Go. Be. Do.

Post written early morning of July 10th while in the airport awaiting my flight. I am at the airport and ready for take-off. Today was a long, busy, wonderful day! I was hoping to see Denali before leaving and this morning she was shining in full glory.  Such an awesome sight to behold from Anchorage!  One day I will see the mountain from a closer distance...all in due time. Today I was given the privilege of helping train the new park host that will be in the park I've been in the past several weeks...first couple of weeks as a guest watching and learning the ins and outs of the kids and the park itself, then as team leader for my church group who came and served here last week.  It made my day to be busy and to be back in the park with the kiddos I have come to love so much!  Such cute smiles and big hugs...lonely hearts that need a Savior and hungry stomachs that need food. Today in the park the kids were excited to see me again.  It was nice to ...

Friday, July 6th We had free time this morning, so a few of us not doing sandwiches or working for Mr. Billy went to the Alaska State Troopers Museum downtown.  It was fun seeing the boys so excited as they looked at the photos, badges, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia they had for people to view.  We had about an hour to spend there and the boys made sure they saw every square inch of the place, not missing a thing!  Alex and Tim were sworn in as honorary Troopers by a retired State Trooper, Mr. Howard.  They thought that was so cool...just like being a Jr. Ranger at all the National Parks last year.  Mr. Howard's stories and accounts of his years as a State Trooper were fascinating to say the least.  My favorite was the one where a person reported finding a body by a river's edge in the Mat-Su Valley.  Upon investigation, Mr. Howard said that what he found made him step back at first.  The body, dressed in pants, button-down shirt...

Thursday, July 5th Our morning was spent divided, with part of us went grocery shopping to fill bags for a few families in our park community and the guys and boys going to do yard work at a few homes in our park community.  Service projects are always a favorite part of GraceWorks for me.  Keeps me busy and thinking of others instead of myself. The afternoon at the park was just as fun as all the others.  A little girl who attached herself to Scott the second he came into the park last evening was asking for him, but he was helping Mr. Billy at the church again.  I promised her that he would come back and say goodbye before we left town. The reality is setting in that our days are numbered with these adorable faces.  My boys, at separate times, came to me and mentioned that we only had one more day at the park and how sad they were about it.  My heart went out to them for I so understand how they feel!  They are wanting to return to Alaska and th...

Happy 4th of July! I have now been in Alaska on the first day of summer and enjoyed the true midnight sun moment and been in Alaska for the 4th of July, complete with fireworks set off in downtown Anchorage at midnight the morning of the 4th.  I did miss out on the normal 4th of July festivities...cookout, watermelon, hot weather...yeah, especially the hot weather! Another hike in the morning for some, I stayed back and worked on some staff stuff and Skyped with our Pastor back home, and lunch prep duty for others. The afternoon found us back in the park with several fewer children due to the holiday activities with family and in the city.  However, we were blessed to have as many as we did and we enjoyed our time together! The evening in the park was our community park party where everyone in the community is invited to come out and enjoy hot dogs, chips, punch, and games and hear the Gospel message. We had a good turnout considering it was a holiday. ...

July 3rd A day in the life of a GraceWorks volunteer goes something like this... Breakfast and making sack lunch at 8 AM. Leave for morning prayer hike for Anchorage, prep work for ministry at the park, or assist in making the    kids' lunches that you hand out in the parks after breakfast. Chapel Lunch Kids' lunch & park ministry 1:30-4 PM Dinner Return to park for prayer walking, evening clinics on various topics, and/or park parties. Free after evening activities. Another great day! Tuesday saw some of the team off on the prayer hike with Scott Kirby and the rest of the team staying back helping with lunches and myself working on some behind the scenes GraceWorks tasks.  It is a wonderful challenge to work with Traci on staff and be on a ministry team as well...late last evening I was working on the "war board" in the fellowship hall in my pj's as Traci texted me from her house.  We work well together. :)  I worked on staff stuff after eve...

"It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You loved them."   Psalm 44:3 July 2, 2012 Park day!  The day we've been waiting for since October of last year when we from Northside Baptist Church (NBC) committed to coming to Alaska.  I spend some time at our park during the past two weeks so that I could know some names and have an idea of what worked and didn't work so well before leading my team into their newest adventure.  It was time well spent and I was excited, yet a little nervous at the same time. Going into the park as a team leader brought an entire new dimension to our time there for me.  It's been two years since I've been on a team and things have changed since then.  For the better, the ministry has not only grown, but has evolved as we have discovered what works, what thrives, and what needed to be readjusted along the way. ...

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today,  so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ  if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." Hebrews 3:13-14 There is one remaining day in Alaska for me.  Hoping and praying it will be the best one yet even though they have all been wonderful to this point. While I have wanted to keep a consistency on posting my days' events, it has come down to having begun several drafts and posting too few in completion. In Alaska this summer one can be assured that there were... New memories made. Old memories shared. Lives changed. My heart broken. Big smiles and hugs given. Tears shed. Friends' laughter echoing through walls. Christ accepted. People befriended. Hope restored. And so much more... Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have roo...