life on earth and corrosion

One of the outside (not owned by my company) planes that we maintain is an old DeHavilland Beaver.  Produced in the 50s, they were built to be a bush plane.  There are a few around here that are well maintained, making them a dream machine to work on and see flying.  The one we get to work on was operated in Hawaii for many years, flying in and out of salt water.  Corossive environments such as that are detrimental to aircraft structures, and extreme measures are required to keep them safe. 

That got me thinking about life as a Christian.  Growing up, I often dreamed about a point of maturity where the Christian walk will be easier.  As if there is a point where I will be so tight with God, that I don't even entertain distractions.  But as I have grown up, I am realizing the case will never be.  I think even in Heaven we will be growing and building our relationships with God.  Sure the sin nature will be gone, so it probably will be easier.  But that's not the point I am going for here. 

As I was pondering why it is so hard to maintain a relationship with God, I thought about the world in which I live.  I realized that the problem isn't just me being bad at relationships, its the environment, kind of like float planes in salt water.  So what do I do with this information?  Do I just let my plane sit in the harbor and rot?  Or do I drag it onto shore, spending hours washing it off with fresh water, inspecting to make sure the paint is keeping the metal from being exposed, and coat all hardware with a rust-inhibiting chemical? 

Do I accept the environmental hazards, and let my relationship with Christ fall victim to harsh conditions, or do I see the challenge, and take extra precaution to protect myself from the world? 

If you know me at all, you probably know which option I strive to achieve.  It's just comforting to me to be able to identify why it is difficult :)

anticipation

Let's face it, its been a cold winter.  For an entire month, the temperature crept above zero for less than two days.  Most of the time it hovered around -30.  The bitter cold made an escape to a warm, tropical destination much sweeter.  Mom and I begun planning our trip to Hawaii in October, but when the abnormally long cold snap came, I was even more grateful.

And everyone around me knew it. 

At work, I reported to co-workers how many days before I would be lounging on a warm beach.

At Bible study, the ladies would roll their eyes at my praise: an upcoming tropical getaway.

Even the girls were giving me advice on sunbathing and staying away from surfers. 

When I went into Anchorage, I let the world know where I was headed.  From the people at the doctor's office to the people standing in line with me at the coffee shop, everyone was aware, and probably a little jealous, that I was escaping the cold and darkness for two whole weeks. 

Based on the cold, Hawaii seems like paradise.  But as I thought about how excited I was to share about my temporary escape, I started to wonder, Why am I not more excited to share about my permanent escape?


I realized that Hawaii may seem like paradise, but its not heaven.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast.  Its beautiful and wonderful there.  But not heaven. 

Heaven is heaven.

I am going there.  And not just for two weeks, but forever.  I get to spend forever in a place that is infinitely more wonderful than Hawaii.

Forever.  

Now that is a little more exciting than getting out of the cold for a couple weeks.  

Praise the Lord for Safety

http://www.ktva.com/home/top-stories/Two-Planes-Collide-Midair-Neither-Pilot-Saw-the-Other-Craft-Until-Collision-125388748.html

(sorry for not taking the time to figure out how to embed the video)

This happened yesterday afternoon, to a plane that I see in the hangar about every other week. The Lord is good.

New Year's Resolutions...

Well, this year, my list had 11 points on it. Of that list, I plan on sharing 7 of them. Some are more related than others, so that is why you will see random numbers of the list, and not see other numbers at all. Also are the super secret 12-14. I should probably kill you for simply knowing of those points. However, I don't forsee any of those actually happening by the dawn of 2012, so you don't have much to worry about.

Well, here goes!

1. Spend more time with God. This is always (well, on the years that I actually bother with resolutions) the first on my list. I realize that it isn't defined by any parameters indicating how I should accomplish this goal, which makes it difficult to grade how well I did on this at the end of the year. However, having it listed every year allows me to reflect on the time I do spend with God, and how I need to address my relationship with Him.

Some things I plan on doing to accomplish this year's goal are as follows. I plan on doing more Bible study than just basic reading and devotional thoughts. Instead of clinging to a single verse or phrase, I hope to supplement Biblical reading with other in depth study material: commentaries, studies, etc. I also would like to increase my time in worship. Last spring, a friend and I began pursuing (in Anchorage) a prayer and worship night that I will be working to establish here. Its going to look a little different than the original model we had in mind, but I feel that it will work well in the community. More on that as it develops! The most dramatic increase I hope to see in this department is prayer. I, and many of my brothers and sisters, do not spend enough time in prayer.


7. Spend more time with the youth. I live in a unique community, as I am sure you understand. There is a good sized group (about 6 girls) of middle schoolers that have decided that I am the best thing since online shopping (ok so online shopping is a pretty recent fad. But let me tell you, its THE thing to do out here!). I know that part of their attention comes from me being new in town. They already know everyone else, but this new person must be SO cool, since she wants to hang out with us! Ok, its maybe not that extreme, but I think that's the basic idea. And I remember being that age. I LOVED the attention of the older girls. I remember putting them on par with all my favorite super heros. Its really neat to be able to be that older girl. But don't worry, I won't be wearing any spandex to prove my super powers.

I realize that this is a very important responsibility. These girls are SO easily influenced, and this is the most important time as they begin exploring life for themselves instead of just what mom and dad say. As they have the opportunity to make their faith there own, they need role models in their life to show them how to live, to give them sound advice, and to keep them accountable as Christian women. One wrong word, one piece of misled advice, and I could be sending these girls into a world of hurt. Goodness, how to I avoid that? Step 1: trust the Lord to speak through me. Step 2: refer to point 1 above. The only way to encourage these girls
to grow in the Lord is to immerse myself in God's word. I want these girls to grow in HIS wisdom and teaching, not mine. I want to encourage them with God's love that they see in me, nothing that I do. And I want them to be the cool Godly super hero to their own group of preteens when they are my age.

the problem with being still...

... Is God usually starts talking. And its not always things that i want to hear. (But then again, how often am I going to hear God saying, "Good job! YOU are doing an excellent job, look at YOU go!") I have made pros and cons lists, tried to argue it in my head, and otherwise convince myself one way or the other. But that reasoning method still has an awful lot to do with me. I think I need to take a step back and put God at the center of my reasoning instead of me.

I have been thinking a lot about Moses recently, and comparing my life to some lessons learned from him.

He tried to liberate one Israelite doing his own thing, by killing the Egyptian. And what happened? He spent the next 40 years in the desert tending sheep.
Parallel one: I tried to go to college on my own. Am I going to be paying off my school bills until I am 40?

Fast forward 40 years. He settled into his life when all the sudden God calls him to lead. Moses hits this crisis of belief. To ignore it would be disobedience. To follow it would mean a total, radical change of life. Of course, Moses shows his self-centeredness with the excuses he starts throwing out. "I can't speak, how will they know I am from you? Me, me, me, me me...." Moses would have to forget about all the things that make up Moses, and go out as a servant of God.

Parallel two: No, God is not calling me to lead (not yet anyways). But I keep getting pushed toward a possible job opportunity. Its out in the middle of nowhere (accessible only by air). It's not exactly the hopping location for a single 20 something to launch her thrilling social life. Grocery shopping is a little different out there... I dont even know how it works. I just know they have powdered milk and tang. I know a bunch of people that are coming up this way this summer, and I was REALLY looking forward to spending some weekends with them. Do you hear my excuses rooted in the same selfish motives as Moses?
One nice piece is that it won't be a "rest of my life" sort of move. It would definitely be career building, and I could see where I go from there.

I think it really comes down to giving up myself and my selfish motives for something that would be a couple years of my life. It would be a career building opportunity, and a big networking opportunity. If this is even God's will. Which, I get the feeling that it is. But lots of prayer will be going into this. I would appreciate you adding to it!

somewhere between being still and accomplishing the to do list

I have so many things to do. Constantly swirling around my head is a list of things I need to accomplish, things I want to accomplish, and things I dont need to do, but would make me much happier. Then I start stressing about such things, and try to remember to let God be priority in my life. Then comes the voice that says "Be still and know that I AM God." Well, how is that supposed to help with the things I am trying to accomplish? In addition to all the things stressing me out, God is vying for my time. He shouldn't be in the same dimension as my to do lists.

But unlike everything else, He is not one to be multi-tasked. I can make a meal and do dishes at the same time. But I can't be still and vacuum at the same time. I try to put His time into the category of things that I do for enjoyment. I can be still and play cello, right? No. When I am playing cello, it takes a lot of brain power to read music, translate it into fingerings and bowings, and make it sound decent. Not a lot of being still.

So what am I doing when I should be either working on the to do list or being still? Blogging. Hopefully that falls under the category of "dont need to do but makes me much happier."