In Summary: If you’re running low on space, use this technique to clean out your iPhone quick

If you are like me (and I know I am!) I am shooting pics and video on my iPhone daily. People are often shocked when they spot that I have 4000+ photos on my iPhone in the Camera Roll, not counting the ones in albums.

The other day I was at Walt Disney World shooting family memories like I normally do, when my iPhone suddenly alerted me to the fact that I was out of space. I was shocked considering that I have the iPhone 4S with 32GB of space! So that I could finish recording what I wanted, I did some emergency deleting of large apps I hardly use, (the iPhone kindly gives you a quick button the place to remove files and apps to get space fast).

I know the culprit of my space problem is photos and videos. Nearly half my space is taken up with all these pictures and videos! The problem is, when you import pics/vids to your iPhoto, while it gives you the opportunity after import to “keep or delete” if you opt to keep them (as I do) you are then stuck with them. I’ve tried going back and deleting bad or unwanted pictures, but what to do NOW that I have over 4000 pictures? That would take a VERY LONG TIME!

I have found the solution!

If you’re not familiar with the process (I wasn’t), you use the application Image Capture on your Mac. The nice thing about this process is that it uses a program that ships on your Mac from the start–in other words, FREE!

Here’s what you do:

Plug your iPhone into your computer
Open Image Capture
Created a new folder for the photos to go into
Check the box “Delete after import”
Click “Import All”

You will have a copy on your harddrive of ALL your pics/vids and your iPhone will be empty. You can then import that folder into iPhoto to make sure you aren’t missing any (checking “ignore any duplicates”) and then burn that folder to a CD for a backup and then delete it. (They are all in iPhoto after all!)

It’s good to have a fresh start after all.

If there are pics you want to have on your iPhone, simply put them in albums and sync those albums on your iPhone, and you’ll have them with you. No need to carry all of them with you all the time.

I plan to do this again about every six months now.

DAY #4: Photography

I am thankful for the gift of photography. Anyone who follows my blog knows that I love worshiping through my lens and post pictures all the time on this site. (often wallpapers and videos) I can’t imagine a world where we could not capture life and memories to look at later. Imagine all that we would forget if we didn’t have pictures to look to bring back the buried memories?

I am so thankful that we can now carry camera on our phones (even video cameras!) so that in a mere moment we can capture memories, beauty and fun moments to treasure for the rest of our life and then pass down to our family’s future generations. While it can be a lot to manage – it is a treasure.

If you are not on a Mac, it’s a lot harder to manage all your pictures!

If you are on a Mac and iPhoto is getting a little overstuffed with photos, did you know you can have multiple libraries? This is often not known! And it makes organizing your pictures even easier, as you can have separate libraries for different categories of life, and albums within those libraries and switch between them to keep it manageable.

On older OS, you just hold down ‘option’ while clicking iPhoto until it stops bouncing, let go of option, and then click iPhoto icon again, a pop up will appear asking you if you want to create a new library, or asking you which library you want to open. Yes, you can have libraries on external drives. Once you have multiple libraries, Lion will even allow you to switch between libraries.

Why would you want multiple libraries? For example, when I go to Yosemite, I might have over 5000 pictures from 8 guys! I don’t want my own iPhoto clogged up with all those pics, so I make a library named iPhoto Yosemite Summit 2011 and it is just those pictures, and have one each trip, and another for all the years combined. (There is an app for combining libraries too! But I don’t want to get too detailed here.)

Just wanted to pass on something practical in this post!

It’s really just something I need to DO MYSELF – but I thought maybe others might want to join me, and I’d enjoy reading/seeing what others are thankful for. So you are welcome to use the Word doc, or just post in the forum what YOU are thankful for! So let me begin today, with my first post. These are NOT going to be in priority order, otherwise I’d have to go God, Family, etc. and then later on, people might judge me for putting one thing “above” or “before” another – so right out of the gate let me say, these posts will be in RANDOM ORDER of things I am THANKFUL FOR!

DAY 2 – God’s Word

DAY 3 – My Mom

DAY 4 – Photography

DAY 5 – Pandora

DAY 6 – George Lucas

DAY 7 – Breckenridge

DAY 8 – Barq’s

DAY 9 – Mercy & Grace

DAY 10 – Steves

DAY 11 – Freedom

DAY 12 – Luke

DAY 13 – Sara

DAY 14 – My Bookkeeper

DAY 15 – Science

DAY 16 – Da Cloud

DAY 17 – Awana & Sunday School

DAY 18 – My Dad

DAY 19 – True Friends

DAY 20 – Scottevest

DAY 21 – My Customers

DAY 22 – Tennis Balls

DAY 23 – Flight

DAY 24 – Jesus

We chose the latter, and headed out to Castlewood Canyon State Park!

We had a great time, and without mommy, of course, we were free to roam “off the trail” a little more than usual. (hehe)

And boy oh boy does this boy love to climb! Of course, I have a knack for taking pictures that look a lot higher than they really are!

Both of these above, Luke is about five feet off the ground. (LOL)

I would never let Luke climb up anywhere high!

I get such a kick out of him stopping every now, turning around and saying, “Take my picture daddy!” I can’t imagine where he got that!

At one point, Luke decided to show me how strong he was! I was pretty impressed! He was going to roll it all the way the down the hill, but I made him put the rock back where he found it.

But what is a hike without bringing some cars to play with? Hiking with Luke is unique, it involves stopping every so often to play with cars, especially if a great spot is discovered…

For example, this was a cool “car cave” we found!

This was my favorite picture of the day – if you click it to enlarge it, you’ll see he is splashing water. (It’s my Macbook Air wallpaper now!) We found this mini pool on the top of a ridge overlooking a beautiful vista and spend quite a while there just hanging out, playing cars and relaxing.

Since we didn’t have mommy, we missed out on her usual great picture taking, so there are no pics of daddy, so I had to get creative – and settle for one of my shadow pictures!

It was a great day! Next was ice cream and then off to pick out a pumpkin and carve it, but that’s tomorrow’s blog post!

It was great having a convertible at a time like this!

We had driven past this scene and a mile past I ended up doing a U-Turn to go back and took about twenty amazing amazing pictures here…

It ended up being one of the most beautiful stops of the entire day…

The horses kept posing for me in different arrangements!

But Luke’s favorite was when we spotted a UFO back in the hills that had just landed! We got a picture and then got out of there before they abducted us!

Here is a close up zoomed in:

That had to be the highlight of Luke’s day! For me, it was just being out with the family, cruzin’ with the top down in the PK Cruiser:

Which is why THIS is my new Facebook Profile Pic!

Later, Sara said her favorite stop was by this old tractor and wooden barn, and I must say, I did enjoy photographing my favorite subject here:

And he was a great sport as daddy made him pose this way and that… but then, he was getting to climb all over a tractor, so it was a pretty cool deal for both of us!

Even peeking into a mysterious old shed has it’s appeal! (I found my way in, but didn’t tell him, there were too many ways to get hurt… but it was cool!)

I dread the day the cooperation with the camera will cease… but right now he puts up with it, knowing it is our love that drives the click, click, click. Perhaps there is a little vanity in him that enjoys looking at the pictures later? I’ll take it! I want to remember these days.

The barrel was filled with spools of old string. Letting him keep one was the deal that got him to climb in for a picture, though later I realized he probably would have climbed in anyway… it was kinda fun!

Even Sara agreed to pose for a few pictures for me!

Now there’s a facebook profile pic!

I thought it funny that we both got pictures of ourselves in the car mirrors:

That’s the road up the Continental Divide she is taking… which I took up at the top:

and then from the other side of the Divide as well, looking the other way:

It turned out to be a pretty crazy day, though fun. We chose a route on the Lodge “Activity Guide” and charted it out on the map, thinking it was perhaps a 3-4 hour drive and it turned out to be a nearly TWELVE HOUR drive! We went over the Continental Divide a total of FOUR times by the end of the day. We were laughing that they would give guests a “leaf viewing tour” that was a 400 mile tour of Colorado and not tell them it takes 10-12 hours. We only stopped for one meal and one store and to take pictures a few times, so it wasn’t like we lengthened the trip by much. We were just glad we had left around 10a.m. and not after lunch!

Of course, as the driver, I was getting most of the blame from my weary passengers, but I kept blaming the piece of paper we were following. But in the end, we mostly laughed it off and just enjoyed the day together.

I did end up deciding there were some lessons from the day, and you can hear all about that in my Kidmin Talk Podcast #3 which I recorded earlier today. There were really quite a few fun applications to the Adventures of the day to ministry, but I won’t go into that here, it’s best told on the podcast already.

But it was a great day with the family! Fall is definitely here – and God did a spectacular job showing off His creative abilities with splendor. He didn’t have to make the changing seasons beautiful you know. He could have just been practical. But He chose to do it with class and color and have a little fun with it, just for our enjoyment. The same opportunity is given to us. Why be practical all the time? When you can, do things with class and splash a little color and fun into life too. Not because you have to, but just because you can. That’s how God operates. And guess what? You were created in His Image! So stop being so practical and waste some time and be creative and unpractical for a change!

Do something beautiful and unnecessary, before you forget how.

That will make God’s day – just like He made mine this week.

The aspens were simply amazing and it was like God painted the entire place a masterpiece for us.

Everywhere I went, it was like God was there with me. Last year, when I went, it was wet and raining and depressing and I didn’t know anyone (it was literally my first week at the church) – and no one talked to me hardly, and while I went with a friend (thanks buddy) it just wasn’t the same. This year the weather was beautiful.

I found an empty outdoor auditorium. Pretty symbolic of my life right now. I miss being a pastor. While I know Kidology.org impacts and helps a lot of people, I spend the bulk of my time in front of a computer. Not as fulfilling compared to when I was in front of kids every Sunday. I have this idea of what I’d like to being doing and how I’d like to be serving God, but I have to release that and trust that God has a plan, and right now it is to do what I am doing now, and be where I am now, and simply wait to see what He has in store for me, on His schedule, not mine. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and I love serving those I serve, but I miss shepherding a group of children that I know by name every Sunday. And I long for the day when I will have that again. All in His time.

This weekend there were some things I needed to let go of. Plans, ideas, needs, hopes… things I’ve been clinging to… and just trust God’s timing and plans for me. It’s not like I didn’t already know all this – pastor’s know a lot of things in their heads… but it can take the heart awhile to catch up.

I am learning so much about resting and walking and being instead of doing and achieving and producing. God has been completely re-wiring me over the past several years. Moving to Colorado has been a huge part of this process. But I’m a slow learner. Am I alone in this struggle?

I have to constantly remind myself, even as I tell others… to be content. To focus on the blessings, the positive, the good things, the many ways that I am making a difference… even though I am not currently a children’s pastor… that that is not my identity… I know it in my head… but my heart needs reminders sometimes.

So I walked with God and released a lot of things that I have been longing for and wanting and hoping for and wishing for… and He gave me a spirit of contentment that just overwhelmed me.

I gave up trying to figure some things out. And a peace overcame me. It was incredible. I stood on the side of a very high hill that I had climbed without a path to get me there…

And I sang “I surrender all.” (Plus a bunch of my favorite Newsboys songs!) Later that night, after the “hot tub baptism service” was over (which I thought was a little goofy, God bless ‘em anyway) I decided it wasn’t so goofy after all. I changed into my suit and went down to the hot tub and baptized myself, which is even goofier – since there was no one there to witness it! But since I was a pastor, I figured I could do it myself, I know what to say and all. And I just went in by myself, rededicated myself to the Lord, and dunked myself with no witnesses other than God Himself, and then floated for awhile listening to the men singing in chapel nearby. It was pretty powerful actually. Until some teenagers from a separate group came by and thought there was a dead man in the hot tub and freaked out. That brought my spiritual bliss to a pretty humorous ending. God does have a sense of humor! So I got out, went and got dry, and no one knew about my self-baptism until now. Now you know!

May God continue to use this goofy servant of His and I continue to seek his blessing and serve Him with contentment wherever He has me and whatever He has me doing for His glory.

ENJOY:

It was a beautiful day and the aspens were in full yellow changing!

The first lake, Chinns, had an old cabin on it that we had lunch in it. It was pretty awesome wondering the history of this settlement.

The next lake, Sherman, was less exciting, but it did have a cool tree out in it that we posed for some pictures out on.

Another view of Chinns Lake from up above on our way to Slater Lake.

Here is Craig Wilson checking out Slater Lake, and as you can see, there was snow still on the hillside belong the lake… where we would soon be heading…

Can you find Craig up on the hill? (on the snow?)

The view back down to Slater Lake from the top of the snow pack! See all the mountains in the distance? They were as far as the eye could see! (And we never saw another hiker the entire time we were there.)

I “skied” down the snow on my rear end! (and pretty fast too!) Until I hit the rocks! Craig caught a pic when I hit the rocks at the bottom:

Of course I enjoy trying to spot some beauty during the day, its my way of worshiping through my lens:

If you want to see more pictures, enjoy this YouTube video:

While I find many means of worship enjoyable and meaningful, one that I find most pleasing and satisfying I call “worshiping through my lens.” It is simply enjoying and attempting to capture God’s Creation through the lens of my camera, and then taking some time to edit with iPhoto.

I enjoy the compliments I get and people are often surprised I’m not a “Photoshop” expert and do everything I do to my photos with only iPhoto. So I thought this time, instead of just posting photos from my Father’s Day outing to the Denver Botanic Gardens (where we have a membership) I’d go ahead and give you my “before and after” pics to show you the difference between the pics I took and the way they look after I had some fun on the computer with them.

NOTE: All pics can be clicked to be viewed larger.

White Daisies (BEFORE)

White Daisies (AFTER) See the bug?

Hungry Bee (BEFORE)

Hungry Bee (AFTER)

Lonely Flower (BEFORE)

Lonely Flower (AFTER)

Red Rose (BEFORE)

Red Rose (AFTER)

Purple Fields (BEFORE)

Purple Fields (AFTER)

Busy Ants (BEFORE)

Busy Ants (AFTER)

Fire Flower (BEFORE)

Fire Flower (AFTER)

Waves of Grain (BEFORE)

Waves of Grain (AFTER)

And then, of course, I shoot pictures of my favorite subjects: (no ‘before’ on these)

I often do this… it is relaxing and my own personal form of worship to sit and edit photos of nature on my Mac. I don’t post them often, because I don’t assume they would make for a very interesting blog if I did it often. At times I think I should start a photo-blog, but then that would be another website to maintain and I have enough websites already!

Tell me (in comments) How do you worship?

So this year, we asked Luke what he would like to do, and he chose The Denver Zoo! It ended up being a treat because his next store neighbor friend was able to come along for the fun!

Up close and personal with a lion!

I got up close to a cheetah... with a zoom lens anyway!

But Luke loves gorillas, so we had to head over the Primate Area!

Beware of Dangerous Primates on the loose!

I spotted two primates lurking right at the entrance to the area! They must have escaped from their cages! Oh No!

In case you are wondering what a “Primate” is… here are some sample:

Primate Samples!

First, some little primates…

Reminds me of a relative... not saying which!

And even littler ones..

Looks like an Ant Eater to me!

But finally, we got to the GORILLAS!

The Boys and the Gorillas

Luke admiring the Gorillas

Luke’s favorite non-domestic animal (he loves dogs) is Gorillas! He loves to play with them, had a t-shirt, discovered Gorilla snacks at the grocery store, and I’ve screened a few old-time King Kong YouTube videos for him! And of course, Casa Bonita here in Denver has a kid-friendly Gorilla he loves!

Could he be eating Gorilla Snacks?

I’ve even cued up the Gorilla sceen in Old Dogs for him – pretty funny!

Luke even got within ONE FOOT of a Great Ape and lived to tell about it!

Hope that glass is thick!

But then came MY favorite part of the day… the Bears! (and I’m not referring to the lousy team from Chicago either.) I love bears! I am a Yosemite Bear Chaser, having been very close to them every year in Yosemite.

First, I spotted this beautiful Black Bear about to eat a tasty little twig and I wondered if he might be the same bear from my oft told joke about the “Christian Bear” (pastors all know the joke, so I won’t tell it here – if you don’t, ask in comments, and I’ll tell it there!) when what to my amazement…

The Famous Christian Bear!

He folded his massive paws, bowed his head and prayed! Why, this IS the famous Christian Bear!

Then, his buddy came out to join him, another massive black bear… don’t let the brown fur fool ya!

Here’s a good way to see just how BIG these guys are! Scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours!

Such amazing creatures! Though I much prefer to see them in the wild, it was fun to be able to see them up close and so active today!

I love bears! So I decided to see what the Bible has to say about bears…

Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.
Proverbs 17:12

It was a fun day – and of course, it’s so hard to believe we’ve had Luke for FIVE years! Time sure goes by FAST! That’s one of the reasons I started BeTheDadToday.com – to help ME and other dads make every day count as a dad. I’m actually recruiting a TEAM of dads to help me with the site, so the content on the Facebook Page and Twitter feed is going to be increasing.

If you are a Dad – let me encourage you to CHECK IT OUT!

Here are some photo highlights from the day. If you see an emphasis on the Blue Jay’s Roger’s Centre, it is because my brother, Jordan Bastian, covers the team for MLB.com. (Tomorrow I’ll be going to a game with some Canadian friends!)

Reminder: Clicking on any image on my blog loads a larger view.

Luke arrives in Toronto!

Luke checking out the Canadian National Tower! (CN Tower)

Luke and Mommy on our walk to Toronto Island Park

Luke enjoys the Ferry Ride

Luke is quite used to putting up with all Daddy’s pictures!

But-cha gotta admit, this is one cute kid!

Contemplating the Vast Needs of the City

A Steeple Pointing Toward the Answers from Heaven?

Once on the island a Car Ride is discovered!

So is a high flying lift across the park!

But later Luke says his favorite ride was Uncle Jordan’s shoulders. Awwww.

Rainy weather sends us home, but soon clears up.

Soon Daddy and Mommy head out on a date!

The shadow of the Tower looms over the city!

As a Blue Jays game is played BELOW us!

They play into the evening as we eat and the restaurant rotates!

I decide on a possible side job!

The outside observatory is spectacular!

(and extremely windy!!)

Soon we are walking home. Babysitter said Luke will be put out in the hallway at midnight whether we are back or not! (Jordan!) Seriously, they were awesome, they took him to the park while we were at the top of the CN Tower. (First two pictures of this post were taken while we were up there!)

Looks like Luke had a great time with his Uncle Jordan!

And Aunt Kelly! Just for fun, here is this train yard from up above:

Yup, we were 1150 feet above them as they played below us!

And then there is one of my favorite pictures of the day. We were walking home from Toronto Island Park when I saw these giant orange letters and I said to the gang, “Hey, we have to go back! There is a giant “H” we have to pose Hayden peeking out from behind the giant “H!” We did get a good solo shot of him, but before first getting one of him with his favorite uncle:

“H” is for Hayden!

(As always, you can click on any picture for a larger view)

Here I am at the entrance, it was a beautiful day!

Here is the Fellowship of the King on one of our stops!

The guys got along pretty well for the most part. (note the sign!)

“Devil’s Backbone” is the name of the rock formation that sticks up and runs through the center of this open space.

At one point, I climbed to the top and got a picture of my shadow…

And a picture through one of the holes in the formation. Cool, huh?

We hiked for about seven hours and nearly nine miles, but it was worth it.

At times the lighting was spectacular, even as clouds began to roll in…

I especially love when there are shadows of clouds on the hills…

Some lonely trees on a distant hill were neat to photograph as well…

We spent some time walking together and sharing what was going on in our lives and ministries, but we also split up and just spent some time alone with God enjoying the scenery and the solitude that an quiet open place like this provides away from people and phones and interruptions…

Sometimes taking the “road less traveled” is exactly the road you need to travel. I know that this day away came right in the midst of a bunch of impending deadlines for me. I actually didn’t “have the time” to take the this day away. But then, when do I truly ever have time to take a day away? Never.

That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned in life, the hard way, that it is precisely when you don’t think you have time to get away, that you need to get away. And you know what? All that stuff that you think can’t wait… it can. There are few things in life that can’t wait a day. In fact, everything can wait a day.

I’ve got a list now of about a dozen guys in the Denver area who are on my invite list for this “Fellowship of the King.” I know only a hand full will be able to make each hike, but that’s O.K. But I’m going to keep inviting them. Each time I can schedule a hike, those who can make it, will be my band of brothers who will join me as we hike and journey together and hang out with God and His amazing creation. I’m already excited about the next amazing hike!

If you aren’t in Colorado, let me encourage you to start something for ministry folks near you! It doesn’t have to be hiking. What refreshes you? But don’t make it “ministry.” And I’m not talking about starting a “ministry network.” I’m talking about getting away from work and talking about work, to just be with God and talk about life and family and what God’s doing in your heart and what on your mind.

That kind of thinking and reflecting just doesn’t happen in your office. You need to get away. You need to get where you can hear God and feel His presence. Where is that for you?

Find it! And go there regularly. God puts places to find Himself everywhere, if you look for them, they can be found, you just have to be looking.

Man, I wish I lived up in one of those homes on top of those cliffs! Those folks have got a view!

And if you are a guy and want to really get away, consider joining me on Yosemite Summit this may – it is the most spectacular place on the earth where God showed off His creative talents and where you will be awe struck at the things He made!

One of the guys e-mailed me this and said he thought perhaps he found the real “devil’s backbone!”

If you are a male ministry leader in Colorado and would like to know when the next Fellowship hike is, be sure to contact me and let me know so I can add you to the invite list!

Everyone needs to almost die…

And no, I’m not referring to almost being struck by lightening in Yosemite last year! Nor am I directly talking about my near heart attack last year either – though for all practical purposes I might as well be. If almost dying twice in 2009 taught me anything (and it taught me a lot!) it made me realize that long life is not something you should assume. So let me say it again, and I really hope you will hear me this time: (this is now directly from my journal on my solo sabbatical)

Everyone ought to almost die. If not, they really should try to pretend or reflect on what it means to live as though they are not sure of long life.

Let me set the record straight. I’m not afraid of dying. Never was. But after almost dying (twice!) I’m no longer afraid of living! I refuse to put off the life I want. If that sounds selfish, let me rephrase it – I refuse to put off what I believe God is calling me to do. (sound better?) I no longer assume far off “somedays” exist! Two to three years is as long as I assume I have. That DOESN’T mean I think I’m a dead man in five years! Without going into detail – I have a clean bill of health, I avoided a heart attack, and have a stent in a healthy heart. It just means that if I want to do something, I START PLANNING IT! I know better now – start planning it, or it’ll never happen!

Someday is just another word for NEVER!

What are you saying you will do someday? Write a book? Go on some dream vacation? Produce a resource? Start a business? (Go on Yosemite Summit or Unbridled?) I can’t even guess what it is for YOU, but YOU know what I’m talking about… I’m scratching that itch RIGHT NOW. I know I am.

The point is, start planning it NOW. At least get out a pad of paper and start scratching out the first few steps.

One of my life long dreams was to go to Yosemite in Winter. It seemed impossible. The only way it happened was to start planning it. And then God came along and took care of the “impossible” part for me! He surprised me by taking care of the one detail I couldn’t manage. Do you think God won’t do that for you? Do you think He loves me more than you? Bah!

Watch this video of my little dream come true. This took over four years to come true. Even longer if you count the years I was too scared and too busy to dream the dream! Enjoy! Two days snow shoeing through Yosemite in winter and then ask yourself,

What “someday” am I not trusting God for? And start planning it.

Download: YosemiteWinter-byKarlBastian.mov (38mb MOV) 640×480

Every time I come across them, I star at them…

and study every detail…

every ripple and splash…

every color and reflection…

knowing that if not for the camera’s super fast shutter…

I could never enjoy this captured moment…

stolen out of time for me…

to hold in my hand… or in my mind…

a moment… forever…

how sweet it is!

an accident? hardly!

a planned disaster, actually!

a beautiful mess.

an explosion of motion and energy…

caught in the motion of the moment…

the camera catches what we miss every day.

MAKES ME WONDER… what do we miss? What could we capture with the camera of our eye, if we would just focus throughout the day? A sweet smile? A gorgeous cloud? A curious animal? An enlightened moment? An encouraged person?

What are the moments of our day that God creates that we miss? The splashes of his Grace? The colorful moments that He gives us? The green lights when we are in a hurry? The short line at the store? The empty parking spot near the door in a busy parking lot? The familiar face in a crowd that calls your name? An unsolicited “I love you” from your child? Whatever they are, don’t miss them today. Capture them in your in your minds’ eye, and cherish them.

(did you scrool too fast? look at the pictures again! did you drive too fast? walk too fast today? slow down already!)

Well, I was going to keep this kinda quiet… but word is getting out about my electrifying experience with lightening in Yosemite and the pressure for me to tell the “full story” is increasing, so I’m giving in hoping this doesn’t discourage anyone from coming to Yosemite Summit in the future!

The question I keep getting is, “Were you really struck by lightening at Yosemite?” Well, since I’m typing this from my current location on earth (rather than heaven) the technical answer is, NO! But… I was in the middle of a strike that hit trees all around me and there is that mysterious jagged hole in my poncho to account for! So when I posted on Twitter and Facebook that my most exciting experience at Yosemite was being struck by lightening… it wasn’t much of a stretch!

So here’s the story! We started out Day One with a spectacular all day hike that began at Sentinel Dome, where the view is absolutely breath-taking. Here we all are on the top of Sentinel Dome:

After our chapel time and quiet times alone, we took the Ponomo Trail, a little traveled segment of a longer trail, in order to loop around through the woods and then to the edge of Upper Yosemite at the top of Sentinel Fall. Here we are at the top:

Yes, I photo-shopped myself into this picture, since I took it! You can’t see the water fall in this picture, because, well, we are above it, BUT you can see we are higher than El Capitan in the background! O.K., here is a picture of the falls… as close to it as I wanted to get:

It’s hard to tell in the picture how HIGH we are, but that is the valley below, some 3000+ feet below! Here is a view of it (from Google images) from the bottom, it cascades for awhile before it final long drop to the valley floor:

Next we left the sunny warm open areas and entered into a forest where the temperatures were still cool and snow was still on the ground!

We forged rivers… (OK, one creek)

and finally all arrived at Taft Point at different times since the group spread out over time depending on their hiking pace and whether they constantly stopped to take pictures. Which is why I usually am one of the last to arrive at the meeting spots. Taft Point is simply amazing!

Taft Point is one of the highest places that has a STRAIGHT DOWN view, over 3500 feet. (hard to see in this photo, but there is one of the few railings in all of Yosemite at the very tip where you see the guys standing!)

I know, I know… what about the LIGHTENING!? I just want to make sure you know, it’s not like we just went to Yosemite and got attacked by lightening, it was a spectacular day… with an even more spectacular ending! So, on to the lightening…

Here’s me at Taft Point, in what very well could have been the last picture of me ever taken! It indeed was the last picture of me that day! By the time I got to Taft Point, we had started to see some clouds appearing East of us toward Half Dome and heard some thunder in the distance. It is a known fact for Yosemite hikers, that being out on large open granite surfaces is not safe if lightening is even remotely possible, as the lightening, being unable to absorb into the rock, will travel across the surface at, well, lightening speed, until it finds grounding. Being in the path of that lightening is, well, let’s just say, not recommended. Oh, and Taft Point is a huge open granite area, oh, and with a metal railing at the highest point!

As the leader of the expedition, and taking our group’s safety seriously, as soon as I got to Taft Point, I called out to the guys that we needed to leave and skipped going up to the point myself even though I’d hiked all day with this being the final destination. But there was another “final destination” I wasn’t interested in reaching today, if possible. Let me say for all the wives reading this – the group was not in any danger at this point, but we weren’t going to stick around until we were!

We regrouped, counted to nine (something we did often!) and once we knew the entire group was accounted for, headed back to the van. At this point, due to the loop we were doing, we were only about a mile and a half from the van. We headed back, and over the course of that last segment, the group spread out again until six were back at the van and I had two guys with me. About half way to the van the rain started, and by the time we got near the parking lot it was pouring HAIL. Seriously! We went from a beautiful sunny day with clear skies to rain and hail!

AND NOW THE EXCITING PART! (you skipped to here, didn’t you?)

Because the trail was blocked by a creek and in the rain we didn’t want to walk across the log that would normally be the easy way across, the three of us headed down river a bit until we could find some rocks in the creek that were high enough to cross over. I went first, called out to the two guys behind me that I’d found an easy way across, and then headed up toward the road. I could see that I was about 200 feet from the road, and gathered that the parking lot was probably another 200-300 feet up the road. I was almost out of the storm and into the van! I was feeling bad knowing that the six ahead of me were locked out of the van in this hail, but fortunately they had found a small pavilion to huddle under.

At this point everything is both fuzzy and crystal clear – don’t ask me to explain that – but as soon as I reached the road and started to walk toward the van – IT HAPPENED. It is difficult to describe. The words I have to use don’t do it justice. But there was this incredible NOISE – yes, an explosion, all around me. Scared is not the word. I was beyond scared, but only for a nano-second, honestly. It was like I was so terrified in that instant as I had no idea what was happening – I just froze – then I saw red billowing flames ahead of me followed by a pillar of smoke of biblical proportions and realized that lightening had struck VERY close. For the next few seconds, I wondered if I was dead. That sounds strange, but I just had a stent put in my heart a month before, and had been given the OK to go to Yosemite via stress test, but in that frozen moment, I wondered, “If your heart stops, do you feel it?” I couldn’t feel anything anywhere in that moment, so I wondered, “Do you die instantly, or do I have a minute to soak in life?” It was literally just a few seconds and I could feel that I was truly was OK and not about to keel over. I heard the guys behind me calling out to me and asking if I was OK. I heard them, but was still in shock (no pun intended) so while I answered, I knew they couldn’t hear my soft answer. When I could, I yelled that I was OK, and we’d better get to the van as fast as possible. I was finally able to look away from the explosion that was still smoking and noticed wood fragments were scattered everywhere, I instinctively reached down and picked up the piece at my feet before starting toward the van, the last two guys were now with me.

Yes, I thought of taking pictures or grabbing my video camera. No, I didn’t!

When I was walking toward the van my head was down and I noticed that there was a huge jagged hole in my poncho. Was I struck by lightening?!?!? It was a brand new poncho and it had been fine before the lightening strike! It was then that I realized my leg hurt a little. Not much, but like I’d been hit. We got to the van and I just handed the key over and asked another guy to drive, I was still kinda in shock. (not literally!) I was wearing zip off pants that convert to shorts so I unzipped them to look where my leg hurt, and there on my leg was a bruise – not huge, but clearly new. (I took a picture, but I’m sparing you that!) I looked at the wood in my hand and realized I must have been hit with “shrapwood” from the exploding tree! (Later, when putting my PJ’s on, I was to discover multiple bruises, I had been hit in several places by flying wood!)

The conversation in the van was charged with excitement. This was both exciting and sobering. Debate broke out on where the lightening struck, and how close it was to me. The guys by the van saw it hit much higher and farther away than I described. The guys behind me described it as being even closer to me than I thought. It was a bit of a puzzle, but we were curious, so we decided to return the next day to investigate.

The following morning was our sunshine at Glacier Point, which just happens to be a mile or so farther down the road than where we had parked the van the day before. It was pitch black out when we drove by so we couldn’t see anything.

After an awe-inspiring time at Glacier Point and our chapel time, we headed back to to the cabin to pack up for our hike that would begin in the valley today… but not without stopping first at the scene of the crime from yesterday:

Of course, I wanted to go back to the very spot I had been standing when the lightening struck! It felt kinda wierd to revisit the spot. My foot prints were visible and it appeared, that contrary to what I remembered, I had actually moved backward 4-5 feet reacting to the explosion, judging by the foot prints and dug in impressions that matched my shoes. (We were all acting like CSI guys!) Most of the wood debre was now gone, either washed away in the storm, or perhaps cleaned up off the road, but as I was standing in “the spot,” someone pointed out the large piece of tree that was lying RIGHT NEXT to where I had been standing!

It may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway… what if THIS ’stick’ had hit me? In a very large area, on BOTH sides of the road, wood scraps lay everywhere.

Not all of it was on the ground, some was up in trees:

Look a little closer, that’s not a twig!

As we walked up and down the hill, it turned out ALL the reports in the van were correct, as lightening had struck several trees, on all sides of me, in an area probably more than 50 feet circle.

This is the tree that I saw on fire and whose fragments probably hit me. It doesn’t look like much damage to the tree from here, but up close it’s kinda crazy…

Wood was ripped off these trees so fast and so hard that branches still stuck out in places like rebar from concrete! And the parts of the trees that were damaged spiraled from top to bottom, so it was hard to get a picture of all the damage.

Here you can kinda see how the damage spirals toward the top of the tree! And there is another 8 feet below and up higher on the other side toward the top!

Hard to even image the POWER of something that can rip through a tree like this!

Matt McDaniels holds up a massive segment of a tree he found… yeah, I know.

Me and my tree. Wow.

Well, what can I say? Yosemite Summit was a blast. Can’t wait until next year. Statistically, it can only be safer!

In conclusion, one of the guys shared at our chapel time the next day that God had given him a verse for me, and thought perhaps this could be my theme verse for Yosemite Summit 2009. I think I like it!

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him —
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

Psalm 18:11-12

Yes, I still have that piece of wood I picked up, and plan to keep it as a reminder of how God protected me that day. Every day of life is truly a gift… perhaps that is why it is called the Present.

Today is Mother’s Day! So, of course, we were celebrating Sara today! Luke even picked out his first present for mommy. (Actually, it was his first time going shopping to pick out a present for someone, and how appropriate that it be for mom!) After brunch at mommy’s favorite restaurant, we headed to the park to play. Dad brought along his new fish eye lens which he got for Yosemite Summit which is coming up fast!

I had some fun experimenting with a fish eye lens, its very cool!

The Bastian Family – Mother’s Day 2009

Luke at the bottom of the slide

Whoa! That looks pretty intimidating!

Peeking up over the side as the boy approaches

Is that MY kid? What a cutie!

A here is the official MOM OF THE YEAR in the Bastian House!

and why do we love her so much? here are just a few reasons:

Daddy and the Boy

Today we headed over to Garden of the God (note: I leave off the “s” as it is not Garden of the Gods, but of the One True God and Creator whom I worship!) While Luke’s favorite thing was the toy cars for sale at the Trading Post, my favorite was getting to take pictures of him at this beautiful place! (not my first time here!) And it should be noted, that if I’m in the picture, Sara took the shot, and she’s not a bad photographer herself! (She’s a great photographer!)

“Look Dad, a ROCK!”

I love Luke’s curiosity and enthusiasm over the littlest things. Often I had to call him on to see greater things when he was content with a little stone or stick. I wonder if my heavenly Father ever is trying to lead me to more amazing things and if I get content with lesser things and nearly miss the greater?

Luke in his “special place”

Luke loves finding little places he can crawl into and feel like it is his own “special place.” Many times, even just at home, he finds the greatest pleasure out of the simplest things. What a lesson to us who sometimes place the bar so high in order to be moved or excited that we miss the joy that can be found in the little things and little places that are all around us.

He just can’t help it.

Of course, I think my son is adorable. But I especially enjoy it when others walking by stop to compliment my wife and I on our cute little boy. The power of encouraging words. A reminder to not always be focused on our own enjoyment, but to make the effort to encourage others along the path, even in little ways – it can mean a lot!

Between a Rock and Cute Place

As I look at this massive rocks and wonder about the ways they were slowly formed over time I can’t help also thinking about the ways my little boy is being slowly formed over time. I’m not the only influence, and my influence will slowly diminish, but everything I do right now is having a major impact on shaping the boy (and the man) he will become. The words I use, the way I react to him and events, the tones I use, the attitudes I model, the instructions I give, but more importantly, the example I give – are shaping him. What a scary honor!

Future Heart Breaker

When you look at my son, you see a cute boy. When I look at the same picture I see so much more… because I know him. I am enjoying his daily developments, his growing sense of humor, his budding interests and talents as well as his sin nature I am working to correct from the heart rather than merely by seeking to change behavior. I see the boy inside and love him more than I could ever describe. A cute kid to you is a part of my life and very reason for living. I wonder how my heavenly Father looks at a picture of me? You see me – but God sees ME.

“I’m Stuck!”

He didn’t get stuck, but he surprised me with his courage! There was a crack through this giant rock about the length of our van, and I asked him to stand in the crack for a picture. The next thing I knew he disappeared deep into the rock to appear out the other side! I worried for a minute that if he got stuck I wouldn’t be able to get in there to help him, though he easily fit through with some careful footwork. I wouldn’t have told him to venture in and out the other side, but his adventurous spirit made this dad proud.

“I see you!”

Here is Luke peeking out of a crack out the side, half way through the crack he explored to my surprise. I love the adventurous exploratory spirit of children. TOO MANY adults lose that zeal to learn and explore and GO where they have never been before. We become too content with our routines and “responsibilities.” When is the last time you blew off “normal life” and explored something or somewhere? If you can’t remember, you are over due!

TOP OF THE WORLD!

I was asked recently how being a dad had changed me. The question surprised me. Not that I couldn’t go on and on talking about it. But it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. (Getting married is up there pretty high too!) I thought for a moment on how to answer and finally said, “I always thought I loved children more than most people, in fact, I didn’t think it was possible for me to love a child any more than I aleady did. But once I became a dad, I discovered why there is a completely different Greek word for parental love – because it is a deeper, and richer and more powerful love than I had ever experienced before. Something that can never be explained, only experienced.”

Being a dad has changed me to the core in ways I could never articulate. But most of all, I think I understand now what it really means to be a child of God. That understanding deepens and expands every day in ways I never could have anticipated.

Being a dad is one of the single greatest thing in life. I can’t wait until tomorrow!

Todd Liebenow and Karl

The extra treat was that I had Sara and Luke with me and my little boy (who adores all my puppets) got to see “where puppets come from” with a tour of the factory. I could not photograph much out of fear of compromising industry secrets, but here is Lukey with some eyeless lambs:

Luke among the Lambs

After One Way Street we headed up to Loveland to the Group Publishing headquarters where I had a meeting with Christine Yount who, besides being executive editor of CM Mag, has a new official title I love: Children’s Ministry Champion. (I guess there is room for another!)

Group’s Lobby has a TALKING moose head!

I also got to finally meet CM Mags managing editor, Jennifer Hooks who I’ve known only via e-mail as she has edited some of my writing for Group such as The New Deal article in the Jan/Feb ‘09 issue. Why was I meeting with these ladies? (I also met with a business guy about a deal on CM Mag for Kidology.org members that should be in place soon, just another perk for Kidology.org members!)

Ever wonder where the other end of the moose was?

ANYWAY, I was there to finalize the details for a column in Children’s Ministry Magazine. That’s all I can say at this time, but I’m very excited to be a regular contributor to the magazine now. More details soon! (I’m so sorry I forgot to get a picture with the Groupies – but I got the moose!)

After I left Group we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park hoping to see some live animals as well as some spectacular mountain scenes. I wasn’t disappointed! On the way out I caught this Mountain Goat on film:

It really is a mountain goat!

O.K., so that picture isn’t that great, but I had to turn on the camera and point fast! (And no, I was not driving, Sara was driving so I could enjoy the view and take pictures)

As you can see, the driving was a LOT of fun!

If I ever came to this park as a child, I don’t remember it, and I was very much impressed with how beautiful it is! Not quite Yosemite, but it’ll do!

Snow covered peaks above Rocky Mountain National Park

Lots of variety from the mountains to the landscapes and an abundance of roaming animals!

Unfortunately, Luke slept through most of the animal sightings – but we’ll be back! He just woke up when we got to Bear Lake and went for a short hike to see the snow covered frozen lake:

The Bastians on Bear Lake! (luckily, no bears!)

It was a short visit, but I considered it a teaser and plan to be back here many times in the not so distant future! I feel like I’m home here – as my earliest memories are from when I lived in Colorado as a boy.

Here’s a few more pictures from our special day (as we called it for Luke)

Mommy and Luke

Daddy and Luke

Sunset over the Rocky Mountains

Dusk in the Valley

Luke in his favorite spot – Dad in his.

I love Colorado. I am praying that God might enable me to raise my son here. I love the climate, the scenery, the culture, the people, the opportunities to explore God’s creation, and the presence of God I feel when I am here. Pray with me that my family might be able to call this home some day.

]]> http://kidologist.com/2009/04/22/puppets-publishers-and-peaks/feed/ 7 http://kidologist.com/2009/01/14/managing-multiple-iphoto-libraries/ http://kidologist.com/2009/01/14/managing-multiple-iphoto-libraries/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:04:45 +0000 kidologist http://kidologist.com/?p=1647 I have often been asked to blog about Mac Tips (since I know a LOT of Mac secrets!) Well, tonight I responded to a fellow Twitterer with some help with iPhoto and after sending the e-mail, thought I’d post it here just in case it helps someone else.

QUESTION: How to you combine multiple iPhoto Libraries onto one drive and access each of them?

I recently combined all my iPhoto libraries onto one external drive because I had multiple iPhoto Libraries and it was getting a little crazy:

Macbook Pro (2003-2006, and 2006-2008, i had started over when it got too big)
macbook air (used when I travel)
mac mini (family photos)
mac G4 (scanning old family photos)

But I got to where I had to keep switching between machines or remember which machine had which photos. I finally wanted to get them ALL onto my Mac Mini since it has the massive monitor and a double decker external drive for back up.

While there is no easy way I know of to combine them all into one library, I actually don’t think you want to, every time I hit 10,000+ photos in a library it gets slow, because, as Apple won’t tell you, when you open iPhoto is loads EVERY thumbnail in your library upon opening, and it kills your memory and makes your machine start to drag. I wish upon opening it would open only the most recent import folder. (Duh) But I’m not on their payroll and I doubt they read my blog!

ANYWAY! The solution is actually rather easy!

Copy all the iPhoto Libraries you have to the external drive, and rename them each to a name that makes sense to you. Renaming iPhoto libraries does not effect the files inside, but DO NOT rename anything inside or iPhoto will fail to open them!

For example, my libraries are named:

iPhoto 2003-2006
iPhoto 2006-2008
iPhoto 2008 (just started this January)
iPhoto Yosemite (I made a new library on my Air when i went to Yosemite Summit)
iPhoto Family Archive (i am scanning family photo archives from my parents, want to keep separate)
iPhoto Temp (for when I am just doing a project and using iPhoto as a tool rather than a place to save photos long term.)

HERE’S THE GREAT TIP: When when you open iPhoto, HOLD DOWN OPTION while clicking the iPhoto icon and it will bring up a window offering 3 choices: Quit, Create Library, and Choose Library

Note: occasionally it opens under other windows, so if you are waiting too long while holding option, let go of the option and touchpad/mouse button and use expose’ to see all windows and you’ll see it.

Quit: Duh

Create Library: you can make a new one here, and you can navigate anywhere to make it, even an external drive. No need to be limited to your Pictures folder.

Choose Library: Navigate to where ever your iPhoto Libraries are, even on an external drive and pick the library you want to view/use.

NOTE: If you just open iPhoto without holding Option, it will just open the last library you used, so you can have a default one if you want, just always open it once when you are done using another, or remember to Option choose the one you want when you open iPhoto.

SHOULD ALSO NOTE: If you are putting all your iPhoto libraries onto one drive, be sure you mirror it once in a while to another drive, or you’ll be crying the day that drive fails and you lose all your photos. (Yes, even Macs can have a hard drive fail, that is life, and when Jesus promised in this world you will have tribulation, he may have been thinking about PCs, but Macs can fail too.) I don’t think Time Machine will back up an external drive!

I also use this to give my wife access to one of my libraries as a “read only” – she knows any edits I won’t get, but having access to a backup of my library saves her needing to ask me for a picture she needs.

I hope this helps those with multiple iPhoto libraries or who would like to be able to better organize and manage their photos with separate libraries.

Of course, we saw all kinds of animals! (Took the ones above from the tram!) I enjoy taking pictures of the animals – I do not enjoy smelling them!

However, it is not the animals that Luke enjoys the most. Oh, sure, he likes them. He’ll look at them when we point, and can even identify several by name. But there are other “creatures” on display at the Zoo that he will run to! And he’ll spend more time with each of these “animals” studying them, than he will on anything with fur or wings or hooves. Yup, you guessed it, the Cars on display from various dealerships.

Oh, yes. The cars. When we said we are going to the Zoo today, Luke’s answer is, “See Cars?” But our favorite thing about the Zoo is not the animals or the cars… it is being in a safe place where Luke can run around and enjoy a rare form of freedom to lead us around for a change, and for me, it is a wonderful opportunity for my hobby – “Luke Photo Journalism.” Here are some of my favorites from today. (Thanks for indulging me!)

Luke enjoying the playground. It’s a tunnel!

Luke behind bars… “I’m innocent!”

Luke, the fashion model.

Luke, the old fashioned greeting card.

Eager to get on the carousel.

Around and around with Dad.

Proof that I take pictures of my wife too!

It was a great day hanging out with the family. One of my good friends, Alan Root, said recently at Kid U, “Every day God gives us a gift – he gives us today. That is why it is called the Present.” It was a good reminder to live in the moment and enjoy TODAY. As Jesus said, “Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

Today was a present.

Luke was just eager to get going on our 1.8 mile hike to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse which is only accessible by hiking in.

If you squint you can see a little black and white dot in the upper left hand corner of this picture… that was our destination. Would Luke make it, that was the question!

Fortunately, some friends of our who live in Ludington, who we visited with on Tuesday evening, “just happened” to give us a kid-backpack. (God is indeed sovereign, and He likes to prove it over and over!) So when Luke got tired or decided he wanted to walk in directions other than forward, we had a way to make progress without losing too much time.

But we were in no rush, so we stopped often to rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery – a strange combination of sand, water and evergreens. (I’m sparing you all my nature photography!)

Luke definitely takes after his father in having this strong irresistible urge to wander off the well marked path! Keeping him on the trail was a constant struggle! Little explorer that he is! Oh, the fun we will have in the years ahead wandering around like Lewis and Clark!

Just had to post this one – is that one beautiful boy, or what? (note the shirt!)

Once we hid from mom off the side of the road when she wasn’t looking, but she soon found us!

“Does this road ever end?” Luke asks. “We’re not sure,” we answer!

But FINALLY we arrive and enjoy our sack lunch on a bench under the shade of some trees looking out over Lake Michigan. The lighthouse behind us and the roar of crashing waves around us. Luke seemed thrilled to have arrived at our destination and is eager to explore!

Soon he is off to see where all these wooden paths lead to. Treasure? Cookies?

He finds a steel wall with steps leading up to… to what? What could BE on the other side?

It’s water! As far as the eye can see. (Luke absolutely loves water!)

Luke ponders how there could be so much water in one place. (I don’t even try to explain that this is only a lake and that oceans are even bigger.)

He decides he likes this place very much, but he doesn’t like the big steel wall!

So he finds his way around it to the BEACH! And points so I know where he wants to go!

Soon he has found a UBPT. (Universal Boys Play Thing) Also known as “a stick.”

And what do boys DO with sticks, you ask?

Why, THROW THEM, of course! (this was only one of his many victims who were cast into the sea*!)

But then it was time to do what we came here to do – CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE! Luke made the height requirement by less than an inch so he got to go on an adventure to new heights, literally!

Every twenty steps or so there was a window with a ledge big enough for him to sit on, and he absolutely loved sitting there and taking in the view. There are quite a few of these pictures, though the lighting was tricky for pictures to get both the view inside the fairly dark tower and the outside. I was able to get it by opening up the aperture pretty wide to get the outside in focus and not lose the inside. Until I figured that out, either you got nothing inside (like below) or the outside was washed out and all white. (TMI for most of you I know, but my photo-friends will appreciate it!)

This shot shows when we spotted mom from around 50 steps up in the lighthouse!

Not even half way up yet, and already the view is getting spectacular. (Yes, that’s mom in the pink!)

We waved and waved and suddenly Mom actually SAW US in the little window and took this picture!

We went rather slowly, but I was so proud of Luke. He did the entire thing all by himself! Here he is passing the 100th step. (and this is the only time I wasn’t immediately behind him)

Yes, that’s me and Luke 130 feet up in the air at the top of the Big Sable Point Lighthouse!

The view was wonderful and the sky was perfectly clear. It was pretty windy but it felt great.

The lighthouse was pretty busy with a steady stream of visitors and yet, when we got up there, we had the whole thing to ourselves for about ten minutes. It really was a gift from the Lord. Luke had absolutely no fear at all. The funny thing was, the only thing that scared him was some orange streamers they had hanging from the two hatches you had to come through on the stairs. They were blowing in the wind and really freaked him out. I had to hold him as we passed the orange streamers. Silly, but sweet too.

Can you spot us up there at the top of the lighthouse? Good thing mom was too scared to come up, she was able to take some fun pictures from the bottom.

Here’s a zoomed in version of Luke at the top of a historic Michigan Lighthouse!

VIDEO: Watch Luke at the top of the Lighthouse

All good things must come to an end. In this case, all good things have another hour long walk before they come to an end!

Not that all of us had to walk the whole way, at least one of us got the royal treatment for most of the trip back. But as I said on the walk, even as my legs and back were aching, if he rests his head on mine, I could walk a thousand miles.

It was a wonderful way to spend our 15th anniversary. Several people have seemed surprised when they found out we took Luke on our anniversary trip – but when you waited as long as we did for a little child to love, he is the highlight of our celebration and the joy of our times together. (and he does take naps)

The Big Sable Point Lighthouse can be seen for 19 miles out into the Lake. I’m so glad that on this 19th of June we celebrate that we know the Big Savior who made a Point of being the Light we can build our House on! When the storms of life hit, we don’t rely on some rusty old retainer wall to hold off the erosion of time that pounds against our lives relentlessly – we can rely on the grace and mercies of God which are new every morning! Praise God!

*for those who e-mail me my typos, the use of the word “sea” here was figurative, not literal. OK?

• Don’t miss the video at the end, and click any picture for a larger view.

It’s hard to believe the Yosemite Summit 2008 is over. It’s been several weeks, but it still feels like a part of me is still there in the Sierra Nevada. It’s been fun sorting through the 5000+ pictures we took and reliving the fun memories. Not only the incredible PLACE we were, but the awesome friendships that were formed and will continue to grow in the years ahead.

It was an amazing time together and God did some incredible work in our lives. For me, my soul comes alive in this place and I finally feel truly free. We started our first day watching the sun rise at Glacier Point. The views are simply spectacular!

It was a time to leave the busyness and noise of normal life behind and just listen to God. There were times we could just sit and soak our souls in the presence of God as well as walking with Him on the incredible hikes.

There is just something powerful about reading God’s Word and praying when you are in a place where His handiwork is so much on display. The rocks indeed did cry out – God is real, and God is here.

The hikes themselves were indescribable. The first day we did a solitude hike (each separated by about five minutes so we could hike alone with God) and then on the second day we did the Panoama Trail which took us on an incredible hike around the rim of the valley, through many types of landscape and ended with the Mist Trail which goes to the top and then down the side of two thundering waterfalls. In the picture below we are near the starting point and in the background you can see the waterfall we would be at some seven hours later!

By the third day we did some easier hikes that had incredible views of the valley, some with a few straight down of seveal thousand feet! Below is one of the few railings due to the incredible drop straight down over 3500 feet!

The hikes were challenging – but the views breathtaking and like nowhere else on this continent. Not only can you not believe what you are seeing is real, but when you are hiking, you can’t believe “I’ll be there in a few hours” or “I was there yesterday?” We hiked through areas that at times looked like Narnia in winter – under the shadow of huge trees walking on several feet of snow while at other times we were out on barren rock checking out lizards. The scenery and climate changed constantly. We’d be hot and enjoying cold water to cool off, and later getting drenched from the mist of a raging waterfall. Like I often say, “This is the place God just showed off.”

I have been to MANY National Parks and NONE have the views and variety and splendor of Yosemite. I’ve often said the Grand Canyon is a yawner if you’ve been to Yosemite. We ran into some guys who were at the Grand Canyon just two days before (doing a cross country hiking trip) and they said Yosemite outdid anything they had seen at the Grand Canyon. They were in awe and said Yosemite far exceeded even their high expectations!

Yosemite is a photographers heaven. My wife was a little worried that I’d fall off a cliff in pursuit of a great picture and end up in real heaven. So I told her any time I saw an awesome, but dangerous, photo opportunity, my motto would be WWSS. (What Would Sara Say?) That motto cost me many potentially incredible shots… but also brought me home alive.

I have been dreaming of doing some of the serious hikes at Yosemite since I was a boy. Coming on this trip, and bringing a group of fellow children’s pastors with me was a dream come true. At one point I asked Yosemite had lived up to my grand descriptions of Yosemite before we arrived – and they all said no. One guy said, “You didn’t do Yosemite justice. You can’t begin to describe this place.”

There were people there from all over the world. (I was surprised there weren’t more Americans – or are we too used to having entertainment pumped into our homes?) I don’t know how anyone comes to this place and doesn’t leave with an awed sense of having been in the presence of the Creator. Everything here points to one thing: GOD.

I still have a lot of photo and video editing to do to create the “official” highlight video, but I decided to give you a small taste of what Yosemite Summit was like. It was truly a time of experiencing God in a place where his creative power is on full display and where his Voice is more easily heard. Men, as you watch this video, whisper a quiet prayer asking God if He is calling you to join us next year for Yosemite Summit 2009.

I just booked the lodge for 2009 and updated YosemiteSummit.org with next years dates!

The first of many retraining devices Luke would be in today!

Luke is a such a great traveler! He puts up so naturally with all the contrainsts of travel… car seat to stroller to tight airplane seat to stroller again to shuttle to rental car seat and hours upon hours of travel. He was strapped into something or confined to a small space from 8:30am until after 6pm! And only once complained, and even then had a good reason. (which we promptly smelled)

This being his fourth time flying (see his first flight) I gave the camera rest and just enjoyed the flight, except for a one point where Luke kept excitedly pointing out the window at something, but I could see nothing but clouds, so I took a picture with my iPhone to look at later more closely later when I could zoom in.

If you click on the picture below to view larger, maybe you can make out what Luke was so excited about seeing out the airplane window:

If you can see anything, let me know in comments.

We ate Chick-fil-A in honor of Steve and Amy Tanner.

We finally got to our resort and it is a beautiful place after dark, I can’t wait to see it in the day time. (even though Google Maps could not find it, nor our GPS, so the local gas station gave us directions when we backtracked, and said they meet most of the guests who end up at that same gas station!)

Sara went grocery shopping so Luke and I played and moved in. Sara came back with some bubble bath for Luke to enjoy in the hot tube… which for Luke will be a Luke-Warm tub… get it? LUKE warm? (never mind) Anyway, I decided to try the bubble bath stuff and it didn’t seem to work, so I kept adding more, and nothing happened. Then I turned on the jets… OH BOY!

I guess Mr. Bubbles works after all!

Well, time to head to bed, off tomorrow to hang out with Todd McKeever, Kidology’s CP Team Captain and another CP Team member… guess who? GOOD NIGHT!

We’ve done the same date every September 7th, ever since, and this year was the 18th time we’ve done it. While we usually go on the Spirit of Chicago or the Odyssey Cruise ships, this year we tried one we’ve seen there for years called the Anita Dee II.

But as we headed downtown, things were looking bad for a cruise!

It was POURING RAIN our whole drive downtown!

We’ve only had bad weather once in the past 17th years, so we figured that the odds had caught up to us. The one time before the weather was bad the ship never left the dock because the waves were too sever, and at one point the boat was rocking so much that the giant roast that a chef was cutting meat from ended up on the floor! Other than the time our ship crushed a small boat into the dock, most years have been uneventful from disasters, so we figured we were due for a rainy cruise after 17 years of clear sailing.

But, by the time we got downtown the rain let up, and things began to dry up. We saw a wedding party taking photos in a soaked park across from Navy Pier. But we should have known the weather would be bad, after all, “Steve Said It Would Be Like This.”

We cracked up when we saw this advertisement while walking the wet pier hoping for a dry cruise. When I stopped to take a picture of this ad, Sara said, “Oh, I know what you are going to do with that!” I said, “Put it on my blog when I write about the rain?” and she said, “Oh, no, I thought you were going to……………..” So I did:

It wouldn’t be the first time Steve Tanner was right about something relating to disasters.

We had fun at the Pier before docking time. (Don’t tell Sara I posted this pic, she is out and I didn’t have time for my usual “pre-blog wife photo approval process!”)

I often include pictures of the local wildlife – sorry, this is the best I could do.

The reflections on the water are always beautiful

Probably the first disappointment with the City Lights Cruises is that they don’t do a nice photo as you board, but the next guy in line was nice enough to take a picture of us while we held up the line. Their marketing is a little sneaky, I bought some advance tickets that said they were the full cost except for a docking fee and two drinks – ha – a surprise extra $60 after you think you’ve paid for the whole dinner and think all you have to do is buy two drinks, and since we drink Coke and not booze, we thought it wouldn’t be too bad. Oops, they charge your for two alcoholic drinks even if all you want is a Coke. It also didn’t have assigned tables like the others and the food was about as cheap as possible.

But in the end you are there for time together and to enjoy the view, so it wasn’t too bad overall – but definitely a step down from the other dinner cruises. (but also less expensive – as they say, you get what you pay for)

Ironically, when we arrived we were first in line, so we decided we didn’t need to be first, and went for a walk. When we got back the line was looooooooooong! We were wondering if this many people could actually FIT on the ship – and then learned that it is first come, first serve to seats, and feared we would be standing all night, but once we got on board, I ventured out of the line (which was heading for the bar) and found that the front of the ship was empty, and got to have it to ourselves for quite awhile, and later only a few couples came up there. So we ended up having a really nice time despite the fact that there were definitely NOT enough life boats for all the people on board!

Photography on these cruises is always hard, you have to really over expose to get a picture, but they still look nice if you don’t enlarge too much. It was a wonderful break from work and the usual pace of life, but I confess, I did check my e-mail at one moment when I was alone, and the funniest thing happened:

Yes, my iPhone said that I had 2 billion, 147 million, 483 thousand and 646 unread messages. Now, it definitely FEELS that way at times, but this was too funny. I grabbed my digital camera and took a picture of the iPhone screen. Since the odds of reading over two billion e-mails on a date was slim, I put the phone away – having learned my lesson – and after the cruise I peeked again and the number was back its usual high number, but in perspective, I get almost no e-mail now. I still haven’t figured it out – could that have been the total number of unread e-mails of everyone on earth at the moment?

The other surprise – not sure whether it was good or not – was the discovery after boarding that the cruise was THREE hours, not two as we expected. (Like the others) After a call to the babysitter to make sure she knew, we settled in for a long relaxing time afloat, but it was long. Toward the end we managed a spot on the couches on one level and slumped back to relax and enjoy the last hour or so, when we saw an equally bored looking Filipino family next to us. As I returned from getting my drink and was squeezing by I dropped a little Tagalog (language of the Philippines) as I often like to do to see their surprise when a white boy speaks a language most Americans don’t know. I’m not fluent, but I can say enough for the beginning of a friendly conversation, such as Iki Nagagalok akong makilala kayo. (my spelling of ‘Nice to meet you’) Though I started with just a ‘thank you’ as I passed by to my seat. (Salamat Po) Adding “Po” at the end is a sign of respect, which they always appreciate.

The next thing I know we were having a very enjoyable conversation and the last hour flew by.

Hindi ko alam kung papaano ko po kayo mapapasalamatan sa inyong kabutihan.

The treats of the weekend began on the way to church. Now from this picture you might I assume I live out in the wilderness, but there are several forest preserves quite close. But as we drove down the road to church my tendency to be taking in everything around me I caught a glimpse of something through a break in the trees and through a fence! Sara was surprised as I quickly pulled over and put the car in reverse claiming to have seen something through the trees which appeared solid on the left… indeed, I had!

My guess is an Elk? We have a lot of deer in our neighborhood so I assumed it was a buck, but after getting the pictures onto the laptop and zoomed in, I think it is an Elk. These pictures were taken through a gap in the chain link fence off the side of the road!

We went to two different preserves on Sunday and Monday… there is something refreshing about being outside enjoying the Son with family…

Luke seems to come alive outdoors and we want to instill in him not only a love of nature, but of the Creator who painted this world with His love. I really liked the motto I saw on a banner at the nature center, that turns out is a nation-wide effort: Leave No Child Inside. (Just google that phrase!)

Posing for a picture next to one of God’s most beautiful creations!

Luke taking in the scenery…

Although his favorite thing was just picking up rocks!

Of course, there was lots of beautiful examples of God’s Creative ability! Tough to only post a few!

Mom and Dad enjoy a romantic moment alone…

Luke is so blessed to have such loving grandparents nearby.

Taking in one of the beautiful views…

Right below us was a HUGE turtle, over three feet head to toe!

Luke with his daddy…

and mommy too!

My favorite “catch” of the day was this butterfly…

How anyone can not believe in God just escapes me!

It was a very refreshing and renewing weekend of re-creation!

If I was ever stranded in the desert with no water, but had Luke with me, I’d be O.K. I’d just follow him! If there is any source of water… he can find it!

He is drawn to water like a deer… wait, isn’t there a Bible verse about longing for water?

 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42:1-2

I pray that I would be as drawn to the Lord as my son is to water. After all, Jesus is better than water,  He is the Living Water!

 ”If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water will flow from within him.”
John 7:37-39

 Jesus is the Living Water who walked among us.

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a
spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13

 Take a lesson from Luke…

Follow the Footprints of Your Father…
and seek the Water!