Reminders....

For the first time in months we have had or have some where to go everyday this week. Most of it is just ‘daily’ stuff…shopping, meetings, youth group activities, etc, but life seems to have finally caught up with us, and that’s a good thing, I think. The most notable activities occurred on the weekend, and there was more of them than we could attend, so we decided to split up, the boys taking the 'high road' - literally, and me staying a bit closer to home.

Rick and Rian took off Friday afternoon with a group of middle school boys on a “Mountain Men” adventure. After a strenuous hike into the Chugiak Mountains outside of Eagle River, they set up their tent and settled in for the evening. They enjoyed some beautiful views of Alaska and a meal of moose steak cooked over the campfire. Maybe it was just beef, but Rick really isn’t sure so we’ll call it “moose” it sounds so much more exciting! They managed to sleep well enough– considering the cold and the hard ground, and returned to the real world Saturday, stiff and sore, but feeling like they had accomplished something. At that point they both said “never again”, but Rian is already talking about ‘next year…’

I headed the same direction, but for a much easier ‘hike.’ I spent the weekend at the APHEA homeschooling convention. For many years I’ve wanted to hear Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler, We even lived in the same town as he did for a while but it never worked out … So here I am in the middle of Alaska listening to him speak, it was fascinating and well worth the wait! I also got to hear Dr. J. Wile, of Apologia fame (my favorite science curriculum) and Andrew Puduwa of Excellence in Writing. He spoke about two very interesting subjects, the first of which was definitely what I needed to hear… “How to teach boys and other children who would rather build forts all day” (or In Rian's case, “Sponge Bob” costumes, swords, bicycle shovels, etc…) The other lesson he gave was about the profound power that music has in our lives, how it makes the brain grow (or not)… Amazing! If you’re ever in ‘ear shot’ of these men, I would encourage you to listen in – even if you’re not interested in homeschooling – they have great insight into American heritage and history, amazing true stories you’ll never read in a text book, and amazing scientific truths you’ll never learn in school! Rian and I have already decided his next science fair type project will be about mice and music... now that’ll be an interesting blog subject, won’t it?

These two events reminded us of many things like...

• Rick isn't as young as he used to be!


• "That which does not kill us makes us stronger"


• Rian never gives in - and that's the way God made him!


• Homeschooling is a great adventure and a wonderful gift!

Our weekend ended with a very different reminder about how very important our family and friends are. Over the years of ‘our’ Air Force career we have met so many people who have left their fingerprints on our lives and we are who we are because of it. Psalm 68:6 says “God sets the lonely in families…” and this has certainly been true in our lives. During the times when we were stationed far away from our physical family, God always provided us with His family and our lives have been so blessed because of that. You may have heard about the tragic plane crash in Missouri last weekend, the pilot of that plane is a member of one of these families that God put us in. Although he is not 'flesh and blood' family, our hearts ache for him and his family (and all those involved) and we are reminded to cherish every moment.