Alaska: Wild Winter!

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope this finds all of you happy, healthy, and in the center of God's will for your lives.  I thought that you would appreciate hearing how my winter is going.  It has indeed been a wild winter!

December found me in Tennessee for my sister Heather's wedding.  It was a great time to have so much family together at one time.  For the gettaway, the cousins decorated the trusty old Honda Accord that Janelle and Julie used to drive in College.  The car has almost 400,000 miles and is still running strong.  Thankfully Randy is a professional mechanic and knows how to coax it along.  The wedding left us all looking forward to the great marriage supper of the Lamb, when Christ will gird himself and serve us.  What an amazing time that will be!

January and February were the busiest months of the entire year.  Between Masters classes online, working, doing paperwork for a new job, and finishing my pilot's license, I had very little extra time.  Still, I was able to fit a Sabbath climb up ice-covered, Lazy Mountain, with Matt Sandvik for a 360 degree view of the Matanuska Valley.  February 17, I was able to convince the FAA examiner that I could fly an airplane, and received my Private Pilot Certificate.  That is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream!

Getting ready to fly.  The sun was coming up at 10:30 that morning!

February 24 found me stepping off of a plane in Kotzebue, Alaska for a travel nurse assignment in the ER here.  My assignment lasts until the end of May.  Walking across the tarmac to the terminal in Kotzebue, the icy wind reminded me that I was above the arctic circle.  The ocean is frozen out for 5 or 6 miles and everything is covered in a wind-blown whiteness.

Working night-shift means that I am wide awake at 3 AM Sabbath morning writing this!  I have had to deal with some of the challenges of being at a new job, but the nurses that I work with are friendly and like to teach.  I am enjoying the work in the ER, especially when I can see that we dramatically "fix" someone it always makes me feel good!

I did a two mile run outside for the first time since I have been here.  Running in 15 F is not all that bad.  I would say that it was no sweat, but I was sweating and had to constantly remove and add layers depending on how fast I was running or how sweaty I was getting.

This is how you run when it is 15 F.  A thinner hat would have been more comfortable though.

I read a book about the life of Eric B. Hare recently in which I was reminded that God has a special place for each of us.  "To His servants Christ commits 'His goods'--something to be put to use for Him. He gives 'to every man his work.' Each has his place in the eternal plan of heaven. Each is to work in co-operation with Christ for the salvation of souls. Not more surely is the place prepared for us in the heavenly mansions than is the special place designated on earth where we are to work for God." (Christ's Object Lessons, page 326-327).  So encouraging to know that God has a place picked out for us where we can serve him best.  I have been encouraged to continue preparing for and watching for the place that God has for me to work.  I pray that each of you are doing the same thing too.  The happiest place to be is where God wants us!

Happy Sabbath to all of you!

Brian

Here are some picture for you. Enjoy!

The view from Hatcher's pass, sundown one Sabbath.

A warm spell in January/February melted most of the snow around Palmer.

Sunrise and sunset are long and lingering here in Kotzebue!

A highschool basketball tournament I attended in Kotzebue.

Bananas in the lower 48

Bananas at Alaska Commercial (AC) grocery store in Kotzebue.

Apples on sale in Kotzebue.

Not stitched so well, but you can see the entire airport and town in this picture taken from the cemetery hill.

This is the cemetery.

The snowmachine trail to Noorvik(ORV) and Kiana(IAN) 25 miles or more away.