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| Lake Eklutna |
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| Eagle River Nature Center |
Our eighty eight days in the "Final Frontier" drew to a close as we boarded the Delta jet to wing our way back "outside" to Indiana. The final three weeks were spent wrapping up ministry work and taking a final lingering look at all the beauty that is Alaska. They were weeks of preparing the church for the days ahead, weeks of saying goodbye to so many new friends, and weeks of soaking in the wonder of our northern most state.
Day outings were made to Peter's Creek Park with its roaring river and winding trails, Reflection Lake with its scenic views and tall tower, Eagle River Nature Center, and Lake Eklutna with its panorama of jagged mountains and glaciers.
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| Peter's Creek Park |
Now it will be two weeks in Indiana before starting our fall and winter schedule with time at Wyndham Fairfield Glade in Tennessee, Wyndham at the Falls in Branson, Missouri, Wyndham Reef on Grand Cayman Island, and Wyndham Cypress Palms in Kissimmee, Florida.
REFLECTIONS
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| Reflection Lake |
It is always difficult to leave a favorite place; a place that has captured your heart. Alaska is such a place for me. I love her people and her landscape. I love the freshness of her breezes and the dazzle of her northern lights. I love the bright yellow Aspens that brighten the mountain sides as summer gives way to fall.
However, as much as I love her, I have not seen all of her. I have never experienced her crazy cold winter months with its 20 hours of darkness. I have never experienced the separation that engulfs those who have chosen to live there. I have never had to deal with the high cost of living there year around.
And while I shiver at the thought of those cold winter days, there are those who long for them; for the chance to dog sled or snow machine. And while I worry about the cost of living, there are those who rise to the challenge of subsistence hunting and fishing.
We are all different and love different things. We have discovered that even the things we love the most have their downsides, their disappointments. It is as we learn to accept the good with the bad that really learn to live and love. Learn to say with the apostle Paul: "I have learned whatsoever state I am in to be content."
So while I find it difficult to leave Alaska I am content in the knowledge that there will be memories and blessings to be had in the next place and the next and the next and the next.
