Half Way

Well, my month in Alaska is halfway done. I guess I could look at it on the positive side... I have half of my trip still left! Today, I got some time alone and went on a bike ride along Anchorage's Coastal Trail. The trail runs about 10 miles along the coast. It took me through woods, along the Cook Inlet where I had a great view of the mountains, by a lagoon, and spat me out in downtown Anchorage. It was a beautiful ride. I feel like I got to see all that the city has to offer. I also had some time to enjoy God and His creation.

Tonight, the Richardsons and I are going to sleep out on a tarp on some rock that jettisons out overlooking an inlet where Beluga Whales spawn. Tomorrow, we all are going to take a Tram up a mountain and have a picnic at the top. I am quite looking forward to the next couple days. They will be the climax of the adventurey stuff I do here, as the Off The Wall team comes up on Sunday and our mission trip begins.

These past two weeks have been so refrshing for me. Spiritually and physically in particular. It's been a breath of fresh air to get away from the noise of life and enjoy relationships with people that I love. I have been asking the Lord to restore the joy of my salvation, and He has been starting to.

That was a short one, but that is all I got for now.


JN

Wednesdays with Mr. Black

Seth, Dennis and I met with Mr. Black again today. Something happens to me whenever I go to a retirement home. I get very quiet and reflective.

My grandmother lived in a retirement home in Atlanta for about 7 years. I remember every summer my family would spend a week there. Sunrise at Huntcliff Summit. That was it's name. That was about ten years ago, but I can still remember almost everything about it.

When I was fourteen, she moved to Massachusetts to be close to my dad and us. The retirement home she stayed at was real nice. It was much smaller than Huntcliff. It had a cozy feeling about it. Brighten Gardens was its name. I got a job as a waiter there when I was seventeen. The residents had three meals a day. My grandmother sat at table A1. A1 was right by the entrance to the kitchen. She sat with three other lovley women. They were a quiet bunch. Much quieter than other tables. But that is what I liked about them. Whenever I walked by my grandmother with a platter in my hand she looked up at me and smiled. Sometimes I wonder if she was seeing her son instead of me. My dad and I share quite a resemblance. I am six foot one, have a scruffy beard, and lanky build. So does my dad, except he has a mustache. But most of the time i think my grandmother knew it was me, her grandson that walked by. I worked there for about ten months, from February of 2008 to December. Those were some of the most memorable moments of my life. I got to know my grandmother in a way I never expected. She was an incredible woman of God, who loved her Savior and her family until her last breath.

Today at Mr. Blacks, in Anchorage, Alaska, I was reminded of the last few months I had with my grandmother. I can recollect one particular memory that will remain in my mind forever. It was a warm June night. I had just finished up cleaning the dinning area. I was locking up that evening. After I turned the lights off, I looked at the empty dining room. It was so still. I decided to go up to my grandmother room to check in on her. If I remember right, she lived on 247. It was about 8:30 by then. As I peaked through the door I found my grandmother asleep on her bed. sun was setting through her window and trees were gently blowing outside. I pulled up a seat next to her bed and just sat there. As I watched her sleep, I thought. I thought about her life. How as a 19 year old Mormon, her alcoholic husband left her to move to L.A. How a few months later, he met a few street Evangelists who led him to Jesus. How they wrote a letter attesting to a change in his character as he went back to Utah to reconcile things with my grandmother. How she then started following the Lord and they were united again in marriage. How my grandfather was a self taught pastor for 40 years. How The Lord has had His hand in my family's life, years and years before I was born.

As I was thinking, my grandmother opened her eyes and smiled at me. She recognized me. I prayed for her. After I was done, her eyes were still closed. In a few soft words, she said "Lord, bless Joshua's ministry. Thank you for him. Bless his ministry." I was not in ministry at the time. I think the Lord revealed something to her that night about my future.

My grandmother went home to be with the Lord about a month later. Now, as i sit here and think back on all this, I realize how brief life is. I will never relive those moments with my grandmother again. And I will never relive this moment. Life happens moment by moment. If we are to experience all that The Lord has for us, we must live fully in the moment He has given us. Because we will never get it back.

I eagerly await the day when I will see my grandparents in heaven. I will never be able to thank The Lord enough for saving us, and giving us a purpose to live for. His purpose. Thank you so much Father. We don't deserve it.



JN

life is great. Jesus is better!

So I am sitting on Seths couch. It is about 8:45 in the morning. Today we are going to leave for Denali National Park to camp. I am going to see my mountain, the tallest peak in North America.

Seth is just sitting here reading his bible as "More Than Life" by Hillsong is playing on the ihome. I just had a thought run through my head. More of a realization. Compared to knowing Jesus, I could care less about that mountain. If God told me to sit here on this couch forever or if I knew Jesus was going to come back, I would not think once about that mountain. The thing is, this place of contentment has taken me 3 years to get to. But it didn't come as i expected. There was no emotional moment. Adrenaline didn't run through my body as I realized I love Jesus more than mountains. It was just like "yeah, i don't really care about that mountain like I used to."

The line of the chorus of that song is "And I love you more than life." They sing it about 20 times.

It comes out of Psalm 63:3, in which David declares in the wilderness of Judah "Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."


Its crazy when I think about it. I used to dream of moving to Colorado and living in a trailer by the mountains, or living in a log cabin in Alaska or the Canadian Rockies. In fact, I believe I wrote a blog about it on my other blog describing what I most longed for. But now, I really don't care if that never happens. I think it will someday, but if it doesn't that is more than okay. Jesus is better than life, and I can confidently say that I am beginning to love Him more than the desires of my heart. Not all of them by any means. He will get me there. But this particular one, yes.


So, yeah. I guess that is that. Off to McKinley for a few days. No big deal in the grand scheme of the universe. After all, it is just a bunch of rocks. :)



JN

2 for 1

Well, today I am going to put yesterday and today into one blog.

Yesterday, Seth and I helped Dennis build a roof on Seth's hut. It took about 6 hours. I was beat by the time it was done and ready to take a nap. But Dennis loves to work. I am pretty sure he stayed out there another 5 hours.

Last night there was a high school bible study in the Richardson basement. About 15 people showed up. It was a great night. Seth has been leading the study the last few weeks. We had worship for about a half hour, and then a graduate of Seth's old high school shared some things the Lord had been doing in his life. Check my other blog if you want to hear about it and what I was processing through as he talked. After the study, we drank tea, watched Mulan, and had a jam session on the guitar, harmonica, and chairs. Seth doesn't have any percussion instruments, so we made use of things lying around his basement. Chairs happened to be one of them.


Today is Sunday... the best day of the week. It actually was the best day of the week so far. I seem to have said that before in these blogs. I guess that means that God is good and is giving me an awesome time up here. Today, all the kids from church came over to the Richardson house after church. There were about 15 of us total. Seth and I were the oldest at 20, and the youngest was probably 6. We all went to Kincaid park. Kincaid is right by the Cook Inlet (part the pacific ocean) and has trail that lead down to the beach. It was low tide and extremely muddy. So we all had a gigantic mud fight. It was awesome. We planned it, so we were prepared for the mess. I haven't felt like a little kid like that in a long time. There is something about an 8 year old chasing you with no shirt and mud in his hands. You just have to take it and smile. Jesus really was right when he talked about the Kingdom being that of people with child like faith. Their innocence is so humbling.


Seth and I leave for Denali National Park tomorrow morning. We are spending one night. I am ridiculously uber decided. I have the privilege of camping at the foot of the tallest mountain in North America. Mount McKinley is a whopping 20,320 feet. For all you non Americans reading this (there might be a few Northern Irisher's) that is 6,194 meters. Don't worry I didn't do that math in my head. I looked it up on Wikipedia.

Well, the night is coming to a close. I am gonna say goodbye for now.

God bless from Anchorage.


JN

Its Friday! (Sorry, but I had to)

Well, Seth and I just helped Dennis build a roof for Seths porch on his hippe-one-room-shed/hut-bedroom-thing. I am beat after 6 hours of that. I will write about that more tomorrow.

Yesterday Seth worked all of the afternoon until 7. I forget what I did in the morning. I have a horrendously awful short term memory. So this blog thing is really good for me. Yesterday afternoon I spent at Kaladi Brothers Coffee. They definitely not as good as Steam Dot.

Last night a few of Seths friends came over and we had a fire.

The best part of yesterday was after they left. Seth and I played some hymns on the guitar and just worshiped till about 1 am. It was heavenly.

Yesterday was one of those uneventful days that was really, really good. I haven't had one of those in a long time. Jesus is just getting me to slow down right now. He is telling me to stop thinking so much and enjoy the simplicity of life. Its so good. Sometimes I really don't life myself for analyzing so much. What I appreciate about Seth is, he almost always seems to just enjoy life. I have always wanted that simple ability. I guess I just have to ask God, and He will give it to me. :). I am gonna go do that.


hasta la vista.





baby.

Today

So I am posting tonight instead of tomorrow morning for a change.

I finally slept in to about 8:15. I think my body is finally adjusted to the four hour difference. I bought a puzzle at a thrift shop a couple days ago. it is a thousand piece sketched map of Anchorage. Sara and Celesta (Seths mom) love puzzles. So we will be working on it.

Seth and I hiked our first mountain of the year. It was a cloudy day. Flat Top Mountain is on the east side of Anchorage. There is a path up, but naturally, Seth made his own way through the bush. It was a beautiful hike. We got to the top and it was still cloudy. Then something amazing happened.

Recently, I have been asking the Lord to increase my faith. I have felt many times in my life, I live with a lack of faith. The bible says to walk by faith and not by sight. I do a lot of sight walking. So when I saw the clouds, I just sorta started to talk to God. I asked Him to move the clouds so I could see the view. About 30 seconds later, the wind picked up and the clouds blew away. The view of the valley was clear as well as the adjacent mountains. Yeah... it happened just like that. I asked Seth "Do you pray for stuff like that a lot?" He told me he does all the time.
I gotta start doing that more.

We ran down most of the mountain. I love running down mountains. It is one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had. I was thinking my theological thought of the day as I was running down. I think God created humans to be able to fly, but we lost that privilege because of sin and the fall. I think we will be able to fly again in the new heaven and new earth.

When we came home, Seths good friend Michael came over. Michael, Seth myself, and Seth's sisters had a tea party and watched Pride and Prejudice. I forgot how great a movie it is. It is right up there with the Notebook for best love stories ever. Elizabeth made some pretty awesome scones. Michael brought a ginormosly fantastical cinnamon roll. We all fought over the middle. Elisabeth was selfish and ate it.

Well, it is about that time. The clock says 12:18. Today was a great day. God is so good. Even when we don't deserve it. He is showing me how I don't deserve anything, yet His grace is abundant. Thank you Jesus.


Goodnight (and good morning to the lower 48)



JN

First Day of June

I awoke to the June rain. Time is moving rather quickly. The last year has gone buy much faster than most. But its good.

Yesterday was one of those rainy days. Most of the day I had to myself and I really enjoyed it. I think there are times in life where we need those days. Life has slowed down quite a bit since I have been up here. The Richardson's live differently than most people. They live as if time doesn't have a hold on them. Their relationships are of the utmost importance and they are placed far above all tasks. I think life is meant to be lived that way.

Yesterday morning Seths dad Dennis told us to get in the car. He didn't tell us where we were going. So as we were driving, i was wondering where we would end up. When we pulled up to Chester Park Senior Living in east Anchorage, I was struck with nostalgia. When I was 17, I got a job at a assisted living home where my grandmother had been living for about 2 years. That was a wonderful time in my life. There are times when I get lost in those memories, and wish that life could be that simple again. I was a waiter, and we always had the oldies playing... Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington. It was almost as if my grandmothers home was remnant of the 1940's.

Chester Park reminded me so much of Brighten Gardens. It was about 9 o'clock when we got there. The residents had just finished breakfast. We took the elevator to the third floor. Door number 321 had the name Bob Black embroidered on it. I smiled, because I realized that visitation was probably apart Pastor Dennis's job.

Bob Black was sitting on his recliner, smiling when we walked in. We took a seat across from him on the couch. Bob struck me as a quiet man, but Dennis has a way of brining out the inner child of almost everyone he meets. Bob was no different.

Bob told us of his life. How he met his wife later in his years. How she passed not to long ago, but how the Lord was good to give them twenty years together when they only expected ten.

I mostly watched Bob. Bob spoke they way Alaskan pine's sway in the wind, slow and steady. His used words only that were necessary. There was a quiet joy about Bob. His bible was lying next to him with a high lighter. I was amazed to see a man in his late 80's still spending time with the Lord in the mornings. I hope my eyes are good and I love Him that much when I am in my final years.

Dennis asked Bob why he hadn't got a wheel chair yet. Bob said because he didn't need one. Then Dennis told Bob that if he had one, he would probably get a motorized wheelchair and chase all the women at Chester Park. Bob grinned and said "I probably would."

While Bob was talking, I was struck with a thought, Bob is seventy years older than me. He has 4 periods of twenty years to remember. I have one.

As we drove home I drifted off as the rainy mountains peered back at me through my window. I dreamt of the times with my grandmother before she went home to be with The Lord. They were quiet and full of life, just like those few moments with Bob.

God has a way of speaking to us in the stillness. Sometimes we need to walk to the rhythm of a summer rain to hear Him. Bob walks to that rhythm.


Today is another day in Alaska. I don't know what I will do.

"But I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living."



JN

The last day of May

So there were a few highlights of yesterday as the calender flipped into the summer month of June.

The first was Seth, Sara, myself, and Mr. Richardson go to haul a load of junk to the Anchorage dump. I love the dump. We went last summer when we were remodeling the inside of the Richardsons new house. The best thing about the dump is you get to throw stuff, all sorts of stuff, as hard as you possibly can on top of a bunch of other stuff. If you really wanted to, you could play "hit the guy in the bobcat with junk as he piles it into a compresser". He would probably get angry but nothing would happen. When we got to the dump, the lady asked us if we had any hazardous waste, because hazerdous waste was illegal. We told her no, but then realize we had just been given a breading ground for making some funnies. So we started.

"Um, yeah, I got a disassembeled nuclear bomb back here. where should i put it"
"There is an arc reactor for NASAs space program. is that hazerdous?"
"i got ten pounds of radiation"


but there was one in particular that gave us the snickers for a good five minutes. i believe seth takes the crown with "a couldren of leaky batteries" for hazardous waste.

Later in the day, we went to Mountain View Churchs kids program, kids club for Christ. I saw the same faces as i did last year. There is a group of 6 or 7 mung brothers that consistently shows up. Starting from the oldest, you have Jim, Jerry (who wants to be called Mike), Billy, Brian, Ping, and Vi-Chi. Jim rmemembered me from last year. I shared the story of Jesus with Zacheous with them during the bible time.

Yesterday was capped off with me, Sara, and Elizabeth running for about 40 minutes. Sara almost died. But we made sure she finished. We ran through Earthquake park, a park with trail rich on the beach. The airport's take off strip is right by the beach, so we got to see huge jets take off as well. It was beautiful, and still light out at 10 pm when we finishished.
My body felt good after 40 minutes. That is two days in a row. I am totally gonna be running 7 miles by the time i get home.

well, that was it for yesterday. June has started now. Time keeps moving. Another month of life awaits.


JN

Steam Dot

Yesterday Seth, myself, and his two sisters woke up at 5:30 and headed to Anchorages newest coffee shop called Steam Dot. Kaladi Brothers had been the prime place for coffee, but Steam Dot seriously has stolen some of their thunder. I got an Americano and it was as smooth as I have ever had. We spent about 3 hours at the coffee shop, enjoying each other and talked about our Savior. I haven't enjoyed conversation and grown from it like I did yesterday in a while.

I am convinced that followers of Jesus must live in community, pray in community, study the Word in community, and dialogue in community if we are to grow at all.

At 9:30, Seths friends met us at the coffee shop and we all headed out to a town called Girdwood about 45 minutes away. The highway takes you along the coast and there are snow peaked mountains everywhere. In Girdwood, there is a restaurant called The Bake Shop. It is famous for its overpriced, but delicious food. After breakfast we walked down a trail to a creek. The water was cold, but it was enjoyable to hike around. We ended up at a clearing and spent an hour or so just chilling. Seth and I skipped rocks and played frisbee.

Dinner was at 5. After dinner, Sara Elizabeth and I went on a run. I am making it a goal while I am up here to get back in shape. I would like to be comfortably running 5 miles by the time I leave Alaska.

At 7ish, one of Seths friend came over and we all went to see the new Kung Foo Panda movie. I was wiped out and dozed in and out, not because the movie was bad, but because my body still felt like it was 2 am by the time it was over.

To cap of a great day, Seth and I drove up to flat top, a lookout on a mountain over looking the city. The sunset wasn't specacular, but it sill was beautiful. If I lived in Anchorage, I would go up to that spot frequently.

By the time midnight rolled around, I was just about dead. It felt good to pull the covers over me and drift away for the night.

Day 1 (the full length version)

I awoke yesterday morning numerous time. At 4 I was wide awake. I think my body has an internal security system that doesnt let me sleep past 8 or 9 oclock eastern time. So I fought with it for the next two hours because Seth was completley out and there was no one else was up. At 6 o'clock I just gave up and got out of bed.

The Richardson family is such a blessing for hosting me. When I got in the night before, I found a large sign decorated in markey lying on the bed that was designated to be mine saying "WELCOME (home) JOSH!!!". I also found this gnarley little tub for all of my bathroom gear on the window sill of the bathroom. It had my name written on nit with Duct tape. pretty sweet. no one in the lower 48 has ever done that before.


Yesterday we went to church. Seths dad Dennis is a pastor there. I love Mountain View Church. They are little church of about 50 members. But they ahave a service where homeless people come off the street and get breakfast and coffee and hear the gospel. They are really doing the Lords work.

After church seth and i went to Kincaid Park, a recreational area with lots of trails, freisbee golf course, and trees that smell really good. Kincaid has a trail that leads down to the beach which is pretty sweet. Anchorage is on an inlet and the water is usually a sweltering 55 degrees. perfect for swimming.

seth and i tried slacklining at Kincaid. if you dont know what slacklining is, basically it consists of attempting to balance on a rope that is hung between two trees. the rope is wicked tight and the object is to walk across it. it is quite difficult, but i am committed to becoming a slacklining master jedi by the time i leave alaska. Seth has already achieved this status in the slacklining world.

then we came home and had some pretty awesome vegetable muffins and stuffed shells for dinner. i like the richardsons because they eat really healthy. there isnt really any junk in their house. Probably because Dennis thinks junk food is an abomination or something.

then around 9 seths old friends from high school came over and we had a fire on his porch and made smores. i liked his friends. they all look very earthy. all of them wore chocos. you could tell the loved alaska. seth has got a view of the mountians from his porch. pretty epic.

they all left at midnight. the sun was just starting to go down by then.


i was tired and jumped into bed. i have made a goal only to get 5-6 hours of sleep while i am here. sometimes in life, i think sleep is utterly a pointless waste of time. this is one of those special occasions.


well, to all in the lower 48 reading this,

have a blessed day.


JN

Day 1

Well, welcome to my little blog. Thanks for stopping by. I am not quite sure where this will go, but I am glad you are apart of it. Yesterday was one of the longest days I have had in a long time, on top of two of the most packed weeks i have had in a long time. Yesterday, Off The Wall and Polen finally finished out two week Seize the Summer tour. We had spent two weeks on the road, challenging the Church in five states to seize the summer for Christ. We finished in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, which is where my day started.

I awoke at 4:30, ready for a long day of traveling. My flight left from Philly to Boston at 8:15, and the airport was an hour away. That accounted for such an early wake up.

I was blessed to be flying to Anchorage from Boston... I found the best deal out of Logan airport. So, I landed around 9 and got to spend about 6 hours with my family before heading to the airport again to start my long anticipated trip to Alaska.

God has been so faithful... I only had six hours with my parents and sister, but they were quite enjoyable. I got to see the Atlantic and eat at my favorite diner on the North Shore before I left. I got to Logan around 5 as my flight left at 6:15.


At Logan, I found a Barnes and Noble and started browsing through it. I saw the controversial book, Love Wins, by Rob Bell and after fighting with myself for a few minutes, decided to buy it and read it on the flight. To hear my thoughts on it, check my other blog, "The Heart of Life".

The flight to Minneapolis felt rather long, much longer than 3 hours. It probably had something to do with the fact that reading Love Wins was not the most enjoyable experience I have had in Christian literature. That, coupled with the fact that I ran out of trail mix half way through the flight causing my stomach to make those noises telling me i need to eat.

Minneapolis was beautiful. The sun was setting as we landed. It was bout 830 central time. The flight to Alaska was jammed. Not one open seat. Unfortunately, i didnt get an window seat. I asked the guy at the desk if there were any available, and he sorta laughed at me. I guess people grab them ASAP. So i ended up getting the aisle seat, which is second best to the window.

I realized something about myself while flying. I love to travel. But I dont enjoy it nearly as much when I do it alone. I have been flying alone a lot the past few years since i moved to Ohio. There was definitely a sense of independence at first, but now i just feel lonely and find myself wishing I had a companion who enjoys airports, the feeling of taking off, and turbulence as much as I do.

It was a long flight. About 5 and a half hours. I slept off an on for some of it. I think i probably dozed an hour total.

it was good to get off the plane at midnight. It was even better to see Seths face waiting for me at baggage claim. the mustache was funny, but he looked way more legit with longer hair and glasses. He is one of the only 20 year old that can rock that look. he had his tight jeans, chocos, and v neck t as usual.

Alaska is just as i remember it. The air is so fresh. It radiates the scent of life... the mountains clear and snow peaked. God created a special place when he made Alaska. It only makes me imagine more what heaven will be like. We landed as the sun was setting, somewhere around midnight. Only in Alaska.

We got back to Seths house after 1230 cause of baggage. Thankfully, my guitar came in... and surprisingly in tune!

I fell asleep next to my good friend on the floor of his living room somewhere after 2.

Life is good and so is God. He is continually faithful and has blessed me with so much.

Thank you Lord.

check back tonight for today's post.


from Anchorage Alaska,


JN