When my focus is on the Lord or others, He often shows me His approval by giving me what I call "hugs".
A week ago Wednesday evening, I finished my packing for a four day visit to Spokane before rushing to the VBS planning meeting. One of the other planners, Trish, was also talking about leaving for Spokane to attend the "Women of Faith" Conference. She was taking a friend with her, who claims to be an atheist. I'll call Trish's friend "F" in this blog. F. had decided to attend with Trish to gather facts to help refute Christianity...along the lines of Josh McDowell & others. We prayed for F at the end of the meeting. The next day our Bible Study group also prayed for F. After the Bible Study, I talked with the Lord the entire drive to Spokane - mentioning F several times.
I was attending the conference with my friend, Julie, who lives at Harvard Park in Spokane. (See above photo.) You have read about Julie in this blog back in the Fall & again when her husband, Chuck, died in January. For a couple of months, Julie & I have planned this visit. Julie reserved a roll-away bed so I could stay at Harvard Park with her the three nights I would be in town. When I arrived at the retirement home on Thursday, Julie helped me unload my bags. She introduced me to the assistant manager of the facility at the front door. The assistant manager asked if Julie had told me about the snaffu regarding the roll-away bed. I thought, "
Oh, no, I don't have enough $ to pay the $75 a night to rent their guest room. Maybe I can just sleep on Julie's floor." 
The assistant manager continued, "It was our mistake that the reserved roll-away is being used elsewhere, so you won't mind sleeping in one of our rooms, will you? I'm on my way now to make it up. Do you like golf? This sample room will have a golf theme." We entered the elevator & rose to the third floor. All the way at the end of the hall was this sample room, across from Julie's apartment! It had its own bathroom, kitchenette, sitting area & the bed area pictured above. Because of a mistake, I was given this apartment free of charge for the three nights. That was hug #1!
Julie treated me to a delicious salmon salad dinner at Twiggs as we caught up on each other's lives. We both like to walk after dinner, so we spent a delightful evening in Manito Park...smelling the scent of lilacs in full bloom throughout much of the park. Some of the cherry trees were still in bloom, as were the rhododendrons of all colors & many other new plantings. We chatted a lot about Chuck as we walked, since he was very much on our minds. One hug, after another.
The next morning Julie drove us to the Spokane Arena for the "Women of Faith" Conference. Julie's driving us around Spokane was another hug of sorts, since I was able to make the entire trip on one tank of gas by not expending any during my stay in Spokane. Besides, Julie knows the streets & short-cuts in Spokane so we arrived timely both days & left without getting tied up in traffic jams. We entered the arena & headed for fairly close seating to the stage area pictured below. Friday was general admission so we found good seating & started down an aisle. Who should we see ahead of us, but Trish & F! Trish had told us that we might not meet F, since she didn't want to sit with the church crowd. God overruled & led us directly to her. It was almost like He said, "
You have been faithfully praying for F. Now you will know what she looks like & have a chance to chat a bit with her, so you can continue to talk to Me about her after the conference." Another Hug! Nothing is better that knowing you are in God's will...receiving His affirmations. Trish took the above photo of Julie & me after I had taken one of her & F. As you can see below, the arena had not filled up yet.
The conference was good, although my age showed by the fact that I thought the worship music was too loud - I couldn't hear the words. My time of fellowship with Julie was better than the conference. We ate at Klinkendagger's Restaurant, overlooking the Spokane River raging with the Spring melt-off. The grilled trout with hazelnut sauce was so scrumptious, as was the rest of the meal. We ambled through Riverfront Park after the meal. Never running out of things to share with each other. So went the whole week-end. A wonderful vacation from the day to day pressures we each face. At the end of the conference, Trish slipped over to the nosebleed section where we had assigned seats for the main part of the conference which had started Friday evening. She told us that F had been extremely attentive throughout the conference & was asking a lot of questions. Trish felt F was taking some beginning steps towards getting to know the Lord rather than wanting to refute the fact of His existence. God is so good!!
The Hallelujah Hikers hiked south & slightly east of Hamilton in the Sleeping Child area today. It was a vertical mountainside hike among burned trees. Multiple wildflowers carpeted the mountainside. These two wildflowers were new to me. Does anyone know their names?
After three hours of hiking, it began to rain; so we drove the Skalkaho Road to see the Skalkaho Falls in the drizzle.
Coming back along the Skalkaho Road, we stopped to see the hummingbirds which tend to hang out at a Steak Restaurant. The outside porch is lined with hummingbird feeders, so we sat at the outside tables & watched the aerial display put on by these tiny birds. Since the restaurant was closed, we didn't have to pay a cent to see them fly straight up & then dive straight down - turning at the last minute before contacting the ground or bushes. They seemed to never tire of this maneuver.
Although the lighting was poor because of the overcast sky & rain, I still took several photos of the hummingbirds as they slowed down to drink at the feeders.
