I decided not to post yesterday as it was my last day with Tim here and I wanted to maximize our time together. He got off on time this afternoon from the airport and then Lindsay and I went to Change Point Church here in Anchorage. It was a good message on deacons and leadership in the church. The part that stood out to me was when the pastor read the scripture Proverbs 6:6 ("Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!") and used ants as an illustration on how we are to be The Body of Christ. Ants are fascinating creatures in case you didn't know! There are over 2,500 species of ants and the one we looked at was the leaf cutter. There is one queen, then all the other ants are workers. Within the workers there are certain task forces or ants that are assigned to different specialties ranging from hi-tech ventilation and humidity control systems for the anthill to infrastructure and protection. Each ant knows that their highest duty lies in protecting the whole of their colony and will quickly give their life for the good of the colony if needed without thinking twice. Also, these ants can form a bridge using their own bodies to the detriment of their lives in order to make a way for other ants to reach safety!!! WOW! I mean, they are ants, but just this one species out of 2,500 can demonstrate such intriguing metaphors to the life we are called to in Christ and that is just one of the many amazing things they do.
This afternoon I plan on preparing more for my first day in the clinic tomorrow and tonight I am getting together with some girlfriends to watch a TV show and make moose meat spaghetti.
Oh and Mom, Becca and Logan picked Ruthie up from Kanakuk Kamp (the best in the world!) in Missouri this morning and Ruthie got the "I'm Third" Award! This means that she clearly demonstrated the attitude of "God first, others second and I'm third" throughout the week. We're so proud of her!
Yesterday was another day of awe. Lindsay, Katie, Tim and I went down Seward Hwy (http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/10390/stories/47123) and stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (http://www.awcc.org/home.html) to see the animals. When we got there, there was a broken down tour bus sitting in the middle of the waiting line. Tim asked if they needed help and the lady said that if we could push it out of the way we'd get free admission, so out we popped from the Bronco and began pushing with all of our might on a gravel road. This is what I wish we had a photo of! And of course I was yelling things like, "Give it all you got people!", "No mercy!" and other encouraging battle cries of sorts. We soon found after moving the bus about 15 feet that we were going slightly uphill and wouldn't be as effective as we'd hoped. Finally a big truck came to the rescue and we ended up getting free admission, so we got a good little workout and saved $30 - totally worth it!
We saw moose, caribou, muskox, bison, black and brown bear. Very cool.
We then headed out to Portage Glacier and went through the museum on it and watched the educational video. At one point, the glacier was right next to this visitors center and you could reach out and touch it, now it has melted back by almost a mile! You could see parts of it floating in the water, and the largest part was seen in the distance. It was so beautiful- bright blue sparkling ice. 
We then headed to Alyeska/Girdwood to the Kobuk Valley Jade Company where all of their jade is from Alaska and is carved and polished in the shop. I got a few souvenirs and also took a photo of an old kayak made from walrus skin and and humpback whale vertebral body (for my PT buddies to "appreciate" ;) but it didn't turn out! Sorry guys, they were almost as big as me though!!). There were hugs chunks of raw jade outside of the building too (see right).
Then on our way home, we stopped at Beluga Point to climb on the rocks a bit and enjoy the view where we ended up spotting Dall Sheep on the mountain (at the top there).
We also stopped on the way home at a little pond that's a block from the condo I'm staying at to see the baby Canadian Geese.
For dinner we ate at the famous Moose's Tooth (http://www.moosestooth.net/) where they brew over 100 different kinds of beer and their own root beer...we stuck to root beer and it was great. They're also famous for their homemade gourmet pizza. Honestly, every time we've driven by there regardless of the time, every parking space is full and car are packed on the frontage road outside.It is a happening place and for good reason!
Wishing y'all were here! Rach :)
No comments:
Post a Comment