Our Home

Karisa here, and I'm equally if not more excited about our new camera! It's been so sad not being able to take pictures of the past month (first world problems!) so here are some long overdo shots of our rental here in California. It is definitely still a work in progress but most certainly feels like mine and Emil's home :)

(You Facebookers have probably already seen these outside shots)

Backyard

Entry with washer on opposite side

It may not look a guest bedroom YET, but in under a month, our first visitors - Emil's parents - will lodge here!

Master bedroom has a ways to go

Living/Dining area. Love our tall ceilings!

There you have it, a tour of our cozy home. Again, we love hosting and having visitors so if you're visiting Southern California, Arizona, or Vegas, we're not too far! There's room for 2, or more if you don't mind tenting in our temperate climate :)

Some Pictures of God’s Magnificent Creation

“FINALLY!” we both exclaimed as our new camera was unboxed and marveled at, "we can take pictures again, our blogposts will be more numerous and prettier!"

We took so many pictures in the last two days because of our new camera and we want to show you some of what we did!

Pronounced Choy-ya, these things look like teddy bears, but are something you definitely do not want to touch, as evidenced in the next picture.

As Karisa was trying to take close up pictures of these cuddly plants, one tried to hug her foot!

This is a desert wood rat's nest, basically just old cholla bits and pieces scattered around so larger predators don't try to get them, snakes however aren't deterred by them.

This is what the inside of the trunk of the Cholla looks like when the "bark" has fallen off.

Another picture letting you see God's engineering side come out.

And they're hollow

These things are big too!

They have flowers as well. The natives in older times would take sticks to get the flowers off the plants, then they would steam and eat them.

They were everywhere!

Pinto Mountian off on the horizon

A very cool rock formation, known as the Arch

A 360 view of behind the Arch

The shadows were fun to play with!

Some neat bright green, something we aren't used to anymore!

The next few pictures are of these

Miniature effect on the camera is neat

On the way home we saw this fun creature crawling across the road! That is a water bottle next to it for size comparison.

 

So, these are just a few of the pictures from yesterday I hope you enjoy them.

A Different October

Usually around this time of year I would be wearing jeans, socks and jackets again. But a new place with new surroundings and a new climate have chosen otherwise, now the new normal is still putting shorts on, hanging clothes on the clothesline, and planting seeds.

Going outside still means sweating, and drinking lots of water, but it’s slightly more bearable, shorts and a t-shirt make sense still! Projects are underway at school and at home, a raised bed garden, a bookshelf, and organization for tools that were just piled into a box. The garden looks great and we already have a dozen sprouts to keep our hopes up. The bookshelf is something to make our home a little more homely and the organization in the garage is to keep me happy.

Sadly there are no pictures of any of these things because our 8 year old camera has finally called it quits. Thanks for reading this short little update.

Emil out -

Life-Giving Moisture

Earlier this week we were blessed with rain! While it made for a couple of extremely hot and humid days (especially in the gym), the precipitation presented the ground with a chance at new life. I used to think of the desert as this bland and changeless ecosystem. Now my eyes have been opened to the beauty and miracle of the rain that can, in the course of a few hours, transform the surrounding landscape. Our backyard, for instance, went from a brown and barren sand lot to, well, still a sand lot but with a fabulous faint carpet of grass. Though small, even a few clusters of small yellow flowers have sprung new life! It amazes me to realize that when it is dry and hot as it has been since we moved here, seeds remain dormant just waiting for God to bless them with enough moisture to produce incredible life.

The same can be said of my walk with Christ. There are many times when I experience drought. The drying process occurs over a long period of time and I barely take notice of the Living Water that I am lacking. Before long, I am withered and despaired, seeking answers and longing for renewal. Then God sends me a thoughtful friend, an applicable devotional, or that perfect sermon and it is like the springs of God’s love are flung open when in reality it is the floodgates of my heart that are once again opened wide, ready to seek and receive God’s will for my life.

I know that in time this new life in the desert will shrivel and burn but it makes me so grateful that Christ nourishes me with his living water. For he said: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Yay for flowers!