A Day in Toronto

We spent a beautiful day in Toronto, Canada today with my brother and his wife and their new boy, Hayden. We went to Toronto Island Park and then Sara and I went to the rotating 360 Restaurant at the top of the CN Tower to celebrate our 17th anniversary – it was very cool! (Especially the glass floor!) 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…

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Hiking the Devil’s Backbone

What are a bunch of Christian’s doing hangin’ around the Devil’s backbone? As I mentioned awhile ago, I have started a guys hiking group here in Colorado, and a few weeks ago, we finally enjoyed our first hike. We explored the Devil’s Backbone up in Loveland, Colorado. Here are some pictures from the day. (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…

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Someday is Another Word for Never

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…

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Moments in Time

There is just something amazing about these images of water captured with a high speed camera… 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?…

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A Shocking Yosemite Experience

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…

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