Sabbatical week 1

On New Years Day, we drove to Canby where we stayed four days and three nights at the Canby Grove Camp and Conference Center. This is a great place to stay and the chef (who reminded us of Morry) is excellent! This was a great way to begin sabbatical!

On Friday night, we went to the Portland Zoo to see
the holiday lights and ride the train. It was spectacular!

Caleb looking out the window during the train ride at the zoo

The Portland Zoo really does a great job providing

family fun during the holidays

I've never been to a zoo at night, but this was a lot of fun!

The Canby Chapel Church of the Nazarene is situated on a great
location right on Territorial Road in Canby.

I was looking for a service to attend Saturday night, and the Canby New Life Foursquare Church was packed. I met Pastor Sam, one of the associates, who didn't preach, but "interviewed" two couples in the church. It worked well because of the great testimonies of the couples.

The Canby Chapel Church of the Nazarene is directly across the street from the Canby New Life Foursquare Church. It's tough when you have churches that close in proximity

I attended the packed 9:00 am Sunday service at Imago Dei Community Church. They meet in Franklin High School in Portland. I walked in as they were singing one of the most beautiful versions of On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand I've ever heard. It was the only hymn I sang at any church service this weekend. No drums on the worship team, but they had two cellos, piano, guitar, and violin. A young man played the harp for the offertory. The preacher was Pastor Jake who is starting Imago Dei in Vancouver, and preached a very good "holiness" message on bearing the image of God.

We went to the 11:00 am Sunday service at Rolling Hills Community Church - even chatted a bit with Pastor Ebel, the founding pastor. Good service, I like that he prayed for what's going on with Israel and Gaza and President elect Obama during his sermon. If you look closely, we parked in Revelation (their parking lots are named after books of the Bible).

Caleb at Rolling Hills Community Church. I'm pretty sure
he was the only one wearing a suit and tie - he looks great!