We just finished making all the reservations for Adam, Art and Bill (the Elder board of Nenana Community Church) to attend this year’s Shepherd’s Conference. Adam went with with a friend last year and really enjoyed it. He talked so much about it that he convinced the other guys that they should go with him this year.
Shepherds’ Conference 2012 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.
This week on the Bluegrass Hour a listener had requested, You Can’t Take It With You When You Go. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately.
It is getting harder and harder to save money with cost going up and the pitiful return of savings accounts and other investments. What is the balance between being a miser so you can’t live in the present and spending it all like a wild man and having nothing for a rainy day? Obviously those are two big extreme ends of the problem. The Bible tells us in Matthew 6 that where our treasure is there our heart will be also, and that you can’t serve both God and money. I don’t want to miss out on making memories with the kids but I don’t want to be completely destitute when an unforeseen calamity strikes. Where is the balance when there is very little margin in the budget? These are the things I’ve been thinking about lately…
Every December Roger and Carole Huntington from Kokrine Hills Bible Camp go to Buckland (close to Kotzebue) for a week of follow-up with kids that attend camp during the summer. I’m not sure who is more excited to see each other, the kids or Roger and Carole. Again the airplane is proving to be a valuable tool in ministry. I picked them up at camp flew them out. Although it was long day (7 hours flight time) it is worth the effort. This time of encouragement and fellowship means so much this time of year.
Ever wonder where Buckland is?
Here is a map of the route of flight.
This Sunday night we started a new series at Church. Demolishing Strongholds from Answers In Genesis. It’s a great study on how the creation / evolution debate is not about different facts but different presuppositions. We are all looking at the same evidence in the present. Evolution tries to figure out the past from the present and Creation understands the present by what the Bible tells us about the past. Huge difference!
Half way through the lesson this week I had to leave because of a major explosion at a gas station 100 miles south of us. They needed another ambulance and medics. Here is a story from the Fairbanks Newsminer. The situation was compounded by the nasty roads. It had been raining through out the day and the roads were like a hockey rink! Rain this time of year is never good!
The weather is always a big topic of discussions, it is a major factor in everyone’s daily life. As Natalie told me yesterday, be careful Daddy you don’t have all the right gear on you might die out in the cold. This Fall has been a little trying. We received slightly more snow than normal before it got cold enough to freeze the lakes and rivers completely. The river here in Nenana was still open up till a week ago. There are big areas of overflow on the rivers and lakes, not fun when trying to operate the airplane or snowmachine! For the past few weeks we have been setting new record lows and now there is a Chinook in the forecast and we might get above freezing this week. Folks are always saying that “this weather is not normal” no matter the season or weather. Well there is one thing I have learned, there is no “normal” to our weather.
Normally (I use the term loosely) we travel to the bush to spend Thanksgiving with friends. It is one of several times during the year we all gather in one place and enjoy a couple of days of visiting, study and good food. This year, weather and other’s travels postponed our gathering. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with friends here in Nenana instead. We hope that we can get together before Christmas and share some great fellowship and food.