out of hiding and say, Here I am.

  So I want to be faithful to do my part to seek Him with all my heart (Jeremiah 29:13), trusting that He will be faithful to do His part to show Himself to me.

• A new Bible study… And if any of you lovely ladies would like to join me, I’m planning to participate in the new Bible study coming out from She Reads Truth on July 18th, called “Mourning and Dancing.” Note: It’s not required to purchase the book, you can read the study directly from their website or phone app.

 

Thanks for reading. Feel free to share in the comments or send me an email: how are you pursuing God these days? 

Pour out your Heart

 Did you realize that “pour out your heart” is commanded in the Bible?

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8

I forget this sometimes. And I fail to do it. Do you?

“Pour out your heart” makes me think of complete trust, confidentiality, and an intimate relationship.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have someone you could trust completely, someone with whom you could share your heart without reserves?  Wouldn’t it be great to have that relationship with our Heavenly Father?

I think we are often too formal with God. 

Maybe we think He doesn’t have time for us, or doesn’t care about our feelings.  Or maybe we feel that we have to keep our composure, act appropriately, and say heartfelt but polite prayers to Him. Too emotional comes across as desperate, right?

I think those of us who were raised in the church – as “good little church girls” – maybe struggle with this more than anyone. Somehow the practice of putting on your Sunday best, using your nicest manners, and learning all the right answers in Sunday School, for many of us, translated into the idea that we need to bring God our “best face.”

A glance through the Bible, however, will show us something pretty different from that. What we find is that the people of God were often – quite honestly – a mess!

People all throughout the Bible poured their hearts out to God.  Moses was very honest with God about his feelings and fears (Exodus 33:12-18).  Hannah wept bitterly as she prayed for a son, to the point that the priest thought she was drunk (1 Samuel 1:10).  David freely expressed all his emotions to the Lord, from dancing with joy (2 Samuel 6:14), to weeping and wailing with despair (Psalm 6:6), to begging God to demolish his enemies (Psalm 109:8-15)!  Jesus prayed in great agony before His crucifixion (Luke 22:41-44).

I personally think God likes our messy, emotional, gut-wrenching prayers a lot better than our neatly-packaged-and-presented prayers. Because those are the ones that come straight from the depths of our hearts. And it’s our hearts that He wants most.

I wonder if the reason we don’t often pour our hearts out to God is that our way of thinking about Him is wrong.  Do we really trust Him?

The remainder of the verse tells us to trust in God because He is a refuge for us.  A refuge is defined as “a place of shelter, protection, or safety.”  God can be trusted – He is the place to which we can run and hide in times of trouble.

When I’m upset or hurt, I often tend to seek comfort from music, writing in my journal, or talking to my husband or a friend.  Or, worse, I attempt to escape my feelings by throwing myself into work or getting lost in a TV show.

Am I afraid to just get on my knees and cry out to God?  Why isn’t He the first one I run to? 

You and I need to grasp that God is our loving Father – He’s a good, good Father – even in times when He feels far away.  He is our personal, loving, compassionate Father, who hears our prayers, catches our tears, smiles at our joy, and reaches out to hold and help us.

He is as close as the thoughts and feelings that race through our souls, and as real as the first prayer that escapes our lips when our hearts break. And He wants simply us. As we are.

“‘…with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:8b).

Whether you are heartbroken, seeking answers, filled with joy, or something in between,

Trust in Him…at all times.
Pour out your heart.
God is our refuge.

He loves you, and the cry of your heart is precious to Him.

The Poetry of God

Sometimes God is so poetic in the way He works. I love this about Him. We see the turns of events, the reversals of destiny, and the seeming dance of details that He lines up so artistically, and realize there is a sense of order in our messy lives. There are fleeting moments when we think, this should be part of a novel, of a movie, of someone else’s story. We feel as though we are watching from the outside as something profound unfolds.

But it is your life. It is my life. It is God, creating this poetic twist just to let us know that He’s there, working in the midst of the mess, creating an amazing story.

One of my very favorite Scriptures is Psalm 126:5 – “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.” 

There’s an artistic reversal for you! Imagine a farmer or a gardener, scattering seed across the ground, pushing those tiny dry seeds down into the soil, and watering them with heartbroken tears from his own eyes. Longing for the harvest, yet feeling hopeless. But then the sprouts come up. The fields grow. And by the time of the harvest, there is such joy in that farmer’s heart that he can’t stop smiling and singing as he brings in the fruit from the fields.

This verse is precious to me because I’ve seen it come true in my own life. God gave me this verse when I was sowing with tears, and now I stand on the other side of the reversal, amazed at how He has blessed me.

I’m here to tell you, whatever your circumstance, God is there in the details and He’s crafting your beautiful story. It probably won’t look like you expect it to. Mine certainly looks different – and more wonderful – than what I prayed for.

But watch for the “wow moments.” Look for the reversals of destiny. Notice the poetry in the details.

God is working.

“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”  Psalm 16:6

 

Note: The phrase “reversal of destiny” comes from Beth Moore’s book Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman (affiliate link). 

To Wait, Not Worry

 “If I’m not seeing action on His [God’s] part, it’s very likely my flesh will start striving and my spirit will become exhausted from the toiling.” 

– She Reads Truth devotion ‘Sparrows and Kings‘

 

And this is why Scripture tells me to “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and to “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), and asks me, “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27).

Worrying and striving does no good. It simply shows a lack of trust in the Sovereign Father. Yet I’m just as prone to it as anyone else.

Back in my single days, when God wasn’t bringing me a husband and I thought He should be, I resorted to scouring the online dating sites, and striking up conversations with any guy friend who “could be a potential”… only to have my heart hurt over and over.

When I was leaving my job at one ministry and looking for a new full-time ministry position, and God wasn’t providing clear direction, I spent hours in desperate searching, emailing, and filling out applications…. only to hit closed doors again and again.

And now, in this season, when I so want answers and the wait is long and frustrating, I still find myself searching and trying to figure it all out.

Worrying. Striving.

And the Lord asks me, “Is that doing you any good?” Forgive me, Lord.

Oh, for the grace to wait patiently for Him! To resist the urge to take life into my own hands! I have spent so much of my life striving, searching, and trying to take control, when I only needed to be trusting and following Jesus. All along while I was worrying, He knew the good plans He had for me (Jeremiah 29:11), and each time, He brought me to the answers in His time, in a way that could have only been Him.

And He will do it again.

Jesus, help me to be still and trust in Your beautiful plans… to wait, not worry.

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness

 Today, October 15th, is Infant & Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day.

It’s a day to remember and to honor our little ones – our babies we got to hold for only a very short time, and then had to release to heaven. It’s a day to acknowledge that the loss is real. It’s a day to say, We still love you. We still miss you.

When I had my miscarriage this past June, and shared the story publicly, I was blown away by all the women in my life who told me that they, too, had lost a baby. Some had miscarried once, others two or three times. For some it had been just a month before, others 40 years ago, but they all remembered. They remembered the experience, the emotion, the grief.

And for me, talking to them was part of my healing. There’s an instant bond between women who have shared this experience, the death of a baby – a bond of being able to truly say I understand what you’re going through. So I am thankful for the women in my life who bravely spoke up, letting me know that they understood my grief, that they had been where I was. It’s so easy to feel isolated after having a miscarriage, and knowing I wasn’t alone made a huge difference.

Since then, roles have reversed. Now I’ve had the opportunity to be the woman who went through a miscarriage four months ago, saying I understand to someone who went through it a few days ago.

I guess what I want to say in all of this is, ladies, let’s not be afraid to tell our stories. Whether your story is miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, infertility, the death of a child… There is someone else out there who has been through or is going through the same thing. Did you know 1 in 4 women experience pregnancy loss? You might have the opportunity to speak truth and comfort to someone who is hurting. Or you might receive comfort and understanding from an unexpected source. Either way… your story matters.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.  (1 Corinthians 1:3-4) 

Love Will Get Us Through

A couple weeks ago -- just a few days after our miscarriage happened -- Brett came in from working, opened his computer, and said he had a song playing in his head that he wanted to listen to. He found it saved on his hard drive, a song from an obscure singer from Canada named Dan Powers. I'd never heard of him or the song, "Love Will Get Us Through," but as we listened to it, the words of the chorus wrapped around my heart.

It's not enough to love you

Oh I wanna hold you

Yes. Yes, those were the words my heart wanted to say to my unborn baby, my baby whom I love but never got a chance to hold. It's not enough.

~   ~   ~

These days -- nearly a month past the loss -- I'm doing much better. Most of the time I feel pretty much like myself. But going back to normal is kinda scary, and at times I almost feel guilty for feeling better. I don't want to just move on and forget about the baby. I don't want other people to think that's the case.

But I know the Scripture, "Can a mother forget her child?" (Isaiah 49:15, paraphrased) is a rhetorical question. I won't forget. But I also don't have to dwell in continual sadness for the sake of remembering. I am free to laugh with my friends and participate in life and embrace the joy of the Lord...while accepting the pangs of grief that arise at unexpected moments...and knowing that I will never lose the love I have for my unborn little one. It's okay to move forward. God's Word instructs me to:

"We do not want you to...grieve as others do who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

"Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on..." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?" (Isaiah 43:19)

"Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy." (Psalm 126:5)

Glorify HIM, not me!

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they will see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 5:16, my emphasis)

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 6:1) 

This is a good reminder for me. Really, this is something I need to be slapped in the face with, just about every day. Especially here at camp. Why is it so easy to get into a mindset of performance? To think that I deserve recognition or thanks for anything I do?

The good works that my Father has given me to do (Ephesians 2:10) are meant to point people to Him and give glory to Him...not myself. Never myself! If I never get recognized for my service, it's okay. As long as my heart is pleasing to the Lord and people can see Him reflected in my good works, I must be satisfied and joyful in that.

Father, remind me daily that I deserve nothing. I am not my own, but You have bought me with the price of Your blood; therefore my life's purpose is to bring You glory! May my heart be joyful, willing, and humble as I serve, and may people around me see Your light reflecting in me-- for YOUR glory, not mine. Amen. 

almost home!

"You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways. 

You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.

Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?

If I live at the eastern horizon
or settle at the western limits,
even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold onto me."

Psalm 139, excerpts - Holman Christian Standard Bible

It's hard to believe this journey is almost over -- the 3-week road trip across the country.  It's been a long month, but at the same time it seems to have flown by! Every day new places to see and new people to meet, and almost every night a new bed to sleep in.  So, 24 days, 15 states, and more than 4,000 miles later, here we are in Bellingham, Washington.  We and our packed little Honda have made it all the way to the west coast, and in a few minutes we will board a ferry for the last leg of the trip to Alaska.

Coast to coast in our first two months of marriage!
Top: South Carolina, November 2014. Bottom: Oregon, January 2015.

Moments from the trip....

Something that was hard: Extraordinary amounts of socializing, and very little alone time for us as newlyweds, still figuring out marriage while living on the road.

Something that was funny: The Indian hotel owner who started out trying to rip us off, but ended up giving us a discount rate on a suite with a Jacuzzi.

Something that was cool: Seeing parts of our country that I've never seen before, including 6 new states.

Something that was a blessing: Hanging out with several young married couples, which was a fairly new thing for us as a couple. Makes us look forward to doing that more in Juneau. 

Thank you all for following our crazy journey and liking all our pictures on Facebook :-) Please keep us in your prayers on this final leg of the trip, through the waterways of southeast Alaska. I'll try to keep sharing photos!