49er

Spending 7 days exploring Alaska with my two oldest sons was an amazing opportunity.  Especially in light of how rapidly things have changed for my family - in such a short amount of time.  We've gone from 3.5 years of living in the mental & emotional whirlpools that form from waiting, to "we're moving where?!".  So, for us to even accept the idea that a big boat was going to fling us up into a frigid Eden for a week was a bit too random to process. 

The views were other-worldly.  So pure.  It was if the millions of tourists that have plunged into Alaskan waters & stomped through its primeval forests, did so while wearing Zip-lock baggie suits.  Everywhere we went felt virtually untouched,      unexplored.  Apparently, this is owed to its massive size.  Texas is big & rightfully associated with everything large, but it ain't nothin' compared to the magnitude of ole #49.  Literally at every turn we were assaulted with another stupefying vista.  My boys & I are so grateful to have had this rare chance to see it together.  We'll never forget it...

...and yet, sometimes we will. 

How is it that after being immersed in a surrealistic paradise, literally tasting & breathing all that it has to offer, we still let the hot & humid realities of our lives erase those memories?  It really happened - we were there for cryin' out loud!  We saw near perfect natural majesties all around us & ate demi-god-like food for one entire week of our lives, and we still wind up falling into the myopic trap of fear, temptation, and hardship.  Why is that?!!

No matter how far we fling ourselves out from our everyday views, we will never be able to shake off this flesh-suit & find complete freedom through anything this spinning rock has to offer.  Unfortunately, it's in our DNA.  A couple of guys sealed it for the rest of us about 8,000 years ago & we haven't been able to break free from their behavioral pattern ever since.  The only escape that's truly effective & lasting is found in what we haven't seen yet.  It lies beyond the offerings of this rotating mass of dirt.  It's bigger than our sense of "BIG".  Purer than our visions of untouched snow. 

Memories have their place in shaping our lives for the good, but they do end up fading. 

God's goodness is on constant refresh.  His strength is perfect in re-centering my fickle human responses to this highly imperfect world.   I'm so thankful for what lies beyond the majesty of an Alaskan skyline.  That, although mind-blowingly beautiful, the stunning fix of natural wonders have their limits.  My hope lies in a God who has none.