follow the picture page link to see update pictures from our weekendTuesday, February 12, 2008
An ocean-front view of God's Love
It's fun to share with people our journey to Homer. I can count a handful of times that I've been able to respond, "That's right; we got hitched and arrived in Homer 2 days later." People kind of give us the You-guys-are-crazy look. These people know what YWAM is. They are familiar with the community living situations and the intensity of the training process. After a few minutes of processing it, though, they come around and seem to confirm what God told us. "What a good way to start a marriage. Start with God."
I cannot honestly tell you that our 10 hour honeymoon was all I desired. (I'm sure I speak for Matt, too.) I would have liked to have my new husband all to myself for a few more days, at least. Yet, At the same time, I was excited about the adventure God had ahead of us. We've been here and married for over a month now. We've adjusted to our new lifestyle quite well and although the community living stuff makes it hard to act like newlyweds, we're learning how to make it work. We are honestly happy and satisfied. Although we let go of the standard honeymoon desire months before our wedding day, God didn't. God honors the good desires of our hearts. We serve a generous God--One who gives us all we need, and then some. This weekend, God poured his blessings over us!
The fun started Saturday with Matt's unexpected invitation to go ice fishing for silver salmon and rainbow trout on a local Alaskan lake. Although it was a cold day and people don't use ice-houses, they didn't have to stay out all day to catch their limits. It only took an hour for four guys to snag 40 salmon on the first lake, and another hour to catch their limit of 20 trout (5 each) on the second lake. Matt came home, and didn't even have a chance to clean up before we received the next blessing.
Like I said before, we let go of our desire for that 'normal' honeymoon, but God didn't. Saturday night, we were taken to a local Bed and Breakfast to spend the rest of the weekend together. We arrived on a clear night and the stars were countless. Although it was dark, we could hear waves crashing on shore nearby. And the view that next morning from our huge picture window nearly brought me to tears: Mountains, ocean, and a colorful sunrise-sky. We were staying at an ocean front bed and breakfast! WOW!!!
It's not over yet. On behalf of Valentines day, we were invited to a local couple's house for a Valentine's day dinner Sunday night. The craziest part is that we had never met this couple. They heard about us and just wanted to bless us.
God is good and faithful and loves to pour out His love on us. All we have to do is chose to receive it, which is a lesson both Matt and I seem to be learning.
I cannot honestly tell you that our 10 hour honeymoon was all I desired. (I'm sure I speak for Matt, too.) I would have liked to have my new husband all to myself for a few more days, at least. Yet, At the same time, I was excited about the adventure God had ahead of us. We've been here and married for over a month now. We've adjusted to our new lifestyle quite well and although the community living stuff makes it hard to act like newlyweds, we're learning how to make it work. We are honestly happy and satisfied. Although we let go of the standard honeymoon desire months before our wedding day, God didn't. God honors the good desires of our hearts. We serve a generous God--One who gives us all we need, and then some. This weekend, God poured his blessings over us!
The fun started Saturday with Matt's unexpected invitation to go ice fishing for silver salmon and rainbow trout on a local Alaskan lake. Although it was a cold day and people don't use ice-houses, they didn't have to stay out all day to catch their limits. It only took an hour for four guys to snag 40 salmon on the first lake, and another hour to catch their limit of 20 trout (5 each) on the second lake. Matt came home, and didn't even have a chance to clean up before we received the next blessing.
Like I said before, we let go of our desire for that 'normal' honeymoon, but God didn't. Saturday night, we were taken to a local Bed and Breakfast to spend the rest of the weekend together. We arrived on a clear night and the stars were countless. Although it was dark, we could hear waves crashing on shore nearby. And the view that next morning from our huge picture window nearly brought me to tears: Mountains, ocean, and a colorful sunrise-sky. We were staying at an ocean front bed and breakfast! WOW!!!
It's not over yet. On behalf of Valentines day, we were invited to a local couple's house for a Valentine's day dinner Sunday night. The craziest part is that we had never met this couple. They heard about us and just wanted to bless us.
God is good and faithful and loves to pour out His love on us. All we have to do is chose to receive it, which is a lesson both Matt and I seem to be learning.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Finally. Time for updateing.
So, we recently returned to Homer from a 10 day outreach to Ouzinke, AK. Ouzinke is located on Spruce Island which is just northeast of Kodiak. It is mainly an Alutiiq village of about 200 people. We went to help the Kodiak Baptist Mission with some remodeling they are doing on a mission house there. The house is over 50 years old and had little insulation. It is in need of some updateing.
We left Homer and took a 12 hour ferry ride on the Tustemena to Kodiak. From there 17 of us hopped on a 32 foot boat called the Diakanos--only following our survival suit training, of course. After all, this is winter in Alaska.
We had a surprisingly good reception in Ouzinke. We had been praying for God to open some doors to us, and He definately did. It was the second time that a YWAM group had gone to work on the Smith house there, but the first time did not open many opportunities to get to know the locals. They mainly ended up just working on the house. We however were met on the docks by a man named Nick whose family had been around that area for over two hundred years. He than helped us haul our gear to the house. The previous trip there, he only watched them as they went by. So, it was something special from the start. We found many opportunities to meet people the next day walking around the town, and earned ourselves an invite to their open gym.
We found basketball to be our way in, for the most part. We got to know many of the young people in the village and a couple of the more active adults. Through this we got to know more about the needs of the village and heard about things that they would like to see happen with the Smith house. There was alot of excitement when they thought about someone coming back into the house full time. They are hungry for fellowship, and for God.
We also were blessed a lot on the trip. A man by the name of Herman, who we met while playing basketball, invited us all for dinner and for the Superbowl. So, we all ended up getting to watch the game. He fed us like kings. Not only did he provide pizzas, pop, chips for the game, but he also prepared fresh seafood pasta for dinner. It was an incredible act of generosity.
The biggest thing from our week, though, is the reception. The leadership with us said it is not very often that we get a reception like that. So many people were sad to see us going so soon and wanted to know when we would be back. There were also requests from some to get the same team back. It was good, and we hopefully opened alot of doors for the groups to come. Who knows, maybe we will even be part of one of those future groups.
if you are curious about where we just visited, check out the town's website! go to www.ouzinkie.org
We left Homer and took a 12 hour ferry ride on the Tustemena to Kodiak. From there 17 of us hopped on a 32 foot boat called the Diakanos--only following our survival suit training, of course. After all, this is winter in Alaska.
We had a surprisingly good reception in Ouzinke. We had been praying for God to open some doors to us, and He definately did. It was the second time that a YWAM group had gone to work on the Smith house there, but the first time did not open many opportunities to get to know the locals. They mainly ended up just working on the house. We however were met on the docks by a man named Nick whose family had been around that area for over two hundred years. He than helped us haul our gear to the house. The previous trip there, he only watched them as they went by. So, it was something special from the start. We found many opportunities to meet people the next day walking around the town, and earned ourselves an invite to their open gym.
We found basketball to be our way in, for the most part. We got to know many of the young people in the village and a couple of the more active adults. Through this we got to know more about the needs of the village and heard about things that they would like to see happen with the Smith house. There was alot of excitement when they thought about someone coming back into the house full time. They are hungry for fellowship, and for God.
We also were blessed a lot on the trip. A man by the name of Herman, who we met while playing basketball, invited us all for dinner and for the Superbowl. So, we all ended up getting to watch the game. He fed us like kings. Not only did he provide pizzas, pop, chips for the game, but he also prepared fresh seafood pasta for dinner. It was an incredible act of generosity.
The biggest thing from our week, though, is the reception. The leadership with us said it is not very often that we get a reception like that. So many people were sad to see us going so soon and wanted to know when we would be back. There were also requests from some to get the same team back. It was good, and we hopefully opened alot of doors for the groups to come. Who knows, maybe we will even be part of one of those future groups.
if you are curious about where we just visited, check out the town's website! go to www.ouzinkie.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)