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.