Glacial Moment

Last week while taking my mother around Alaska we stopped in a place filled with glaciers.  Here is a shot of one place we stopped right off of the highway.  You can see the glacier in the back.  The trees were green with a few beginning to turn yellow.  The water a very clear green/blue color.  Black pebbles along the beach.  It was an amazing and awe inspiring view to behold and a photo can barely do it justice.  What was so peaceful was standing there taking in the beauty and listening to the waterfalls from the melting runoff of the glacier in the distance.  It was quite a ways away but you could hear the thundering of the water as it fell.  God makes some indescribable scenes for us to enjoy.  They all point to His magnificence.  As I absorbed this glorious site the unfathomable reminder came to me.  Even with all of this beauty, considering all of his creation, he chose one such as I to love and redeem!  Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, my King wouldst die for me!

Alaskan Sunset

Alaska has some amazing sunsets! This is definitely not the most spectacular but beautiful none the less. Maybe one day I will be able to capture the sunset with the inlet and the mountains also. For now, I will share the ones my daughter took from home last week. Enjoy!  God’s creation is awe inspiring!

It’s On Your Face

It seems that when my hubby is gone if something can go wrong it will go wrong.  There have been so many stressful things that have happened since he left.  On top of just being without him it has been doubly hard with all of the added stressers.  I am thankful though that I have a Lord and Savior who reminds me that he is here and I am not alone.  It is still hard to deal with the stress though.  There are days when I know I am not dealing very well with it, I pray for strength to go on.  Then there are days that seem to be almost stress free, I praise God for an easier day.  Then there are those days when I think I am fooling everyone (hehe-yeah right).

This past Sunday was one of those days when I thought I had it all together and was fooling everyone.  As I was speaking with a friend and she made the comment that she could see the stress on my face.  What??  I thought I had it all covered up!

Image by angelsk via Flickr

At first, I was not overly happy that it was showing  but then I began to be thankful.  I was thankful that someone noticed!  It is hard when no one seems to notice or even care!  We military wives are expected to just suck it up and get over it!  That is often easier said than done. It is nice to have someone tell you that you don’t have to be tough all the time and that it is okay to struggle. I tell you, if it was not for my amazing church family here (and one neighbor) I would have no support.  I am so thankful for my church family here and how I can always count on them! I am thankful for how they step in and meet our needs.   I am thankful for how they encourage me, how they remind me to point my focus back on the Lord when I begin to focus more on my circumstances. I am so thankful for the friends that I have there!  I am thankful that  they notice and they care when I have had a rough week!  They have truly shown the love of Christ to our family.

Since my hubby left I have spent so much more time in prayer!  That is a good thing!  I have not had my hubby to depend on and it has forced me to rely more and more on my Savior!  Sometimes though it is good to have that physical hug from a friend.  I am glad that I have that with my church family.  I am thankful that the Lord provided me a family here.

So let me challenge you.  If you have military families where you live (well anyone for that matter).  Take time to notice and take time to care.  If you can see stress on their faces be an encouragement don’t just turn and walk away. Make sure to remember them, their situation, and their struggles throughout the separation not just in the first month. Sometimes just noticing and genuinely caring can make all the difference in their day!

Please leave a comment and share some ways that you encourage others or what others have done to encourage you.

Soaked in Adventure

Yesterday was a day filled with adventure. It was a memorable day to be sure. I had decided last week that we would be going to Whittier to go berry picking. Yesterday was the only day that everyone in the household was free to make the trip so that was THE day! One lesson learned: CHECK THE WEATHER REPORT BEFORE LEAVING!!

We left and it was a little cloudy and a beautiful morning. By the time our family hit Anchorage it was raining and raining hard. The sky looked clearer down the Turnagain Arm so we kept on moving. It did clear and stop raining for a short time. But by the time we reached Portage and the Whittier tunnel it was raining HARD!

I began to think that we should just skip the whole berry picking adventure and spend some time inside the dry Portage Glacier visitor center but my entire back row was BEGGING to drive through the tunnel and one child in particular was almost in tears saying we were supposed to go and pick berries.

Well, for our van to go through the tunnel to get to Whittier it is a $35 toll. But we did after all drive an hour and a half and the tunnel is fun. I didn’t want the children to feel like it was a wasted trip and to leave totally disappointed so we went. My one year old’s excitement was worth the $35 all in itself! She had wide eyes and her jaw was dropped as we traveled through the tunnel (about 2 1/2-3 miles long). She closed her open mouth long enough to say “mountain, mountain” a few times. The tunnel goes through the mountain.

It was still raining heavily on the other side of course. We traveled the short distance to go toward the berry picking site. We stopped at the portapotties and the thankfully COVERED picnic tables for a quick lunch. Then we headed a little further up the hill. The older children were asking if we were really going to go and pick berries while the almost 4 year old was crying “I want to pick berries now!” I chuckled and said, “Let’s get out. I am sure we will only be here a few minutes but we can pick a couple of berries and then go.”

We put on our rain jackets then grabbed the bear spray and the buckets. We headed up the small hill toward the berry bushes. It is POURING down rain now, don’t forget. I am not talking sprinkling or just a light rain, I mean POURING! The path that is usually clear and dry with maybe a few puddles was a RIVER! Up the hill we went trying not to get our feet soaked. Once the path leveled off it was better. We picked and ate a few berries and then moved further down the path.

Now, I had forgotten that there are waterfalls along this path but last time we went it was not raining. The water hit the ground and flowed right along the rock wall. There are bushes there about six feet between the rock wall and the path and very little water from the waterfalls even made it to the path. That was not the case yesterday! The water was flowing out on to the path and made a nice little river down the path! We are talking some pretty fast moving water here!

For most of the trek we could find a small patch of path that was not covered in water or was only about 3 inches deep. After walking for about a half an hour we came to a point where the water was going to be above all of our ankles and decided to turn back. Now if for some strange reason you think we were not soaked enough let me tell you that my almost 4 year old decided she needed to add tears to the pot! “We don’t have enough berries yet!” she cried. In fact, she almost sat herself down in the river upset! Thankfully, we saved her little bottom from being completely soaked by catching her before she hit the ground. It is true, we only had about a handful. I assured her we would look for more on the way back down the trail toward the van. Now apparently, we had been far too focused on the water and the trail because we did find more berries on the way back. Her sisters all added their berry stash to hers to make her feel better. By time we reached the van we had a couple of cups to show for our trek. Not enough to really DO anything with but she was happy. That is what mattered.

I was rather disappointed that we didn’t have a successful day of berry picking. I was also not overly thrilled about looking like drenched rats either. BUT, it was actually fun and it was a day that the children and I will remember forever! We were making memories and it was definitely an adventure! BUT next time I will check the forecast! LOL

We drove down the mountain with everyone comparing the level of soakedness (yeah I know…but it is a word now!) they were experiencing! We all had a good laugh! Those who didn’t take showers that morning definitely received one that afternoon. We stopped at the little donut shop to get some hot coco ($30). As we sat waiting for the tunnel to leave Whittier we sipped our hot coco and snacked on granola bars. It had been a good day and one that was soaked with adventure!

It was raining so hard that some of the photos wouldn’t even turn out. But I do have a few to share!

Heading up the trail.

Where do we step??

Runoff from a waterfall.

One of the waterfalls.

LOOK-A BERRY!

Snowing Cotton

Over the past couple of weeks it has been snowing cotton!  The cottonwood trees are releasing an unbelievable amount of seed into the air!  It is pretty to look at but talk about allergies!  I thought I would share a bit of our cotton snow storm with you.  In the first photo you can actually see some of the cotton falling.  Oh, and another point of interest, I took these photos at 11:30 pm on an overcast day.  Just to give you an idea of the daylight.

Alaskan Slip N Slide

For the first time in a week I have seen the sun!  What a perfect first day of summer!  It was WARM and sunshiny!  I am even a little sunburned!  Thank you Lord for such an amazingly beautiful day.  Today was one of those days that make the long Alaskan winters so very worth it!

My neighbor called and asked if the children wanted to play in the slip-n-slide.  I was unaware they had one.  She explained that she had an Alaskan slip-n-slide and it was going to be a great time!  So we headed down the road.  To make one AWESOME slip-n-slide all you need is a big tarp, stakes, liquid soap, and a sprinkler.  A fun time was had by all!