A Perfect Day! Well, More Than One!

Hi All!
So today is day 6 (Thursday for us) and we have traveled abut 400 miles so far! Incredible vistas that you wouldn't believe! And with almost 20 hours of daylight the days are pleasantly very long!

Talkeetna ended up redeeming itself very nicely! Once we got over the culture shock and decided to see the beauty of God's creation! Of course there was also the homemade ice cream and giant, yummy homemade cinnamon rolls! But our favorite was sitting down by the river on a huge driftwood log and watching God show off. They say only 30% of people who come here get to see the Great Mountain - Mt McKinley because of cloud cover. We got to see her in full view 2 days out of 3. Did we ever tell you how much favor we walk in! We can't even tell you all the times God has given us favor! (by the way, the warm and very sunny weather we have been having is an anomaly as well!) So anyway, the mountain is huge and snow covered and bathed in sunlight. That along with the river flowing in front of us and the Arctic birds divebombing the water for fish - it was a breathtaking vista! We sat for hours and stared. We also met some new friends. Chris, a really nice young man from Germany, and Dixie, our new friend from Homer who came up here to visit and never went home. That is very common here. Plus many others we have chatted with - people are VERY friendly here! We took this wonderful hike around a number of lakes, about 3.2 miles. No worries Mom, NO wildlife! The sky was blue, the water was so crystal clear and greenish in hue. Oh, we did see a couple of fish! Very nice hike. A good start for our legs!

The next day we left for Denali National Park, but along the way we stopped off at the State Park and hiked by another lake. THis one was vastly different - the ice was still on it, but all broken up into little pieces. The pieces run into one another when the wind blows and they sound like the most beautiful chimes you have ever heard. A symphony! Ooooo, along the way there was this really cool suspension bridge. Ya know, Amy's favorite kind that you get out into the middle of and jump and rock the thing! I let her go first (Sherri)! The end of our hike culminated in a water fall called Cascade Falls and that is a misnomer - it more shot across the rocks with a vengeance. We of course, had to climb up next to it. We have photos of course! Unfortunately, this computer can't keep up with my typing - and that is really slow - so no uploading of photos tonight. I have to say, I was a bit nervous at moments knowing there are bear and moose there with us, but we did exactly as told and made lots of noise and talked to each other and we have successfully seen NOTHING! BUT... on our drive we saw two Caribou lazily grazing on the side of the road. Although we left the tires on the road when Amy slammed on the brakes - my forehead print is on the winshield - only kidding!!!! I certainly would have done the same!

Our hostel in Denali is great, too! Very cute and quaint little cabin in the woods. And the best part - it is clean!!

Today was our most perfect day! We started out by sleeping in nice and late. Then had perfect, hot showers and went on our way. We had white water rafting today and we were excited. They literally stuffed us into these "dry" suits and off we went on to 38degree water! Thankfully we only got splashed! How do we describe the beauty - perfect azure blue skies with puffy white clouds, huge snow capped mountains all around us, and nothing but nature in sight. In many places there is still ice on the river and chunks of it floating with us. Our guide was wonderful as well. About two hours on the water and a few bumpy rapids - enought for fun, but no fear - it was like we said - perfect! Of course, we weren't done yet! SO we grabbed some grub and took our guide's advice - and rented two kayaks on a lake called lake Otto. Equally beautiful, we had the whole lake to ourselves and explored every inch of it. No ice on this one, but we did sing a round of Otto Titsling (for those of you who have seen Beaches) and scared the ducks away and had ourselves a great laugh! Now we just finished an awesome meal - and it is still light outside!!! Even though it is 10:50pm!

So we bid you good night and love you much!!!!
Looking forward to another perfect day tomorrow!

Culture Shock

Day 4 of our trip. We left our romantic notions of what we expected Alaska to be like and traded it in for the reality of what Alaska really is. Amidst the amazing beauty and grandeur of the mountains lies a "third world" mentality in the homes and towns. Not at all what we were expecting to see. I think my minds eye pictured something more along the lines of Switzerland, with quaint villages and homes tucked in among the mountains and forests, all neat and tidy. This feels more "Appalachian" but on a much grander scale. However, aside from the culture shock, we are beginning to acclimate to our surroundings. We are acclimating to both the surroundings, as well as to the light and time difference, although I think it's been harder (at least for me, Amy) to adjust to the light and time. Sherri on the other hand is sleeping like a baby...

Yesterday, we drove from Anchorage to Talkeetna, and about halfway to Talkeetna we saw the most amazing mountain pop out of the trees on the road in front of us. After studying the map, we realized that it was the big one, Mt. McKinley. We had read on the internet that the mountain is most often veiled in clouds, and that it is a rare thing to actually see the mountain. I had asked God to let us see the mountain cloud-free, and sure enough our first sighting of it was indeed. Further down the road, right before we arrived in Talkeetna, we saw an amazing vista of Mt. McKinley again, with Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter right beside it. Right now, they are fully snow covered, but we learned that the snow will melt off up to about the top 500' of the mountain in the next few weeks.

We drove on in to Talkeetna, where the culture shock really set in for us. It is literally one street, and the only paved street after leaving the "highway"...and really, I am at a loss for words on how to describe that one street. For now, I'll just let that speak for itself. We drove out of "town," crossed the railroad tracks, and entered into the "suburbs," a few dirt roads where we found our hostel. Although clean and eclectic on the inside, when we pulled up to the little shack with the "hostel" sign in front of it, we hesitated to actually get out of our car and find out what we were getting ourselves into. We were relieved when we entered and found it to be clean and not a haven for chain-saw massacres.

Yesterday evening, we got on a ten-seater bush plane and took an AMAZING flight around Mt. McKinley and over thousands of jagged, snow streaked peaks. It was incredible. We flew over glaciers that curved around peaks, glaciers that we learned are around 3,000' deep and move about 3' in a day. The pilot landed us on one, Ruth Glacier, and we walked around for about a half hour. Just yards away were little tents huddled into the snow, base camp for some crazy Mt. McKinley climbers ready to embark on their ascent. Now, Sherri and I like to tent camp, and we aren't afraid of being a little cold, but even we thought that was a little insane.

Today we are going to venture into nature for a hike around a lake nearby. It looks like another wonderfully sunny, clear day out there, which is not what we were expecting from the weather reports...but God has a way of blessing our socks off when it comes to these things!

Bye for now. We'll catch up with you again soon.

Love, Amy and Sherri

Amy and Sherri's Alaskan Adventure

Hi Everyone,

Well, here we are in Anchorage! It is 10:30 at night for us and hopefully you are sleeping soundly as it is 2:30am for you! We got in yesterday and were amazed to see incredible, breathtaking mountain ranges right there at the airport! And we thought - and it is going to get better from here!!! We took a taxi to our Hostel and we found out quickly and sadly that Hosteling in the USA is not like Hosteling in Europe. Our room is sparse, which was true in Europe, but here in good ole Alaska our room was not so clean! Not so clean enough that we walked into town to a JCPenney's and bought a blanket and two pillow - tell you anything!!! The mattress is plastic covered with rips in it and it is much smaller than the so called box spring underneath it. But we were exhausted and we did manage to sleep and sleep in until 7:30 Alaska time, meaning 11:30 am your time! We really needed it. Thankful to say that the showers were clean and hot - ahhhhhh!!!!

Today we walked downtown, a couple of times! The first to go to a outdoor market selling art and food and Alaskan souveniers. I (Sherri) bought two amazing photos! Can't wait to hang them! We also bought sove very yummy over-priced fruit - strawberries the size of Alaska! Then we just roamed and shopped the tourist trap area! Cindy Helton, if you read this, the slogan around here is "Alaska, pissing off Texas since 1959". Hilarious!

It never rained even though it said everywhere that it was going to! We have thanked God for that over and over. It is chlly here, but really not bad. When the sun is out it is quite pleasant!

Tomorrow we are picking up our rental car and driving to Talkeetna and going for our Flightseeing Tour. Fun!

So, I dragged Amy down here and she is fading fast, so we are going to sign off for now! One final cool thing - it is nearly 11pm now and it is still light outside!

Love and miss you all!!!

Sherri and Amy, Alaskan Adventurers Extraordinaire! :-)

Stars

Tonight a friend pointed me to an awesome webpage. My last post (quite some time ago, I know...) was all about how God speaks through the stars to communicate His love for me (us) and to let me (us) know how precious I am (we are) to Him; so much so that He would focus not only on the major life events and the big picture, but He also communicates in the most minute details. He is communicating in these details, but we must look for it, or we will miss it. And we must be open to receive it.

The website that had me fascinated tonight is www.bethlehemstar.net. It contains the most intriguing astronomical evidence of the star - actually the entire array of celestial signs - that signified the birth of the Messiah to the wise men a couple thousand years ago. As I poured over the history, details and symbolism presented on the website, it struck me again the incredible attention that God gives to every single detail...nothing - absolutely NOTHING - goes beyond His notice and care. As the website states, the "Star finally means that from the very instant at which God flung the universe into existence, he also knew the moment he would enter human history in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He marked it in the stars. And from before the beginning of time as we experience it, God knew the very moment when Messiah would breath his last on the cross."

This is nothing that I haven't heard before. But when I really stop to contemplate it, it inspires awe - and praise - in me.

God not only knew the exact moments of the birth and death of the Messiah at the very commencement of all creation, but He also knew every detail of EVERYTHING for all eternity. At that moment, every single thing about all things became known.

AMAZING :: our God is more than amazing, but really there is no word - or collection of words - that adequately or even remotely begin to describe Him.

I just wanted to share that praise with you tonight! I hope that you are as inspired to praise our God and our Messiah as I am...

Gratitude

I don't know if there is a gratitude quite like that which comes with facing the possibility of losing your life, or your quality of life, and then receiving it again. This is the gratitude that I've been experiencing since last week when I got my wonderful news. Every morning since then, I wake up and tell myself, "I was supposed to be in the hospital today, and I'm not! I'm here in my own bed, with a whole day before me!" It seems that the possibilities are endless. And the truth is that they pretty much are!

Last night, I laid in my hammock after dark, wrapped up in a blanket to ward off the chilly night air. I laid there for over an hour just gazing up at the stars. I am in awe of everything right now, just as though I'm seeing it all with new eyes...or at least with more appreciative ones. Looking at the stars took me back to Greece and to Italy, two places where I also laid and watched the stars. In Greece, we were on the beach with the waves of the Mediterranean sea lapping up at our feet. We faced south and the big dipper was just over my right shoulder. The stars were so amazingly clear that night. Sherri saw a shooting star. In Italy, we watched the stars from the roof terrace of our hotel. Again, we were facing south so we had much of the same view. From that vantage point, we stargazed for our two nights in Cinque Terre. The first night, I asked God if He would show me a shooting star like Sherri got to see when we were in Greece. After making my request, I saw two shooting stars. The following night, I saw two again. Last night, as I stared at the vast array above me, I was overwhelmed with the enormity of God's goodness to me. While I watched, yet another star shot across the sky. I have never in my life seen so many shooting stars, and now when I do, it is like I am receiving a special promise from God that He sees me and He knows me.

There is a song that I've been listening to since my doctor's appointment a week and a half ago. The song, by Selah, is called "All My Praise." The entire song voices for me the amazing journey that God has taken me on. One line in the song says "You made every star and You taught it how to shine. You knew my name before there was time. This is just part of Your glorious design." When I hear that line, I believe the truth in that thought, that God did know me before there was time. We are taught that because of the distance away that the stars are from the earth, and the time that it takes for light to travel, to see a shooting star means that it actually fell around hundreds or thousands of years ago for us to see its light now. Stars that we see shining in the night sky might not actually exist anymore, but their light is still traveling to us. When I asked God to show me a shooting star, it didn't just shoot across space that night, but God made that star shoot through space hundreds of years ago. He knew me then, even before I ever existed. And He knew my request, and cared enough about me, to direct those stars. This thought brings me to my knees every time I think it. I am humbled by it, and at the same time filled with such awe and adoration for a God who knows and loves me like that. A God who cares for me so, who is in control of everything, and who is so big yet cares about such small details.

This wonderful song has much meaning for me throughout the rest of it as well. The opening line alone brings me to such a place of worship. It begins "I will follow You through green pastures and sing 'Hallelujah' to Your name." When I hear it, I think of hiking through Switzerland, through the green pastures on the hills, through the lush mountain forests, through the grassy valley, the whole time singing praise songs to God with Sherri. It didn't matter that we didn't sing well...we sang...we couldn't help ourselves. We were surrounded with God's amazing beauty that we had to sing to Him. Not only that, but He took us on that trip. He worked out every detail so perfectly and blessed me so abundantly. My gratitude has been just dripping off of me, because I've been immersed in God's goodness.

The song continues after that line with, "I will follow You through dark disaster and sing 'Hallelujah' through the pain. Even in the shadow of death I will praise You. Even in the valley I will say 'Holy, my God, You are worthy of all my praise.'" Our trip, our walk through those green pastures in Switzerland, was in the fore shadow of death in that it was in the shadow of an upcoming hospitalization and stem cell transplant. For these last two years, I have followed God through dark disaster, and all the while I have been praising Him. The reason that I praise Him is that around every turn, no matter what the situation might be, His goodness is always bigger and more apparent. I can't help but to praise Him because all I see is Him, and He is so worthy of all my praise.

This song seems to have been written for me, for this time. I listen to other music also, but this particular song I keep coming back to and I've been listening to it over and over again on repeat. This feeling of gratitude that has overwhelmed me is nurtured when I listen to this song, and that is something that I want to nurture. So often, we go through life nurturing feelings of doubt or anger or hurt. We feed our minds with self talk of all the different events of the day and our take on them. I am thankful that right now I've gotten a reprieve from the cares of the world to just focus on this one thing, praising God. And right now, that is all I can focus on. Afterall, yesterday I was supposed to receive a stem cell transplant and I didn't. Instead I laid on my hammock beneath a sea of stars and a large moon, listened to the crickets chirping, and felt the cool night air turn my nose into a popsicle. And a star shot across the sky.