Just Pictures

We have been asked just to post some more daily life pictures - but I must add the following message.

I have been reading Charles Swindoll's Growing Deep - Exploring the Roots of Our Faith, here is an excerpt:
                 ...unless God is the major pursuit of our lives, all other pursuits are dead-end streets. The by-product of such a process is discovering the peace you long for so desperately.

I wish I could shout that from the mountaintops. Amen.

 Hiking on TeePee Ridge. This is what the light looks like midday in early January. No direct sunlight.

 View from Hatcher Pass

 Snow

 Aquarium in Seward, AK with Caitlin

 Sun coming back over the mountains into our living room!

 Youth retreat on Index Lake

 Grooming the cross country ski trails

 "Comb over"

 Frozen eye lashes - all day!

 Gunsight Mountain in the distance

 Wood shed for Miracle Lodge

Chris "feeding" the wood boiler to heat Miracle Lodge. This is done several times a day.

 Trash & burnables trailers

 Our garage!

 Back walkway to our home

 Victory's garden

 Victory's horse barn

 Moose tracks, not the ice cream!

 End of airstrip

 Awaiting summer

 Maintenance yard

 Fuel station

 Camp vehicles - not Nikki

 Truck we use to compact the snow on the camp roads instead of plowing.

 Camp housing for guests

 Camp gym

 Camp chapel

 Camp ice rink on Shallow Lake

 Miracle Lodge

 Liam working fund raising dinner at school

 Matanuska River

 This is where Debbie tried to back the truck off the edge of the driveway!

 Wilderness Camp at Victory

 Sleigh ride to transport guests to their housing

 Becoming an Outdoors Woman retreat hosted at Victory

 Miracle Lodge dining room

 Our kitchen

 Map of Victory Bible Camp

 Part of Alpine Camp

 Mt McKinley in the distance

 Miracle Lodge

 Baptismal for men's retreat

The snow on the path to our home is deep enough for Debbie to touch the roof!

Think On This...

The sermon message last Sunday was on sin. A huge, never ending, deep, and redundant topic - right? After church we enjoyed a soup/salad potluck lunch. Seated at our round table were Chris and I and 8 youths between the ages of 15 and 21. I casually stated we should just hand out "red cards" as in soccer matches to people when they sinned. The cards would indicate they needed to check their behavior whether in action or speech. The kids all thought that was a great idea and pretty soon we were all guilty of receiving a red card! How can that be? We were all friends and of all things inside a church. The point I'm making is obvious, we sin often and maybe need to check what we say or do before we speak. Words can cut and make deep wounds, That is why a red card, not blue or yellow. Jesus' blood on the cross was to cover our sins - He paid the ultimate price! Now, how about green cards - you know, for Godly encouragement?

His Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path

The Bible is the spoken word of God - the Truth for your life. Don't miss a moment of the plans He has for just you! Today - right now!

Leftovers

My question to all is - do we serve leftovers to guests we have invited for dinner because there isn't time to prepare a meal? Is it just another day, another dinner, where we hurry around and try to get some sort of food on the table for our family? Or maybe it is a quick drive through a fast food restaurant because we can't bare the thought of making dinner at all. Maybe we are exhausted from our day at work. Then there is the child that needs to be here for this activity, then there for that activity. The package that is already late that needs to get mailed. Plus you really need time for yourself to shop for that new dress, and well, after doing all that who has time to make dinner anyway? The truth is maybe we really don't like making dinner and we choose the easiest way to go about serving our family some sort of food. Are we satisfied? Was the food nourishing? Do we care? Did we sit still while we ate and share the events of our day with others, the ones we love, or are we too busy scrambling to complete our endless checklist of tasks?  .

Jesus has invited each of us to His table for dinner. Jesus will sit with you and listen to your crazy day. He will not hurry you along to the next task. Jesus will serve you nourishing food that will never lose its fine flavor or spoil. His food will never be luke warm. There will never be leftovers at His table. Jesus will give you His finest fruits.  There is no cost for a fulfilling meal complete with dessert. Are you interested in coming for dinner?

Come, sit, rest and be filled with His word. Break free from the status quo. Jesus is calling you to an authentic relationship with Him, with God. No complacency here. Don't miss it. God is Love. Crazy relentless, all-powerful love. Once you encounter His love, you will never be the same. When you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything!

Stop serving your leftovers to God - give Him your best - Amen.

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