Interesting Friday....

  Its been pretty awesome exciting around these parts here in Alaska the last couple of months. We have to say that we are so so thankful for all of our family and friends old and new :)  We are settling in to this great wide open space with its chilly mornings, occasional earthquakes, hot chocolate, time with family and friends!  And do we see on the horizon a spring? Yes, spring is here. Today was 34 degrees and you saw about some with their T-shirt and flip flops.  People I could have sworn moved away popped up in our circle and said hi. All is joyful today the sunshine really makes me appreciate how the warm weather is coming!  
Have you ever just had a deep appreciation for what surrounds you?  I am truly been gifted beyond reason with blessings far from what I deserve,  with a amazing family and friends that I couldn't stand to think of without. Sometimes, God lets things happen that remind you.  REALLY remind you of how precious minutes are and how amazing He is when you trust. We tend to get involved with the ho-hum of the everyday and forget that there is beauty in everything! There is beauty in trial, there is beauty in pain, there is beauty in struggle.  God intends these things to make us better, stronger, and more appreciative of our circumstances.  
Friday was a day that was a little different than most.  We normally walk the trails to school and for this time with my "little" ones (in quotes because if you saw them they aren't even close to little)  I am grateful.  They are so sweet.  Owen especially  can be a little ball of energy sliding down the trails in his snowpants but I love that little ball of energy and it keeps me going.  There is a staircase that we take to get to the school yard. It has two pathways that meet coming from two different parts of the neighborhood that are on an incline.   Owen and Taylor both LOVE to slide on their knees down these hills towards the stairs almost every morning. :) Every morning I remind them that they can slide down "just look for moose first."  I mean look for moose on either side of the trail before  you slide so they don't run you over because, unlike the "if you give a pig a pancake" book it ends in, well, sadness. 
Moose aren't quite like bullwinkle.  They tend to stomp all their 1200 and up weight on to you if you spook them enough. And so on this pleasant friday morning Owen did his normal look both ways and slide down the hill, however our friend Diane, came walking toward us and warned us of a  moose by the stairs at the very bottom of the hill completely out of our field of vision.. no sooner had she said that she noticed my face. The moose had started running right towards us behind her. She and a couple other walking friends quickly jumped behind a tree on the trail.  Owen however had slid about 10-15 feet away from me and was still about 10 feet away from the other adults and had nowhere to go.  He quickly jumped to his feet and dove into the snowbank because there were no trees he could get to and remained completely still.  Taylor and I did the same. We quickly realized that the snow was not packed down.  We sank in the snow up to our thighs and squatted down, hoping the moose would keep running straight by us.  Unfortunately, he stopped right by the trees briefly then moved right square in front of Owen and stayed there looking around while my sweet son was completely unprotected. There was nothing I could do. If I moved to suddenly and freaked the moose out he would move forward and completely crush Owen and start stomping.  Was there anything I could do? Not on my own. I did it this simple act with tears streaming down my face silently and holding perfectly still. I prayed and I prayed and just looked up and prayed that God would save my son.  AND HE DID.  God is so faithful.  I don't know what else could make a moose just stop and not completely just end my poor sons life right there in front of me.  And slowly the Moose started walking further up the path. He walked square in front of Taylor and I this time and I prayed.  I saw his hair on his neck go up and his ears kind of move....I got ready to throw my sweet daughter down the hill. This is it, I thought. He answered my prayer but this moose is looking right at me and it doesn't look like he is calming down now.At that second I was thankful. Thankful that my son and daughter would be okay.  Then something amazing happened. It seemed the moose calmed down and instead of walking forward  toward us(they have pretty bad vision) he walked down and across the path in the other direction.  When he was far enough away we slowly, without any sudden movements pushed our way through the thigh high snow towards Owen where the other adults were coaxing him along into the woods to get down to the school. And here is our amazing news for the week, if you haven't heard it yet,  God is faithful,  so amazingly faithful! 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6,7 NIV

Invitations

An invitation. That's what it starts with. Just an invitation from someone. An invitation to go to coffee. An invitation to come over. An invitation that could be the start of something bigger.  Something bigger than a blank stare or a glance or just a kind "hi" passing by.  When looking from the outside, the new person, the one anyone has talked to yet and invitation can mean the difference between wondering if there is going to be a new adventure, new friendship,  or if you are going to become unsure or  awkward in this different, and challenging place that is completely unfamiliar and foreign in every way.  Everyone has been invited somewhere to something and we choose to accept or not. To go forward or hold on to the past not seeing there are greater things to come in the future. SO much more than we can ever think or imagine is in store!! God does that.  He pulls us out of our comfort zones so we can be the creative masterpieces that He has planned!!With that... we just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU! We have received soooo many amazing invitations since we moved here..I can't tell you how blessed we are by our new Alaskan family that didn't even know who we were and how thankful that we are that each and every invitation was extended in our direction.  It has been an absolute gift to not only our family but also to our faith.  Faith that God always has a plan. During the quiet and during the storms. During the comfortable times and the hard times that He works and molds our hearts so they will be open to hear the whispers of his guidance. Only If we so choose to listen to them, speaking ever so patiently and lovingly, will He be able to work on our hearts and lives of our family. I just hope that we can be even half as kind to you all as you have been to us. Thank you. 

This last couple of months has been a very different season in this family's life. We have had an absolutely amazing time bonding as a family, growing, taking long drives into the beautiful, blissful countryside of our Alaskan adventure with our bright orange(easy to find in a parking lot) jeep.  It also has been challenging in so many different ways, and yet through the darkness of this new winter there has been joy in sunrises and sunsets. There is joy and warmth in powdered snow.  White and pure. Every time I see it fall, a peace surrounds.  I think God is sending hugs down from heaven.  It's funny, even though snow is so very cold by itself, when it falls as a single snowflake...it seems to get warm when fluttered together.  We as people are the same. Fluttering together creating a warmth in the hearts of people that are touched by someone getting close enough to be love in action.   

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I have been not keeping you all up to date on things around this great new adventure. We kinda dropped off for a little while but I do have to say, the more I have my I phone, the happier I am that I have it (for picture purposes of course). Especially when I have left my camera somewhere up on shelf while we were running out the door to who knows where. So how about we play catch up. Sounds like a plan to me!!
I believe I mentioned that Mike came and helped us unload when we first arrived. But I don't remember if I mentioned that he took us on a Grand tour of Anchorage. That was really super duper cool of him and then invited us to his church. Where for some of you, Steven Creekers, I have to say that seeing a securegive kiosk there made us feel right at home 4300 miles away.
My friend Nicole also came to our rescue when the moving truck showed up. She came and helped us unpack the truck space we hired to move here. Thank you sooooo much Nicole. We literally unloaded the whole contracted truck in 20 minutes with her and the truck drivers help. He said it would be more trouble to leave the back of the truck in our driveway than to help. I happened to bake some cookies which I think offset the hurried truck emptying extravaganza. :) But oatmeal was in them I think so that makes them healthy right? But I digress.......The kiddos were returning soon and we had a house to unpack and put together.
Everything was coated in a fine layer of road grime or something. Most of the assembled furniture didn't make the trip so well, so for all of you visiting we hope you don't mind its weathered "antique" look. Its the "in" thing right now anyway, right? Maybe a better plan is to be doing some furniture refacing on the darker days of winter.
Speaking of winter it is coming fast. There is already snow on the mountains higher up. The kiddos got back and it has been a mad dash to find gear. Snow boots check, indoor gym shoes-check, outdoor snow gear-check, ice skates-still looking but we have faith they will show up random while we are out somewhere. Ice skates....seems recreational however during the winter months the children are encouraged to go out to the schools skating rink after lunch to skate and to soak up the little bit of sun that appears around that time of day during those months. Whoa who would have thought? I'm thinking ROCK ON!
School is an all walking school, with paths all the way there. When the children returned, Dad held a what to do when wildlife attacks session. That was fun. Mamma moose and bears are crazy and we really need to be aware of our surroundings. They apparently hang out by our houses and on the trails. Someone even told me sometimes Bullwinkle will be staring at me through my kitchen window all quiet and covert. Just hangin out. Cool.
Grandma and Grandpa came and hung out with us and the kiddos for a couple of weeks, and what a blast it was to have an excuse to hang out and explore this frontier known as Alaska...Glaciers...Parks....flowers....mosquitos.....food (YUMM!) probably too much food ( not so good for the waistline), and salmon, salmon, salmon! We are now salmon spoiled for the rest of our earthly lives. Someone said to us that the welcome to Alaska cookie is fish. Seriously. We have been welcomed to the neighborhood with fresh caught fish 7 different occasions and it is the best we have ever had and will ever have. To all you amazing fishermen and woman out there, I am going to try next week...but don't hold your breath too long.