A Few Favorites for Friday

It’s been a bustling week over here in the Hunt household, making homemade presents, sending out Christmas cards and gifts to loved ones around the country and preparing for family arriving next week (!)  I thought I’d share a few of my favorite highlights from the past week.

1. Finding our tree in the national forest – As I mentioned in my last post, one of the things we wanted to do as part of our 12 Days of Christmas Spirit was find our tree in the national forest. Last Saturday, we headed out into the Willamette National Forest to finally cut down a tree. We already have a Christmas tree inside but it’s hard to see from the road so we wanted to find one to put outside where people could see it easily. Annie joined us to help hunt down the perfect tree. We had a truly awesome day that I think Andrew and I will both remember for a very long time.

This is mostly because it was absolutely beautiful and everywhere we wandered, we found something to marvel at. But it’s also because in the course of our wandering, we drove up a gravel road that was abruptly bisected by a waterfall running over it. The road had washed out enough that our little Jetta didn’t want to risk crossing it, so we had to turn around. During this process of turning around … on a very narrow road … on the side of a mountain …. I may or may not have had a mild panic attack and heard things come out of my mouth that were utterly absurd. Andrew of course was totally calm and not at all worried. I was convinced that the road was not wide enough to do a 17-point-turn and ordered Andrew out of the car to assess the situation. I’m not proud of this but I believe the word’s ‘trust me, I’m an engineer’ came out of my mouth. I never willingly own up to my engineering background so you know I was freaking out (and also, word to the wise, if you ever hear anyone say these words, do not in fact trust them).  Needless to say, Andrew was right, he turned the car around easily and we were all fine. We hiked awhile with Annie who now thinks she’s hot stuff since she got to go hiking with mom and dad all by herself.

We saw such incredible views of the Cascades and it was hard to tear ourselves away from the sweeping vista to search for a tree. !

But soon enough, our eyes landed on the same tree at the same time so after a little handiwork with the bow-saw, we had our tree:

I hope this is the start of a new tradition for us; it was such a lovely lovely way to spend the day together.

2. Seeing Andrew at lunch – The perk of living so close to campus is that Andrew can come home for lunch if he likes. The other day, we took advantage of sunny skies and took some of the dogs on a quick walk. I know that may not sound like much to you but it was just perfect. The air was crisp, the dogs were thrilled and we were happy to just be together for a short while in the sunshine.

3. Lazy hounds – Our dogs are hounds which makes them experts in sleeping. I am an unabashed hound-lover. When we lived in the South, nothing could get my blood boiling faster than to hear someone dismiss hound dogs as stinky or stupid. Hounds are intelligent, loyal and have an independent streak that though others might think is rebellious, I find endearing because it matches my own personality. Maybe it’s because we don’t have kids yet or maybe it’s because this is our first Christmas without Sherlock (the original Hunt hound) but I’ve caught myself just watching them, smiling at their interactions with each other, at the little doggie theater that plays out before me. My favorite is to catch them sleeping together – so much cuteness, I can’t stand it.

4. She Reads Truth devotionals – I’ve been following the devotionals posted at She Reads Truth and they have been a real blessing to me. They’re short which makes it easy to choose to start my day with the Word of God.  The readings for this week really spoke to me, highlighting the simple but awesome truth that God is with us and to not be afraid. I feel like God is speaking the words ‘do not be afraid’ to me right now and He is leading me into a season of listening. I’ve been brewing anxiety and uncertainty over what to do next, who to be. A lot of worry that I’m not making use of the gifts He has given me and frustration that I don’t know His plans. And this week, it hit me that I need to just shut up, listen and trust. I think I’ve been too afraid to quiet my mind and open my heart because I don’t know what I’ll find there. It may be that God’s plan does not involve what I’d like it to but I’m ready to listen. I know all of this is probably a bit heavy for a Friday evening but it was weighing on me to write it. Ladies, if you’ve been searching for a good devotional online, give She Reads Truth a try.

 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, whether you’re traveling to visit family or finishing up last minute shopping!