Lydia vonderLuft's Blog, page 2

While we were at the VanGelders last Sunday, Greta was able to...

While we were at the VanGelders last Sunday, Greta was able to get some neat up-close shots of this rabbit.

Fellowship at the VanGelders

Fellowship at the VanGelders

More pictures from Greta of our sunny Saturday.

Trimming flora.


This chicken looks evil because it is.


Reindeer Rubber Ducky?! Creeeeppy...

More pictures from Greta of our sunny Saturday.  

Last year I posted these pictures of Iona and Peter enjoying the...

Last year I posted these pictures of Iona and Peter enjoying the water slide.  Yesterday, God blessed us with an amazing 80 degree sunny day so naturally this meant more fun in the water.  And yes, I am in a (probably short-lived) black-and-white mood.  ;)

Picture credit to Greta.  If you’re reading this on the blog, click on a picture to flip through them.

Why I Ride

So.  When I was little I was somewhat (ha!) horse crazy.  Yup, really.  I drew horses all the time, collected photos off the internet, cried while watching National Velvet, dreamed about riding them and I literally talked all the time about how I was going to get a horse.  One afternoon, I even embarked on building a fence to hold a horse in our backyard…with logs which I dragged from the woods.  Har har…suffice it to say it would not have held chickens, much less a horse.  Eventually, I realized my horse dream just wasn’t going to come true in the immediate future…sad reality. :(  I switched all of my energies to persuading my family to let me get dairy goats.  Unlike having a horse, they’ve actually given some back and I’ve been able to learn a lot the hard way (still learning) over the past 5 years of having them.

Unfortunately, despite their many good qualities, a dairy goat cannot exactly provide the thrill of riding with the wind in your face over hill and dale.  Something was still missing…

Enter the bicycle.

Honestly, the reason I bought a bike in the first place was simply because my sister did and we did everything together.  If she was going to ride, I was going to ride too. ;)  Of course, then I realized how fun it was!  And hey, now I *was* going at 20MPH through the countryside with the wind in my face!  I realized my old “horse” dream had come true…in a slightly different way.  And yes, the fact that the bike also gave me a workout did factor in too! ;)  But the real reason I ride is for the feeling of freedom and the ability to exult in God’s Creation—wind in my face!  Sometimes, it *is* muscle-burning, gut wrenching hard work but maxing out at close to 50MPH down a mountain (#Larch) is so spectacular.  Wind.  Speed. The world flashing by.  You go so fast tears come out the corner of your eyes.   

I could probably write more, but it’s an amazingly beautiful day out there.  I think I’ll go meet up with my sister for a ride…

People :-)

People are complicated.  They have so much depth, so many layers.  And sometimes, they have all that but on the outside they don’t look like it.  Maybe they look shallow, maybe you just can’t find a connection.  So you write them off as not worth the time it would take to get to know them.  Probably they notice and then work extra hard to make sure you don’t notice that they noticed.  They retreat farther into themselves and hide behind a mask because they lack confidence in themselves and you just confirmed their own personal fear.  That they aren’t worth the time.

People are worth the time.  It’s amazing to think that every single person was made in the Image of God and has an eternal soul.  

I have nothing against casual talk.  It’s a great way of learning the personality of a person, which is a major part of who they are.  Sometimes, friendly causal small talk might be just what a person needs to feel more at home, more like a part of a whole.    On the other hand, if this is the “only” way you know how to talk, you’re the one who’s going to come across as shallow to them…

To really understand their character (and they yours), you have to get a bit more in depth.  And you do that, and they will surprise you with a much richer soul than you could have imagined and also their own set of problems.  You thought you were the only person who has a fear of failure, a secret jealousy of others’ success, faced loneliness, fill in the blank?  Wrong.  But here is where you (and they) can follow Christ’s example and love them just as they are.  Everyone has problems and everyone needs some changing.  If you really want to change someone though, telling them so, how, what, and why is not the best way to start.  Instead, be a listening ear, a good example, and (occasionally) a timely word.  

Everyone inherently wants to be a part of something bigger; it’s the way we were created and it’s super lonely to be a loner.  If you want friends, you have to take the initiative.  Smile at everyone, start a conversation with whoever’s there, and remember that every person is really really important! :)

Mark 12:31, “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.” 

On Saturday, Daniel, Galena, and I (along with many others) road...

30 miles in.


Iona


Discussing the ride...


Getting ready to head out...


...and back on the road for 70 more.

On Saturday, Daniel, Galena, and I (along with many others) road around Clark County. We did a 100 mile loop and all-in-all we felt great and had a great ride. We did get a some showers up in Cedar Creek but most of the day was thankfully rain-free. However, we still ended up getting pretty wet when we rode down the flooded Salmon Creek trail which had  2 ft deep of standing water in places.  After the water, we finished the experience with a trek through the mud…our bikes (not to mention ourselves) were quite a sight by the time we were done.  For the record, before this happenstance, our average was about 17.  It was considerably lower afterwards… ;-)

The day ended well with showers and smoothies (made by Galena—who could seriously start selling recipes to Jamba Juice).

On Saturday, Daniel, Galena, and I (along with many others) rode...

30 miles in.


Iona


Discussing the ride...


Getting ready to head out...


...and back on the road for 70 more.

On Saturday, Daniel, Galena, and I (along with many others) rode around Clark County. We did a 100 mile loop and all-in-all we felt great and had a great ride. We did get some rain showers up in Cedar Creek but most of the day was thankfully rain-free. However, we still ended up getting pretty wet when we rode down the flooded Salmon Creek trail which had  2 ft deep of standing water in places.  After the water, we finished the experience with a trek through the mud…our bikes (not to mention we) were quite a sight by the time we were done.  For the record, before this happenstance, our average was about 17.  It was considerably lower afterwards… ;-)

The day ended well with showers and smoothies (made by Galena—who could seriously start selling recipes to Jamba Juice).

Today was so beautiful and gorgeous! The sun came out of hiding...

Today was so beautiful and gorgeous!  The sun came out of hiding and there was not a cloud in the sky.  After a happy morning of worship followed by a meal with our Pastor and his wife, we drove over to Hockinson Park for some extended fellowship with our church family.  We had a great time playing volleyball, walking in the sun, talking, and ultimate frisbee.  I love the outdoors and am looking forward to spending more time out in the sun as we finally pull out of our Northwest rainy season.  :)

A few pieces of work from some of the art students…

AnnaLynn Seifert


Daniel Seifert


Esther Woltersdorf


Peter vonderLuft


Caleb VanGelder


Hannah VanGelder


Carli Gowing

A few pieces of work from some of the art students…