Living a life of the Altar and the Tent

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Devils tower was formed from an old volcano, the magma chamber solidified and the surrounding mountain eroded away leaving just the towering chamber you see today. Despite the name Devil's tower it is still a marvel of God's creation and speaks of Him. I was reminded on our visit of a hymn which says "on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." As humans we were made as vessels to contain God, when we believe in Him and receive Him as our life He fills our spirit and is our real content. Eventually as He lives in us and we live by Him He becomes our solid content, the treasure in our earthen vessel. Just as the earthen mountain eroded away to display this magnificent structure our earthen vessel begins to express the treasure within it and what people see when they see us is just Him! (à Devils Tower National Monument-Official NPS site)

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Enjoying the beautiful Chicago skyline from the architecture river tour with @christographer8 #matadventures #chicago #roadtothetraining (à Navy Pier)

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As an early spring snow fell over Boston's optimistic buds I was reminded of 2 Timothy 4:2 Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; ... with all long-suffering and teaching. So often I look at the circumstances around me, but they rarely show the full picture, these tulips according to their understanding saw sufficient signs of springtime and burst forth "in season" only to find that as soon as they put forth their leaves winter was upon them again. They now need to endure with long-suffering to grow and bloom. This reminded me that my concept of what is in season and out of season is false and even deceitful, there is One in me who is always ready to speak, and He can withstand even the most severe of unseasonable changes. #Bahstan #spring #winter? #unashamed #tulips #twolipstospeakChrist (à Post Office Square, Boston)

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After finance and marketing midterms and a statistics class I decided to let loose and go to an engineering forum in Waltham with my dad. (I know, even for a college student that's pretty crazy) Got some delicious food, met some amazing engineers and businessmen and ended the day with out of stock kimball farm ice cream. Gotta say all around a great day :)

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The last day ... we went to a Laundromat in Springfield and met some nice people. Got a Starbucks while waiting. After fluffing and folding, we went to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame to see where Grandpa George is enshrined. That's actually the term they use ... so sports is kind of modern day idol worship:( After visiting Grandpa's shrine we went and had seafood and ice cream at Kimball Farm with Mr and Mrs Boisvert. It is a GREAT place to have ice cream.

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Left Cleveland, drove by the Erie Canal, saw Niagra Falls, had a GREAT dinner at Joey's in Syracuse and decided to do a repeat performance at a Hampton Inn in Albany. Tomorrow we arrive in Providence!

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Cleveland

We paid a lot of tolls, saw some industry on the river, some nice countryside, and stayed in a suburb at a Hampton Inn. Very nice.

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Lunch at Gino’s East (deep dish pizza) after a morning of shopping (!) and going to the top of the John Hancock tower. Judy got a new purse, since the strap on her old one broke yesterday.

The retail therapy seemed to work: spirits are high as we wheel our way to the suburbs of Cleveland.

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Gary Indiana!

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Arrived in Chicago late last night and had a delicious meal at the hotel Felix restaurant LM. Celery root and quail breast risotto followed by a crème brûlée. So indeed we stayed up eating the quail, but that doesn't mean in the morning we cannot enjoy the heavenly manna! We must establish our hearts in the Lord because He is coming soon!

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Day 4

We drove 571 miles through beautiful farm lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Our fancy new camera proved its versatility by turning into a doorstop (it broke), so we don’t have pictures. Between the early morning fire alarm and four long days of driving, patience is running a little thin. Some downtime and shopping in Chicago should remedy that …

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We were having a little too much fun in Zion, singing and dancing ensued. We drove 691 miles on Day 1 (Irvine to Provo, via Zion).

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Yellowstone was as advertised: beautiful yellow stone (made that way by sulphur from the geysers), dramatic canyons and rivers, and lots of exciting fauna - elk, buffalo, deer, chipmunks. We wanted to see a moose, but no luck. Lisa kept having hamoosinations (thinking she saw a moose), but quickly came to her senses. The weather has been great: typically, it is in the mid 70’s. We drove 400 miles today (Provo to Yellowstone via the Grand Tetons) and Yellowstone to Cody, WY. We spent the night in Cody, WY and thought of cousin Cody Calwell, who starts his sophomore year at Chicago Loyola on Monday.

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Last night a fan belt on the AC unit at our hotel "smoked", and evacuated the whole hotel for an hour. We met a lot of nice people in PJs.

The hotel very kindly offered us a full buffet this morning. We will get a late start, but we should be well fed :)

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Today we drove a long way: 755 miles.

We started at a great breakfast place that Lisa found on Yelp (after our waitress last night had recommended it). We stopped at a coffee shop in Shell, WY (population 83) and had a cup of coffee with some locals. It was a cute little town, and a nostalgic experience.

We proceeded to drive through some beautiful canyons and a waterfall.

The high point of the day was seeing Mount Rushmore. Seeing those founders of liberty sculpted in stone was impressive, and we thank the Lord that He prepared and inspired such men to establish this God-fearing nation.

We broke up the remainder of our drive with a stop at the humorously over-hyped Wall Drug Store. We didn't buy anything. The advertised 5 cent coffee wasn't available, and the ice cream was uninspiring: we drove to a nearby DQ and got a Blizzard.

Spending the night in Sioux Falls, SD. Off to Chicago tomorrow.

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The road to Yellowstone:

We saw hot air balloons in Utah and an enormous elkhorn arch (although they are technically antlers, not horns).

We then drove past the Grand Tetons (they were truly grand) on the way to Yellowstone.

O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth, / You who have set Your glory over the heavens! Psalm 8:1

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In Smoot Wyoming. Love it!