Our Sunday

We attended Newport Covenant Church yesterday. Our friend Jerry Piger, a pianist and songwriter, told us that his co-writer, Lisa Peretti, would be in town and would sing at the service. We have Lisa's CD and were anxious to hear her in person.

The service was very good. The pastor, a guest preacher, spoke about worship. He shared a couple of quotes: "Worship is our glad response to the immense grace of the Triune God" (Marva Dawn), and "The glory of God is a man [or woman] fully alive" (Iranaeus). He encouraged us to bring the authentic, deepest part of ourselves to God, who not only accepts us when we bring our real selves to him; he seeks out those who do!

Lisa Peretti sang His Eye is on the Sparrow. It's a song I love, and I have never heard it sung any better. By the way she sang it, I knew that it was not just a song to Lisa. It was truth. (See the lyrics here)

Lisa and Jerry have worked together for several years. She's living in London now, but is back home visiting family this month. I wanted to share this video with you that she and Jerry made two years ago. (Listen carefully and you'll hear strains of His Eye is on the Sparrow!) Though she is in London, they continue to work together. They make a great team, and we loved getting to spend part of the day with them.



We went to lunch with Jerry and his wife Shirley (my babysitter from long ago!), Lisa, and another couple from the church. If you are ever in Newcastle, which is a part of Bellevue, I recommend Yea's Wok, a Chinese restaurant. The food was delicious and the staff friendly and efficient.

After lunch Tom and I went to the Bellevue Botanical Garden. It was 91 degrees in Bellevue when we were there, but the lovely trees and plants provided shade and the water features helped us feel a bit cooler. If you haven't been to this lovely park, you ought to take a walk through it. Here are just a  couple of photos from our visit.