Saturday’s walk was one of sweet fellowship with my sister in Christ, Ingrid – it was very windy, and the aftermath of Friday’s storm was evident in the ‘sand dunes’ along the beach paths. They were mildly annoying for us, but the cyclists were having a really rough time of it. Again, I was thankful that we were walking with our backs to the wind!
I was a couple of days ahead of schedule to get ahead of more bad weather, and it was a good thing…
Spotlights This Week:
Always: Hope Chapel Missions
Charity Spotlight: Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Church Spotlight: Coquille Foursquare Church (Praise Center) – Coquille, OR
I know that the rest of the country chuckles at those of us on the west coast when it comes to rain. In our defense, we just don’t get that much of it, and our terrain gets rather cranky when it happens.
Some of the areas I walked through in the past week or so made the news after last night’s storm. Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu was closed in both directions because of Volkswagon-sized boulders:
5 days ago I walked on PCH over the 710 Freeway, marveling at the wall of trucks in both directions heading to/from the busy Port of Los Angeles. On the left of the following picture you can see where I stood on that overpass, just behind the fence – on the right, you can see an area of the 110 Freeway that I drove to and from home on Saturday:
There were other PCH closures due to downed trees, flooding in Seal Beach, and unexpected ‘waterfalls’ in Dana Point and Lomita. We even had surfing in the streets of Long Beach (behind pickup trucks) – only in California!
All that being said, we’re glad for the rain – here’s some of the joy Ingrid and I had during the window between storms on Saturday:
100 MILES TO GO!!!
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26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. ~ Romans 8:26-27
Soles 4 Hope 
Nice! Great photos, captures. Cheryl and I drove through that section of the 110 Fwy that closed on Sunday, we were there on Friday, during the previous storm, and it was deep enough to slow folks down to a crawl (about 6-8″ deep for the most part). It’s amazing how 3″ of rain can really backup and flood things out that badly. Well, that plus all the earlier rain that fell as well… The beaches must be a mess… Gotta get down there and do our share to clean up!
We are praising God that he has kept you safe and either being ahead of the storms, or not there when “Stuff happens”. There are so many bad things that can happen. I read this morning of a walker who was going barefoot across country, and was struck and killed just yesterday by and SUV. Praying continued protection for you, especially in this – the last mile (last 100 miles?).
God bless you sister!
Link to article about activist killed by SUV — http://abcnews.go.com/US/environmental-activist-killed-suv-walking-barefoot-us/story?id=44979072
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Wow, that’s very sobering… I’ve met several people doing similar things for various causes (not all of which I would endorse,…), but in some cases we’ve prayed together for our mutual safety. Where there’s life, there’s hope. I walked yesterday – a post on that is coming, and the beaches really are a mess in some places. Thank you for your continued prayers – only 90 miles (9 days) left to go!
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Oh, and btw, the Lomita flooding that made the news, is on the next street over from us. The “Waterfall” pictures they showed were of the new “Championship Golf Course” that Rolling Hills Country Club is putting in behind us. The folks at Chandler Rock and Gravel filled in the old quarry on Narbonne (Palos Verdes Drive, East) and sold it to the Country Club a couple years back. They gutted their old course, and hired a designer to build them this “World Class” course. But, all of these things seem to have a few bumps in the road. The course is still in the middling stages of development, and all that mud up there (since there’s no grass, or trees, or anything resembling a good drainage system yet) had to go somewhere. It piled up pretty deep on our street as well (Pennsylvania) but not nearly so bad!
We had a pool again in our backyard. The pool was filled in with sand (and they drilled holes in the pool to allow for drainage I am told) but we had 10″ of water over the top of the paving stones they laid on top of the sand. As well, we had water running everywhere from that massive downpour on Sunday. We were spared the worst of it, and our pool was gone the next morning, having drained away through those holes they drilled in the old pool underneath.
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Yes – I remember they said that waterfall came from a golf course in Rolling Hills!
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Hey – Warren Carlson interviewed by ABC7 News after the flooding Sunday.
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Whoa… that brings the events ‘up close and personal’! When we get this type of rain, I remember some years back when I stopped at a little wayside store in Silverado Canyon to look for a map of the area. A friendly teenage girl was tending that family market, which was attached to their home. Just a few months later, a big storm rolled in and I heard about a teenage girl killed by a boulder that rolled into her bedroom which was just above their family market in Silverado Canyon. I’m pretty sure it was that store, and I’m pretty sure it was that girl – so I always pray when storms like this hit us. It often hits close to home.
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Wow! Lot’s going on there! So glad you didn’t get “caught up” in any of that!
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