I flew in from working in Alaska on Wednesday just in time for my roommates wedding this past weekend. I was so glad to make it and to celebrate Jesse and Kelsey. After working for 7 weeks, not showering often, then traveling the Alaskan backcountry for 2 weeks I felt not super known. Of course I met some incredible people and shared intimate time, was vulnerable and laughed a lot, I found myself needy for the intimacy that Christ and time brings to relationships.
This is an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote a week and a half ago:
“I have driven most of the day and found out I can’t go on into Denali by foot until the tomorrow. I pulled over to sleep through the night and listen to music to calm my heart. I wonder how it is I get to be here. The cloud ceiling drops down and covers the surrounding mountains obscuring them from view. Everything is grey, slow and wet with rain. The back of the truck is full of my gear. My sleeping bag is warm. I start to cry. I thank God. This place is a gift. My life is a gift. We are the accumulation of our experiences, a breath in the time span of my Father. We’re the people we’ve known, the places we’ve been, the hopes we’ve realized and lost. The Author isn’t surprised by who I am. My God has given great care to make me the man I am. My Jesus has given his life to bring resurrection life to me, to you, to all. He is sanctifying me through this life of looking to him amidst his good gifts from one piece of glory to the next. My hope is that I look more like Jesus today than I did yesterday. So here’s to today, the only promised time we have.”
I saw beautiful things, but realize they are so much better when shared. Here, in Columbia, I have been known through some of my highest and lowest points in my life. To others not here they become just stories, good stories that make me who I am, but words none the less. It’s been good to be surrounded by people who have walked there with me.
The adventure that is Alaska is wild and lovely. I miss it when I am not there. I miss the faces I know there and the openness it creates in my soul. Now in these months leading to January I get to prepare. Alaska is another building block in that preparation. Come Lord Jesus, do your good work.
As always thank you for considering donating. Without you, it would be very difficult to leave for this journey and thank you for being a part of my story.
