Prayer Request
April 15th, 2008
This is my aunt, Janet, who is nearing the end of her tour in Iraq. She emailed the family asking us to pray for her for what sounds like a serious physical problem, so I am passing this request on to you all, her brothers and sisters in Christ, family, and friends. She’s due to come home around May 23rd. Please pray her home!
Thank you.
~ Donna
Hellooooooo?????
March 30th, 2008
Thought I would stop in and grease the blogging wheels here at An Heir of Grace. I’m drafting a post that will explain some big changes that are coming up in our lives rather quickly. Look for it tomorrow (Mon). I kept getting interrupted and didn’t finish it tonight.
This weekend Bren attended the ROTC Ball in Fairbanks with her friend G. They had a wonderful time and she reported afterward that the Ball was much more fun and classy than the prom was last year. Thankfully she has decided to forego the prom this year, even though she’s been invited by an upperclassman. Having a teenage girl can be expensive this time of year! But, as you can see by the pic, I think she’s worth every penny. The girl cleans up perdy good :)
click on pic to enlarge
I haven’t had time to write yet this weekend. Bren took this pic of us tonight at work…think we look alike?
Photo Friday
December 21st, 2007
A guy-friend of Bren’s came over last night so she could color his hair. What a riot that was.
Priceless expression:
Teenagers
November 20th, 2007
Have I mentioned that I really like my job? A few years ago I would have never guessed that I would be working at a youth center—especially with teenagers.
For all of my adult life I have never really been good with children. One on one I would be fine as long as I was dealing with a good kid—but groups of kids, or bratty kids would just freak me out, and they knew it. It would take them no time at all to spot my weakness, and after that, there was no hope for building any kind of rapport with the rugrats.
The only real interaction I had with teenagers was at church, and most of them wouldn’t even return a polite “hello” to a passing adult, so I didn’t bother trying to engage them. When Bren became a teenager we realized that if we were ever going to let her go out and spend time with other teens, we were going to have to get to know them since we wouldn’t allow her to hang out with kids we didn’t know. So Rick and I began spending time at the school, going to games, volunteering for events, etc., and over the school year we got to know many of the teens and their families real well and enjoyed their company.
Now that I get to spend a few hours every afternoon with teens, I have the opportunity to observe and appreciate them as individuals; they’re not blurry faces in a crowd anymore. Let me introduce you to a few (these are not their real names). Read the rest of this entry »
1f5fShe Gets Me
November 15th, 2007
I left the house early yesterday so I had time to run some errands before I had to be in to work at one. With my little missions complete, a growl from my stoma reminded me that I hadn’t eaten anything yet that morning, so I stopped by the food court and grabbed a sandwich for lunch. While I ate I read my favorite magazine, Bookmarks, and came across a passage of writing by Isabel Allende that blew me away. I read it over three times. I love it when writers write about writing. What Isabel said in this statement sums up perfectly why I blog. I may have to look more into her writing.
For me life becomes real when I write it. What I don’t write is erased by the winds of oblivion. I forget a lot, my mind betrays me, I can’t recall places, names, dates, or faces, but I never forget a good story…or a significant dream. Writing is a silent introspection, a journey to the dark caverns of memory and the soul. Fiction [writing], like memory, moves from revelation to revelation. I write because I need to remember and overcome. It is from memory and a sense of loss that the passion to create emerges.
Pics
November 11th, 2007
Here are some recent pics:
Faith and Bren at a school football game.
Bren after making her first snow angel of the season.
Bren with Erik after making snow angels.
Summer
June 11th, 2007
It never gets dark here in Fairbanks in the summer. But you probably already knew that. The other night I was driving Bren’s boyfriend home at 11 p.m. and was searching frantically for my sunglasses because the sun was so intense.
At home I have only gotten black-out curtains for the master bedroom so that Rick can sleep, but now I can’t sleep in there because it’s too darn warm, even with the fan on. With the thermostat all the way down the heater is still coming on and we’re baking (must call housing maintenence!). I’ve taken to sleeping in the guest room (Hear that folks? GUEST ROOM. I have room for anyone who would love to visit Alaska). This morning I woke up still feeling tired after having gone to bed at 2 a.m. The sun was very bright shining in the window. I guessed it was about 11 a.m., but I didn’t want to look at the clock. Right then reveille sounded. Ahhhhhh, only 7 a.m. I slept for three more hours.
The point of this story: 24 hours of light screws up everyone. Early Birds and Night Owls alike.
Unrequited Love
April 15th, 2007
It is half past eight on this Sunday morning. Rick is downstairs on the couch reading his economics text book, making mad dashes to the restroom every so often. Food poisoning? We won’t be going to church today. Bren is still in bed and will most likely remain horizontal until noon if I let her. She had a busy day yesterday working on the drama set from 2 – 10 p.m. after having a job interview for a junior counselor position at a summer science camp. The interview went very well, but she didn’t get the job which bummed her out big-time.
Then there’s the guy thing.
Now, Where Was I?…
February 15th, 2007
Seattle.
Our five days in Seattle were a whirlwind, made much more enjoyable by a little red Mustang rental car. I grinned like a teenager when the guy handed me the keys. Sports cars never did much for me visually, but those engines….Now I know what the fuss is all about.
Cancer.
Spending hours every day for three days in a cancer treatment hospital was very sobering. Bald heads. Weak bodies. Hopeless expressions. Fear. Angels in white coats. The level of care and compassion in the hospital staff was a bit of a shock to me after a lifetime of militalry hospitals. It was amazing to see and feel.
Friend.
Leah and I got to know each other better, as women who share a hotel room for a week are likely to do. She is strong and funny and insanely clean. I love her more now than I did a week ago. Leah and her husband returned to Seattle on Monday and she underwent a double mastectomy yesterday. We, along with others in our church family and her mother, are helping to take care of their four children while mom and dad are away. Please pray for Leah’s quick recovery and safe return home to her kiddos.
Bren.
Sigh. This week Bren hurt someone she cares about in order to obey God’s word (2 Cor 6:14-15). It was a test in believing God at His word and trusting Him completely for the outcome. It was, and continues to be tough. Knowing she did the right thing hasn’t made the knot in her stomach and ache in her heart go away. We’ve been praying together daily, asking that God will bring glory to Himself through this, because all she feels like she did was make a young person bitter.
Music.
Rick, Bren, and I, along with Bren’s friend Rachel, attended this concert in Fairbanks on Saturday. Perfection. Amazing. Beautiful.
I missed you.
Blessings.
Game Night
January 27th, 2007
In case you were wondering, this card game takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to play with six people. I tend not to like games that take a long time to play (ie. Monopoly, Risk, etc). My favorite so far is the electronic Catch Phrase which we usually play for a couple of hours on nights like these. 
Game night was a lot of fun as it always is. The food and company were wonderful, and for some reason the evening brought back memories of when I was young and our family would go to our friend’s home for the evening. My brother, sister, and I would love having all night to play games and goof off with the other family’s kids, sometimes seeing how well we could spy on the grown-ups or sneak sweets from the kitchen without getting caught. I remember climbing into a cold car in the middle of the night to go home, falling asleep, then my mom or dad waking us when we got home. We had seven kids in the house tonight for about six hours and they were so good. I don’t recall ever being that good!
We contemplated going up to the lodge afterward for some midnight sledding since it’s so warm, but we were too tired. It’s now 1:30 a.m.; time to put a movie in and fall asleep on the couch. We get to sleep in in the morning—oh joy! It doesn’t take much to make me happy :o)
I hope you all have a great weekend. Be safe.
A Plesant Afternoon
January 26th, 2007
Twenty-five degrees has never felt so good! It is 50 degrees warmer this morning than it was this time yesterday. The sun is noticeably higher in the sky, shining intensely. I opened all the windows downstairs to let in the fresh air. Even the poopers (doggies) seem happier. While driving this morning I glanced down the railroad tracks as I crossed them, and off in the distance a bit I could see a big moose lying in the snow just looking around. I like to think she was enjoying the sunshine as much as I was.
Rick came home for lunch early today so we could go pick the truck up from the garage. From the clicking noise in the engine compartment and the telltale pieces of rubber lying on the garage floor, we could tell one of the belts was shredding. I was surprised we were able to get it replaced so quickly.
Can I Have Your Tots?
January 8th, 2007
Went to the University bookstore today with a friend from church to pick up the girl’s books for their upcoming sign language class. I had fun taking photos around town while we were out. Nothing spectacular, just our stomping grounds. Visit my other blog to see a few more pics. As always, click to make ‘em get bigger.
I really did have an enjoyable day today and topped it off by going to a knitting class at Michael’s in Fairbanks with my new friend Abbie. (Previously I referred to her as “Addy” because I didn’t have permission to use her real name, but tonight she said it was fine if I did). I actually know just a tad about knitting; I can knit and purl, but neither very well, so I asked Bren if she would like to take my place behind the needles, and of course she said yes.
Our knitting instructor, Meg, was a hoot and had us laughing with her tales of living like the locals in an indoor plumbing-free cabin, complete with an outhouse which she refuses to use because it’s just so darn cold right now. Evidently, squatting in the woods is less traumatic than sitting on anything thoroughly cooled to something below zero, and I’m tempted to believe her. She got a membership to a gym so she could shower there every other day (and lucky her, no bathroom to clean!). She said the beauty of the summers here is almost worth putting up with the winters.
Bren really took a liking to Abbie tonight, as she’s classy and beautiful, witty, and full of manners. Oh, and she has an adorable pooper named Tater Tot. 
I’ve warned Abbie already that Bren just may dognap him. We look forward to watering this seed of a friendship and seeing what it grows to become.
Up too late as usual tonight. Must get some sleep.
God is so very good.
Hi MOM!
Frigid Friday
January 6th, 2007
It is nearly 2 a.m. now but it doesn’t feel like it. Bren and I returned home a little late tonight and so it doesn’t quite seem like bedtime yet.
Bren is sitting on the couch with her laptop browsing bn.com and eBay for works of Oscar Wilde who receives credit for the quote Wisdom comes with winters. (I heartily agree with the gentleman!) She spent the evening in the company of our church youth at the pastor’s home for a movie night, and I went into town with a new friend, Addy. We planned to see The Pursuit of Happyness this evening (the movie was deeply moving; I highly recommend it), and left early so we would have time to stop by Michael’s to sign up for a knitting class, and then on to The Mother Ship (Barnes&Noble) to browse and drink. Yes, as a matter of fact I did buy two books; this one and this one, thanks for asking.
Bren and I abandoned Rick for this Friday night, but we left him with a casserole, one of those banana-pudding-coolwhip-nilla wafter dessert things, and sole control of the remote.
The dogs are miserable. It was really really cold today so we couldn’t take them out for a walk or to play ball. Climbing back up the back porch stairs after they’ve gone potty has been difficult for them, so I put their booties on to protect their feet better, but they were afraid to go down the stairs with them on. Poor poopers.
This is our forecast for the next few days. I’M READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!
Late For Everything
December 28th, 2006
It was 20-below today and this room we call our office is very cold. I have yet to live in a house where all rooms are created equal in the heating and cooling sense. The housing rules state we are not to have space heaters, so we don’t have space heaters, we have a space heater. A really really safe one. Really. Rick has it in the bedroom, but he’s under lots of covers and I’m tempted to go in there and steal it so my toes don’t go numb. I’m too lazy to go find my Uggs.
He Is Lord Over All
December 8th, 2006
Thank you all for your prayers. I know God hears.
My mom gave me the news last night when I called her on our way to church. I did my best to push it into a closet in the back of my mind so I could hold myself together during worship. There is a lot going on in the lives of our family members, some of it very bad, some a bit grevious, and one in particular is a cause for great rejoicing. A family member has been going through great trials physically and the Lord has used that in her life to draw her to Himself.
I pray the Lord will draw Justin close so he will be able to make it through the horrible days that lie ahead of him.
O, thou Father of my spirit,
thou king of my life,
cast me not into destruction,
drive me not from thy presence,
but wound my heart that it may be healed;
break it that thine own hand may make it whole.
~From The Valley of Vision: The Cry Of A Convicted Sinner
Bren’s correspondence courses arrived on Monday. We ventured out into town on Tuesday to pick them up and stopped by the college to inquire about a sign language course being offered for the Spring semester. Bren has been wanting to take sign language for quite awhile, and now that she’s studying at home she has time to do so. We received permission from the instructor for Bren to take the class, so we went to town this morning and enrolled her. I now have a highschool freshman that thinks it’s pretty cool to be taking her first college course, especially since her friend Rachel from church, who is also homeschooled, is enrolling in the class as well.
The chickie is also staying very busy with drama class these days as they are getting ready to put on a production next week. Bren has been staying after school every day to help the instructor. We arrived here too late for Bren to audition, so she’s been working on the set, make-up, running errands for the teacher, and standing in for kids that don’t show up. She loves theatre.
While in town today we stopped by Barnes&Noble to pick a CD I ordered, Shadow of Your Wings: Hymns And Sacred Songs, by Fernando Ortega, my favorite artist. Bren and I were so overwhelmed by the beauty of the music that we worshipped the whole thirty-minute drive home. Bren, who told me before I put the CD in that I wasn’t allowed to cry, cried all the way home. This CD is a soothing balm for the spirit and I highly recommend it. If you have never heard Fernando, check out his website and have a listen. (And as a side note, the CD is less on his website than what I paid for it at B&N).
My compulsive book-buying will come to an end someday, but that day was not today. I have to give great big kudos to the buyers at this particular store, as the Christian/religion section has a very good selecition of books worth reading. I finally got a copy of The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, and Luther The Reformer, by James M. Kittelson. This latter find has caused me to change my reading plans and dive headlong into the biography of this great man. Oh joy!
I spent the remainder of our evening reading over the introduction to Bren’s science course with her, and setting up her lesson plans. She’s going to be a busy gal, but welcomes the work without having to put up with all the garbage. I can see a difference in her demeanor already.
Requesting Prayer
December 7th, 2006
Please pray for the woman’s recovery from head injuries she suffered as a result of this accident. And please pray for the driver, Justin. He’s my cousin.
Thank you.
Frigid Tales
November 26th, 2006
I have really enjoyed our weekend so far and look forward to worship at church in a few hours. I’m up much later than I would like to be on a Saturday night – I don’t like being drowsy during church – but I didn’t want to put off blogging. My thoughts these days tend to grow wings and fly away after hanging around my brain for a very short while, so I want to get it in writing that I did indeed live life these past few days and thought it was worth mentioning.
I don’t have a calendar in front of me at present, so I’m not sure how many days it’s been since we moved here (almost 2 1/2 months worth), but it happened sooner than I expected. I figured either Rick, or more likely, Bren, would make some cold-induced declaration of their hate of Alaska sometime during the winter. It was Bren, and it happend last night.
For three days this weekend Fairbanks was holding their annual Holiday Celebration (I will post many more photos and review of events on my Alaska blog later today). The roasted chestnuts and hot cider from 4 – 7 p.m., and then fireworks at 7:00 sounded great. We got all our winter gear on (or so I thought), and I spent a good amount of time talking Bren into wearing her parka. She finally conceded and wore it, but she refused to put on a hat because she didn’t want to mess her hair up.
(Bren at 20-below)
When we got to the park it was too cold to stay outside. We were literally freezing and it hurt. We managed to grab a hot cup of cider and Bren got a very cold and squishy chestnut. We watched a few of the fireworks by looking over our shoulders while we quickly made our way into the auditorium inside where a local jazz band was to perform. We got there a little bit early, so we sat and finished our cider and ran our hands under warm water to defrost them in the bathroom. It was at this time Bren looked at me like she was angry and said, “I AM NOT staying here forever; I HATE THIS!” She had never been that cold in her life. I don’t think she’ll be volunteering to go snowshoeing anytime soon.
Thankful For Life
November 24th, 2006
I almost wrote that I had no pictures to share from our Thanksgiving Day, but I was wrong. I took this one of Bren before leaving the house to email to my sister who made the scarf for her. I would have had a blast taking pictures all afternoon, but it drives Bren crazy, so I controlled myself and granted everyone a flash-free afternoon.
Our family, and our friends Kent and Leah’s family were invited to our pastor’s house to share meal. I believe there were 17 of us altogether. It was nice walking up to the house and seeing bottles of sparkling cider chilling and an ice cream pie staying frozen on the front porch. The food, company, and coffee were outstanding and I felt very blessed to have such wonderful friends.
After the post-turkey drowsiness set in we headed for home feeling like it was ten o’clock at night because it was very dark outside. It was only 5:30. After getting cozy in our sweats we sat down and played Taboo for about an hour, watched an episode of The Closer, then the movie Casablanca which Bren had checked out at the library. After Rick went to bed I spent a couple hours reading over Bren’s correspondance courses while she watched Little Women on her laptop in her room. She loves movie marathons on holidays.
I did call my sister today, but forgot to call brother and parents, so I have some sucking up to do today ;o)
The only thing I missed was being able to sit and watch all the football games. Well, except for Dallas. I never like to see Dallas win.
Wednesday Night Worship
November 23rd, 2006
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ~ Psalm 92:12-15
We had a wonderful time of worship this evening despite the small number of us. I love it that God’s family can come together – many or few – and be so blessed by offering thanks and praises to God as a church.
Since we didn’t have a piano player tonight we chose hymns we knew well and sang heartily to the LORD. After a message on Psalm 103 from our pastor, we shared praises, concerns, and prayer requests with one another. Following prayer we enjoyed time talking over coffee and dessert.
I was especially moved tonight when this handsome gentleman, Al, gave praise to God that he is feeling better than he has in quite awhile. Al has been in a lot of pain for a long time, doctors unable to find the source. I had not approached Al to introduce myself, so I did so tonight and was so glad I did. I love him and his lovely wife already. If you would, please pray Al’s body will continue to heal.
Our pastor and his wife returned home safely from a missions conference in Florida yesterday and it’s good to have them back with us. After Rick serves the troops at the dining hall in the early afternoon (we will have an early meal there as we do every year), we will go to the pastor’s house for awhile.
