Recent Adventures

Thanks to everyone who helped make Greg's birthday special!  He was very blessed.  

The last couple of weekends we have tried to incorporate some fun outing.  First we took the kids to Multnomah Falls.  We hiked up to the falls and back down again.  The air was crisp and the day was sunny.  We all had a great time, and you can see some of our pics.

This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch with Colleen, Marisa, and KJ of the M. family next door.  

Again, we were blessed with a beautiful day!   The kids had fun with various amusements, followed by picking out their pumpkins and finally carmel apples and hot apple cider.  Yum!  

I have posted some pics of this as well.  The two little kids in the pics that you don't know are Marisa and KJ.  

In unrelated news, Colleen shared with me yesterday about a prayer chain going on.  Christians across the country are asked to take one minute and pray for the direction of our country.  The time for this prayer is 6:00pm pacific time....which translates to 9:00pm for all you folks back east.  Thought I would pass it along.  It doesn't seem like a bad idea, you know?

LYMYWY,

Kara

Why I love this man!

Today is my love's birthday!  He is 39 today.  Most people reading this blog know Greg pretty well.  Most of you have your own reasons for loving him.  Here are mine.

He loves my God.  He is a devoted follower of Christ.  I learn so much from him, and he inspires me to love Him better.  He serves our savior with a quiet determination.  His is not a flashy faithfulness but an ever consistent one. 

 

He loves people.  He enters easily into other people's lives.  He makes people happy.  He's such a good friend.  If you are his friend you are lucky,  and you probably know that he will always be there for you.  That's how he is.  He's the kind of guy you meet and later say to yourself, "That's the nicest guy!".  He smiles a lot and his smile is contagious.

He loves his family.  He's a mama's boy, did you know that?  It's true!  I tell all my girlfriends that marrying a mama's boy was a really good thing.  He knows how to treat a woman.   He knows that love and respect are flip sides of the same coin and he is generous with both.  He is fiercely devoted to his family which is very big, because it includes his family, my family and everyone else he is even remotely related to!  It even includes some people we are NOT technically related to but have somehow gotten absorbed into our family.  He is devoted to all those people.  He would never disown any family either.  It's not his way.  One of our children could totally go off the deep end, they may get into some unbelievable stuff one day (though we pray not),  and he will always love them.  They will always be his and he will never disown them.

He loves his children.  I know our kids are our family, so I seem redundant right now, but it's special with your very own kids.  He is an amazing father.  He is gentle and kind and when he loses his temper (like we all do), he is remorseful and tries not to do it again.  He's much better at that than me...yet another way he inspires me.  He builds his kids up.  He is always talking to them, teaching them things.  They respect him, and they love him so much.  They still scream "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" when he walks through the door.  They love being with him.  He is very protective of our relationship with our kids.  He is my biggest supporter in our homeschooling them.  While I do the teaching, he is always reinforcing what they are learning.  He is always encouraging me in my mothering and schooling the kids. 

 

He loves me.  He has pursued me since the day that I met him.  I can be so difficult and so unlovely at times and he still pursues me.  He reminds me, often, of the lavish way the Lord loves me.  No one else reminds me of this the way that he does.  No one else even comes close.  I didn't love him when I first met him, but it wasn't long before I somehow knew that I would...and then it wasn't long after that and I did.  I still feel like there are places to go with our love.  It's still growing, changing and deepening.  I know him better than anyone else on the planet, but I don't know him fully.  There is always more to him and I am really enjoying getting to know him! 

 

He doesn't let me get by with stuff.  He holds me accountable, and he looks for me to do the same for him.  We are partners.  We're doing this thing together.  He has never once lost sight of that.  That's a big deal, because a lot of times in a marriage one spouse will want everything to be all about them...you know, like centered around them.  I've been like that before, but Greg never has.  Really, he never has.

He gives me more ice cream.  If one of us is going to have 'more' of something, it's always going to be me, because he makes sure of it.  He's always been this way.

There is a lot about him that is really cool.  He plays soccer and tennis and basketball and well just about any sport he can.  He doesn't obsess over any of them though.  He loves the Jaguars.  He's pretty conservative politically, but he gives everyone a fair shot and he doesn't obsess about any of that either.  He's so reasonable.  He's just got so much common sense.  He is really refreshingly smart.  Actually, he's really, really smart but a lot of people don't always know how incredibly smart he is cause he doesn't show off.   And my goodness!  Do you see how cute he is!?

I could go on.  I definitely could, but I know I should stop here and give my readers a chance to ponder my hubby's greatness all on their own!  Seriously, if you are reading this, leave a comment and give him a nod on his birthday.

Happy birthday baby!  I love you!

Kara

 

Blue Like Jazz--A review

Here comes my first book review installment!  

I started reading Blue Like Jazz (BLJ) about a week ago after meeting a lady from Rolling Hills Community Church that recommended and then loaned it to me.  She prefaced the book by saying that it would help conservative Christians to love liberals more.  Well, that intrigued me because I am always interested in ways to get conservative Christians to love anyone more.  Of course I lump myself in that group as well.  I decided I should definately read the book.  I'm glad I did.

The author is Donald Miller who is a thiry-something, unmarried, writer/speaker who lives in Portland.  He attends Imago Dei Church in Portland, which is known for being very progressive in it's outreach to our lost and broken world.  Donald doesn't mince words and he doesn't worry too much about political correctness within the Church.  He certainly doesn't come across as a very religious man, although the reader is left with no doubts about Miller's personal relationship to Christ.  His recollections are funny and touching.  I found myself relating a lot to him, as I imagine most Christians would also, if they are honest with themselves.  He uses the term "Christian spirituality" in place of Christianity with the premise that he cannot relate what the term 'Christianity' means anymore in todays world.  I'm not big on renaming things.  Seems kind of trendy, but his essays in the book are so real and down-to-earth,  I was able to overlook the renaming thing.

He touches on a number of subjects ranging from love to tithing, politics to Jesus.  His spiritual journey begins within Christian fundamentalism.  He took some fair shots at fundamentalism without alltogether tearing it down.  Ultimately his journey takes him far....very far from his fundamentalist beginnings.  It is during his time at Reed College (known as one of the most intellectual, yet Godless institutions in the country), where the rubber starts to meet the road with regards to his faith in God.  While spending time in the midst of free-loving, pot smoking liberal geniuses, Miller begins to learn what following Christ is really all about.  Not that those free-loving, pot-smoking, liberal geniuses knew what following Christ was about, they definately did not.  Still, it was in their midst that he began to learn.   This was truely fascinating to read about.  It was eye-opening and convicting.  

Ultimately I have to heartily recommend this book.  For ultra-conservative believers, it is a must read.  Some things are more important than being 'right' and what you will gain from this read is one of those things.   Miller deals with issues that are usually off-topic and taboo in the Church.  There shouldn't be anything we can't talk about in the Church.  We are

 children of the Most High God of the Universe!  We don't need to fear honest conversations...honest questions. 

 Believers have times of doubt.  We deal with crises of belief.  It happens.  God is still God, and if we know Him, we are still His child.  I am reminded of a blog I read recently where a pastor, that will remain unnamed, actually called into question whether or not Mother Theresa was really saved....because she had doubts.  She suffered from the crisis of belief at times.  He pretty much stated that this would not have been the case had she been a true believer.  I had to swallow back the bile that was rising up in my throat upon reading such trash.  It isn't even because I am so sure that Mother Theresa is saved (though if I were a betting woman, I'd say she's probably resting securely in the arms of Jesus right now), it's because who was he, that pastor guy, to say she is or is NOT saved?  What is the point in even discussing something like that about a dead person!?  However, the real problem there was that that pastor, from his place of self-righteous condemnation, was just so un-real.  He was trying to say he has never doubted his faith....never struggled with the crisis of belief.  If that is true, I don't think he is probably a very good pastor.  

Get real.  There is stuff in this book that every believer would do well to read and ponder.  It's a quick read and can most likely be found in any library since it was a best-seller.  I don't know everything about this Donald Miller, but from the bit of research I've done on him, I think he's the real deal.  Does that mean I buy everything he's selling?  No, but I'm a thinking girl and he gave me a lot to think about.  I can appreciate that.

By His Grace,

Kara

I will seek His face

"Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me.  When Thou didst say, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to Thee,

'Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek."  David---Psalm 26:7-8

Sometimes I find myself asking, 'Why did we come here?'.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad place.  The people are nice and the air is fresh.  There is no want for cool places to go and things to do.  It's not hard to find great music teachers...they are everywhere!  We've got great neighbors who love the Lord and have kids to boot.  Greg goes to a job where he earns a paycheck for doing what he likes to do and he gets to come home before 4:00 most days and sometimes even earlier. I don't have to tell you, that ain't no small thing!  Life is good here and I am not complaining.

I still wonder why we are here though.  See, it has to do with more than just the job.  From our fleshly perspective, that is what brought us here, but there is more to it than that.  Our country is in economic crisis.  Job security doesn't exist.  The housing markets are so bad, it is very likely we will not sell our house in North Carolina.  That means we will not buy a house here.  We will not be putting down roots here in that way.  That's a new thing for us.  The truth is, we don't know where we will be living a year from now, or who we will be working for.

So, we have a home in NC and we have a transplanted, possibly temporal life here in OR.   

Well, of course our lives anywhere on the Earth are temporal, but you know what I mean.

To top all of this off:  God is sovereign.

That is what I believe,  which means I believe that none of this is outside of His will.  How 'bout that!?

This is our story.  Anyone reading this is going through his or her own story.  I know for a fact that many of you (my friends) are dealing with illness, relationship issues, job loss, financial crises, and other life changes in your own lives.  When you are going through something and the Lord is doing a new thing in you, have you ever noticed the coincidences that mysteriously start cropping up everywhere?  You know, where it seems like life starts taking on a theme.  It's the kind of thing we later call a season.  There are seasons for ministry, seasons of happiness, seasons of sadness...seasons of pruning.  

Speaking of pruning, it's hard work you know.  Especially if you have neglected to do it for some time.  The last time I pruned my rose bushes, it ended up being a monster of a job.  I had scrapes, scratches and punctures all over me.  See, I had not done it the year before (I wanted to see what would happen).  So the branches were very thick and thorny and unruly.  It was a mess.  They had looked so full and thick before I pruned them, but I knew I had to do it, because they stopped producing roses like they used to.  When I was finished they were ugly and bare and cold looking.  Sad little rose bushes that just hours before had been big, green and bushy...though wayward.  

It was not easy work for me, but it's my job to take care of them and that is what they needed.  It was stressful for them too.  You have to be careful when you prune a plant back.  It's got to be the right season.

And so it is with God and us.  

Pruning is hard and some seasons are more fun than others.  

I don't know what we will be calling this season once it's in the past.  As for the pruning, I don't know how deep the cuts will go.  It's anybody's guess, but the Lord knows.  For now, I know there is to be a singular focus in the Liechty family.  We are to raise up our eyes above the unanswered questions to the One who deserves our undivided attention.

"When Thou didst say, 'Seek My face', my heart said to Thee, "Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek".

By the way, the roses looked great this spring!

LYMYWY,

Kara, 

After week one....

Well, we have had an amazing first week here in Lake Oswego!  

We met our next door neighbors the day we moved in with the help of their 8 and 10 year old boys that were very excited about kids moving in next door.  That was Saturday.  By Tuesday, we were attending the 8 year old's birthday party!  Yeah, on Sunday, we were shopping for birthday presents in Target.  Too funny.  It's been a great blessing getting to know the M. family.  The kids either play over at our house or at the M.s' house.  We have visited two great churches in a weeks time.  Today we visited the M.s church.  Yes, they are Christians!  God has been very gracious to us.  We found out the other neighbors on the other side of the street go to that church too.  It was a great church and I think we will visit again.

Last Sunday, we visited Rolling Hills Church.  The kids are doing Awanas there now on Thursday nights.  Greg played on Mrs. M's soccer team last night.  Indoor soccer.   He was thrilled to have the opportunity to play.   

So the kids are adjusting very well to Oregon so far.  We are currently trying to wrap up the search for our piano and violin teachers.  We have a short list of teachers who have made the "cut" thus far and we will be meeting a few more this week and hopefully be able to firm things up and get the kids going again with their music.  I am so grateful for my sweet, talented, and insightful sister-in-law, Kayla, for helping me with this painstaking process!  

Our home here is small, but comfortable and has everything we need.  Downtown LO is within walking distance which is really cool.  It is really a neat thing to learn to live with less...less stuff, less people, less familiarity....even less worldly security.  I can't say I really love that last part, but it is what it is and I know God is doing something in the midst of it all.   It's not as if we are the only one's dealing with uncertainty....but more on that later.  

This is why I put "Traveling Light" as the first song on the player this week.  It's fitting.  Enjoy.

'Til next time....

LYMYWY (love you, miss you , want you),

Kara

The Eagle has landed!

Greetings from Lake Oswego, Oregon!  We had a leisurely morning in Twin Falls (we slept in) and got on the road just before 11:00am.  We stopped for a pic along the Snake River.  We finished our Oregon Trail book just as we pulled into the Oregon Trail Restaurant!  It was like Mel's Diner from that TV show Alice (Monica, if you are reading this, that was WAY before your time ;>), only there were animal heads hanging up everywhere.  

After that we made the trek to Portland.  We got to drive along the Columbia River Gorge for much of the way.  Beautiful territory.   I was surprised though, when we first entered Oregon and for the first many miles the countryside was barren and desertous.  It reminded Greg and I of desert hill scenes from the Middle East.  It wasn't until we reached the Gorge that the topography started to change to higher, greener mountains.  

We went straight to our rental house and unloaded a bunch of stuff and then went out to eat at a Lake Oswego favorite of ours:  Five Spice and then ice cream at the Lake Oswego Ice Creamery.  We then promptly took our tired selves to Embassy Suites for our last night in a hotel.  We decided to stay at a hotel instead of the house since it's late and the house is a mess.

3,248 miles, 8 tanks of gas, 10 states, 6 days later and we are here safe and sound.  Thank you for all your prayers for our safe travels.  I will keep the blog up-to-date with all of the fascinating Liechty news that I know you will not want to miss!  So keep checking in!

LYMYWY,

Kara

Yellowstone! Wyoming, Montana, Idaho...

It's really late on Thursday evening and we just pulled into Twin Falls, ID not long ago.  The kiddos are fast asleep and we are not far behind them.  

We started our day leaving Sheridan and heading west towards Yellowstone.  We went through some pretty fantastic territory on the way.  We drove through mountains of granite and dolomite.  We stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam at the Shoshone River.  The water was low as they are irrigating at this time.  The countryside was absolutely breathtaking.  

Shortly before we reached Yellowstone, we witnessed a black bear running along a hillside.  He looked right at us and was not impressed...he took off in the other direction, but we managed to get a couple of good pics.

Once we reached Yellowstone we were all quite serious about spotting whatever wildlife we could.  We saw bison, antelope, peacock, elk, large birds of prey, sulfur springs and geysers, and of course a number of homosapians.  We saw the bison the most.  In fact a couple of times they got really close to our van and Greg was standing just feet away from one that was grazing and kept edging closer to him.  We really wanted to see a moose and grizzly, but they eluded us today.  

Once we left Yellowstone, we made the trek back northwest towards Twin Falls.  We ate in Idaho Falls on the Snake River at a microbrewery called Brownstone.  Night was falling so we didn't get to explore the area too much, but it seemed like a beautiful area from what I could tell.  After dinner, we piled back into the van and headed for our hotel in Twin Falls (about another 2.5 hours in the van).  We are beat!  The good news is we only have 6-7 hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow to get to Portland.  We hope to sleep in, kids allowing.

A few of you have asked what we do while we are driving such long distances.  Well we do school, read aloud in the Oregon Trail and also Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, look for license plates from different states (thanks for the books Mom), watch Planet Earth DVDs and the occasional movie, and do a lot of talking about all the cool stuff we are seeing.  We are having a great time and the kids have not complained ONCE about being in the car for so long.  They are real troopers!  

I was struck today by what a blessed woman I am to get to spend this precious time with my husband and children.  It's truly an experience I will forever treasure.

LYMYWY,

Kara