I love to fly, and I hadn’t flown anywhere since 2012. When we first made plans to take our trip out West, I was a bit frustrated that our flight needed to be to Salt Lake City, given we would have to drive about 5 hours to our ID destination. Yet, I admit that I had a crush on Donny and Marie Osmond when I was a child and I was always fascinated with their UT origins, so the idea of flying into Salt Lake City grew on me.

I was not prepared for the beauty we experienced there. I sort of wish we could’ve stayed a while to explore it. The downtown was totally easy to navigate. I think the city overall is a large one, but the downtown isn’t huge, nestled right next to the mountains with the vast expanse of the valley before it, leading to the Great Lake itself. Beautiful and a bit awe-inspiring is how I found it.

My pictures don’t really do it justice, and I so wish I’d captured more of downtown, in particular, the state capital building area, but I didn’t. Even my few pics of the Morman Temple area are limited by the fact that it was under construction and we only drove around it without getting out . Nevertheless, here are my pics from our air arrival and departure, as well as a few downtown and then the rest of my Antelope Island pics on the Great Salt Lake….enjoy.

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Of course, a huge part of the joy from our family trip was the fact that we shared it together and with some of our dearest friends. We so so missed Noah and Legend, but their job situation just wouldn’t work with it this time around. I’m sharing just about every picture I took that had a person in it as well as the random pics of the signs from the places we visited. Some of these are duplicates I’ve already posted, but they belonged in this collection….more still to come….

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Yes, I love sunrises and sets, huge mountains and the expanse of the ocean, but in the day-to-day of life, it’s more often the little bursts of beauty, laughter, and provision that carry us through…

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While on our vacation, Tom and our kids decided it would be good to celebrate my MA degree “graduation” from Northwest Nazarene University (that happened in May 2016). I didn’t get to attend at the time because it was the exact same day as Taylor’s BA graduation from ONU, and his graduation definitely took precedence in my book.

Heidi works at NNU, so she was able to borrow a cap, gown, and hood for me to wear for pictures. It was fun (after I got over the shock of being surprised by it all….because I don’t like this type of surprise…or anything that throws me into the center of attention unprepared…lol). I appreciate that my family wanted to show they are still proud of me for this achievement in my life.

Honestly, though my MA in Spiritual Formation hasn’t opened the doors for a career that I had hoped it would, I have no regrets at all about getting this degree. It has been one of the best decisions of my life, for my personal development and the calling God placed on my life way back when I was still a teen at MVNC getting my BA in Christian Ed.

We got ice cream with the Tracht’s that day, so I’m counting that as my “graduation party” ……lol (though I did share a cake party with Taylor back in 2016). We also went to Oregon a day and had lunch with the Tracht’s, also part of just celebrating time together with friends who are like family. White water rafting was another day, along with catching some beautiful scenery and a sunset, but I’ll share that on a different post…

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I’ve been waiting a few days to process all I experienced on our family vacation out West. I decided to write a few blogs and share the pics that go with my thoughts.

I had flown over parts of the West, and once visited my sister’s family in Grand Junction, CO, a more desert type of landscape. However, I had never experienced in person the majority of the landscapes we were in while on our trip.

One land feature in particular has stuck in my mine, with an old hymn that came back to me while driving from Salt Lake City to Nampa, ID.  Tablelands....how clearly they are defined out there. 

I’ll share a few pictures below that might give you an idea, albeit a poor representation of what it’s like in person. The song that came to mind is Higher Ground, and though it specifically speaks of Heaven’s Tableland, all in all, I think it was the theme of my soul for our trek across the mountains and valleys of these great Northwestern states, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Wyoming.

Higher Ground

I’m pressing on the upward way

New heights I’m gaining every day

Still praying as I’m onward bound

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

By faith, on Heaven’s tableland

A higher plane than I have found

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

My heart has no desire to stay

Where doubts arise and fears dismay

Though some may dwell where those abound

My prayer, my aim, is higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

By faith, on Heaven’s tableland

A higher plane than I have found

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

I want to live above the world

Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled

For faith has caught the joyful sound

The song of saints on higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

By faith, on Heaven’s tableland

A higher plane than I have found

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

I want to scale the utmost height

And catch a gleam of glory bright

But still I’ll pray, ’till heaven I’ve found

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

“It’s never too late to give up our prejudices .” Thoreau

I haven’t written for almost two months. My heart has been so very troubled. I try not to share unless I’m clear on what to say, feeling prompted by the Spirit, and though I’ve had a couple of those moments in these last two months, still I haven’t written. The emotions have been too deep and too draining.

I was raised to love others as I would want to be loved.  I try to live by this, even with those who have not reciprocated the same.  It saddens and disturbs me to see others treated poorly, no matter the circumstances, to see selfishness, greed, and evil perpetrated upon others for no legitimate reason, whatsoever (not that any terrible action upon others is ever justified).  

My longing is to intentionally care for all others, to love others with the love of God flowing out from me to whomever you are, wherever you’ve been, whatever you may or may not have done, to see each person with the eyes of our Abba Father (see Amy Grant’s old song, Father’s Eyes…).  If given the opportunity, I will be your friend, I will listen, I will share, I will help in whatever way I can.  I long for the same to be done for me, to be given the grace from others, the gift of being truly known for who I am, not judged and stereotyped by outward appearances.

This is that for which we were all originally created….designed out of the love of The Trinity who wanted to extend the love they had within their Oneness, because it was too big to be contained…thus, Creation happened, the artistic expression and beauty of the depths and riches of the love between the Father, Son, and Spirit, culminated with us, created in Their image, made to be in relationship with them and with each other, designed to love God, others, and ourselves.

Oh dear Father, why can’t we all allow You to transform us to be the people you meant for us to be from the start….?  This is the cry of my heart when I am silent in these troubled times…