The glory of God.

Me on the top of Flattop Mountain

At the risk of sounding like all I've done and experienced in Alaska so far is mountain climbing, I'm going to talk about more mountains today. Friday was the first time I had ever climbed a mountain, and Monday I took my sabbath day and climbed an even higher mountain with some staff and students on the project. It. Was. Hard. I don't think any of us students were quite ready for what we got ourselves into. We climbed Wolverine Peak which has an elevation gain of 3380 feet (that is compared to an elevation gain of 1300 feet at Flattop). It was the hardest thing I have ever done, but we made it to the top. As we sat at the top of the mountain enjoying lunch, we were actually in a cloud. It was amazing. Until it started sprinkling, which turned into a downpour, which then turned into hail. I think if my group had been anyone different it would have been miserable, but as it was, hail and all, the hike was amazing.
I don't think I have ever understood the glory and majesty of God quite as well as I do at the top of a mountain. You look down, and trees that are twenty or thirty feet tall look an inch high. You see people standing against the backdrop of taller, snowier mountains and you realize how tiny and insignificant we are compared to these monstrous rocks. It is amazing to me that God spoke those monstrous structures into being, that those mountains might not look like they used to when they were first created, but that is all part of the plan.

The view of higher mountains from the top of Flattop (Wolverine is back there somewhere)

 The mountains have made me think a lot about faith too. I think about the time when Jesus tells his disciples, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can tell this mountain 'move from here to there', and it will move." That is amazing to me, especially after seeing mountains and being on the top of one of them. It makes me think of something that Charles Spurgeon wrote in his book All of Grace, he says, that just as slender telephone wires can conduct a message great distances so is our faith. We have to remember that even if our faith is as weak as the most slender wire, we have to remember that the wire of our faith is plugged into the infinite power of God. The powerful God that created the vast and magnificent mountains, and created the intricacies and personalities of human beings is the source of our power, not our faith. That even weak faith is still faith and can still connect us to our awesome God.

I've finally seen some wildlife!

It is crazy to think that I have only been on project for a week. Almost a week exactly as of 10:00 tonight. I have done and seen so much that it feels like I've been here a month already. Alaska is amazing. (a lot more now that the sun is out... it has been cloudy and raining all week long, and sometimes I started to understand why a lot of people hate it up here). Yeah, there are a lot of people who hate Anchorage. Which is so weird to me. I guess I can understand because the whole community just seems to be roughing it. I told one of our staff that my first impression of Anchorage was that the entire city kind of reminded me of a giant campground. The buildings are built for function not beauty (seriously some of them are SUPER ugly), there is crazy nature everywhere, and everything just has the appearance of roughing it.
Yesterday a group of students and staff hiked to the top of flattop mountain. This is the first mountain I have ever climbed, and I am hooked. I want to go back today, and I wish that I had more reliable transportation because I would probably go every single day. I think I could hike that exact same mountain and never be tired of it. In case you are wondering how impressive climbing this mountain was it is at an elevation of 3510 feet, and it is absolutely breathtaking at the top. I stood in awe as from one side of the peak I looked out on the entire city of Anchorage and to the islands and peninsula across the bay, and on the other all I could see were even higher mountains. It was absolutely amazing, and I am in love with God's beautiful creation in this state. Which brings me to the title of this post, I've finally seen some wildlife!! (other than a duck and a beaver...) As we were driving back to campus (it was midnight and the sky was just starting to turn pinkish like the start of a sunset) we saw a moose on the side of the road chomping happily away at a bush. IT WAS AWESOME!! I have been keeping my eye out for bears and moose all week and I've finally seen one up close! (there were a couple bear and moose sightings on campus, but never when I'm around)
God has been doing amazing things in my heart and in my life this week, I've had kind of a rough week transitioning to this new place and all the new people. We had a night of reflection Thursday night, and I realized that I was having a really hard time just feeling comfortable in my skin. It was hard to feel like myself when I was being myself around all these total strangers! As I reflected and prayed on how awkward and frustrated I had been feeling God revealed to me that my worth is not in what other people think about me. That as often as I have told myself that in the past, it really started to sink in this week when I was trying to find my worth in that and failing. I have really been challenged and encouraged in the fact that I am worth something because I am redeemed by Jesus Christ and God's daughter because of it. I am not worth something because the girls I live with think I'm funny or quirky or cool.
Please keep praying for me, I still have not found a job despite my best efforts. There are about ten of us that still need jobs and your prayers would be appreciated! For that, and that God would continue to challenge and teach me. He has already done that this week, and I konw that it will just continue. Thanks for all your prayers and support. I thank God for all of you, and for this experience.

Little bird has landed (this title's for you mom)

Well, I got to cross something off my bucket list today- See something truly breathtaking. (It's times like this that I wish I owned a camera...) As we were flying over Canada, or some part of the American northwest (I really have no idea where we were exactly) I looked out the window of the airplane and all there was, as far as the eye could see were snow covered mountains. They were absolutely beautiful and marvelous,  it literally took my breath away to think that God spoke those into being in the beginning of time. I'm sure they don't look exactly like they did when they were made, but it's all part of the plan I'm sure. God is amazing, and I was looking at those hand carved mountains in awe that a God with that much power is full of just as much love, and the God with all that awesome power loves me. Breathtaking.
On a slightly unrelated note, as my title suggests, I have officially made it to Anchorage, Alaska. So far the nature seems totally hardcore and I'm so excited to get out there and experience life up here. Thank God for a safe flight, and so my adventure begins.