Fires and Fires

The last few days have been filled with a lot of fires. The first one is the not-so-great kind. Bellingham's Shangri-la motel caught on fire. Strange motel, but I suppose a bit of a landmark. It seems to still be standing, but we saw some pretty serious flames coming through the roof. We've been having some pretty cold weather (frozen Red Square --->) lately, so perhaps someone was trying to heat up their room a bit more. Who knows.

The other fire is one I experienced tonight. It's the better type. The fire down on the beach type. The kind of fire on a cold beach that rings in spring and all the great adventures to come. This particular fire was a birthday celebration.

The moon was already huge. We got down to the side of the bay, just across the tracks as the sun was setting for the day. As we traded sunlight for moonlight, the fire gave off just the right amount of warmth to keep us down there. Everyone is a friend at these things. We always meet each other for what seems like the first time, only to find that we've heard each other's names a thousand times and we're more connected than we would have previously guessed. We tell stories to our new friends over foil dinners made on the hot coals of our fire. The moon is reflecting off the bay in long streaks, and creating silhouettes of the trees on the rocky outcroppings on either side of us. As we talk, sometimes to only one other person and sometimes to the entire group, a few trains rush by. The tide slowly moves out as our conversations get more and more detailed. The scene is beautiful.

One by one, the individual conversations stop as a friend's excited words catch the attention of our ears. Eventually we are all captivated by what they are saying. The friend has been musing on how He has seen God working through him lately. Through interactions with others and being in the right place at the right time, God is doing something that could have never been planned or coordinated. This friend is excited to share, and we are excited to listen.

In this momment, I am inspired. Inspired to share my faith. Inspired to learn more. Inspired beyond my feeling tired at times and inspired to keep going. Inspired because God is doing something in this place that I see, and that God is doing somethings that I can see. The great adventure has sprung from watching God's plan develop in those that I regularly interact with, and somehow God is using my stumbling, mixed up, words to help this other person. I'm thankful for these momments of realization, and thankful as well for those that God has put in my life that have been unaware of their being used by Him.

May the plan continue to unfold, both in ways visible and invisible.

Snowshoeing

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity of getting to go snowshoeing with the INN. I've gone on the trip the last several years, and it's always really fun. Snowshoeing doesn't require much skill, and is pretty much hiking without too much effort. Very nice.

This year, our destination was the same, but I found the journey much less stressful. I blame this on a few things. Firstly, I think having to walk up a good sized hill to get home each day has made me a good bit stronger. That helps.

Also, I think this year's trek was easier due to using much better equipment than I've ever used before. My parents gave me an awesome pair of snowshoes that worked great, as well as some new layers of clothing for keeping warm. I was more than comfortable heading up the hill. Amazing.

In 2.5 weeks, we depart for Monettery, Mexico. It should be a great trip. We've got 26 awesome students going with us. While we're not fully sure what the organization has planned for us down there, we trust that God is already preparing us for the work that He knows is to come.

All in all, things are going well. This quarter remains busy, but I'm still getting a lot of good reading in and a great amount of sleep. This year has been an awesome adventure so far!