Courage, Valor, and Death

I got off the phone tonight with a close friend who just found out that some very close friends of hers were in a bad accident. With that knowledge the husband and baby did not make it and the wife was in critical and hadn't been told yet that her family did not make it. Just a few minutes before I got off the phone with my brother who had just found out that a close pastor friend had just passed. Also this last week we were anxiously awaiting to find out if we had lost any friends in the officer shootings in Lakewood, WA this last week.

To tell you the truth all of this death has got me thinking. I grew up learning the words courage, valor, integrity, and the willingness to lay down your life for a friend. I never really fully understood those words until I started having to face it everyday. Talking with a friend the other day, she made the comment that it takes a whole new level of faith to live a life as a warrior or be a spouse of one. Especially when you don't know if you or your warrior will come home at the end of the day. But in thinking about that I am not so sure in some ways and most definitely in others. After all what are we as Christians called to believe and live? We are called to live everyday as if it were the last. We are called to believe in God's sovereignty even when we don't understand. We are called to be ready when our time here on earth is done.

Don't get me wrong, when I stop and think about my warrior and others, I still have "Oh *&%#!" moments. Today has been one of those days and yet as I was needing some comfort tonight He pointed me to Psalm 91 once again and the last two chapters of Revelation. What wonderful passages. The reminder that His sovereignty is it. The wonderful place that He has gone to prepare for me and those that believe in Him. I know that I will have these moments again and that one day I may actually have to live it (I pray not for many many years). But for now..........

I ask that you all pray and pray hard for the families of the fallen in Lakewood, they have a long road ahead of them. I also ask that you pray for my friend and her family, this is one situation in many that she has been dealing with these last few months. I also pray that if you do not know the Lord that you will right now get on your knees and ask Him into your heart as your Lord and Saviour. Change your life. Get your name written in the Lambs Book of Life. Then tell someone immediately. God says TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! There is a reason for that. Life is to short and death is immediate. I hope and pray that I will see you walking those "streets of gold" with me one day!

Warriors at Home

We went today to an open house for a police station. Amazingly, they were giving rides in a patrol vehicle. You don't see that very often, which I think is unfortunate to the children and adults that come to an open house. What an awesome tool to introduce the kids to the officers and find out how good it is to have an officer as a friend. Too many people today aren't willing to put officers in a good light due to a few bad apples.



I must say I was very impressed with the officer that was giving the rides. Even though it was 45 minutes after the advertised time he still gave David (who had been waiting for an hour) a ride with a big smile on his face. David got to ride up front and watch the video camera, which in David's words was "Awesome!"

What a great thing to encourage children that officers are the good guys. Just imagine the impression that that makes on a young child to be able look up to a strong figure in the community that catches the bad guys!

Multiple Activities

Brent decided one day since the truck had been choking to change the spark plugs. Ania of course was more than willing to be outside at -20 with daddy so she could learn how to change the plugs as well. The pride in her face when she came in from completing the project with dad was amazing! Brent was very proud of his little Grease Monkey!

On one of the last cold days of winter we decided to build a fire. As this would be the first that Ari was participating in we thought it would be a great time! We weren't wrong! Ania taught Ari how to blow on the fire to keep it going. Ari learned how to roast marshmallows for the first time. We had to hide the package of marshmallows cause she got to the point where she wouldn't eat them she just wanted to roast them!

We drove to Tok one day for a day off. The contrast was perfect with the snow on the mountains and we saw many different kinds of wildlife that without that contrast we wouldn't have seen. On the way home we nearly ran into the heard of caribou that we had seen previously in the day. Brent pulled over into the turnout and we got quite a few pictures. Meanwhile, during the picture taking David was nearly in tears because he wanted to hit one so we could take it home since daddy didn't have his gutting gear. "Please daddy can we hit one with car so we can take it home?"

On another day we decided to try to go fishing. We had been told that it would be the perfect week as the ice should be out at the end of the dock on one of the area lakes. After getting everything ready and getting there we still found ice to thick to fish in, but we got to watch others ice fish and we played on the ice as well as walking around and seeing all kinds of nature. Yes the kids are on the ice that is the lake.

At the boat dock the ice had started to go out a little. It was just enough for the kids and Brent to have an ice crystal fight, and for Ari to take a dip and get her feet wet. Mommy's heart didn't take that to well and Ari was mad that mommy pulled her away from her fun in the ice.

We had a week of 70s in April that brought break up quickly and after winter it was a nice break. Ari and mom are out picking up sawdust to spread on the driveway to absorb the mud, as well as getting the ice under the sawdust to melt and dry out in preparation for our wood shed. Ari loved standing there and feeling important at the wheel barrow.

With breakup having come so quickly we ended up with huge ponds in our front yard for a few days. On one of the hot days the kids and Brent had a snow/water fight and got all soaked. Thank goodness for being pregnant cause mommy got out of it! After everyone was done and good and wet they needed showers. Since our bathroom was still out of commission mommy bathed Ari in the kitchen sink. Amazingly enough she seemed to enjoy it!

The kids had a taekwon do tournament recently where they both did extremely well. Here is a group photo of the school. They both had a blast and enjoyed earning medals in patterns and the high kick!

Spring has Sprung

Spring is finally here! I can hear the water running from the roof and am starting to see the snow recede. I am hopeful that breakup will go smoothly this year and there will be no ice jamming on the Tanana. I am so excited on one hand and yet on the other this is the perfect time of year as the mosquitoes aren't able to survive yet. On the other hand I can't wait to start being able to go to the river and doing some fishing!

We are anxiously awaiting our fourth as June is fast approaching. I am so thankful that the school year is almost over. The kids and I both are so in need of a break. I am working at getting as many projects done before the baby as I can, as I know that the next year will be tough with school and two under 3yrs old. I am excited as Brent's dad will be here to help get the summer projects done with him as I am not able to help as much as I would like this summer. The wood shed, tree clearing, and log rot will be a welcome relief to have done. Neither of us liked digging through the snow to get wood out these last two winters.

For those of you who don't know we are remodeling our bathroom. This was not planned for another couple of years, but God has once again provided and made it possible. We started with a leaky toilet that we hoped we could fix by replacing the wax ring one more time. Well, it became a much more in depth project that we weren't quite ready for. One of the guys from church who does this work and is wonderful at using his God given talent came over to look at it for us. We discovered that the floor was rotted out under the toilet, tub, and 1/2 the rest of the floor. Since we were having to replace the sewer line and take out the tub to address the floor we decided to pull everything up and do it right this time. Which was good as there were three (yes I said three) layers of flooring that had been put over rot that the previous homeowner had layed to cover it up! Talk about mad! So instead of having to replace the floor yet again when we redid it the Lord provided a way for us to just redo the whole thing. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is done, or to have a shower back!

The kids and Brent got to go the circus when they were in town. Ari and I napped in the car. The kids had a blast for which I was very thankful. I heard though from some other moms that the focus on selling things and the overt sexuality was more than they had wanted for their kids to experience. At least the kids were young enough that the sexuality did not become an issue for them and that we were able to reinforce the thankfulness of having the opportunity to even be able to go to the circus. We also got to do some sledding with the kids while he was home this last time. Ari was so adorable walking around in her little snow pants screaming at the kids. She wasn't quite ready for sledding this year, so maybe next year. It was sure fun to watch the kids and Brent try to slide down those hills. David loves to go fast and Ania wipes out very well!

Winter

Oh how I pray that it warms up across the state to at least the normal temp. We are in day 8 of a cold weather inversion of -40. I would be so thankful if it would only warm up to -20. I have friends that have frozen pipes and the end is not in sight. They are talking for at least another week and I am in absolute despair! It is not a good idea to drive anywhere in these temps, besides who wants to freeze their butts off by going outside! The air is bad now for even healthy people due to the lack of air movement. Lord, relief soon please?

My poor children are bouncing off the walls! They have been asking to go places and go to their tae kwon do class and yet it is not smart to drive into town for that. After all if the car does break down who want s to sit and freeze in a matter of minutes? Thank God for a large enough space for them to run around and burn off some energy at least. I was going to take them for fireworks for the New Year and yet who wants to bundle up like the Michelin man? Lord we are praying for a miracle!