Vancouver 2010 ~ Downtown

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a short novella.

Downtown Vancouver during week one of the Winter Games!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lauragimpel/2010VancouverOlympicsDowntown?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLO6oewyqSdDg#

Walking around Whistler

I'm so grateful for the remarkable opportunity to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver! Many direct answers to prayer, namely gorgeous weather all week long. (I keep hearing about these cities where it constantly rains but when I've visited I've yet to see it come true ;-)
We had a fantastic week, luge at Whistler Mountain Monday, Ice Hockey Wednesday (Czech v Slav, 3-1 final), and Curling Friday (Go Canada Go!). Between times gorgeous food with the Lee family. More soon...

God's Playlist

Every day I walk to and from work. It's about 25 minutes each way, and I find it's a great break to not be in front of a screen.

Over the holidays I had time to add some CDs to the iPod, including some Christian music, some oldies, and some of the Bible on Audio Book. I put it on shuffle when I'm walking and was tickled the other day when the story of the Israelites rejoicing after escaping from Egypt played (Exodus 15) followed by the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness"!

Though I'm still trying to figure out the other playlist connection... from Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac and Aaron Neville's "Louisiana Christmas Day"

Walking & Stopping

In the movie Dave there is a great scene with a tour guide in the White House. She leads the group, saying, "We're walking... and we're walking. And we're stopping. And on your right is..."

This morning I read Ps 27:14

¹⁴ Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

At times God calls us to wait. Sometimes I think I know why. More frequently I haven't a clue. The story of the Israelites is helpful. We see, in hindsight, God sent Jacob and his eleven sons to Egypt purposefully (Genesis 46). There, the Israelites grew as a large nation under the protection of the Egyptian government. At precisely the right moment, God rescued them, parting seas and whatnot to make it happen.

Here's to courage during the wait, and hope for the future!