Post AK

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a great meeting in Alaska. There were all kinds of neat opportunities to meet some great people and to have a real ministry to Pastor Wes Hudson and his wife Debbie. In addition to seeing the tallest mountain in North America (see below), a man in the church also took me out bear hunting. I was not technically hunting myself, but I did carry a 12 gauge shotgun for self defense. It was the time of year when the sows (female bear, not pig in this case) were having cubs, so walking in the woods could have been dangerous. I learned the real meaning of being loaded for bear.

The Lord has provided some meetings for us in the first part of the summer, though the last part of the summer is open right now. Today, He provided a need for us that was something I had been wanting for a long time. I look forward to watching how He will provide for our needs in the future.

Today, I sent the manuscript of my book Cliffs and Fences to the editor of the publishing company. After about three weeks of editing process, they are to get the manuscript back to me so that I can accept or reject their editorial suggestions. After that, there is another round of editing to ensure that they have missed nothing. Then, the book goes to the printer. I am getting more and more excited as the days go by.

Thank you to those of you who have shown such an interest in the book so far. I will, of course, let you all know when it is finally ready. As you pray for us, please pray that God will use the message of this book to work in the lives of His people. If you pray that I sell a lot of books, I wouldn't be offended either.

Family Update

Summer is finally upon us here in North Carolina - I think! Being out of school has given us all a sense of freedom that makes the "summer feeling" that much stronger. The weather has been unseasonably cool this spring, and we keep needing to get out the sweaters and jackets. I think it will be a little warmer from here on out - or at least, I hope so!

Paul and I recently got back from a trip to Alaska. We had a meeting there, so it wasn't just a pleasure trip. I was so excited to get to go to Alaska. I have heard so many people say that it is a beautiful place, and I wanted to see it for myself. We were in the village of Talkeetna, which is only about 60 miles from Mt. McKinley. One of the highlights of our trip was taking a flight that went around the mountain and then landed on the glacier. That was so neat! It was not the best flight we have ever had, even though the sights were breathtaking. The pilot had to restock on airsick bags after Paul and I deplaned. I won't tell you who used the most, but one of us used three times as many as the other! The mountains there dwarf everything that we have here in the lower 48, even the Rockies, which, if you have seen, you know they are impressive! The local information is that only 25% of visitors in the summer actually see McKinley, because of the clouds and such. It has something to do with the snow on the mountain hitting the hot air and creating a cloud cover. We were privileged to see the mountain the first three days of our stay.

We had a wonderful time with the pastor and his family, as well as the church members that we met that week. I was surprised at how rustic it was there. Many people do not have indoor plumbing of any kind. After thinking about it, it would be difficult to keep the pipes from freezing eight months out of the year. "Going into town" takes the better part of the day since "town" is about an hour and half drive. That is where the large grocery stores and other things are. It makes me even more thankful for the convenience we have!

Another big adjustment for us was the amount of daylight there. In a whole week, we only saw the sunset one time, and that was while we were waiting for our flight to depart to come back home. It was about 1:00 am. Of course, it is broad daylight again by 4:00am, so it was very hard to judge time by the sun. I felt like I was in Neverland or something. The down side of that would be in the winter when the sun only shines a few hours a day. Thank the Lord for bright, sunny days!

We did not take the children with us, and by the end of the week, I was really missing them. They were having a wonderful time at their grandparents' house, going to the zoo, gong to the park, swimming, and in general, being spoiled rotten! Abigail and Esther were jumping up and down on the porch, screeching our names when we pulled into the driveway. Josiah was hiding under the bed to surprise us. He said he wanted to stay longer.

Paul leaves for Denver, CO next week, and will be gone for three weeks. We don't really like to be separated for such long periods of time, but there was really no other way we could do it. We will all be very glad when he returns. I plan to stay busy helping with VBS, piano lessons, and general summer stuff, in addition to our regular family life. Life never slows down, so we can't either!