Recap of the 1st Sunday in Isolation

Time for a recap of this first Sunday in Isolation. In a recent briefing from Governor Dunleavy he said, "Alaskans, get outside. Just stay 6 feet away from others (being outside your family members)."

 This seemed like great advice on this sunny, spring day. The girls and I headed out to the Matanuska River Trail. 

Me, Krista, Stacia 

We saw a couple on their way out as we began. We saw a family along the trail. That was it for people. It was gorgeous and peaceful.

 There are quite a few groomed trails...great for skiing. We don't have skiis...but we enjoyed the trails. The problem came when we got off the trails to go down to the river and then walked back along the river....I kept stepping and going up to my bum in snow.

Check it out! Six feet apart. 

Alaska takes my breath away and revives my spirit!

 On our way home we drove by the kids' homes...Baachan needed a grandkids fix....we didn't see any D's - but we noted a new spring flower in their window. Cory was outside...we didn't see Benny, but Cory pointed us out to him....Ah...a sweet sight!

This happened. I believe they finished 9 squares. I am thinking I CAN do this and we do have a lot of fabric we were just given. 

Puzzles and sewing

Check out the snow behind her

The guys enjoyed a game of  Dominion 

We gave Dad a humorous book for his birthday last week. He has kept us laughing all week.

Dad Jokes/Pastor Jokes

It's getting real - I pulled out some of the garden squash and attempted to make it edible. We ate it. I'll keep trying. I may try to air fry or roast the next batch.....

We got Lori, my cousin, on Zoom and played a game of Farkle together!

There are times I love technology - today is one of those days.

Hospitality Chai & Quarantine Goals

 While Krista made breakfast, I assembled all the ingredient to make a  sugar-free Chai tea. 

Louise, and her husband, run the Travis Hospitality House. Lousie's homemade chai tea mix available at every Hospitality House meeting. She does not share the recipe until one moves to their next duty station. Since the gals at Travis' retreat were missing their Bible study...she brought some mix to the retreat. I LOVE chai tea.

Louise graciously sent me the recipe after the retreat, with the agreement I will not share the recipe. I have spent the past 7 weeks amassing all the ingredients. Ironically, instant tea powder was the hardest ingredient to find. I used Pyure (stevia) instead of sugar...and made sure all the ingredients were sugar free....it's YUMMY.   As I assembled the mix, I tried to come up with a great name for this tea and finally decided, "Hospitality Chai," is a good enough name. Krista thinks its yummy too.  

Armed with cups of tea we sat around the table and discussed "Quarantine Goals"*.  I was motivated by Nate sharing he plans to finish his masters while on lock down. WHUT? 

 Hmmm...we talked about how to redeem the extra time we have around home.

• Michael plans to finish some woodworking projects
• Krista, Stacia and I want to continue our health regime
• Alex wants to finish high-school
• Stacia hopes to finish her freshman year early
• Krista is making a Quarantine Quilt
• Stacia is working on a surprise for a sister 
• Dad's goal is "to stay alive" - alright then! 
• I plan to spend time catching up the blog
• Stacia and I want to go outside each day
• There was talk of re-starting our YouTube channel
• I NEED to start seeds so we can plant a garden in June
• We want to laugh together at least once a day; big laughs
• We plan to move more snow, read, play games, rest, connect

We've got goals! 

*Quarantine - we realize we are NOT really quarantined here. We are choosing to isolate, self-quarantine out of love for Dad and for our community. 

Pajama Sunday or When the Moose Came to Church

Krista has tried to talk every staff she's worked with into having "Pajama Sunday." Finally, today, we had PAJAMA SUNDAY! We started with a LATE breakfast (because we NEVER have a late breakfast on Sundays) of breakfast burritos. 

Popcorn signaled it was time for church!  We staged a couple of photos and settled in to watch Pastor Shannon's message. (Because I honestly was paying attention and not bopping around getting photos). 

Last week we started a new series at church, "Saved." The plan is for Michael, Shannon, and Krista to each preach on various aspects of salvation.  Moving to a new venue is an added challenge! We discussed having Sunday messages to reflect our new dynamic, rather than trying to recreate a Sunday a.m. service online. We were glad Pastor Shannon had the first week. LOL  These are short online clips, meant to be discussed as a family and online. He had also posted worship play lists and a kids' video.

Michael shared last week that we "belong." Today, Pastor shared we are "blessed," which has little to do with external circumstances. He shared how we are blessed by God with His presence, purpose and peace.

After we watched the clip we discussed which of the "p" words impacted each of us personally. This led to insight as to "where" each of us are with  Covid-19 and to a good discussion. Three of us felt the word "peace" hit home, 2 "purpose," 1 "presence," and 1 "power to become or live like Christ."  Yeah, it's a houseful of pastors (four of us) you KNEW there would be at least one addition. ::snort:: We came to the conclusion that it all flows from presence....when I walk in relationship with Him, His presence leads to peace, purpose, and power. 

We knew our "service" was over when the moose came to church!  

This one concerned us most...thought she may have her calf outside our window!

Thus, ends our first church service during this season of life.

#thechurchhasleftthebuilding