Winter Youth Celebration 2006

I have not yet recovered from the whirlwind of Christmas/WYC, which is why my blog is not updated! During my 2 week "vacation" at Christmas, we took 11 high school students on a 4 day trip to Portland. This was my 3rd year to "chaperone" though I think I am just as much a kid as they are on this trip! The difference is that I crash and burn when I get home - they just keep on going! The speakers, the music, the accomodations and the entertainment were all fabulous, as always. I couldn't hear for a week because we are the masters of getting front row seats and then there is that little bit of guilt over fenagling a key to the guys' room from the front desk but all is fair in prank war, right?! We had a great group of students and tons of fun but most of all, I hope the event had a spiritual impact on each person. It's always a good reminder of who God is and who I am in Him. We had an artist named Scott come back this year again to paint as the speakers gave their messages. He is able to put their words on canvas in an incredible way. Here is the painting from the final message. Each time he painted, I was reminded of God, the creator, and His love for me, His created. Throughout the course of the messages we saw images of tuning God out, looking to Him, being closed, our relationships with those around us and others. But what it all came down to is this last image, "Beloved". I can't imagine a greater love than what I have for my child. How can anyone reject that love from the Father? I can't imagine life itself coming from an explosion or evolution. How can something as complex as the eyeball or the heart or the brain be accidental? I can imagine thinking I am not good enough. I am not good enough. But I don't have to be. God's acceptance of me is not based on what I do. It is based on grace alone, which comes to me through Christ as He endured the cross for my shortcomings. I am Beloved. Anyone can be Beloved if they choose to accept the grace that cannot be earned but is given freely to all who believe. Are you Beloved?

Last night the wind howled, gusts up to 100 mph took down trees (including one in our neighbor's yard which went right across the main drag here in Westport!), and many power poles went down. We were without power for about 12 hrs, which is much better than the 3 days we were warned about. No worries, I was about to perc my coffee on the bbq (that camping equipment sure comes in handy!) when the power came back on. Then I realized I didn't have any ground coffee - just whole bean! We sure take electricity for granted! All of this wind, rain, snow, ice has me longing for the dog days of summer! In fact, we are making our camping reservations for next August! Can't wait to float the Dosewallips river and soak up some sun like Liz (left) and her friend Kasie last August. Winter hasn't officially started and I sure am sick of it!

Food For Thought

"Former Miami University college football coach Howard Schnellenberg explains the difference between involvement and commitment: 'When you're eating ham and eggs, the chicken that laid the eggs was involved, but the pig that provided the ham was totally committed."

from the Reader's Digest

My First Blog!

Life is so busy and so many people are on the net so I thought this would be a good way to keep my friends current on the happenings in the Allton family. I guess I'll start with Zach and how he came to hate snow. We've all heard, "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt," and that is so true! Zach & Liz were heavily into a snowball fight with the neighbors when Zach dodged a snowball and ended up going over a terraced edge. Unfortunately, his arm broke his fall, and was broken in the process! After several x-rays and a local anesthetic, the orthopedic doctor "set" it (ouch!) and he now has a lovely cast for all to sign. He is very active and heavily involved in playing football at every recess and after school with friends so this was a huge blow to him. I haven't told him how long the cast will be on because he is going to be devastated! Well, he looks awfully cute with his cast and 2 front teeth missing!