ALASKA UPDATE...

Number 20 December 31, 2003

“I being in the way the Lord led me…” Genesis 24:27

Dear Friends in Christ,

Greetings from our family to yours in Jesus’ Name! (This is Lolly speaking for the family.) It has been such an encouragement to us to hear from all of you during this season of the year. Thank you so much for the many prayers you have lifted up for us during the last 6 months. We felt them, and know that we experienced many blessings because of them… Thanks also for the host of pictures that you have sent! Some of them are pictures of people we know here and now. Some of them are pictures of people we haven’t seen for 10 years or more, and SOME of them are pictures of people we’ve never even met!J We enjoyed receiving each one of them and hearing about how God has been leading in your life. We also appreciate the many gifts that have been sent. They have been a surprise and encouragement to each of us. We feel very humbled by His care through you.

After the last Alaska Update, I suppose you are all wondering what “excitement” awaits you this time! J Never fear; there are no stories like the last one at this point. (Would there ever be another story quite like the THAT one??? J) However, there does seem to be an endless supply of water scenarios, problems, and chores –not quite as destructive, yucky, or humorous as the one in the last update- but just as real….

We’ve overflowed our 5-gallon “gray water” buckets under our kitchen sink numerous times. (It’s easy to forget to “check” and see if they’re full… either that, or it’s easy to underestimate the amount of water you are pouring down the drain.) We’re often forgetting to keep the water containers around the house full, and it’s never fun to empty the tooth-brushing “spit bowl” 2-3 times a day! As you may imagine, hauling 200 gallons of water from the car wash every 2-3 gets old after a while… but it surely beats hauling it in 5 gallon gas containers. More than once Jimmy has threatened to or joked about spilling the honey bucket again… His favorite time to do this seems to be while he is on his way down the stairs. (A guest yesterday emphatically stated, “Those are NOT stairs… That’s a ladder,” so you can understand why transporting the honey bucket via “the stairs” might be a little precarious. J)

We now have two 300 gallon water holding tanks in our basement that are hooked up to pipes that go into the kitchen… thus giving us hot and cold water in the kitchen sink. You can’t imagine what a blessing this is after having to heat up all the hot water in a 55 gallon barrel outside. He also piped the water into the washing machine and into a temporary ‘camp’ shower in the basement. The basement is not heated so when it is 20 below… the shower room is rather frosty… but bearable with the hot water coming through the pipes. It is wonderful to be able to do something other than baths in a wash basinJ Our next plan will be to work on getting the water upstairs to a bathroom of sorts. I can’t imagine what that will be likeJ

The Barry family graciously drove up from Kenai again the weekend before Christmas to help with anything we needed. They always bring loads of food which really helps on preparation time. They have been very faithful about visiting us, and it’s been so encouraging throughout the building process. They normally come on a Friday afternoon, and leave on a Sunday afternoon after our home church service. Sadly, they got sick this time, and had to return early. Mr. Barry makes a famous jalapeno chili which they’ve brought almost every time, and which our family has enjoyed greatly! Mrs. Barry has been helpful to us by giving us tips on healthier cooking/eating. This time, Mr. Barry helped Dad and the boys work on the water system. We have appreciated getting to know their family better!

We had a wonderful experience last week. Mom and Dad were in town shopping, and all of us children were at home. Suddenly we got a strange call. Sharia answered the phone and was a bit surprised to hear someone say on the other end…

“We just met your Dad in Wal*Mart, and were just wondering if they were home yet.”

Sharia (a bit confused, but feeling that Mom and Dad had probably met some Christians) answered that they were not home yet, but that she could give him Dad’s cell-phone number. Our curiosity was somewhat satisfied when Dad and Mom called sometime later and informed us that they had met a really neat Christian family at Wal*Mart, and that they were bringing them home for dinner! He explained that they had 4 older daughters (ages 20 - 34). Well, we were very excited, to say the least! (Of course, their coming initiated an extra-good clean-up and an unexpected dinner preparation, but we didn’t mind. J) Our company arrived home about the time Mom and Dad got here, and we greeted them all together. What a blessed night we shared! We girls were awed by the shining countenances of joy and peace that radiated from each of their daughter’s faces. Dad enjoyed gleaning from the experiences and wisdom that the father had to share. The short evening was filled to the brim with fellowship around the person of Christ, and we came away refreshed and blessed. What an amazing phenomenon it is to meet Christians and immediately be able to fellowship on common ground just like “brothers and sisters” –brothers and sisters in Christ, that is!

On the 23rd, we went on a Christmas caroling expedition with a friend. (The group started out larger, but because of sickness, etc., only one extra person ended up coming with our family. We drove to several different houses, including the homes of the following: “Mr. Johnny Well-digger,” our excavator of last summer, and close neighbors. We brought everyone cookies, and included a spiritual book on salvation for the Well-man and excavator. (Dad admitted, while talking to the Well-digger that he thought of singing “The First No-Well” for one of the carols. J) Anyway, the next day we had two callers. The first being the neighbors inviting us to an impromptu Christmas Eve dinner. What a surprise! We had hardly had any contact with these neighbors at all, and here, out of the blue, they were inviting us to their Christmas Eve dinner! We had had company for days before and had planned on having a quiet Christmas Eve as a family unless God showed us another plan… when we called Dad to tell him about the invitation, he said, “That is the other plan!) It was fun to be included in their extended-family and friends get-together since we don’t have any extended family up here in Alaska. We were blessed that it seemed to be somewhat of a Christian household, and enjoyed singing Christmas carols, hymns, and Christian children’s songs with them. A couple of days later, the grandfather of the family died. Life is so short. The saddest part was that the family was not sure if he had ever made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. Their son is also leaving his young family for an 18 month tour in Iraq on the 4th of January. We pray that we can be a support to them during this time.

Christina and Maryanna have truly been enjoying the sled dogs. Just yesterday they hooked the dogs up and took some friends on a ride. It’s such an exhilarating feeling to watch them “take off” as the dogs plunge into their favorite pastime –running… If you come visit, I’m sure Christina of Jimmy would love to take you on a ride! The other night, she was given another sled that was build by a missionary to the interior. It will need some work, but having a second sled will enable two teams to go out at the same time. This is a much safer situation with all the wildlife where we live.

The weather here has been fluctuating quite a bit recently. Christmas Day the sun was shining and turning the blanket of freshly fallen snow into a pan aroma of glittering diamonds. Of course, the awesome beauty didn’t last long, because the powerful north winds blew all the snow off the branches, and the white, sparkling trees began to show their “true colors” –brown! J Today it’s quite warm… In fact, I was surprised at the high temperature reading when I looked at the thermometer this morning. It read a whopping 27 degrees! It’s been in the single digits – above and below zero- recently, and the difference between 20 below and 27 above is drastic! If you think about it, it’s the same temperature difference as 50 and 100 degrees. One old timer said he hasn’t seen this much snow here in almost thirty years.

Thank you all for your prayers for baby Joshua. He’s 7 weeks old, and a turning into a fat and happy little guy! We are enjoying him so much. His reflux seems to be getting better each week, and his smiles are getting bigger and more frequent. Helping him adjust to life in this world has been a time taking process. It takes so much time to get to know how he feels and to learn how to administer what feels good… and to not offer that which just causes more pain. It is easy to offer love that we ‘think’ should make him feel good… but selfless love in offering that which truly makes him feel comfortable is another matter all together. It takes Mama almost all day to just care for his needs. She has had to put aside a lot of the other ‘ministry’ aspects of her life in order to care properly for him. We are all learning another level of compassion in the care of our little man. It would be hard to put into words how much we have enjoyed little Joshua. .. and how much he has taught us in his short life.

As we roll into the New Year, may we have one focus… Jesus Christ!!!! As we keep Him before us, our hearts will be at peace and our lives will be a testimony of His grace… at home and wherever else we may be…

Blessings,

Lolly

(for… Jim, Martha, Sharia (21), Christina (18), James (15), Jonathan (13), Daniel (11), Maryanna (9), Lydia (6), and Joshua (7 weeks old) Buckingham J)