Westwoods

So with little sleep and much travelling we arrived in the little town of Bahia de Los Angeles on December 19.  It was noon.  We fueled up the boat, ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, and then visited a mercado for the rest of our provisions. At the docks the air finally left our tire as we were filling the boat with gear and putting up the main.  The winds were high but we were hoping they would die down before launching.  Tourists draw other tourists, so at the docks we met a couple from California and a family from British Columbia.  The family from British Columbia had also pulled their boat all the way; theirs was a powerful, new motor boat. That was the guy God provided to help Bruce get the boat into the water at low tide and in windy conditions.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  The older couple from California was my God send.  She was a talker and told me her life's history while she helped carry the water and gear and lug...

As with any adventure, you can make all kinds of plans, have every detail in place, and think you are prepared but later find out you just have to go out there and do it.  Another big part of adventure is that it can never really be predicted and that is part of the fun of it, learning to flex with the circumstances. Our adventure began on Dec 17, 2016.  We had every plan we could think of in place, had read all the research we could find on our location of choice, and had wrapped up all out loose ends of school exams and the Christmas program. Pulling out of our driveway in the early morning hours with ice on the roads and brutal cold penetrating our bones as we finished packing the car was a kind of torture.  My heart was breaking from having given my kiddoes one last kiss and hug, one last inhale of their skin, one last touch of my comfortable reality. I was into this trip.  I wanted to do this celebration of 20 years with my husband, he wasn't forcing me in...

My sister April has been posting pictures on  Instagram that has inspired me this week.  She uses an extra lens on her phone that does a great job of capturing the tiniest details. I know that if God cares enough to give ice crystals shape, He has all the details in our lives figured out just fine without our help. We are still planning to leave in the morning for our big trip. We have now covered every detail we could think of and are packed as safely as possible.   We did make a lot of detailed plans of our own but I know we can trust the God of the snowflakes to guide and direct us as we go. If you are struggling with fear or discouragement, cry out to the God who made the snowflakes.  He has every detail covered. Believe it!  

Brrr Wooly! It's really hard to think that in a little more than a week, we will be in warm weather.  This mind game isn't just because of the weather.  All of us, in this house, are unspeakably busy trying to wrap up school and exams for Christmas vacation.   I'm too involved with grading tests and settling restless kids to even think of my suitcase.  And how do you pack for warmth when you are bone cold? I am not brave and calm about all the things that could go wrong.  But I am trying to be brave and calm and think instead of all the things that could go right. However, I spend sleepless hours at night unthinking all the thoughts that keep me awake, by replacing these nameless fears with facts. But as everyone knows, facts are hard to come by in the middle of the night.   Truthfully, I am worried about being stopped at the border with big officials and guns.  I don't know why I think things like this, I have no reason for feeling guilt. Jus...

Yes, indeed we do live up there in the panhandle of Idaho, about 30 minutes from Canada.  We are planning to leave Bonners Ferry early Saturday morning on the 17th of December.  Our route will be as straight a shot as we can do, pulling our 26 ft Macgregor sailboat, whom we lovingly have named "Shy Lady".  The sailboat we own gets a lot of flack for not being a "real sailboat" because it is trailorable and has a moveable keel.  We are OK with that.  It has been a fun boat to learn sailing.  We hope to enter Baja, through Mexicali on the 19th or 20th, depending on how the trip down goes. We plan to drive only about half way down Baja California and put the boat into the water at Bahia de Los Angeles, which is around the area where you see those first islands midway down the peninsula of Baja.  Depending on how the border crossing goes, we will possibly stay in the small town of Bahia that night to pack the boat with all our food and gas and gea...

I bet you were hoping I was ready to move on and speak no more of this subject...I will next time.  Next time I will speak of fear and  of faith and our plans to sail the Sea of Cortez... In a perfect world, a Christ follower in conflict with another Christ follower will both mutually recognize the need for love, humility, and submission for their issue and simultaneously give up their position 100% for the sake of peace and moving forward. However, we do not live in a perfect world...we all fight our battles on a very fleshy level...every single day.  Therefore, we will never have the ideal balance of who should first give in to the other.  If it is a point worthy of submission, it will need to be a dying to self, a surrender to God, and never easy. So don't try to tell me I am extra naughty because it is never easy for me. 😄  For example, Bruce can be ever so loving and kind to me about something he would like to see me change, but if I am not of the sa...