"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:18

March 19,

One Year Ago Today....

Thank you, O God, for your kindness and mercy.

Thank you for your friendship and for your constant loving care.

Thank you for your patience and forgiveness while clearly seeing our weaknesses, our unfaithfulness, and our failures.

Thank you for your abundant daily provision. You have met all of our emotional and physical needs through your own presence and through the kindness of friends you inspired to help.

You are blessed. Bless them richly.

Great is your unfailing faithfulness to us, O God. The abounding love we have received from your hand is truly incomprehensible.

Thank you God for the past year.

And thank you in advance for what is yet to come.

Just One Year Ago Today...our lives were changed for as long as we shall live.

May God bless you all for the love you have shown us.

Thanks for reading our blog.

"Let the moment come

when nothing is left but life

and you will find that you do not hesitate

over the fate of material possessions,

however deeply they may have been cherished."

~Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker~

This Saturday, March 19th, will be the one-year anniversary of our fire.

Those of you who have been walking through this valley with us know that in many ways it seems like just yesterday and in many others it seems like a lifetime.

Thanks for your continuing support.

While Seth came home to Wasilla for Spring Break - March 5th - 12th,

Micah staffed two TeenPact classes.

Micah and the rest of the staff team gather before the start of the week at the fantastic guest home just outside of Kansas City, Missouri.

From the left: Vincent, Rachel, Micah, Zach, and Stephen pose in front of the Missouri Capitol.

Hannah, Zach, Micah, and Sarah stand near the front lawn of the Indiana Capitol Building.

All the staff guys inside the Indiana Capitol with the "staff mom" for the week, Kristi.

The staff guys: from left, Aaron, Zach, Trent, Micah, Jeremiah, Vincent, and Danny.

Micah got to be the speaker of the house for one day at the Missouri class, held in the actual House of Representatives. Here he poses with the gavel from the House in front of the chairman's seat.

Sarah, David, Zach, Rachel, Micah, and Stephen get some shots near the Missouri Governor's Mansion.

Mark your calendars for Micah's graduation! It will be held on Friday, May 13th at 7:00p.m. at Eagle River Grace Church.

Kenton was taken to the emergency room on Saturday for stomach pain.

On Sunday evening he underwent an emergency appendectomy.

Jeanne watched the two youngest kids while Doug and I remained at the hospital overnight with Kenton. And thankfully Grandma arrived from Kodiak on Monday to help us.

Since being released from the hospital on Monday, he has been recuperating at home.

~Wednesday, March 2, 2011~

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!-

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each tomorrow

Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust not Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Recently things at the house are going backward instead of progressing. The stairs never rested on the floor properly and so the workers returned to try to position them, as the person who made them suggested.

This required the stairs to be supported once again by straps, for the bolts to be removed, and the top of the stairs to be pried apart where they had been glued.

Roger wielded the Sawzall.

However, after all of that time and effort, the stairs were extremely tilted as shown in the above photo and they still did not rest on the floor correctly, so they were returned for the present to their former postition.

So now the stairs remain supported by beams and straps (the wooden stair nose was destroyed in the process) and things look more unfinished around here than they did. I became very discouraged and frustrated about the negative changes, knowing there were no plans for the future to make things better. After having a very difficult day on Monday and complaining to my mother she chided me for not being thankful, tweaked my perspective, and corrected my attitude. Thanks, Mom!

Our first fire in the new house - the properly contained kind :)

Bruce's daughter was married on Saturday.

Attending Julie's wedding was a joy!

Julie and Tad

Our family is shrinking with Seth studying at college and Micah staffing TeenPact classes in Missouri and Indiana.

February 25, 2011 - 4:42

"I waited patiently for the Lord;

And he inclined to me,

and heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth-

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord."

~Psalm 40: 1-3~

Ralph and Chris worked hard to finish the majority of the wood flooring.

Chris installs the padding which goes beneath the carpet in the guest suite downstairs.

As he installed the carpet, Chris had a constant companion; Wynn kept him engrossed in an unending conversation.

The reflection of the outdoor scene on the kitchen countertop. In the background is the house of our neighbors who spotted our home in flames before we were even awake.

Micah assists the movers who transported the pianos to their final destination.

The music room

Recently Micah and Doug traveled to several colleges - Patrick Henry College was one of the four which they visited.

Spending time with Seth proved to be a highlight of the journey.

A hike at Harpers Ferry with good friends

Racquetball was the perfect ending to a busy day.

Grove City College in Pennsylvania near Grandma's home

With TeenPact buddy at Liberty University in Virginia

Micah also stopped by Wheaton College in Illinois, but by then his camera was out of battery.

The staircase is still not installed correctly and so will need repositioning before Doug can complete the bannister work.

Views of the second story main room

We are finally living here at the house and are thoroughly enjoying our new kitchen.

Being in transition for about a year has been especially challenging for regular "scheduled" life and also for predictable family time together. Each day seems to still teem with the unexpected demands of rebuilding and moving.

I realized recently that there is not going to be a real "end" to this phase of our lives for quite some time yet, as I naively thought there would be, so I pray for the grace to see God's hand in the the unique situation each day brings and for the contentment to relish life moment by moment.

With the unfinished bannisters, the upstairs catwalk and surrounding hallway are not the safest place to cavort around, but we are not bothered by that fact any more.

The master bedroom

Each bed is covered with a beautiful quilt given to us by the Valley Quilters' Guild.

Psalm's bedroom - graced with the generous gifts of Priscilla, Melika, Kathleen, and Grandma.

The boys' bedroom

The guest room suite downstairs