The Rainy Season is Approaching

It seems that most of the country is embracing the fall weather- changing leaves, cooler temperatures and layering up.  Seattle on the other hand has been holding onto the last bit of summer for as long as possible.  I can’t remember the last time it really rained here and it was only the other day that I began to see reds, oranges and yellows in the leaves.  But that is all about to change.  Seattle doesn’t so much have seasons as it has two forecasts, sun or rain.  As you might have guessed we have had the first forecast of sun for quite awhile, but the latter will inevitably arrive late in the week.  It is kind of funny because the weather is consistent in the fact that when they say summer begins July 5^th- it does and when there is a first sign of rain in the forecast it won’t go away until next July 5^th.

In other news, our laptop is back and better than ever!  The family I nanny for was gracious enough to give us one of their extra hard drives and install it.  Then we went back to the Apple store so that they could re-install the proper operating system.  They were able to put on a newer version than what we had before and it runs like a dream.  We are very grateful that what started out as an almost $200 repair became a free repair!

This past Sunday night Josh and I were able to go to a Sounders Soccer game.  We quickly learned that the Sounders are a big deal here and their fans are quite loyal/fanatic.  They play in the Seahawks stadium but there are only a few games each season that they open up the top level for cheap seat viewing.  We jumped on the opportunity knowing that we will never be able to go to a game again.  We decided to go an hour early because we learned in our first few weeks here that fans gather in Pioneer Square and march to the stadium together.  It was intense, and slightly scary but at the same time fun to watch.  The front of the pack of fans were leading the chants and all had scarves or bandanas covering all but their eyes.  As they marched forward they lit something that began filling the air with green and blue smoke (Sounders colors).  At the end of the pack was the band that stays outside the stadium playing until the games starts.  Our seats were at the very top, but it was still a great view and our row only had 4 seats in it- an added bonus for having more space!  The fans on the lower level never sat down the entire game and EVERYONE had something on representing Sounders- like I said die heart fans.  The game was 90 minutes and once the clock starts it never stops running.  Even if there is an injury or the ball goes out of bounds the clock keeps counting up.  The same players are on the field the entire time- only get a break at halftime.  Another thing that made the game interesting was that there are no announcers.  Because we were so high, and there were no announcers, it as though you were watching the game on “Mute”…kind of weird.  The Sounders won 3-0 and am super glad we made it to a game!

The views from the top side of the stadium- so cool!

The view from out seats

 This is also the time of year to see salmon migrating back to their place of birth.  There is a salmon hatchery located in the nearby town of Issaquah.  The Renzelman’s brought us out there last week to see the salmon jumping the ladder.  I was amazed at how big the salmon were and the determination they had to make it back home.      

The throw back Shell we encountered driving through town

              

This past Monday was our last CG at the Radford’s.  As I wrote in a previous blog our CG is “triplicating”- breaking off into different CG’s so that we aren’t one overly large group.  It was a chill evening that started with a feast of tacos and desserts- yum.  We then did something we should have done every time we met- sang worship songs together.  Dave, one of the leaders, has lead worship in the past at other campuses.  He busted out his guitar, printed off lyrics to a handful of songs and we worshiped Jesus together.  My heart will always melt to the simplistic worship of just a guitar and voices.  Though we did have an egg shaker, and an African drum- it still had a sense of rawness to it that reminds you of what worship is all about.  I was once again reminded of how great Jesus is and the body of Christ.  Josh and I were sitting in a home, in Seattle, with a room full of people we had only met 6 months ago… singing to Jesus together.  We will miss our Monday night group but are grateful for that the fact that we will continue to see all these people because we are all from one body of believers!

I thought I would include one of the songs we sang that night, which is a Mars Hill classic, written by one of their bands.  

“Oh!, Great is Our God”