21 Lessons Learned

1. When learning a language be sure to verify the pronunciation of new words before trying to converse. If you don’t, you might mistakenly call your host another name for a donkey when you thought you were asking for a cup of tea. Oops.

2. People over productivity – Opportunities to spend time building new relationships always trump getting things done on the "To Do List".

3. Which is scarier? Large animals outside the church that go bump in the night, or a stark white pastor investigating said "bump in the night" in his skivvies armed with a flashlight and a loaded 9mm pistol? Pastor won.

4. Count your blessings. Friends, family, haircuts, and burgers are a luxury—don’t take them for granted!

5. God provides. Always.

6. Riding an ATV with your mouth even slightly open guarantees a non-vegetarian meal. Yumm!

7. Silence is golden.

8. God's armor: don't leave home without it! There is an intense war waging for our souls.

9. Remember the plug or your boat will sink....rapidly.

10. Everyone in the village owns multiple pairs of binoculars, and they are often aimed in our direction. We like to think of this as built-in accountability for practicing what we preach!

11. Remove suckers before eating octopus legs.

12. Hurt people, hurt people. BUT Jesus has compassion on them, and we should too.

13. Eskimo Ice Cream will never be Baskin Robins’ flavor of the month. Somehow Crisco, fermented fish eggs, and mayo don’t go down as easily as Pralines and Cream.

14. Don't just read God's Word, know it!

15. Seal oil is an immediate (and very effective) laxative....enough said.

16. Pets are angels in fur.

17. God can use loss to bring blessings.

18. Who needs entertainment when you have crazy white man in village?

19. Observation is the best teacher when learning to live in a new culture.

20. God’s will, not ours.

21. John 3:16. JESUS is the answer for everything and everyone, no matter what culture you embrace, language you speak, or where you live.

Winter Wonderland

He spreads the snow like wool and
scatters the frost like ashes. 

Psalm 147:16

 

  

 Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.

Psalm 16:1

 

 

 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.

Job 37:10

  

 

 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  

Psalm 33:6

 

Special thanks to Maddie for sharing her wonderful photography.

'Nough Said

This morning when my computer entered the cyber highway, I was greeted with a giant sign that read, "San Bernardino Tragedy Proves God is Incompetent".  Wow.  The irony is stunning.  This country removes God from everything--schools, courts, Pledge of Allegiance, liberties, basically America in general--and then tragedy strikes and we immediately point the finger at God, label Him "incompetent", and conveniently forget that we dethroned Him from our nation a long time ago. 

“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place."  2 Chronicles 7:13-15 

Does that sound like an incompetent God to you?  'Nough said.

Super Glue Blessings

Here in the village oral hygiene is not a priority, and the closest dentist is a $172-roundtrip-airfare away, so you can imagine my distress when part of my permanently cemented retainer popped off my tooth.

My quick-thinking (and very thrifty) husband immediately advised me to call my dental assistant friend for advice. She gave me two options: super glue it or remove it.  Neither option sounded too appealing as they both included Steve’s bull-in-a-china-shop hands tinkering in my mouth.

After weighing the options, I reluctantly decided to let Dr. Steve glue the retainer back in place. 

The scene would have made any dentist cringe.  First, Steve made me swish with rubbing alcohol “to dry out” my mouth (note to self: using rubbing alcohol in the mouth is akin to gargling with fire and will subsequently cause the mouth to salivate uncontrollably in order to cool itself down).  After I recovered from the oral inferno, I laid down on the less-than-sanitary church floor while Steve blasted my mouth with a hairdryer “to dry it out”. 

When my mouth felt as dry as the Sahara Desert on a summer day, Steve worked diligently to keep the super glue from touching anything that wasn’t supposed to be glued while Assistant Maddie held an all-purpose flashlight in my mouth, and Assistant Klaira tried unsuccessfully to keep Riley (our dog) from licking my open mouth and the dental tools (which Steve later informed me were used on his Great-Grandpa’s sheep farm--lovely).  Meanwhile, I was choking on the paper towels Steve was stuffing into my mouth “to keep it dry”, and praying he wouldn’t take this vulnerable opportunity to glue my mouth shut.  Several long minutes later, my retainer was back in place. 

But Dr. Steve wasn’t done yet!  Enjoying his debut in dentistry, he decided I needed my teeth cleaned, too, so he scraped off some plaque and “polished” my pearly whites with a toothbrush.  Remote dentistry at its finest!

The whole ordeal was completely unsanitary but my retainer is once again retaining, my teeth are cleaner, and my mouth isn’t glued shut.  Success! 

Through this Alaskan adventure, God is teaching us to be aware and grateful for even the smallest things (like a tiny $10 bottle of super glue!).  We pray that you too, are experiencing some of God's "Super Glue Blessings". 

A Place to Call Home

There is something about anniversaries that makes us very reflective.  It was a year ago today that Steve and I stepped off a tiny bush plane into the unknown world of Port Graham, Alaska.  The streets were deserted on that frigid Monday morning and my spirits felt as dreary as the weather. 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I found.
  
Understandably, the villagers we met that day were kind but cautious—was this just another white family moving to Port Graham for the thrill of remote living?

After our village tour, the Chief drove us up to the site of our future home, the church.  My spirits sank further still as I walked into the cold, stark building, void of any personal touches.  Fighting back tears, I wandered through the rooms wondering how I was ever going to make this into a home for my family.
  
None too soon, it was time to fly back home.

Home…the place where our family and friends lived; a beautiful house with plenty of space and a spectacular view of Mt. Hood; a comfortable salary with benefits; the backdrop of so many wonderful memories; a place we knew well and a culture we understood. Was God really asking us to leave everything behind and follow Him into the unknown?

Over the next weeks and months as we went through the motions of “letting go” of our comfortable life, I would often pour out my heart to God.  Sometimes I would be angry with Him for asking us to give up the life I felt entitled to (after all, hadn’t HE provided it for us?!).  Sometimes I cried on His shoulder for the tremendous sense of loss we felt as our worldly possessions found other homes, we said good-bye to our pets, and friends turned their backs on us.  And sometimes I just wanted to know why. 

Retrospectively, I can clearly see God’s hands masterfully carving out a new home for our family, and I can hear His still small voice speaking truth into my anger, sadness and fear.  

When I bemoaned leaving my family and friends, God reminded me that He “sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6). And then He opened the hearts of the community to welcome us. 

When I complained, “We can’t live in a church—we need a house!”  God pointed out that living in His house is a privilege. David said, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:4-5)  And then God provided the means for us to transform the church building into a beautiful place of worship on Sundays and a warm and welcoming home during the week.

When I worry about finances, God smiles and promises, “[I] will meet all your needs according to the riches of [my] glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).  And He has.

When I fret about the lack of sunshine in the winter, God gently says, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). And then He surprises us with care packages of Vitamin D and Happy Lights from our thoughtful friends!

When I remind Him that I am not “Pastor’s wife” material, He fully agrees with me but explains, “Now [I], the God of peace,…[will] equip you in every good thing to do [my] will, working in [you] that which is pleasing in [my] sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.” (Hebrews 13:20-21). And then He gives me grace as I step into that role.

When I ask, “What is there to do in Port Graham?”  He quietly recites, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10). And then He quiets the noise and fills my soul with an inexplicable peace.

And in those moments when fear of the unknown is lurking at my doorstep, God shouts, “…do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10). And that is exactly what He continues to do.

Today as I reminisce back to that unforgettable trip one year ago, I am humbled by God’s patience with me as I struggled to obey His calling, and I am grateful that we serve a God whose “ways are higher than our ways” and whose “thoughts are higher than our thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).  For if God had given me what I thought I wanted, I would have missed out on the tremendous blessing of being able to call Port Graham...home. 

Emergency in Remote Alaska

Our skin is a pretty remarkable organ.  I just read that we have 19 yards of blood vessels, 95 oil glands, 650 sweat glands, and over 19,000 sensory cells in ONE INCH OF SKIN!  Wow.  Did you know that the average adult's skin covers an area of 22 square feet?  Now that is a serious amount of vessels, glands, and cells!  And did you know that our skin renews itself every 28 days?  Our skin is like a really cool suit of armor that's tailor-made just for us.  It keeps all our insides in and an army of harmful stuff out, and when it's damaged it heals.

So a few weeks ago when Steve nicked his finger on a fish tooth (does it count that it was the tooth of a really big, beautiful, and tasty silver salmon? :-) ) he didn't think much about it.  48 hours later his finger looked like a polish dog from Costco, a fever had taken up residency in his body, bright red streaks were lighting up his arm like fireworks on the fourth of July, and he was in excruciating pain (not a good combination when one lives in remote Alaska!).  Steve needed to get to a hospital immediately but the howling wind had grounded all the planes, and the swirling seas would have turned any skiff into a coffin.

Nearing a state of panic I called the experienced village health aide who took one look at Steve's swollen digit and diagnosed him with "Fish Handler's Disease" (you'd think an avid fisherman would know about such diseases!).  She kicked into high gear, calling ER doctors from Homer to Anchorage, looking for approval to dispense a much needed antibiotic.  Two hours and more than a few ibuprofen later, our angel in scrubs handed Steve the miracle in a bottle.  I've never been so happy to see an antibiotic in my whole life!  It got us through the night (and bad weather), and the next morning Steve was on a flight to Homer for a trip to the ER.

Fast forward sixteen days, two rounds of antibiotics, and $5,000 later (I'll spare you all the gory details of a giant blister, oozing puss, and blackened skin), and Steve's finger is still attached to his hand and looking...well, almost normal.  Thank you, Jesus.

In this adventure with Steve's giant sausage finger, I learned that without the proper care, the tiniest little nick on our skin makes us vulnerable to extremely painful, ridiculously expensive, and even deadly infections.  Funny how the same lesson holds true in our spiritual lives as well.  If sin nicks our spiritual armor, it sends infection into our system.  Left unattended, it will be exceedingly painful, horribly expensive, and eventually it will be deadly.  Don't let the trials of this world penetrate your spiritual armor.  Read God's word daily, know what it says, and follow it without compromise.  There's no better antibiotic for the infection of sin than that.

P.S. - A special thanks for all the prayers (and help) during this incident--I believe they kept Steve's infection at bay, and I know they kept me from being admitted to the loony bin  :-)