Dear Emily

This is my response to an editorial appearing in Slate magazine's DoubleX section.  You can read the editorial here.

Dear Emily,

First and foremost, I would like to express the deep sorrow I felt for you after reading your essay. My heart breaks for the suffering you and your child are experiencing. I cannot begin to comprehend the inexpressible grief you must be feeling. To watch your child suffer in such a terrible way is truly horrific. You have my deepest sympathies. I know that your current circumstance may appear hopeless. You know your son is going to die, and you can't stop it. You don't know when, but you do know that it will be excruciatingly painful. To be in your shoes and live daily with this knowledge is incomprehensible.

In spite of all of that, I would like to offer you hope. Real hope. Hope that lasts and hope that heals. My aim is to encourage you and shine a light into the darkness. I also would like to gently examine some of your presuppositions about suffering, so that you will reconsider some of your statements. Most of all, I would like to point you to the only Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. 

First the Hope,

1. Ronan's suffering is not senseless.

Emily, as hard as this may be to understand, your son was born with Tay-sachs for a reason. The Bible makes it very clear that God is in control of suffering. He is sovereign. The LORD said to Moses “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11). Many people struggle to understand this. How can a loving God cause suffering? There are many truths about the nature of suffering that I could discuss. However, since others have already done it (and done it better than I could), I will just refer you to them. But, I will leave you with these glorious truths: God has promised us that He is working all things out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent (Numbers 23:19). He will bring to pass everything that He has promised His children.

Your story makes me think of another disabled child. His story is recorded in John 9. This man was also blind, like your son. We are told that He was blind since birth. When Jesus disciples saw the man they asked Him "Who sinned that this man was born blind? Him or his parents?" Jesus replied "Neither he nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the works of God might be done in him." I bet if you could ask that man, he would tell you that an entire lifetime of blindness was completely worth the surpassing privilege of being the vessel of God's mercy. 

Sometimes the hardest part of enduring suffering is not having an answer to the question "why?". The mental anguish of uncertainty can be horrendous. Sometimes there is a very clear cause to our suffering, but many times there is not. But, no matter what happens to us we must never forget to look to Christ.

2. God cares about Ronan's suffering

We must never forget that no matter how severe our anguish or how unjust our circumstances, it will never compare to the anguish and injustice of the cross. Jesus Christ was the only person that has ever lived a sinless life. Yet, He chose to bear the reproach of the the cross, for us, ungodly sinners who hated Him (Romans 5:6-9, John 3:16; 1Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:4-6).

The book of Hebrews informs us that "we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need". 

Additionally, the book of Colossians 1:15 tells us that 'Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God', and Hebrews 1:3 that 'the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.' So we know that in examining the heart of Christ, we are getting a glimpse of the heart of the eternal Father. Throughout Jesus' earthly ministry, we see Him healing the sick (who sometimes don't even bother to thank him, Luke 17:11-17). The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the multitudes who were weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd, He was moved with compassion (Matthew 9:36). We see again and again in the Bible that Jesus has a heart for the poor, for children, for the suffering. God is not indifferent to the sufferings of the people of this world.



3. Though his body may be broken in this world, it will not be so in the next.

The truth is, the Lord may not choose to heal your son's disease in this life, but He has promised to heal all diseases in the next. We know from the Bible that sin entered the world through Adam "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12) and that even the whole creation is subject to bondage because of man's sin. "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:19-22).

However, God has not given up on His creation. He has not abandoned us. God promises that one day He will return and set all things right again. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death (Revelation 21:4).

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, describes the resurrection of the dead.

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

And later in the same chapter: 

"For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
      “Where, O death, is your victory?
        Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 


Now, I have a few things I would like you to consider regarding your presuppositions about the nature of suffering.

1. Quality of life is indeterminable.

By what standards are we to judge what makes a life worth living? Some would say that living with a severe mental impairment would be unbearable, yet I have met many severely disabled children who are thankful for every breath they have been given.


Can your son understand the words that you say? Maybe not. Can your son understand that you love him when you hold him in your arms? Maybe yes. It's impossible for us to know how much a person understands. Therefore, you can have hope that when you cradle your son in your arms, he knows that his mommy loves him more than all the world. Your son may not have the length of life of most people, and he may not be able to do the things that other children do. But, that doesn't mean his life is completely devoid of any meaning. Your sweet little boy is a gift from the Lord to be treasured and loved for as long as the Lord allows you to have him.

2. You can't "save" your child from suffering.

Your desire to spare your child as much suffering as possible is natural and right. Mommies want to protect their children. We want to be our babies' heroes. We hurt when they hurt; their suffering is our suffering. But, ultimately, we are not in control of our child's fate. At the end of the day, even perfectly physically healthy people suffer in unimaginable ways, yet we do not say that it would be better if they had not been born. Suffering goes hand in hand with living. To live a life avoiding suffering is to never really live at all.

To quote C.S. Lewis:

" To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

3. Is it really merciful to kill those who are suffering?

There is much I would like to say about this; however, that will have to wait for another day. Instead, I would like for you to consider the following question: What if suffering serves a greater purpose than we can see?

4. Prenatal testing gives false positives.

It is true that the information pre-natal testing provides is neither moral not amoral. It's what we do with the information that brings about a moral or immoral act. However, one CANNOT know in advance how a child's life will be based on prenatal testing.

Furthermore, while I do not intend to write an pro-life apologetic here (that's a topic for another post), I would like to point out that abortion always involves three people: the mother, the doctor, and the unborn child. We know from a purely scientific perspective that human life begins at conception. Abortion, no matter what the circumstances, always involves the killing of an innocent human being. As the saying goes, "Your right to swing your arms freely, stops at the other person's nose." A mother never has the right to take the life of her unborn child, end of story.

Furthermore, the capacity to end pregnancies at will does not make us more fully human, it makes us less than human. 

5. Pregnancy is not a punishment for having sex. 

It is a consequence and there is a difference. First and foremost, pregnancy is a natural (and I would say, beautiful) result of the physical union of one man and one women. It is the joining of two people in the most intimate way possible and the creation of a new soul. When you create a baby with someone, you are irreversibly linking your DNA with theirs and forever changing the genetic makeup of the human race. It's an incredible thing, really. 

Part of being an adult is making decisions. All decisions have consequences, both positive and negative. For example, if I choose to stay up all night playing video games before an exam, I'm probably not going to do so hot. My poor performance would be a consequence of my decision. Sex is an adult decision, and it comes with responsibilities--social, emotional, relational, and financial. To pretend that it is possible to have sex without consequences is foolishness. When an adult chooses to engage in it, they must recognize that should they or their partner get pregnant, they are now responsible for that child's life. They are not their own anymore, they have another life depending on them. That life is a person who has every much a right to life as they do.

In conclusion:
You see Emily, the answer to your son's suffering isn't found in the ending of his suffering. The answer to suffering is in the gospel.

So in light of that, I urge you to run to Christ, Emily.
"Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus Himself said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."(Matthew 11:28-29).


God's promises are glorious, but they only apply to His children. The Gospel of John says "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." If today God has worked in your heart and you see that truly, you deserve death for your sins, then look to Christ and know that if you turn from your sins (repent) and put your trust in Jesus Christ as your only means of salvation (believe) that you will be forgiven.

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 

(Hebrews 3:15)

To all the mothers out there who are caring for terminally ill and permanently disabled children: Hang on, there is hope. Society may give up on your children. The medical community may give up on your children. But you must never give up on your children. Never lose hope. You may never see the fruit of your labor on this side of eternity, but God will not forget your work and labor of love (Hebrews 6:10).

And death came knocking

Death came knocking,
Arrayed in popularity, prosperity and the promise of fulfillment.
she called out
"stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant,
come to my house, and you will see,
that you can have all you ever wanted"

Enticed, mind raceing at all the possibilities
cracking the door for "just one peek!"
Not seeing that under that shimmering gown
there lay a corpse
And in her house, the dead are there
for her guests are in the depths of hell

Entranced, heart desiring to be master of my own fate 
ready to forsake the arms of my first love
who died and bled so I could be free
ready to forget His promises
of true peace and true joy
ready to fling away His sacrifice
and put Him to open shame

Then I remembered, how the Lord has said
"You fool! Tonight your life will be required of you!"
and "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" 
and "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth
and "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God"
I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes....
 
Scripture references in order of use (Proverbs 9:13-17, Revelation 2:4, Hebrews 6:6, Luke 12:15-29, James 4:4, Revelation 3:16, Luke 9:62, Job 42:6)




I wrote this today in response to some serious soul searching and repenting the past few days. It's meant to be a spoken word (that is a poem that is performed). I'm usually not much for creative writing, but occasionally I manage to produce something of marginal quality. 

The semester is in full swing now. It's week seven and things are getting hectic. I'm carrying 18 credits this semester (along with 10-12 hours of clinical), on top of attempting to write my Honors thesis, maintain two jobs and an active church involvement. Everyday there are a million things grasping for my attention. And sadly in all this noise, I lost my focus.

I stopped living for His glory and started living for my own.

I spent this weekend laid low with a stomach virus of epic proportions, hardly able to get out of bed until Sunday, and even then, only with great effort. However, praise the Lord for that stomach virus! It forced me to finally stop moving long enough to see the direction I had been heading. I can see that this illness was indeed mercy from the Lord. Had I continued any longer in my foolishness, I would have plunged right over the spiritual cliff I was heading towards.

I get so caught up with the cares of this world. The lure of academic and career success, of relational success in marriage, of physical success in training and dieting pulls me away from my God. It's so deadly because the cares of this world slip into my life and grab a hold of my heart so slowly as to be almost imperceptible.

It is so shameful, how I could I turn my heart away to idols? After all my dear, sweet savior has done for me, how could I give my love to another? As I consider the weight of my sin, I frequently weep. It was my sin that nailed my savior to the cross. God should have crushed me, cleansed the earth from the filthiness of my depravity. Yet, God choose to crush His Son instead. The only human being who never left a sin stain on this world. Jesus loved us, served us, healed us and taught us about God. Yet we crucified Him, as surely as if we nailed His bloody hands the cross ourselves.

I am praising God today for His eternal patience. 

Thinspiration

If you've never heard of the above term, I would read this article. 

The idea of thinspiration is not a new concept to me. My younger sister actually introduced it to me as a way to motivate myself to loose weight in high school. I would toy with the idea of trying to follow their rules to achieve 'perfection'. I never followed through though. At that point in time I believed that this was a sign of gross personal failure. Now I see, that despite my indoctrination to the world of thin-at-all costs, I still had a semblance of a healthy psyche and healthy body image. Even as an unbeliever I knew there was something seriously sick and twisted about their way of thinking.

To be perfectly honest, even today, when I see so called "thinspiration," I am very tempted to believe the lies the pictures promote.

"If you were thinner, you'd be happier"
"If you were thinner, guys would like you more"
"No one will ever love you if you don't loose weight"
"You will never matter as long as you are fat" 

These lies are so deceptive and twisted. They will take over your life if you let them.  They are so dangerous because they strike right at the heart of a women. What woman can say that she does not, at the core of her, wish to be loved and cherished? Whenever I see pictures of 'thinspo', I am simultaneously disgusted and entranced. And sadly, sometimes I find myself wondering if perhaps they are right.

But these are lies. Lies straight from hell.

But, it is not enough to simply recognize the lie, we must also replace the lie with the truth.

The truth is, no matter how skinny you are, you will never feel skinny enough.
The truth is, if you hate who you are now, there is nothing you can do that will change those feelings.
The truth is, perfection is not attainable by human methods.
The truth, being skinny will not fulfill your deep desire for love and acceptance

All of these things will only leave you dry and empty, always searching but never satisfied.

Ladies, all of these lies must be addressed with the gospel. It is our only hope.

Jesus himself said: 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

and,

 "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." (Revelation 21:6) 

and once again,  

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35) 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who 'Himself is our peace' (Ephesians 2:14), lived a perfect life, He never sinned, not even once (Hebrews 4:15-16). Yet, he choose to bear the eternal wrath of God for us, even when we hated Him (Romans 5:1-9). "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Friends, if you have been struggling with an eating disorder. I just want to encourage you, there is hope! There is freedom from bondage to sin. If we run to Christ, He can make us whole.  Look to Christ!

Who Would You Save: Response

This is what am submitting as my answer to the question posed by my ethics teacher. You can see the question Here.

I am a follower of Christ. I attempt to make all of my decisions in accordance with the teaching of the Bible, as I believe it to be the word of God (though I am far from perfect in my understanding and application).  I have included scripture references, if you are interested in following my argument.

My Biblical Presuppositions:

1. No one deserves to be cured. No matter how they contracted the virus. It would be sinful to declare someone morally superior to another person, because no one is. (Romans 3:10, 3:23, 6:23, Isaiah 53:6).

2.  All people are created in the image of God and are of equal value.  (Genesis 1:27)

3. It is vanity to believe that we have the ability to “save” someone.  God is ultimately in control of life. He is sovereign. (Hebrews 9:27-29, Colossians 1:16, Job 14:5, Acts 17:25-16)

4. There is always a way out of every moral quandary. God will always provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). If this were a real situation God would make the correct choice apparent through prayer, bible reading and seeking wise counsel.

5. We must submit our selves to the will of God and be careful not to violate our consciences.

 6. God is merciful and loving, He works all things out for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28, Psalm 103)

My personal presuppositions: (not absolute and up for debate)

1. I believe that as a society we has a duty to protect and promote the welfare of our children first and foremost.

2. Generally, the policy for scarce medical resources (ex. organs for transplant) is to treat the sickest first and then those who are most likely to benefit and survive the treatment process.

Therefore these are my suggestions:

1. Go to great lengths to get more money and purchase more vaccines.

If this is nor possible:

2. Give everyone a ½ dose and pray.

If that is not possible:

3. Give the doses to those under 18 and then the five sickest adults.

Ultimately, we must not attempt to choose people based on their supposed value or worthiness.

Who would you save?

This is an assignment for my nursing ethics class. I want some opinions. Please tell me how you decided.

I will post what I submitted in a few days.

You have a vaccine that cures AIDS. But you only have 7. Who do you choose?

1) A 15 year old African American female was exposed to the virus through her 14 year old boyfriend. She comes from a two parent, middle class family, attends junior high school and is the fifth of nine children.
2) A 52 year of Caucasian business executive and father of four, recently released from a federal penitentiary where he served two years for insider trading on the bond market, contracted the virus during a minor medical procedure in the prison hospital. Currently, he is doing 1000 hours of community service teaching job skills and money management to inner city youths.
3) A 35 year old Hispanic mother of one child, 5 years of age, was exposed to the virus during an emergency blood transfusion. She has been happily married to her second husband for three years ( her first husband, the girl's father, left the community and maintains no contact with either of them).
4) A 40 year old single African United Nations refugee settlement worker is responsible for placing thousands of refugee children from war torn countries in permanent adoptive families. A member of an African tribe that practices polygamy, he was exposed to the virus through one of his mates. He has many children by a number of women.
5) A 23 year old single Caucasian female is training to become an Olympic athlete. Her family has made great sacrifices so that she might reach her full potential as an athlete. She is concerned that if she does not get the vaccine, she will not be able to repay them for the sacrifices they have made.
6) A 38 year old single Asian male is one of the few artists to have survived the persecution in his homeland and he seeks to perpetuate the artistic traditions of his people.
7) A 72 year old mother, grandmother and wife is the sole caretaker of her 76 year old husband who has severe arthritis.
8) A 49 year old white woman with four children (one of whom is developmentally disabled) is from an upper middle class background and was probably exposed to the virus during an extramarital affair.
 9) A 56 year old Hispanic male, with a wife and seven children, was also most likely exposed to the virus during an extramarital affair. He is a machinist and the sole support of his family.
10) A 20 year old single college student majoring in education has no idea how she became exposed to the virus and has not told her family that she tests positive for HIV.
11) An 18 month old baby was exposed to the virus through his mother, who has a full blown case of AIDS. His father has already died of the disease.
12) A 49 year old clergyman is the spiritual guide to the congregants of the largest church in the state. He has blessed thousands of babies, presided over hundreds of weddings and funerals, and provided solace and support to countless persons who needed it.
13) A 29 year old house husband takes care of a house and three children while his wife attends medical school and works part-time as a lab technician.
14) A 56 year old single Caucasian genetic researcher is close to completing work on finding a cure for diabetes, which has a good possibility to ultimately resulting in the perfection of a gene-altering procedure that would rid us of the scourge of diabetes.

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhod

"My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things — that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." ~ John Newton

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is a volume edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. It covers many different topics from male headship and biblical submission to the roles for women in the Church to the dangers of the modern feminist movement. I would highly recommended this volume to any Christian wishing to get a good understanding of the breath and depth of the many issues surrounding gender roles, identity and function from a biblical perspective.

I've been reading this book on and off over my time here in Alaska. It's been very good food for thought. I have particularly appreciated the chapter by Elizabeth Elliot entitled The Essence of Femininity: A personal perspective.  Elizabeth Elliot has always been a personal hero of mine and I have been blessed by many of her other books.  I enjoyed this chapter immensely because it shined some light on a burning question I have had for the past two years, 'What does it mean to be a Christian Woman?'

When I was a new believer, I nearly despaired of ever managing to be a 'good' Christian woman.  I thought I had to be quiet, non-confrontational and demure. Three things I most certainly was not! In my eyes, the perfect Christian woman was thin, stylish and short. She never spoke out of turn or gave her opinion or disagreed with someone. I knew that the girl I was previously could not longer be (a Proverbs 7 women, if there ever was one!). But, who to become I was unsure.

By the grace of God, over the past two years I have had the blessing of having many older Godly women pour into my life. Through their examples, I have seen that Christian women do not come prepackaged and saran-wrapped with flawless complexions and personalities. I have seen that God is personally responsible for molding and creating each of us with our own unique bodies and unique dispositions. I can also see that God is refining us to be more like His Son, not more like American's Next Top Model or more like Martha Stewart, Betty Crocker or Oprah. He has a unique plan for each of, and a unique identity to be found only in Christ. Some of us must learn to speak more boldly, and some of us, well...we must learn to shut up! I am so thankful for all the women at GBC, FBC and the Navigators who have personally invested in me and shown me what it means to be a women who loves the Lord.

This is just a piece of my ongoing journey to Biblical Womanhood:
(Maybe you will see part of your story in mine)

Growing up as a nominal Christian in public school, you could say that I did not develop the healthiest understanding of gender roles. For most of my childhood, I never strongly identified with the world of women. I knew I was a girl biologically, and I knew I wanted to grow up and marry a boy, but beyond that I was very confused. I had very few girl friends, and spent most of my time in what could be seen as traditionally boy pursuits. The truth was, I was afraid of girls. I had been teased for being overweight and ugly by a few girls in grade school, so I assumed all girls hated me. I believed what they told me, that I was ugly and would never be a real girl. So at some point in time, somewhere inside my head, I decided that if I couldn't be good at being a girl, I would be good at being something else. So I took up the defensive position. In order to save myself the pain of rejection, I became hard and bitter. Along with that I became arrogant, prideful and just plain mean. I did my best to always be 'one of the guys', because I felt safer there. I wanted to be the leader: strong, brave, independent, needing no one.

All of this was a farce to cover the ashes of my broken heart.

However, in high school things changed, I began to loose weight and all of a sudden I noticed that guys looked at me a little differently than they used to. 'Eureka!' I thought 'maybe if I have a boyfriend, then I'll be a real girl'. Because I was still dead in my sins and trespasses, this meant one thing to me: POWER. I quickly realized that if I dressed a certain way, talked a certain way, laughed a certain way, that certain types of guys would pay attention to me. Oh, how I loved attention! After years of being ignored, I could finally commandeer the attention I so craved. You could say a I began to prey upon men (boys really), hapless 'nerdy' guys who had as low a self-image as I did. I would flirt with them, attract their attention and loyalty for as long as I desired and then I would dispose of them. Oh what a beast I was! On the outside, I looked like any other teenage serial dater, but on the inside I was nothing more than a flirtatious, manipulative whore.

Then everything changed!

I met Him.

I met my real knight in shinning armor on September 28th, 2009. He  'delivered me from the power of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of His love...' (Colossians 1:13). He gave me a new heart and a new spirit, He took my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). I met the man who will 'never leave me nor forsake me' (Hebrews 13:5). I met my savior, my redeemer, my greatest friend and true love, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

This, my friends is why I am so thankful for the gospel! Jesus Christ redeemed me from from my former life! He is the only reason I am unashamed to tell you this story. The truth about who I used to be is one of the greatest shames of my life. But, Christ has taken my filthy rags and given me His robes of righteousness! He has taken my broken heart and made it whole. God is so gracious. I deserved death and eternal punishment for my sins, but instead He has given me life anew and the sure hope of eternity!

Therefore, I have renounced the hidden things of shame and through The Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:2, Romans 8:13)

 and Therefore, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe..." (Romans 1:16)

Alaska Wildfie Conservation Center

Today was an amazing day. I can't even begin to describe the things I've seen. We drove down to the town of Girdwood (about 45 minutes out of Anchorage). Lori has a year long membership to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It's a 200 acre home to over 100 animals (or so the signs say). The drive was incredible. The pictures speak volumes more then I ever could. I wish my mind had a USB port so I could download and preserve everything I saw today. Alaska is certainly the most unique place I have ever visited.

The Drive to Portage

Go Bulls!

Breathtaking

A "Ghost Forest"

 Interesting fact, in 1964 there was a massive earthquake in Alaska. It was the third biggest earthquake in recorded history and the biggest earthquake in North America. It completely destroyed the town of Portage (it was never rebuilt). In Portage the ground dropped ten feet, which caused salt water to rush in. This killed the trees, but at the same time preserved them, leaving behind "forests" of dead trees, aptly named ghost forests.

Wood Bison are only found in Alaska and Canada. They are very different from your typical plains bison.

My winter gear. It was 20 degrees outside, but I was toasty warm!

We also drove down to Portage lake. You can see glaciers there. Glaciers are hard to distinguish from the mountains in the winter, as everything is covered in snow. But, if you look closely you can see the clear blue ice of the glaciers in the hollows between mountain peaks.

For some size perspective: that's me sitting on the rocks.

The sunset reflecting on the mountains on the drive home.