This isn't a sprint...

Steve and I often call this time of year "the sprint to the finish." There is always so much to do in these last few weeks of school: planning graduation, administering finals, finalizing the course schedule for next semester, the list goes on. I know that our students feel the same way- they are working hard to prepare for finals, and catch up on any missing coursework. Our kids are busy as well, wrapping up their spring activities and their school, while at the same time bringing home pamphlet after pamphlet advertising summer actives galore! It is easy to feel overwhelmed. 

This spring, I am trying my best to remember that although this may feel like a sprint, I am really taking part in a long distance "marathon" through life. You can only sprint for so long before burning out, and in ministry this happens all to often. We are doing our best to set our lives at a pace that we can maintain, establishing priorities that will keep our focus on the things that matter. We want to go the long haul, and to finish well. I have had Hebrews 12:1-2 on my mind: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Of course this is much easier said than done, but during busy seasons such as the final weeks of the semester it is important for me to remember. 

The month leading up to this busy time has been very full, but we had the opportunity to recharge a bit as well. We traveled to Arizona to meet with many of the people who partner with us here at ACC, and we also got to spend time with friends and family. 

Reunited with Nana after a long day of travel.

Whenever we fly out of Alaska, we always have at least 6 suitcases (gifts for friends and family, outgrown clothes to pass on, etc.) This time, we also had two large boxes of fish.  I was worried that our quick tape job in the freezing cold Alaska morning would not hold, but somehow the salmon stayed safely in their boxes. They were enjoyed with over 30 ACC partners at a bbq that Friday night. For those of you who think we are crazy for packing fish in a couple boxes, just be glad we didn't fly "true alaskan style" with the fish wrapped in newspaper, stuck into our suitcases with our clothes.

One of the things we try to take advantage of when we travel to AZ is the easy access to top medical care.  Alaska does ok when it comes to medicine, but for some things we prefer to stick with our established doctors. This trip Noah was able to see his Cardiologist, Dr. Stock, for his semi-annual heart check-up. I think this is the first echocardiogram and EKG we got through with no tears! Everything looks great with Noah's heart. Noah asked a lot of questions, and figured out that Dr. Stock was the one who noticed when his heart was shutting down as a baby and rushed us to the Children's hospital, saving his life. He gave Dr. Stock a huge hug and said "thank you for saving me Dr. Stock." It was very sweet, and everyone teared up a bit, including the doc.

 In addition to updating many of our ministry partners in AZ we were able to see many close friends that we consider family.  This visit, some of our best friends were visiting from Central Asia where they serve with the International Mission Board. Grace was ecstatic to be reunited with her best buddy Adeline, who she has not seen in four years. Now that they are old enough to use computers they have set up emails so that they can continue to email back and forth instead of relying on Mom and Dad to Skype.

Grace and Adeline 4 years ago, and now.

All of the girl "cousins."

 Nana Marsha was in 7th heaven with almost all of her grandkids in one place (Steve's brother and his family are still overseas, but we should get to see them this fall.) She re-introduced the girls to some serious shopping, took the kids to their first movie in a theatre (for the Central Asian kids) and first movie in a year (for the Alaskan kids), and hosted many Nana-sponsored get-togethers at her house.

Almost the whole gang, including the Alaskan grandkids, the Arizonan grandkids, and half of the Central Asian grandkids.

Nana with some of her kiddos

The girls didn't seem to mind the culture shock of the mall :)

 Steve and Noah found out that there is an ice rink close to where we stayed. They made it there multiple times over the week, and brought the rest of us along a couple of times. It was the first time on the ice for some of the family, and Noah made sure to coach everyone as much as possible, whether they needed help or not.

Mema and Noah hit the ice 

 My mom made it down from Prescott for several days, so the kids got to spend time with Mema as well! She was a huge help, especially when both Steve and I came down with a HORRIBLE case of strep throat. We didn't let a small case of apocalyptic strep slow us down though, and once we were declared non-contagious we were back to our week of re-connecting with friends & family. Some of our best friends & supporters, Bryan & Jamie Powers, even risked catching the plague from us so that we could spend Bryan's birthday night with him before we were fully through our first 12 hours of antibiotics. That's dedication folks!

The week flew by, and all to soon it was time to head back to the frozen (or not so frozen) North. The weather in Alaska has been gorgeous throughout March, and we have enjoyed the lengthening days, with more sunlight. Then April hit, and the temperatures dropped and the precipitation moved in. As I sit here typing this update snow is swirling outside my office window. It is weird to be preparing for the end of the school year, and upcoming summer activities, while staring at snow falling from the sky.

After returning from Arizona we jumped right back into campus life. How could you not miss these faces? (Serves them right for stealing my phone and taking pictures on it!)

The day before Steve's birthday we had an illusionist come to preform for the students.  They had just returned from traveling to the Aleutian islands to preform in Village schools.  After the illusionist performed, his friend shared his testimony which resonated with many of our students (and staff.) It was a very effective ministry, and our students loved the show.

Steve was tasked with tightening the straight-jacket

Some parts of the straight-jacket assembly were more awkward than others... 

Easter is such a great time to be up in Alaska.  It means the days are getting longer and warmer.  We got to celebrate the Resurrection in typical fashion - except the Easter egg hunting had to be done inside. :) Although if we skipped the dying of the eggs and hid them outside it could have mad for a very challenging hunt! As you can imagine, Noah threw himself into the egg-dying process with full gusto. There was dye from his fingertips to his shoulders... who needs to use those egg-holders when your entire hand works just as well?

As April came, so did the snowy cold weather. A few days ago we had a particularly hard snow-fall. The kids loved it, and we decided to take advantage of the spring snow and take a family hike down the trail behind our house.

The path in the woods behind our house parralels the bluff overlooking the inlet. On stormy days it is quite the view! 

That has been our spring so far. We have three weeks left of school for the ACC students, and then we get to celebrate as 4 more students earn their Associates degrees (2 in Christian Ministry, 2 in Paraprofessional Education.) We will have pictures from that in our next update. As you start to think about your own summers please remember to pray for our students as they head into summer internships, or head back home to their own villages and towns. It can be hard to leave the support system here at ACC, and while they are all looking forward to a break from school, many aren't looking forward to leaving for the summer. Thanks to all of you who partner with us here at ACC, and to our friends and family who check in with us through our blog! 

A (Semi) Video Update!

Hello from sunny Alaska! While the rest of the country is covered in snow, we are thawing nicely up here! The sun has been re-emerging this week, and temps are slowly rising (although today was in the teens again, surely just a fluke.)

We have been soaking up as much of the sun as possible this past week, but most of February was spent in survival mode. With several weeks of rain at the start of the month, we were stuck indoors quite a bit. Noah was very busy with hockey, Grace is doing her piano thing, and Steve and I have been working hard at ACC. Consequently, I don't have many pictures to share (I am sure you are devastated!) Here are a few favorites from a recent walk to the beach.

While preparing to travel to Arizona in a week and a half, I put together a quick video update for all of our friends that support ACC financially, and/or like to keep up with how our students are doing. We will be sharing this video with supporters in AZ, but I wanted to share it with all of you as well. I apologize for the corniness of the beginning- believe it or not it took around 20 takes to get something even that mediocre. :)

The semester is flying by! One fun thing that has been happening on campus is the start of a pen-pal exchange between our students and a great group of Cambodian 3rd graders. These kids crack me up, every picture and video they send is so typically "3rd grade"- I see Grace in every one of them. They may have different 1st languages, different cultures, & different upbringings, but they still all love Frozen. :)

Our campus pastor, Amanda, is friends with the teacher of this class, and they have enabled the exchanging of letters between our students. The Cambodian students sent us a video introducing themselves, sharing their likes and dislikes, and asking us about Alaska (they have never seen snow). When our students decided to write them letters (which Amanda scanned and emailed so the 3rd graders wouldn't have to wait) the Cambodian students were so excited that they immediately grabbed their markers and paper to write our students back- even though they were supposed to be leaving school for the day.

It has been really interesting learning about the history of Cambodia, and the horrible genocide that occurred there in the 80s. Most of the nation's educated people were slaughtered, leaving very little hope for the future children of Cambodia. These third graders have the opportunity to attend school, which will help educate them so that they will be less likely to become a victim of the horrible human-trafficking that occurs far too often there.

One of our students ***Dolena *** (I promised to put her name in lights- larger, colored font is the best I can do) took the initiative to make a video to send back to the kiddos in Cambodia. Her video beats mine hands down! 

Dolena also has a pretty great blog! Check it out at http://whatthef0x.blogspot.com/ if you want to get a student's perspective on life as a student at ACC, amongst other things.

We will be traveling to AZ for spring break in just over a week. Hopefully we will see many of you while we are there, please let us know if you would like to get together! I can't believe we are already half way through this semester. Time flies when you are having fun. :) Love from Alaska!

Let there be lights!

There are many unique things about living in Alaska (or the far North.) Peculiar fashion trends, lack of defined parking rules, and abundant wildlife are just a few examples. One of my favorite "bonuses" of living in the North are the nights that we get to see the beautiful Northern Lights. Auroras can floor you with a sense of wonder and awe, and make you feel very very small. 

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We were able to stay here in Alaska, which was so nice. Living far from family and friends we are often the ones that make the trip to spend holidays with those we love, but this year we kept things simple and stayed home. The kids were so excited that they could actually wish for gifts that were larger than a carry-on. :) A couple of days before Christmas Steve's parents joined us in Alaska for a Hallam Christmas extravaganza. The kids love picking up friends and family at our tiny airport where we can watch them getting off the plane and meet them right at the door.

Our holiday was spent baking, doing puzzles, and resting.

Steve's dad flew out of Anchorage, instead of Kenai, so after we drove him into the city, we stopped by the Anchorage Zoo for Zoo lights. Our kids have always loved the Phoenix Zoo lights. This was a very fun experience, but very different from the ones in Phoenix! First of all, it was freezing cold. Next, the zoo is very small, about the size of a small farm (with some polar bears living on it.) These differences just added to the adventure, and I can definitely see this becoming an annual event.

New Years was spent with family and friends. Living in Alaska means you can watch the ball drop at 8pm and call it a night!

The last part of our winter break was spent ice fishing, playing hockey, reading, and playing with the kiddos. It was wonderful to go into the new semester feeling a bit more rested than usual.

After one of the warmest winters to date, we finally got some snow a couple of weeks ago. It seems that snow is here to stay for a bit as the temperatures continue to hover around zero with no sign of change in the near future.

Grace discovered an "ice rink" under the snow from all the freezing rain we had earlier in the season.

Noah is still playing hockey, and working very hard to improve his skills. When he is not on the ice he is in our living room, practicing his "lifties" (what he calls lifting the puck off the ice to score.)
During our recent Peninsula Winter Games, his team won the Mites division of the tournament. He was so excited and wears his "champion" sweatshirt with pride (every day...I have to wash it nightly.)

Taylor....well Taylor is surviving. She does not love winter, and spends much of the day sitting on our heating vents trying to warm up her paws. Our poor Arizona dog.

One thing that the cold clear days bring are beautiful sunrises and sunsets. It is so nice that we are actually getting some real sun these days. Each morning we get a few more minutes of light, and it is starting to become noticeable on the drive to work in the morning. I didn't realize how much I have been missing the sun until it returned after several long dark months.

Steve and I are continuing to love our work at ACC. The library has become a second home for me (can you spot our Valentines day heart made of books?) and we are seeing more and more students use our resources each month. My goal is to make the library a place that fills a need for every student at our school. With our student body growing, one of the recent uses for the library has become extra classroom space! Two of our smaller English classes have been meeting in the library, and Steve is talking about holding his Methods of Biblical Interpretation class in the library a couple of times a month.

While I am thankful that we had a restful break, as we enter what many locals call "Freaky February" when cabin fever usually starts to set in for everyone, I am especially thankful for our busy school-year schedules.  Nothing beats cabin fever like a little hockey/piano/teaching/mentoring/learning.  I love seeing all of your Facebook posts and blog updates, thanks for staying involved in our lives up here in the far North!