A month already ?! Pt.1
Wow! Isn't it incredible how time flies? What seems like a week has somehow turned into a month. Our flight from NC to AK went smoothly. We saved all of the lovely cards we received at our going away party and read them with tear-filled eyes. After 23 hours of traveling, 3 different planes, and a belly full of homemade jerky, we arrived safely in 10-degree weather. We waited patiently for our 8 boxes to slide off the luggage belt and headed to load up our rental truck. As we pulled out of the parking garage we began to see mounds and mounds of white snow. The road was coated with thick snow. Like nothing we had ever seen. Imagine being dropped into the middle of a beautiful snow globe. We will never forget thefeeling of landing in Alaska. Our excitement continued to grow.
The following day Sage started to cough and have a terrible fever. Not long after Jude fell sick and then Ethan succumbed to this terrible virus that was running rampant through the house. Thankfully I (Denise) remained well, allowing me to care for my family 24/7. This horrible illness lasted well past Christmas. Although everyone felt under the weather we still celebrated a beautiful white Christmas with The Christiansens. Jay and Stacy graciously opened their home to us. They have been friends of Ethan for 15 years now. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and exchanged gifts with one another and continued to heal. New Year's arrived and everyone was back to normal. Back to feeling excited about our mission. We decided to venture out. It was a frigid 3 degrees and we only had 4 hours of sunlight to burn. Bundled up in layers we hopped in our “new to us” Jeep and drove to the grocery store. We were in shock. There was ice on the inside of our windows, cars were sliding all over the road, and there were multiple car accidents on the way. Then we were all silent as we were watching this new world around us. I began to pray out loud for the people involved in the car accident near Walmart where we were going to. As we turned into the parking lot we saw an ambulance and two medics loading up a homeless man. He seemed to be frozen. His legs were crossed in a seated position still as they lifted him off of the cold frozen ground. My prayer turned into a cry of sorrow and heartbreak. We couldn't believe what we had just witnessed. Our eyes and hearts had been completely open. This is why we are here. The lost, the hurting, and the needy. My mind began to race. How can we impact Alaska? How can we make a difference?
