Go. Be. Do.

Thinking again about Alaska and some of the specific things God taught me...or at least reminded me of while there... This time I'm thinking on the Great Commission. There's never a time when I, as a Christian, can pat myself on the back and say that I shared the Gospel and consider it time to sit back and relax now that I've done my duty. There's always another person who needs to hear the Good News...always another person who needs to find freedom from sin...always another person who needs to experience God's grace. Never can I say that there's nothing else for me to do...I have a purpose and will have until my last breath. He's still working on me...and I'm so glad He is!

I ran across a song from years ago...made me cry then and now when I heard it. Thoughts that crossed my mind as I listened to it again...music is indeed timeless and much more so is the God I love and serve. He inhabits eternity...the past, present, and future! Inhabits...oh, that I would allow Him to inhabit my thoughts, my heart, my life!!! Every inch of me should be inhabited by God...not things of God (see a previous blog on that one) but God. How things would be different...I'm inspired. I'm humbled, but ready for a change. Another Time, Another Place (Sandi Patti/Wayne Watson) I've always heard there is a land Beyond the mortal dreams of man Where every tear will be left behind But it must be in another time There'll be an everlasting light Shining a purest holy white And every fear will be erased But it must be in another place So, I'm waiting for another time and another place Where all my hopes and dreams will be captured With one look at Jesus' face O...

Once again I found myself off in la-la land today thinking about my time(s) in Alaska. Oh, how it is addictive and thought provoking...so many wonderful God moments and things to think on... The norm for my life changed last year in Alaska...and I am so glad it did! God blessed me twice with back to back trips to Alaska, and I'm forever grateful for every moment spent there and shared there with old and new friends alike! I miss Alaska...and so ready to return again and again...

Last year after arriving in Atlanta from Anchorage, I found myself back in the airport bound for Florida within a few hours...and, this year, although it was a few days, I found myself back in the sunshine state after AK again. :) This is quite the trend...one could get used to it, too. We left Thursday for FL with the fam...including, Fran, my mother-in-law (Kenneth drove down once finished with some business in south GA). We spent the weekend in Panama City Beach at the Holiday Inn SunSpree. Nice place...very family/kid friendly atmosphere. I love having my quiet time with God out on the beach down by the ocean...the sound of the crashing waves takes away all the distractions that life has to offer. There's such power found in those waves, too...not unlike their Creator. I had time to reflect on my time in Alaska, too, sitting there...and dream about what the future may bring. God reminded me of things I need to do differently in life, things that He alone brought about, and thin...

7.31.09 Final day in Alaska...it has been a great week and there's mixed emotions about leaving. Ready to see the fam, but have a love of Alaska that just makes me want to stay. It has been another great week...God moving hearts and paving the way for an awesome display of His power and control. His knowledge does indeed exceed anything we can come up with ourselves. It was a great day for sightseeing. Woke to sunshine and clear blue skies with warmer temps. We got an early start to Portage and had fun all day long, although wearing down from our late night at the house just hanging out and talking. We visited the same places as last year, but in addition, we were able to take an hour long cruise on the Ptarmigan to see the glaciers up close and personal. It was awesome! After the tour, we hiked to the Byron Glacier and had fun on it...we took the girls sliding down on trash bags like we did last year. They seemed to enjoy that alot with us. We made trash bags fashionable again. I ...

7.30.09 Happy Birthday, Ryan! This is our last day of mission work...tomorrow we go sightseeing down to the Portage area. We went to the Food Bank of Alaska this morning. It was fun being back again. Mariko remembered us from last year somehow...I hope that's a good thing. :) We got to pack frozen bluberries into individual bags that would be going into children's lunches. I must say they were tasty blueberries...some would land on the table much to my liking. Our team of 9 was joined by a group of 14 from Alabama & the Carolinas that were in the Anchorage area working but not with GraceWorks. We knocked out quite a fe w boxes of blueberries...it was easier to work with the blueberries than the salmon and fries last year. We had lunch back at the annex and rested up for our afternoon at the club. Once there, the kids were everywhere. We had a larger crowd today and it was rather chaotic. Once prayer was said it seemed to calm down enough to get our Bible time done and done ...

Well, rain has indeed affected our time here this year, but we're making the most of it. Our plans to work at Pioneer Home this morning were cancelled because our work there was to be outside. We worked at Grandview Baptist Church instead doing some odd jobs for them. We cleaned out closets, organized storage rooms, built shelves...and carried trash out. It was a productive morning...and we of course had some fun along the way. We had lunch and set off early to the club. It's fun just hanging out with the kids and showing them love and attention. Several of the girls are always at my side...we just talk and mostly I listen. There are two sisters Cheyenne & Cherokee that are so sweet...and they have native bloodlines to follow suit with their names. Such young beauties! Another Cheyanne is one we met last year...she was so surprised that I remembered her. Maya is as sweet as ever and Brianna hasn't been around the past couple of days...missing her sweetness. :) It's ...

7.28.09 Tuesdays in Alaska are turning out to be the best days ever! I awok e this morning at 5 am (again) and God revealed to me the reason I'm back in Alaska. Let me say that I'd like to awake to a revelation like this every morning. :) God had me back in Alaska to help our two teams mesh together...He needed me to be there for Hannah and Kara, specifically. And, the neat thing is, too, that my desire to return was so emminent from the start because the IL team knew they were coming last fall already and had tickets bought by November. God was working last year already to get this summer underway. That's awesome! And, for a week, I am back in youth leadership...I am blessed to have been the one appointed to such a service. This gives me encouragement to keep on patiently waiting on God to see how other desires and dreams I have can be realized in His time. He does provide exactly what we need when we need it. We returned to Mountain View Baptist to hand out food this morn...

7.27.09 God is good. We went to work today...yay! After breakfast and d evotions, we headed out all together to work at the Boys & Girls Club for the morning. Getting there, Dave told us what needed to be done: trash pick up around the park area, sweeping up glass, and planting seeds that were donated to them. I volunteered with that since I love to garden. It took all of about 2 minutes for David and me to have a group of about 6 kids hovering around us and claiming us as their own as we went to get the seeds, gardening tools, and walk out to the garden area. They were all new faces, too...such sweet boys and girls. I stand in awe of God and how He used such a simple task to open doors to develop relationships with the kids right from the start. It was so much fun planting seeds with the kids...don't know that any of them will grow, but it sure was a ministry moment for us. After gardening and picking up trash, we went inside to do some work. The men went to work in the base...

7.26.09 I was up at 5, but awake since 4. All the excitement and time change I guess has me up now. Church wasn't until 11, so after breakfast our 5 took a walk down to the coast and then through downtown. It was a great morning for a walk and we saw alot of downtown that we didn't get to last year. Saw lots of interesting houses, buildings and stores along the way. My favorite was seeing "The Sleeping Lady" and also then the mountains once we were closer back to First Baptist. Beautiful way to start our day. Church was good...it's always an adventure going to a different church. We had lunch and then met alot of the staff at orientation. We moved to the Grandview Annex house afterwards. The married couple had their own room. ..the guys their own...the two girls a room...and for me, they offered me to stay in a room by myself but it was the storage room. After considering it, I moved in with the girls from IL. We went to the Marketplace and to Walmart...got the so...

I am home from a great week in Alaska...and missing it already. I kept a daily journal while there, so I'll share my thoughts from that. Maybe that will give everyone a better idea of exactly what we did on our trip. Be warned if you go to Alaska...it's addictive and you'll want to go back. Day 1 7.25 Wow! It has happened...I'm back in Alaska. God is good - all the time. And, the awesome thing about God is He's good whether I am in AK or not. My status doesn't affect His, but His will always affect mine. I am almost speechless at all that God has made possible. He's a wonder, that's for sure. Today...(all 24 hours of it) we gathered at church after a quiet morning at home with Scott & the boys and a late breakfast at CFA. We had prayer and left for the airport, courtesy of Dennis who drove us in the church van. We made it through the airport with no problems and had plenty of time to relax before boarding. There were some funny moments, however, alon...