Bible reading...

Last summer on our Mexico trip we were challenged as a group to read through the Bible in a year. A handful of girls made a committment then to read through their Bibles in a year and three of them, Emily, Elizabeth and Sammy have stuck with it and will be completing their goal this July. I have enjoyed reading with them and being challenged by their questions. The experience has reminded me how little I know about the Bible and how much I have to learn! As a reward I took them up to a B & B near Hatcher Pass a couple weeks ago to hang out and have girl time.

We started by getting settled into our little cozy cabin in the "woods" (sort of woods) and then headed up to Hatchers to hike in the sleet (spring was not in full bloom yet!). I took them to dinner at the A frame where we had hot soup and played... yes, the bean game! Later that night we made smores in a fire pit, talked, did nails, watched a chick flick...great girl bonding stuff! I am PROUD of the three of you for sticking to your committment and making Bible reading a priority in your busy schedules! Way to go ladies!

Valdez

Last week my college roommate from MN and her housemate came up to AK to visit for a week. Kari has been 2x before but it was Danita's first time up. We decided to take a trek to Valdez b/c it's somewhere new for me too. The weather turned out perfect! The drive, 270 + miles was beautiful. I have yet to go somewhere in AK that is NOT beautiful. Alaska is an incredible state if you enjoy wilderness and outdoors.

We did a Stan Stephen's boat tour one day and saw a variety of wild life, humpback whales, porpoises (porpie as I call them), otter, sea lion, black bear, mountain goats and a variety of birds. We hiked a couple times, once up to a dam in the mountains near the pipeline terminal. Thompson Pass was AMAZING on the way out of town. There are also some pretty spectacular waterfalls in the area. We were blessed to have gorgeous weather! They also got their fill of glaciers between the drive down, the boat tour and then a flight Sunday night with Dale Tumey over Prince William Sound. Thank you Lord for your AWESOME CREATION!!!

more graduation!

Graduations!!

Here are some pictures from Colony's graduation (Tuesday night) and IDEA (homeschool) graduation tonight. I was taking company to the airport Wedensday night and missed Wasilla's graduation or they would be on here too!

Girls that graduated from CHS were Johanna, Miranda, Hannah, Emily, Elizabeth, Natalie, and Erin. Girls that graduated from IDEA were Diana, Tabitha, Arianna, Becky, and Cathy. Diana sang a solo "Legacy" by Nicole Nordaman. Ya, my eyes were a little damp during that and when Cathy walked across the stage to hug her mom and dad. We (Amanda and I) have truly phenomenal young women in our group.

Enjoy the pics!

...the end of a chapter

May has been a crazy busy month, this year more so than in years past. I've had fun company from out of state visit (Carrie and then Kari and Danita), finished another season of coaching track, competed in my 3rd Gold Nugget Triathlon, watched my senior girls graduate from high school and wrapped up 5 years of speech pathology in the school district. It's been a bit of a blur and full of emotion to say the least.

It's a little surreal to think that so much is going to be changing in the next two months. My girls will head off to various places to start college for the first time. I will be heading to the deep south to go back to school myself. It's a bitter sweet time in life. I'm excited to see where all my girls go and how God will use them to bless others. I'm also excited to know what he has in store for me.

I remember writing in my journal at the end of grad school 5 years ago about a chapter ending as I prepared to head back to Alaska. I had no idea then what these past five years had in store. I would have never guessed I'd get involved in youth ministry and that a group of teenage girls would have such a profound impact on my life. MY GIRLS have stirred a deep passion in me for ministry. MY GIRLS are part of the reason I am leaving this fall to pursue seminiary and ministry full time. I am forever thankful to God that he brought me back here and allowed my life to become so intertwined wih theirs. I can only imagine what HE has in store next! I have been blessed EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTY beyond what I ever hoped or imagined these past five years!

headin' down south...

I have some exciting long awaited news to share. I am going to be going to Columbia International Seminary this fall! YES, I will be living SOUTH and in the HEAT and HUMIDITY!! After much prayer and feedback...or lack of feedback from schools God has made it abundantly clear that this is the direction to head. I've been accepted to their two year program, MA in Intercultural Studies. I'll be getting in touch with my advisor, housing, etc. in the coming days. Columbia was initially recommended to me by a TEAM staff at a missions workshop I attended two years ago now. After going to seminars at Urbana led by Columbia staff and emailing staff over the past few weeks I am impressed with their focus on the Bible and Missions. I'll share more as things get worked out, but wanted to give you the latest breaking news in that realm of my life. I am bummed Sarah and Ashley will be moving back to AK this summer!! For those who have been praying for me in this regard, THANK YOU!!