SHARING ALASKA (August 17-20, 2017)

Our stand by flight from Cincinnati through Minneapolis to Anchorage, Alaska, went without a hitch and we landed in "The Last Frontier" at about 1 a.m.!  We thought we'd be able to catch some sleep in the gate area while waiting on friends to arrive but a greatly delayed flight left us with about 200 suite mates and no peace and quiet.  Thus, it was a tired Sherry and Al who greeted Wes and Marcia Bittenbender when they landed at noon.

We picked up the rental car and headed to Homer with a stop at the Summit Lake Lodge for dinner.  After spending the night in the guest rooms at the Homer Church of the Nazarene, we visited the Spit in Homer, drove through the Kenai Peninsula (saw a Grizzly Bear),                

ate donuts at "The Moose Is Loose Bakery" in Soldotna, had lunch at "Red's" in Seward, and visited the Exit Glacier.  We arrived in Big Lake at the Nazarene Campgrounds where we would spend the next three nights together in the Langley Lodge.

From Big Lake we made the journey to the Hatcher Pass and the Independence Gold Mine, ate pizza at Humdinger's in Palmer, and just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Lodge.  The cry of the loons welcomed the nights.  What a great time with good friends.



REFLECTIONS

Sherry and I have grown to love Alaska and her people.  We have now returned for the 4th time.  There is something about the times of absolute silence in the wilderness, about the roar of a waterfall, and about the cry of the loon.  There is something about the splashing in a creek filled with salmon, about the sight of a huge moose beside the road, and about the sight of a Grisly bear snaring salmon as they struggle to swim upstream.  There is just something special about Alaska.  That's why it was so special to share this "last frontier" with long time friends; to let them discover for themselves the sights and sounds of our 49th State.

Yet, as much as we love Alaska, there is a Kingdom not made by hands that we love even more.  So it begs the question; why aren't we as excited to share the good news about the Kingdom of God as we are about other temporal places?  Why would we not want our friends to experience first hand that which has brought us so much joy throughout the years?  Just sayin'.