Alright, so it's not quite 20 below, but 17 below is close enough and probably somewhere in the depths of the night, it will reach 20 below! As I was outside loading up our woodcart for the second time this evening (a nightly chore), I stood on the porch looking out into the darkness, watching the snow falling, and pondering why I live where I do. The simple answer is that in 2001, our family bought property and built a small cabin.
But why do we stay here? Is it because of the Northern Lights that dance overhead? Or the 18 acres we live on? Or is it those evenings when I'm unloading the truck after a loooonnnngggg day in Fairbanks and I look up at the expansive arch of the sky and the stars are so close it seems I can touch them?
Or is it those days in the summer, when I can lay on my back in the field and look up into the cloudless, dark blue sky? Or the time I can spend on trails, hiking and backpacking? Or is it that common bond that exists between all those who live here and know what it's like to survive a winter?
One thing you'll have to admit, there are very few places left in the United States like Alaska. And even the cold has its own special appeal. Like when I step outside and can hardly breathe, because the cold seems to press on my lungs and burn my nostrils (it's far from being that cold yet!). Twenty below is actually a pleasant temperature, as long as you don't have to be out too long!
Well, I guess the Christmas spirit has come to stay up here. Soon after the snow started falling, we started seeing Christmas lights on houses and businesses. We weren't too far behind. Several weeks ago Seth decorated the outside of our house with Christmas lights (a yearly tradition). Below are some pictures that I took tonight.
That's what happened when it tried to use the flash! (Yes, the trailer is still on the truck from our last trip to Fairbanks)
This one's better.
All in all, I don't think I'd traid where I live for anything in the world, even Hawaii! But, if you couldn't tell yet, Hebrews 12:1 and 2 are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. Even when I preach, it is very rare that I don't end my sermon with those verses. So, just in case we get sidetracted with earthly things, let's remember to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1, 2. Now heaven is one place I'll trade even Alaska for!
God bless!
(I guess it got too late last night, so I posted this this morning, in case you're wondering!)
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