Our Stories
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Sand and Gravel ... It's the Pits! by Char Forslund - 09/02/2010
A lot of life is sand and gravel. You know, the daily detail, go here, go there, do this, then that. I know because, though it has taken me too long to recognize it, that is where I have been living... in the sand and gravel pit of my life.
water balloons + camera = creativity by Keith Ferrin - 08/26/2010I love it when people put their creative juices to work. I witnessed this in full bloom last month. My family was with me when I spoke for a week at Summit View Community Church just across the Columbia...
From Genesis to Miles Davis by Rob Gregerson - 08/19/2010In our little two bedroom apartment just north of Greenlake, my wife and I have this room that models a creative playground of sorts. This is what I mean... The space is no bigger than 15 square feet, yet...
Keep Your Eye On the Drum by Aaron Soderlund - 08/12/20104:00pm: Haircut to get ready for new business card picture 4:30pm: Done with haircut; Head for home 4:45pm: Arrive home 5:00pm: Play downstairs with Nathan and Josh 5:15pm: Lie behind the couch on the pillows and blankets playing "pretend sleeping game"
Keep On Losing Our Religion by Abigail Welborn - 08/05/2010Did you hear? Anne Rice, the vampire novelist who famously converted to Christianity a few years ago, is quitting. Well, she's quitting "Christianity"; she was quick to clarify that her relationship with Christ is still going strong, and for that I'm thankful.
A Few Thoughts by Kelly Humphreys - 07/29/2010A couple of thoughts as my one-year anniversary of living in the Pacific Northwest and being part of the Creekside community arrives next week... This past year has been one of the best and one of the most challenging...
Change and Become by Kim Hjelm - 07/22/2010Two words pop out at me when I read the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:13: Change and Become. Then I ask, change from what to become what? There are of course many possible dimensions to this short phrase...I will share
Hill Stories by Stew - 07/15/2010About a month ago, I saw a hawk on the side of a hill. The hawk had a wounded wing, so rather than fly up the hill, it hopped. The hawk hopped until he reached a three-rail fence near the top of the hill, then he "flew" to the top rail where he perched himself to scan the hill below. I approached the hawk to get a better look, but I spooked him
Spending Yourself or Being Spent? by Keith Ferrin - 07/08/2010We spent five days last week at Family Camp. We hung out, ate fantastic food, worshiped, chatted, saw some fireworks, and even ate a pancake breakfast at the top of one of Rainier’s foothills. And while all of those...
Two Weeks' Notice by Aaron Soderlund - 07/01/2010The last time you heard from me, I was eight weeks away from heading down to the Dominican Republic with our team from Creekside. We're now two weeks out and just about ready. You've heard about our different fund-raisers....
Free Indeed by Kim Hjelm - 06/24/2010My friend, Krisann had a specific prayer request this week. It was that the Holy Spirit would "be in me in an extra powerful way". She asked for this as she was leaving on a trip that was "way, way out of [her] comfort zone". Where was she going?
In Training by Kelly Humphreys - 06/17/2010I have been walking a lot lately, as I’m training for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure in September, where my team and I will walk 20 miles a day for three days, raising money for breast cancer research, prevention and awareness.
The Word Without Sin by Abigail Welborn - 06/10/2010Can you remember the cruelest thing someone’s ever said to you? What about the most hurtful thing you’ve said to someone else? I thought of something really spiteful I said to my father. As soon as the words had come out of my mouth, I regretted them; even now, I can feel how hurt he was. That’s the power of the word.
Time for Some Timelessness by Stew - 06/03/2010I’m late writing this, so I’m not on time. Yet lately, I’ve been feeling time hovering over me like a Predator drone. Part of this feeling is just getting older and seeing younger people entering into times that I...
Getting Lost In The Presence of God by Doug Humphreys - 05/27/2010Early in January, Keith Ferrin came up to me and said, "Hey Dude." (I know, it sounds like him, right?) Anyway, he continued, "I'm thinking of asking some guys to join me in reading the Bible through in four...
Eight Weeks From Today by Aaron Soderlund - 05/20/2010My days consist of me looking for houses for people. I take their needs and their wants in a home and I go out and find it for them. And if I’m not doing that, I’m telling all the other people out there why they will want the house that I’m selling because of all it has to offer. I love doing what I do.
The Real Change We Can Believe In by Abigail Welborn - 05/13/2010I used to be less like a news junkie and more like a news ostrich, hiding and hoping no one would see me. Then along came Facebook, the one-stop shop for sharing links of any kind - funny, informative, inflammatory.
Living Water by Kelly Humphreys - 05/06/2010"There is a river that washes you clean..." So goes a song by Jars of Clay, which is playing while I write about water. I love that song; it reminds me of so many places in the Bible where water is a theme
Resting is Hard Work by Keith Ferrin - 04/29/2010Why is it so hard to rest? I mean, really rest. Not, I’m-going-to-sit-for-an-hour-and-read-a-book-then-get-back-to-my-busyness type of rest. I’m talking about fully unplugged, I’m-not-going-to-log-on-to-Facebook-Twitter-or-email kind of rest. As my friend Doug says, "Sabbath for me is about not producing anything. Helps...
Coincidentally? by Char Forslund - 04/22/2010I’m sitting at the computer writing this article. I never do that! I always write and re-write in longhand before I ever go to the keyboard. When I talked to Lynn about doing an article about our cruise to...
Smiling by Stew - 04/15/2010Recently, I watched a short video about how people learn to see. Interestingly, people learn not so much from seeing things, but from seeing motion. In fact, the way I learned this was by watching a video of a formerly blind child learning to see.
Opening Day 2010 by Aaron Soderlund - 04/08/2010History 395: The History of Baseball. Now THAT was a fun class. It was an American history class that was based on the quote (by someone I can’t remember), "It is impossible to have a complete understanding of baseball...
Checking In by Abigail Welborn - 04/01/2010It’s Holy Week - which means that Lent is almost over for another year. Six weeks ago I wrote about my decision not to buy non-fair-trade chocolate for Lent, so now that I am almost ready to go buy...
Community by Kelly Humphreys - 03/24/2010Community equals Support equals Wisdom. Throughout my life I have done some things in community but have done much more alone. I have communities of my marriage and family, friends and church, but often I make decisions or do...
Shoes by Kim Hjelm - 03/18/2010I've been thinking a lot about shoes lately. Not in the Imelda Marcos way...more in the Boy-do-I-take-having-shoes-for-granted way. I've posted stuff on Facebook; I've sent an Evite to a 'shoe party' to almost all the contacts in my email...
"Caroline, it's God Calling." by Caroline Cramer - 03/11/2010It was a black rotary dial phone and hung on the wall in the kitchen of the small home that I lived in for all of my childhood. My first memories of it included the short cord to the handset that was eventually lengthened as the local Southwestern Bell added accessories to the available white, beige or black phones.
Opportunity Knocks - what do YOU do? by Erik Godo - 03/04/2010My old '97 Saturn was rear-ended and totaled over a year ago. I was hit pretty hard and the car's frame got crinkled. My head hurt for a few hours but luckily I had a good headrest
Two Seconds by Aaron Soderlund - 02/25/2010Red gate. Turn. Blue gate. Turn. Red gate. Turn. Blue Gate. Turn. And over and over and over. It’s so simple, yet I can’t stop watching it. Dozens of people doing the same thing back to back. All of them within 2 seconds of each other from best to worst.
I’m Giving Up Slavery for Lent by Abigail Welborn - 02/18/2010During the month of January, while we were learning about the very real problem of modern slavery, or human trafficking, I experienced varying degrees of conviction and a desire to make a difference. Though we heard many stories and...
A Story by Kelly Humphreys - 02/11/2010What kind of story am I living in? I’ve been asking myself this question lately, as I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about "story." There is a higher purpose in living life as a story, rather than just day-to-day, not seeing the bigger picture.
Be Careful What You Ask by Kim Hjelm - 02/04/2010"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it."
"Well, why don’t you ask Him?"
"Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question." ~Anonymous
Attachment theory says that our early attachments to our parents were important for achieving physical and emotional security. Early experiments in attachment theory involved monkeys who were deprived of contact with mothers and so failed to thrive, or of...
Discovering God’s Passionate Love in Deuteronomy ... Of All Places by Keith Ferrin - 01/21/2010As you may know, I am joining with a half dozen other guys to read through the whole Bible in four months. I just started Deuteronomy yesterday and was once again blown away by the depth of God’s love...
In Sickness and in Health by Abigail Welborn - 01/14/2010There's nothing like being sick to make you appreciate how good it feels to be well! I hope you never find yourself sitting on the toilet and hugging the trash can at the same time, but if you do, know that you have my complete sympathy. After two days of lying on the couch with barely enough energy to drink soda, I was grateful just to be able to eat solid food. I woke up last Thursday thinking, "Ahh, thank goodness, I can put that behind me!"
I AM by Aaron Soderlund - 01/07/2010I am who I think you think I am. That phrase has been stuck in my head for the past few days. In an attempt to master parenting (which Beth and I have just about completed, by the way), I just started the book, Parenting With Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay.
The Hopes and Fears of All the Years are Met in Thee Tonight by Doug Humphreys - 12/23/2009I love everything about Christmas. Everything. Every year I intentionally try to slow down time so the season does not get behind me. I'm not kidding. I look at the calendar in early November and think, "it's almost 'the...
Kingdom Moments by Kelly Humphreys - 12/17/2009I had an hour to kill in downtown Escondido before meeting three friends for a much-anticipated lunch at the local French bakery café during my recent vacation in Southern California. I decided to wander over to Grape Day Park, which was on the way. Since moving to Washington I had missed seeing some of the people who live there; I used to have breakfast at the park on Saturdays with a few friends from my faith community.
Icicle Lights Anyone? by Char Forslund - 12/10/2009First, let me declare, loud and clear, that every package of icicle lights should contain this BOLD disclaimer: The manufacturer will not assume responsibility for any mental health or anger management needs arising from the attempted use of this product.
Grrr-r-r-r-r by Kim Hjelm - 12/03/2009My great-niece, Alanah, who is 18 months old, enjoys her food. This becomes very apparent when as she is eating... she purrs...well, it is really more like a growl or an elongated grunt. It is quite entertaining. Remember Bjornie?...
Thankful by Aaron Soderlund - 11/25/2009My wife. My sons. My mom. My dad. My sister. Brother and sister-in-laws. My nephews and nieces. My aunts and uncles. My friends that live here. My friends far away. Jesus. Washington State University. The Washington State University Athletic...
We're On A Mission From God by Abigail Welborn - 11/19/2009I have a question for you, and I want you to stop and think about it for a second. If you could look ahead 20 years and you had accomplished everything you wanted to do in that time, what would your life look like?
Hubert by Stew - 11/12/2009If you ask me if you should forgive a friend for something unforgivable, I will recall when I was about seven years old and told my best friend, after some minor dispute, that I didn't want to ever talk...
Focusing on ... ? by Kelly Humphreys - 11/05/2009God values faith very highly. Perhaps it is because He knows that we so often walk by sight and not by faith, that we judge the tenor of our lives by the circumstances we walk in. He also knows that He works in us and through us much more effectively when we are trusting in Him. (And how can we help and love the hurting world around us if we don't have faith in the Giver of all good things?)
You - Yes You! - Are the Light of the World by Keith Ferrin - 10/29/2009I've been hanging out in the Sermon on the Mount lately. While I've heard these words of Jesus for so long, new things are popping out to me. One part that I seem to keep coming back to is right near the beginning ...
Certainty or Trust by Doug Humphreys - 10/22/2009I was at the gym the other day and was listening to a podcast where a guy told the story of how he traveled to India in search of Mother Teresa, found her, got to speak to her and...
Discipline by Aaron Soderlund - 10/15/2009I'm not the best when it comes to discipline. And why is it that the things that are hard to stay disciplined on are usually the things that keep you the most healthy. It's like my brain and body...
How To Find Living Color by Abigail Welborn - 10/08/2009I’ve been greatly enjoying the latest sermon series at Creekside. It’s just what I need to add a spark to my spiritual life, which, I have to admit, has become a little boring. My life has been going well...
Love Letters by Kelly Humphreys - 10/01/2009I was recently going through a box of old cards and letters and came across a letter written 20 years ago by my grandfather to me a few years before he passed away.
Break Free by Kim Hjelm - 09/24/2009She kept trying
Over and over again
To get out
To get to the world she could see
Something was in her way
She knew that is where she was supposed to be
Deep within her, a longing so strong
She kept trying
Over and over again
I say the Lord’s Prayer most mornings. Right off the bat, it says "Thy Kingdom come." If I understand this correctly it is a command that we invoke, not God. Somehow, we are supposed to order God’s Kingdom to appear, pronto, so that we can go out and do His will. First, we command the Kingdom to come, and only then does "Thy will be done" happen. The order is important. God rested on the seventh day, not the first.
