To Alaska with Love...

It's been quiet on the blog these past weeks... I know.

The Farmer and I have slipped the sweltering heat of this Texas summer and found refreshment deep in the Majestic arms of Alaska!

Another Bucket List Vacation... To see Alaska and all her Beauty.  And might I just say that she did not disappoint!!

It has been a trip of pure joy.  We arrived back rested, refreshed and armed with thousands of pictures :-)  I promise to share only my favorites!

 (Warning: Picture-heavy post ahead!)

 

We traipsed from one end of Alaska to the other with our fabulous traveling partners and sweet friends, Tina and Stacy...

 

 

And oh, the things we saw!

 

 

 

We hiked mountains...

 

 

 

... and explored Glaciers!

 

 

 

 

 

We found the perfect get-away spot in our

Glacier View Log Cabin with views to swoon over...

 

 

 

 

In the land of the midnight sun, these windows provided

an endless display of God's spectacular perfection...

 

And when we weren't inside looking out,

we were outside, well, just looking...everywhere...

Alaska does "outside" very well!

 

Dog-sled practice...

 

 

Momma moose and her adorably gangly calf...

 

 

 

Charming harbors set against the most picturesque of backdrops...

 

 

 

We ambled from the mountains to the oceans,

and left our "mark" for those following behind...

 

 

 

The hikes were Hallelujah-Gorgeous...

 

 

 

Unspoiled beauty at every turn...

 

 

 

 

 

And Salmon in every stream and creek!

 

 

 

Of course, we hit the touristy places...

No one passes up the Red Dog Saloon!

 

 

And we had our "Bucket of Butt" in Homer...

The best Halibut we've ever had!

 

 

And Reindeer Dogs from a corner vendor :-)

 

 

 

After the chock-filled days of exploration and admiration,

Each night brought it's own special show...

 

 

 

And then, as if all that Alaska beauty wasn't heaven-enough,

we boarded our tiny little Adventure Ship for a week

of pure sailing bliss!

 

 

 

 

The Wilderness Discoverer sailed the Inside Passage

from Juneau to Ketchikan and took us to places

that we had only dreamed about...

 

Pristine, Raw and Powerful.

Our week of sailing with her crew was Magical!

 

 

 

We skiffed up to North Sawyer Glacier and felt the spray of ice

as thundering chunks of the glacial wall calved into the bay...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were over-whelmed with awe as an early

morning pod of humpback whales fed just off our ship's bow...

 

 

 

And then "waved" farewell with a graceful arch of tail...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were treated to 3 nights of the

unbelievably mystical Northern Lights.

Pictures simply don't do justice to the ethereal mystery

of these auroras...

 

 

The days brought kayaking adventures aplenty!

 

 

The easy-dock station on the back of the ship

made getting in and out a breeze...

always good in waters chilled frigid with glacial ice!

 

 

 

I kind of fell in love with the icebergs...

 

 

We found all manner of Berg-shapes

(think cloud shapes, but colder and more slippery!)

 

 

Awed and Amazed...
God's a Sculpting Genius!

 

Then we laid anchor in Ideal Cove,

and I kind of fell in love with tranquil Alaskan coves...

 

 

 

 

 

We paddled... and gawked...

and pinched ourselves for the sheer beauty of it all...

Who gets to do this???

We closed our eyes and simply breathed in the aroma of Majesty...

 

 

And we opened our eyes to a curious little Harbor Seal

stealing in for a closer look at our odd floating contraption :-)

 

 

But, oh, my, goodness, the moments are sealed in our hearts...

 

 

Later in the week, we found ourselves in Bailey Bay

with more splendor at every turn...

 

 

 

And look who followed us!

 

 

We beached our kayaks for some hiking and a picnic lunch :-)

 

 

And more pictures, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Captain's navigation prowess was put to the test at Icy Falls...

 

 

We got close...

 

 

Really close!

 

 

That rain gear came in pretty handy...

especially the day we Bush-wacked our way up Mills Creek

in Wrangell Pass!

 

 

The skiff dropped us off at the edge of the Alaskan rain-forest and our guide took us on an amazingly beautiful and hilarious Bush-wack off the beaten path...

 

 

 

We kissed tiger slugs for good luck

(I'm somewhat skeptical about this Alaskan tradition...

but the Farmer was game!)

 

 

And we hugged trees in the rain, well, just because...

 

 

Then we climbed over trees and under trees...

 

 

And ended up at a crazy-gurgling creek bed, full of salmon...

 

 

...and wait, could it be?

our friendly little Harbor Seal and a buddy...

 

 

Our skiff picked us up

and danced with the waterfall...

 

 

And then we headed for Anan Creek Bear Observatory.

Might I just say here, that we were in love with our crew :-)

We have fondly called this vacation our

Summer Camp for Adults run by Kids (the very best kind!)

 

The adventures were nothing short of phenomenal...

which brings us back to the Bear excursion!

 

The ship dropped us off on the rocky shore of Anan Creek

with our guides, their rifles and big cans of bear mace...

 

 

... because this wasn't a zoo...

and there were wild bear in them there woods...

 

Are we crazy?!

 

Yes...

 

 

We hiked 1/2 mile in to the Observation Deck on a

narrow trail and boardwalk... with gorgeous views of the salt slurry, where

the fresh water stream bubbled down in to the salt water ocean...

 

 

And then, all of a sudden...

there were BEARS!!!

 

 

...with, like, nothing between us and them,

except a flimsy little railing around the deck...

 

But then we were too excited to be afraid  :-)

 

 

 

 

Truly a spectacular day in the wilds of Alaska...

and thankfully the bears were more interested in the sumptuous Salmon

than they were in us... it was all good! 

  

We fell into bed exhausted and content every single night...

 

 

So grateful for these moments.

 

I am ever aware of how fleeting our time is...

the lessons of legacy-living from mom continue to guide our steps.

 

...to share the magic of these days with the ones we love

is so much more blessing than we can begin to hold.

 

God poured Grace into our open hearts

and the Joy simply overflowed. 

 

Thank you Alaska...

You were an Exquisite Gift!

 

 

 

A song rising from the ashes...

When the struggle seems more than we can bear...

the cancer... the chemo... the pain... the grief...

When we are worn from the weight of this world.

 And all we want is to know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life...

Might we all be encouraged...

There is Hope... For Redemption Wins... A song will rise...

The struggle will end.

Praying for you, my friend, take heart this day,

Journey on in Grace,

Love, Jane

When a family grows in love...

Be still my heart...  our family has grown by 3 beautiful babes...

 ...in an instant the Judge made permanent what has been a journey of love for so very long!

 

From the uncertainty of foster care

to the

forever arms of family...

It is a celebration of the power of faith and love...

and the sacrifice a mother and dad made so that their little ones would have a chance to rise out of the hopelessness and despair that birthed them.

It wasn't an easy road for the biological parents to walk...

drugs dogged their steps and taunted their resolve.

In the end, the climb was too steep,

the addiction too powerful...

And how do you explain that to the vacant-eyed woman who can't remember to feed her babies, let alone change their diapers... whose only thought is her next hit and why are these babies crying, they just keep crying... they lay for hours in filthy car seats while the smoke hangs in the air, dirty dishes and cigarettes lying everywhere...a daddy who disappears for days on end... and how do you raise up a child here?

My heart aches for their loss...

These children are smart and funny and so truly precious...

their smiles will melt a heart

and their belly laughs make you love them more...

their first steps and first teeth

and snuggling up all baby soft after bath...

and this momma gave away all that to run after the drugs she can't give up.

God knows the aches of the heart.

And He can change the story....

For these 3 littles, their story begins anew this week!

"Born not from our flesh,

But born from our heart.

You were longed for and wanted

and loved from the start.
                                 ~ anonymous

Welcome home Babies!

Welcome Home!

Broken Hallelujah

  Such truth in these lyrics...
... after the storms of this past month we are raising our Broken Halleljah...

God is good.

Even when we don't understand His plan...

God is good.

"I can barely stand right now.
Everything is crashing down,
And I wonder where You are.

I try to find the words to pray.
I don't always know what to say,
But You're the one that can hear my heart.

Even though I don't know what your plan is,
I know You're making beauty from these ashes.

I've seen joy and I've seen pain.
On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.

With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah.

 When all is taken away, don't let my heart be changed.
Let me always sing Hallelujah
When I feel afraid, don't let my hope be erased
Let me always sing Hallelujah.
Let me always sing Hallelujah.

I will always sing
I will always sing
Here's my broken hallelujah."

                                        ~ The Afters

Pneumonia, Car Accidents and a Bankruptcy...

It has not been a good month.

Definitely not good.

Pneumonia settled into Dad's lungs with a vengenance mid-June.  Complications with his COPD did not help.  It has been weeks of doctoring, medicating and nurturing.

And it has taken an army :-)  Family and friends who have brought soup, driven him to appointments,

met us at the hospital, encouraged, hugged and prayed this pneumonia into submission!  Doctors, nurses and specialists who plied their trade with mercy and healing.

Dad is on the mend.  But it's been a hard recovery...

The struggle has been not only physical, but emotionally for all of us as well.  Our worry meters were off the charts as Dad's doctors changed his antibiotics 3 times before finally seeing results.

And I know that this fear that reared its evil head was from the nightmare of mom's last week... Her pneumonia was a stronghold we simply couldn't breech.  And dad's ragged, labored breathing brought back memories sore to the heart.. an ominous refrain that filled us with dread.

So grateful for God's tender mercies in this, the first of our hurdles this past month.  For just as Dad was beginning to feel better, he was involved in a serious car accident... a short little drive to get some groceries ended in disaster as he rear-ended a pick-up truck, totaling his car in the process.

My heart skipped a beat (ok, it stopped) when he called... this is the kind of phone call we worried about getting when our teens were learning to drive!  My abrupt coronary was averted when Dad assured me he was alright.  Mercies abound, indeed, as Dad was not seriously injured nor was the driver of the pick-up.  But the car tells its own story...

Mangled fenders, smashed windshields, deflated airbags... it is beyond repair according to the insurance company.

In the light of this news, we are so incredibly grateful that dad walked away from the accident relatively ok.

But the bruises remain...  Bruised body.  Bruised ego.  Bruised dreams.

It's hard to hear the tremble in his voice... see the slump in his shoulders... the defeat in his eyes... the unspoken questions...

And as we wrestled with this latest crisis, we learned that a financial investment we had made years ago was headed for bankruptcy.  Retirement money that we had thought was safely tucked away for our sunset years was suddenly hanging by a thread.

More nightmares ensued as we scrambled with thousands of others to figure out what was happening... The courts appointed a Trustee to oversee the company, and as the facts have slowly come to light, it is becoming apparent that we are dealing with deliberate fraud and deceptive marketing, eerily reminiscent of the Enron scandal from a decade ago... only now it is very personal.  This scandal involves our money.  And our trust.  And the nightmare is long from over.

This month has been a beating... and with each blow we find ourselves more bruised than before.  It's hard to breath when the weight of the worry smothers out the joy...

And we know that we are not alone.  Life can be a fight.  It can leave us smothered and panicked.  Hurting and Hopeless.

More tears have fallen recently than I care to admit.  But it's true. It has not been a good month.

And there is no magic bullet for this kind of heaviness.  The scripture is clear, "In this world you will have trouble and suffering..."  John 16:33

In the middle of the nightmare there is no secret formula for reigniting our faith...

It is a walk of hard grace.  The practice of putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward totally dependent on God's Sovereign mercy.  For we know how the story ends...

"I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me.

In this world you will have troubles,

but take courage, I have overcome the world."

                                          ~ John 16:33

He has promised to be there, always. {Matthew 28:20}  And He will always keep his promises...

So in the midst of this not-so-good month, we found ourselves on a plane to Wisconsin.  For a college graduation celebration of a dear niece...a celebration dad was determined not to miss.

 

 

And somewhere in the celebration we felt laughter bubble up, a smile to be with family, a simple joy to sample today's ripe strawberries topped with fresh cream with the ones we love...

and we put one foot in front of the other and walk hard into grace...