Sights and Sounds from Baltimore

Greetings to everyone! I am back from my weekend trip to Baltimore. The time went by quickly and it was definitely hard to leave Hamp. While there are lots of things rattling around in my brain as a result from this past weekend, one thing is certain - I am ready to move to Baltimore and get busy living life there. I know there will be a lot of adjustments to make, cold weather to tolerate, and lonely times to get through, but all of that will be better than living life on hold. This is the door God has opened for us at this time and I'm finally ready to walk through it...I think.

The night before I left, I heard owls hooting in the trees behind our house and I realized that city living was going to bring a whole new world of sounds and sights. I thought I'd share some of the ones I experienced this weekend.

Upon my arrival, I was greeted with proof that it is definitely colder in Baltimore than it is in Georgia. Here's a picture I took of the harbor next to the parking lot of our apartment the first time I visited in October.



And here's the one I took last Friday afternoon.



Yes, that's ice in the water. It's not totally frozen, but enough so that when snow was falling this morning as Hamp left for work, it stuck to the top of the water in places.



(A side note here - modern technology is amazing to me. Hamp took this picture with his blackberry earlier today, e-mailed it to me, and now I'm sharing it with you. I'm actually quite proud of both of us and the fact that we can even do this!!)

Another sight that is new to me is the wearing of hats and scarves by everyone. I'm not talking about cute little decorative things - I'm talking about keep your neck and ears from freezing necessities! We did find Hamp a hat that does both so he will look very dapper as he travels to and from work on really cold days.



I, on the other hand, just stayed cold the whole time and will need longer for my body to adjust. Tiffany promises me it will happen, so for now I just have to take her word for it.



One of the mornings while in the apartment, I heard a sound that I don't think I'll get tired of. As the wind blew, the boats anchored in the harbor rocked back and forth and created a melody like a giant wind chime. I also discovered that sea gulls stick around even when it's cold and they were seen and heard most everywhere we went. The view from our living room window is nice all the time, but I thought this little flurry of snow was an extra bonus.



Probably the best sounds of the weekend were heard at the Chris Tomlin concert. If you have the chance to go hear him when he's in town near you, you need to do so. We've been listening to his music for years now, so I've taken for granted the impact he's had on worship music in the church in the last decade. The arena held around 7000 people and most of them had never heard of Louie Giglio or Passion, which is how his music gained such a wide audience. Yet, most of those 7000 voices knew the words to every song. Often the music faded away and all you could hear was the joined harmony of God's people telling Him how great He is. There were different skin colors, nationalities, and languages, yet in the end we were all brothers and sisters united in love for our same Father.

There is a lot still ahead for me in this story we've fallen into, but I'm grateful for the reminder God gave me this weekend that His grace is enough!