And we're Hoff for Thanksgiving

After a long Sunday on November 21, most of the residents of the Theta Community along with our remaining family took off for Olympia Washington. We left around 9:30 PM, driving through the deep fog in California's Central Valley. Daylight broke around Lake Shasta. The residents kept driving to Portland to spend a few hours in that city (that is their story :). We took a turn West to McMinneville to spend Monday afternoon and dinner with Joy's sister's family. Lots of fun with those little cousins! Finally, we made it to Tumwater (south and east of Olympia) around 24 hours after we left LA. 

Tuesday, the residents and Sam and Peter explored Seattle, which put on a show for them that day. Joy and I were able to spend some time with my mom and dad and David, and my grandma Verona. Wednesday was a leisurely morning, recording the Ground Up Grace podcast for Saturday, Nov 27th with Gage, Ben, and my brother David. We also went frolfing (frisbee golfing) at the most gorgeous course I've played: The Evergreen State College. 

Thursday buzzed with gratitude, a feast, and lovely conversation. After the last season, we are not taking for granted the blessing of being together. We ended the gathering with full-throttled praise. We woke up Friday and left right on the dot at 4 AM, and made it home by nighttime. 

Soundtrack:

The Art of Stability. I really loved this conversation. Big takeaway was “Trauma is not what happens to us, but what happens in us in the absence of a compassionate witness.” Even through the foggy valley and some tears, it made me see some things clearer. "God is kinder than we can imagine. In today's episode, Rusty and Chuck talk about our shadow side, self-compassion, and how Jesus heals our trauma. If you'd like to connect with Chuck, find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @chuckdegroat. Also, frequent Chuck's website to find future projects at chuckdegroat.net.

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. We caught up with the LONG episode "The Tempest".

Hymns II. Poor Bishop Hooper. Lovely. Advent and Christmas. Especially "Of the Father's Love Begotten."

The Bridge. Sting. Lots to commend. Tons of Biblical imagery. The title track resonated so much with this Enneagram 9. 

Faith of my Father. Stephanie Gretzinger. My go-to lately.

BBC Podcast: Nuremberg. 16 episodes. The story of the trial of Nazi war criminals following Germany's surrender in 1945. Drama podcast.