I had the most amazing afternoon today! I got to do one of my favorite things, go on a snow machine ride. My good friend Jackie knew that I had really been wanting to go out to the coast before I left, and so she had her boyfriend, Jeremy, drive me out there on her snow machine. Now after 3 years you would think that I would be able to drive a snow machine by myself…. Lets just say the one and only time I tried to drive a snow machine, was a hilarious disaster!
So after school I dropped my stuff at home, changed into comfier clothes, and we headed out. I had seen the Bering Sea once from an airplane, but I had never actually gone out to the coast. This is somewhat funny if you think about the fact that I only live about 7 miles from it. We could only go so far because the coast is still somewhat frozen and covered by snow, but it is also warming up, so its not safe to go too far out. So there we were out in the middle of the ice, and off in the distance you could just see a dark blue strip where the open water started. It was awesome! So open and quiet, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like it.
Afterwards we headed more inland across the tundra and headed out toward the Kusilvak Mountains. We drove for a while and eventually stopped to enjoy the view. It was at this point that we both realized we had completely lost track of time, it was about 7pm.. we had been driving around for about 3 hours! After a bit we turned around and headed back toward home.
All this driving around gave me a chance to press pause on the craziness that has been life lately.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been super stressed about fundraising lately. I’ve been so busy trying to finish up the school year, planning end of the year activities for my students, packing up my house, and helping a friend with a project, that every time I think about fundraising I sort of cringe because I know I have a deadline coming up in May. I hadn’t even reached $1,000, so how on earth could I reach the $5,000 goal in just 5 short weeks! I could barely handle everything else that was going on in my life.
As we were out driving around we had to cross the overflow. This is basically a strip of water that runs along the bank of the frozen river. Throughout winter everything is frozen solid and you can drive your snow machine onto the river no problem. But in the spring time, when it finally starts to get warm out, water starts to collect and there is a strip of water a few feet wide and several inches deep that you have to cross. In order to cross you have to just hit the gas and go really fast. Anyone who has grown up around here is expert at it. I get really tense every time, because accidents do happen. So as we are crossing this overflow, I realize, even though I’m really tense, I have complete faith that Jeremy will get us across (with God’s help of course 
).
My fundraising goal feels like that overflow. I feel like I’m just flying towards it, and how on earth can I cross it. And then I realize, I can’t cross it on my own. I have to have faith that God will carry me through to the other side.
And can I just say, God is good!
I got home about 8:30, had a snack, and posted some pictures to Facebook. Then I opened up safari on my iPad. I wasn’t even paying attention at first, but then I realized that my World Race blog was what had popped up…. and the bar that shows how much I have raised said I was over $1,000! I literally sat and cried as I thanked God for his faithfulness to me.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Coast, Bering Sea- Closest I’ve ever been to Russia!
Kusilvak Mountains
