Friday Jan 18 – Sunday Jan 20, 2013
On Friday we said goodbye to Vegas and headed west into California. Our destination was to be the home of our good friends the Rohde’s, but some extenuating circumstances intervened in their life (Ashe’s dad was admitted to the hospital, and she had to fly back to Alabama), and so while on the road we called our friends Carlo and Ricarda, “can we come visit you, like, today?” A new address set into Google maps, re-routing… and we are now headed to Valencia, CA. Blessed are the flexible.
It was great seeing Carlo and Ricarda, and their sweet daughters Talia and Azaria! They are so awesome! We pulled into Valencia, chowed down on some awesome “Mex-Fresh” food, and barged in.
On Saturday Carlo was in the hospital with his dad all day (pray for Gerry Perez, he’s having serious liver problems), so Tammy and I decided to head to the coast. Carlo recommended El Matador Beach in Malibu, so we headed across the canyon and to the coast. The drive through Malibu Canyon is spectacular. I’d forgotten how beautiful southern Cal is.
El Matador is such a beautiful beach. From the high cliff, you walk down a trail and several staircases to a small cove nestled along the rocky Malibu coast. There are rock outcroppings that go out into the water, creating private sandy beach areas. We brought a light lunch, some books to read, and settled in for a quite day on the beach.
We decided to stay until sunset, as it’s been a while since I’ve seen a west coast sunset, and we weren’t disappointed.
Sunday we decided to check out a church called Reality LA. I heard about RLA several years ago, when I read an article in Christianity Today that talked about a church in LA that was seen as an enigma: A church that is very conservative it’s doctrine, solid bible teaching, spirit filled, and not afraid to confront the sensitive issues of our day, such as homosexuality and abortion. While this might describe a typical Baptist church, this church was attracting young people like crazy. After reading the article I Google’ed the church, and subscribed to pastor Tim Chaddick’s podcast (
click here). Apparently there are a lot of twenty-something’s looking for truth and transparency over hype and showmanship. We arrived at Helen Burnstein High School in Hollywood, took our seats in the auditorium, and watched the place fill up. The worship was simple, not showy at all, but sweet and from the heart. Pastor Tim came up and shared a powerful message about grace and the church, and then closed out the message with an invitation to take communion and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. One thing that was unique, the worship team came back up and led the congregation in another thirty minutes of worship AFTER the message. Wasn’t expecting that, but it was powerful. It allowed the message and conviction and conviction of the Spirit to really settle into people’s hearts. People kept coming up for prayer, even up to the end. The power of God, and the move of the Spirit, were in that place.
After church Ricarda took us to her favorite restaurant, Chin Chin, on Sunset Avenue. Ricarda used to work with her dad as a talent scout right up the street, and Chin Chin was her fav place to go. The food was excellent, and we were blessed to get to know her new friend Kelly, who had joined us for church along with her two girls. Kelly shared her “God story” about how she moved from Texas, met her husband, and how God had done amazing things in her life and her family. I always love hearing people’s God story!
After lunch we drove up into Hollywood hills, up to where the famous Hollywood sign is located. There is a trail you can follow to the sign, but the girls didn't feel like walking, especially after one of the locals informed us that there are coyote's and bobcats that live in the area. From the lookout though, you can see all across the LA basin. A beautiful site! (I shot the photo below using
AutoStitch, an app that will stitch together several pictures).
Well that’s it for today, tomorrow we are hoping to check off another item on Tammy’s bucket list: the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Love you all!
Pastor Clay & Tammy
El Matador is such a beautiful beach. From the high cliff, you walk down a trail and several staircases to a small cove nestled along the rocky Malibu coast. There are rock outcroppings that go out into the water, creating private sandy beach areas. We brought a light lunch, some books to read, and settled in for a quite day on the beach. 
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