Carried Away by Love

If you're not carried away by it, then it's not love at all. Certainly that does not mean that obsession is a good thing. In loving and relating to our Creator, we want to respond out of devotion, not obligation, not just by attempting great things for Him. Strangely, He does not define love the same way that we do. Our Father desires an attractive adoration, not necessarily a warm-fuzzy, calculated, "smart" response to His gift to us. He craves annointed acts--beautiful, memorable, unchecked service. And He seeks abandoned attitudes. Oswald Chambers says that abandoning ourselves to God is of greater value than being holy. Wow! And I thought the pursuit of holiness was the pinnacle. But then, that's all about me as a personal vessel, isn't it? Abandonment to God is all about Him--and what' s IN the vessel. Rather than focusing on whether or not I am of any use, being carried away by His love makes me wonder how I can be of value to God Himself? Yet when I am sold out in abandoned love to Him, then He works through me all of the time. Carried away by love means being a carrier of His love.

Prayer Needs

Prayer Needs in Eastern Canada:

• Gary/Sue Smith--Church starter coordinators for Eastern Canada. Children: Caleb, Joshua, Andrew, & Sarah.
• Raymond/Hanaa Alraei--Church starters in Maniwaki, Quebec. Children: Ruthie, David, & Naomi.
• Jacques/Barb Cote--Shanliwood BC/Conference Center, Spencerville, Ontario--Partners for construction. Supplies for training/equipping pastors. Prayer for the vision to become reality.
• Alex/Gino Antinozzi/lay leaders--Renaissance Church--Kirkland, Quebec.
• Peter/Anna Cadoret--pastor/lawyer par excellence for ministers' legal needs/Saturday daycamps for children--Pt. St. Charles Church--Montreal, Quebec.
• Yves/Claudine Bellemarre--both French-Canadian; new church starters in Eastern Quebec (St-Georges).
• Francois/Family--1st church starter in Quebec/support satellite churches in multiple church start approach. Marriage. Safety.
• Gaetan Rochon--Danford Lake, Quebec--new church start
• David/Sanaan Brazzeal--Bible studies for artists and musicians--downtown Montreal.
• PowerPlant church-planting strategies for students and adults in Eastern Canada.
• Joann's ministry/website for former lesbians/article in Ottawa Herald.
• Arabian/Moslem work--confidentiality of workers.
• Dave/Dawn Berry/2 children/--partner for their indigenous work (at least $300/mth->$15K/yr. for 1/2 time pay).
• Work in Labrador--led by members of Air Force Academy, trained to travel in unreachable areas. No previous SBC work there.
• Version in Eastern Canada of what was formerly called Crossover Collegiate mission work in Western Canada--30% of US students who participate return to Canada for at least short-term work.

Team Bonding

The girls and I learned a crucial element to a successful ministry venture--team building before the work begins. Take time to share your personal stories. Tell how you met Christ and what you have learned along your walk with Him. Point out strategic signposts in your faith walk. Those stories will forge a bond that will help you to work as one during the project. Prayerwalk the facility. Give the place and the people back to God. Relinquish your personal control and input back to the One who is going to create a successful, long-lasting experience for you and the people to whom you are going to minister. Ask Him to send the right ones and to begin working in them that very moment. Thank Him, in advance, for the mighty, inexplicable work He is going to accomplish. Establish and inform prayer support back home. Attach a "lead line" to what you are attempting for God. Establish a strategy or plan and roles for each team member. Be certain that each person knows his responsibility and has the equipment necessary to complete her role. Present team members with meaningful ministry opportunities, suitable to each one's gifts and abilities. Be careful not to overlook or look down on the younger team members or the wisdom of the elders among you. Avoid "mother hen" treatment. Set up each person for spiritual success and power. Team bonding presents a united front to the people to whom you are ministering and models our oneness in Christ that will defeat the Enemy and glorify our King.

My Pet or My Child?

Once I heard a man speak sweet nothings to his pet cat, promising that Daddy was going to bring her treats from a foreign country and love and affection like that of a favored friend. To a mere casual observer the pet was much spoiled, doted on, and treasured. Truthfully, the black-and-white beauty spent her entire existence in a darkened basement, except for daily feedings administered by a volunteer caretaker rather than her "devoted" Papa. Is this a picture of how we parent our teens? We speak in loving words when we are pleased with our relationship. Then we send them out to live separate lives until we have the promise of pleasures or rewards from a distant land to offer as enticements to their continued devotion. Attachments are short-lived if motivated by reward or punishment. Not being pets, teens realize the inequity of such relationships. How can we get teens to internalize the idea of our affection, rather than merely identify with us? Teens crave consistent afffection, predictable but negotiable boundaries, and heartfelt devotion modeled by quality time spent with the focus on them as individuals. The world conveys a model for parent-teen or leader-teen relationships that is not God's ideal or paradigm. Contrary to public opinion, it is possible to remain close and to communicate calmly during adolescence and beyond! Keep talking right through the years (Acts 2:38-39). Build on common interests, hobbies, or pursuits, or look for new ones! Find time each week to be together (Deut. 11:18-19). Assist your teen in managing emotions of hormones, the stresses of life, the emotional rollercoaster of teen relationships, and organizational traumas. Talk. Talk. Talk. Better yet, listen. Listen. Listen. It's not only possible to stay close in the teen years, it's crucial to your on-going healthy relationship with your burgeoning adult child.

Back Lighting -- Psalm 27:1

Late one night, trying to find the bathroom in an unfamiliar setting, I discovered the dangers of trying to maneuver with the path lit only from the rear. It made me consider the dangers of attempting to walk down the path of life with the Light at my back, rather than in front of me. Every step is treacherous. Every step is unfamiliar. Every step is a blind choice. Dark alleys or false turns lure us into deeper darkness. Fear threatens to strangle our confidence. And insecurity slows our movements. Yet when Light is in front of us, rather than at our rear, God is with us, before us, and He is our rear guard (Ps. 139:5). Each step is ordered. Each step is familiar to God's ways. Every step is sighted and charted by God. The steps on a lit path are true turns (Ps. 89:14-18), each leading toward brighter Light. Indescribable peace protects our confidence in the Lord (Ps. 27). God's power pervades our movements in relation to Him (Psalm 104:2, 27-30). If I just do not try to get ahead of the protection, it is clear that my all-encompassing Guide and Light, the Spirit of the Living God, is all around me.

Not Losing It

On our last Sunday in Montreal, there were lots of tears. We chose to say, "So long," rather than "Goodbye" to our new family there, longing to return to Eastern Canada as soon as God provides the green light. Gary Smith said there were lots of tears at the end of church at Renaissance that morning because of how the Spirit moved, but I did not see any of them. I was too overcome by emotion myself. The screaming cry of my heart? "I don't want to be the way I was when I came to Canada!" As if it is possible to even find the box that I used to use to corral God! "I want to stay outside of the box where God is, to see others through His eyes, to be a servant and have a humble heart, to take leaps of faith as He leads me, to direct o others into a deeper/clearer faith walk where 'no sight' is necessary to trust his hand/heart." These are the words that I wrote and passed to my daughters across the aisle of the tiny cropduster plane we rode back to Atlanta from Montreal. The girls both nodded. No words were necessary. We had seen things we could not explain any other way than that we had seen God move. Of course, it is in Him that "we live and move and have our being." He's everywhere, not just where we were in Canada. Now that we are back in the States, our desire is to "walk and not grow faint." We want to "find God in the everyday experiences" of our lives. Ultimately, our desire is not to "need the moutaintops to see God's work." As John told me the first week that the girls and I were back from Canada--and he was one week away from his incredible experiences with International World Changers in Salvador, Brazil--"Falling off the mountain is going to be painful but not losing the passion is important." On that same plane-ride, I felt like God was saying to me that the real question is "WHOM shall I serve?" I had been asking a lot of other questions first--such as, "When?" "Where?" "TO whom will I serve?" The question for me is not "Why?" or "Why me?" or even "WHAT will I do?" God asked Isaiah, "WHOM shall I send? WHO will go for us?" He's asking us, "WHOM shall you serve?" And He's waiting for us to respond, "Here am I, Lord. Send me!"

What We Saw

What did we see in Canada? We saw children with a bleak future in the physical realm accept a bright eternal hope in Christ. We heard women given away by their birth mothers convey how they celebrate the blessings of their adopted Christian parents and receive a new outlook on life in that process. We felt selfish and spoiled when we observed how children who had next to nothing would decorate and personalize a Ziplock(R) bag as a container for their homemade crafts. We noted how the smell of Montreal after a rabid summer storm modeled the extreme cleansing and peace that follows a relinquishment of control to the One who calms life's tempests. The taste of the Lord's goodness and mercy is sweeter in a culture where bitterness and skepticism over faith have reigned for decades, due to the historical neglect of all things related to God the Father, not to mention His Son, Jesus Christ. We witnessed how the touch of His love revived the spirit of a woman who needed to forgive herself for placing her infant daughter up for adoption over three decades ago. We observed His grace as it restored the smile of a child who barely knew consistent attention. Ultimately, we were refreshed by Him ourselves--three Americans on the journey toward the heart of God as it burns for Eastern Canada and specifically for the Quebecois, the largest unreached people group in North America.

Loving Maniwaki

Last week in Maniwaki a group came up from Tennesee to run a sports camp. I got to know several of the youth there and be inspired by their boldness. It was like being on a mission trip with someone else's youth group. My favorite part of the time was the morning quiet times. God revealed to me through last week and those times my purpose in Canada. One: To reach the people. I had several conversations with some of the youth of Maniwaki through the sports camp. Just relating to them and trying to convey how Christ can bring them hope. This trip I think is teaching me how to love others--despite what they look like or how different they are from me. All I have to do is be willing to listen. God always comes through to provide the sympathy in me. Two: Learning to rely on Christ for all my strength. 2 Peter 1:3-11 has become my theme passage for this summer. By relying on Him for "everything we need for life and godliness," our lives will always be in touch with His will. When He calls us to do something, He provides the strength we just have to go. So this past week God has revealed to me personally how to obey His first two commandments: loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving my neighbor as myself. It all has to do with the sanctification process in my heart. As grow closer to God in godliness eventually love comes out as a byproduct.

What a View!

Truth is hitting me on the head a lot lately. Ouf family of over-achievers is learning that God cares about the relationship not the service. Here's a few of the tidbits that comfort us: The most vital part of prayer is letting God love us (B. Manning): "Be still and know that I am God" Ps. 46:10. Manning says that prayer is like sunbathing, in that when we spend a lot of time in the sun people comment that we've been to the beach. If we bathe in God's love, then we look different from the inside out! Time with God may affect us like it did Isaiah: "Woe to me!...I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips ,and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!" Following quickly upon his confession of unworthiness, Isaiah responded to the Lord's request for a willing servant: "Here am I. Send me!" As Chambers comments, God is everything--"the whole earth is full of His glory"--there must be something corresponding to God in my character. At Jesus' transfiguration, Peter wanted to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so that they all could stay on the mountain with God . Perhaps you struggle, as I do, with the temptation to turn every life experience into a teaching tool. According to Chambers, experiences on the mountaintop with God are not to "teach us anything, ...[but] to make us something." God has a purpose for each one of our encounters with Him, but we are created to live in the valley, to lift others up toward Him. Chambers further states that the final goal of sacrificing ourselves is to lay down our lives for our Friend. In John 15:15, Jesus says, "I have called you friends"! He bought us with His blood from the auction block where our sins sent us. One day we will be seated with that great throng of witnesses of Hebrews 12, looking at people "purchased... for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.... A kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth" (Rev. 9b-10). What a view!

Grace and Second Chances

On Sunday Christa moved to a new home home for her second week in Maniwaki. Raymond and Hanaa live several minutes away from their church field, and Christa needs to be available 8-5 for community service projects and sports camp, as well as for evening Bible studies and meetings. Her new hostess is Eleanor, who lives across the street from the church facility. Lots of drama went into getting her placed in this home. Ultimately, Christa is learning that no one is going to look out for her best interests. She must safeguard herself with the wisdom and self-preservation instincts God has given to her. After the bus-station drama last Saturday, both of us should have realized that. The adults were waiting for Christa to speak up and say that she did not feel safe with another home that was offered to her. Of course, she is laying it all on the line this summer and is trying to be flexible. Ultimately, the first home alternative was more like "missionary dating," hoping to reach teenaged boys while staying in their home. Chambers says we are to apply grace to every situation, praying immediately not waiting to get alone with God. His "unmerited favor" allows us to be "humiliated without manifesting the slightest trace of anything but His grace." However, His grace also protects us when we are too naive and innocent to regard danger and flee from it. As parents John and I often walk a tightrope in parenting a blossoming young-adult long-distance. In this case, we knew Christa would never speak up and ask to be moved to a safer environment. Now she has a firm base from which to do her ministry and a sense of peace that grace prevailed over personal sacrifice.

Jumping Off Rocks

Yesterday, I went to a lake with some friends and I learned an important lesson about trusting Christ's strength. We all climbed up some rocks over the lake and decided to jump off. One of my friends named Eve was having some second thoughts. She kept saying, "Why do I always do this to myself? I've been dreaming about doing this for a whole year. Why can't I make myself jump?" Watching her bend her legs trying to jump was like watching a movie of myself. It was shocking and terrifying. How many times do I stand on the edge of doing God's will and back away out of fear? So I stepped up and volunteered, "I'll go first." When I got up to the edge, I froze just like Eve. All those familiar doubts swarmed around me like bees. "You can't do this. You can barely swim let alone jump off a diving board in a safe pool. How do you think you can do this?!" But I didn't want to step back to safety and the feeling of failure and embarrassment that awaited me on the rock so I jumped into the dark unknown for me--and for Eve. And you know what? All my fears seemed pretty stupid. I survived without a scratch and to my surprise, Eve jumped in right after me. Overcoming your fears is easy once you realize that the King of the Universe believes in you. He's waiting in the water to lead you to the other side of the lake. You're the only one stopping you. Will you lean on His power to catch you or will you climb back down the rocks to His disappointment? If you choose His power, He'll stay true to His promise and He might even use you as a leader to pave the way for others. So what will it be--a ground-shaker or a loser? There's no middle ground. Jesus is waiting at the bottom for you. Just JUMP!

What Did You Do Today?

In many ways this summer is like kindergarten for our family. The question at the end of the day is often, What did you learn today? On Monday Christa stayed with David (5) and Ruthie (8) for their parents to take their baby sister to the doctor. A doctor's visit in Canada can provide enough material for a novel. It's free but the patients pay dearly in time, inconvenience, and exposure to infectious diseases. Apparently, an excursion to treat a baby's ear infection can take over six hours. Christa learned that you get what you pay for; nothing is free. On Tuesday she experienced the rich fellowship of the Body of Christ. She experienced an entire summer's worth of fun--making new friends, cooking out, playing croquet, eating humuus and Turkish delight, loving on children. Wednesday she spent the day with Eve and Blair, a young couple in Canada for a summer of work. They played basketball, dove into the icey river off rocks, handed out flyers for next week's sports camp, encountered God's Word together. The answer to "What did you learn today?" was "I can." Christa said, "Why should I doubt my abilities? The King of the Universe thinks I can do it! Otherwise, why would He sent me to another country all by myself?" Whatever rocks He wants her to jump off tomorrow, whatever stranger to whom He leads her to talk, He is bigger than those doubts. "You are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you--from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted!" (1 Peter 2:9-10, TM)

Why Are We Surprised?

Christa arrived safely in Bouchette, a suburb of Maniwaki, where she will spend the week with the Alraei family. At dark a.m. Monday, Barb drove her from Shanliwood to the bus station in Ottawa, Ontario. You may remember this bus terminal as the infamous spot where Christa stayed long enough on Saturday afternoon that she may begin to receive mail there. Now Christa is saying that she is glad that the whole bus-capade happened. She had an enjoyable weekend with Jacques and Barb Cote:"They feel like my family to me now." Christa met some of the teenaged girls with whom she will spend time in late July. The Cotes filled her love tank--and watched yet more Stanley Cup hockey with her. Other than her learning to cheer for the Edmonton Oilers, what could be wrong with this picture of God's provision? Why are we surprised when God takes care of us? Is it that we expect Him to do anything less than provide for all of our needs--even our safety or peace? Perhaps it is because we think a perfect plan would have no seams, no glitches, no pain. Perhaps we assume that if things did not go "smoothly," then something was out of line, out of place, strangely in dischord. If we look at the example of Jesus' life, then we see that He had no home--yet He did not seem to go hungry unless He fasted by choice; He had disloyal friends; His people rejected Him which led to His death like a criminal; He even wondered aloud why God had seemingly "forsaken" Him. All of that was Plan A--from the beginning of time. The ultimate goal of that stream-lined lifestyle and public humiliation was our salvation, our eternal safety, if you will. Why does it surprise us when our definition of smooth sailing does not align with God's version? Ultimately, it's still all about saving the world.

Best Laid Plans

There may have been a reason that Christa and I had been dreading her trip to Maniwaki on Saturday. The bus trek did not go as planned--to say the least. Christa found herself alone in an Ottawa bus terminal with no connecting transport to Maniwaki that afternoon. [Enter your favorite theme music for rescuing innocent girls.] In rode Jacques Cote on his trusty stead--to the rescue of our fair maiden in distress. He drove her home to his wife, dear Barb, where Christa shared father's day dinner with Barb's dad. Then on Sunday Christa got a preview of Shanliwood Baptist's wonderful people, with whom she will spend a week in late July. I suspect she would have gladly suffered four hours alone in an Ottawa bus station to spend Saturday night and Sunday with the Cotes. We just do not know the trade-off that awaits when we sit obediently. The palm of God's hand in the center of His will is always, without exception, the safest place to be. Sometimes there are sharks (or nameless homeless men) swarming around us. We are still safe. Sometimes our parents cannot bear the cracks in our brave facade, yet the Father is still sovereign and has the situation in His complete and utter control. Even when it looks like our best laid plans are a nightmare of confusion, He has provided a way of escape and a green pasture on which we can rest. The lights we can see are His safe passageway rather than an in-coming train (or bus)!

Don't Look Back!

Today is the day that Christa boards a bus bound for Maniwaki, via Ottawa, to work with a ministry to the French-speaking residents there. The four of us Baileys can relate to Peter as he relinquished the safety of the boat for the dark, swirling, stormy waters of a walk to Jesus. Will we relate more readily to the first part of Peter's story when he got out of the boat--"Don't look down"? Or, will our attitudes model that of the more popular, sermon-fodder segment of his late-night boat ride--when he squealed and flailed and balked at the swirling, unfamiliar territory around him and the abyss below him? My parental advice to Christa was to recall the peace that she felt earlier this week in the park and to rest in the assurance that Christ will keep her safe and be her comfort. I hope I can stay true to my own admonition! In fact, I assured her that she was much safer on a bus "traveling alone in a foreign country" than she would be riding solo on MARTA in Atlanta. Perspective is a warm blanket rather than the soggy, clammy embrace if we heed the call of the crooked, boney finger of fear clawing at our pale faces. Apparently, the danger creeps in when we start to think about ourselves. Our eyes need to focus on Christ rather than the surrounding situation. Chambers wisely advises: "If you are recognizing your Lord, you have no business with where He engineers your circumstances.... keep recognizing Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him." His Voice is heard most clearly in the throes of "recklessness." Our task is to avoid looking down but to keep our eyes on Him. The task is secondary. The danger is irrelevant. The fear is our enemy's last hope. Our Hope prevails if we just don't look down.

True Friendship

In church we sing this chorus, "I Am a Friend of God...He calls me 'friend.'" I sometimes wonder why He is willing to do that. A true friend is someone who is constant and reliable. Do I really qualify? A loyal friend is dependable, and I know I let Him down. An allegiant follower would lay down his life for the Cause. Yet I look for times when I can get away with picking up the trail of the old lifestyle. He wants me to stick out--in a good way, and I try to conform--in a bad way. To be a friend of God, He needs to "be love" through me, and there are people and situations that I balk at allowing Him to love through me. For years, as parents we have nurtured our daughters to trust the Lord and develop a private, personal walk with Him. Now Christa has gone off on an adventure with this Great Love of her life. How do I really react to this? Will I trust my Friend to be constant and reliable to her? Do I believe that she will be dependable to Him? Do I worry that He will let her down? Of course not! We all know that's absurd. But what if He wants her to lay down her life for the Cause? Now that's a very real possibility. In fact, that's what a summer of mission work is--laying down what you could be doing for what you ought to be doing. In many ways, it's practice for the real life, daily relationship of trusting. The stakes could not be any higher when we put God's honor on the line wherever we are today. That true friendship comes when we lay down our life for our Friend (John 15:13, 15).

Quebec

Hey from Quebec! Thanks to everyone for all your prayers. I just wanted to share with you a little about what society is like here for the church. As you probably already know, Quebec and the rest of Canada started as a Catholic nation. The Catholics controlled all aspects of society including the number of kids a family could have, the place of women in society, and even the workings of the government. One day, people started to think that it was stupid to just sit there and let the Church rule their lives, so they walked out. As a result, Quebec will have nothing to do with the Church, whether Protestant or Catholic. For example, the worst swear word in Quebec French is tabernac or tabernacle from the world of the Church. People just don't care about God. When something bad goes wrong, they see no need to turn to God because they have family or they can still put food on the table. Thus, morals are out the window for convenience. For example, couples, even young ones, have sex and move into the same house, almost never sealing their affection with marriage. In fact, even new Christians have to be taught the sancitity of marriage because it is not a part of society. I say all this to make you aware that right next door to America there is a great mission field. This society has turned its back on God and the new churches here need encouragement because Satan can easily suck them back into the vortex around them. Quebec is a lonely place for a Christian. We all need your prayers.

Follow Me

What happens after the glamour of obeying the call fades? What happens when "follow Me" leads down a dark alley or a weed-strewn path? Perhaps you can relate to me when I admit that I tend to forget that if I am following then He is preceding me. He walks in front He gets there first! Once I "take [my] everyday, ordinary life...and place it before God as an offering," the next step is to "[embrace] what God does for [me]" (Romans 12:1-2, MS). He goes before me, stays with me, and monitors my future path--dark, dreary, or absolutely euphoric as it may be. An older friend of mine once put it this way: It's as if He surrounds us with a circle of His love. [You both precede and follow me. Psalm 139, GNB.]This she said from her devoted life in the throes of widowhood, leukemia, and a dying daughter. Thankfully, God works from the inside out, because many times the view from the outside of me is entirely stinky. If I could just recognize what He wants from me and do it, rather than taking on the "Make me!" attitude of the culture around me! If only I would allow Him to grow me into the person He sees in my future, rather than dragging my feet like a petulant child at the door of a toystore whose parents have already purchased her birthday gifts! The better way to get at God is to grasp Who God is and what He does, yet I keep on trying to get at God from who I am and what I can do for Him (Romans 12:3). I am just not a good follower. I keep getting out in front and saying, "Come on, God." He's waiting to hear me say, "After You..."

Christa's First Weekend

This weekend, as the Smiths prepared to leave to tour the West, Christa visited the Jones family, home to many daughters. She went to see "A Prairie Home Companion" on Friday with Lydia, 14, the youngest of the 6, and an International Baccalaureate student in Montreal, as Christa is in Sandy Springs. On Saturday she returned to spend the day with the Smiths and to view the movie "Cars" for Andrew's birthday. Then she spent the evening with the Joneses, seeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and watching a chick flick before bedtime. The families converged at Renaissance church which meets in a cineplex. Then Christa went to the Joneses to rest for the afternoon, on to Impact--a college worship service, and to experience one of Montreal's many summer street festivals, where they encountered the music of Mali (where 2 of the Jones' girls did missions) and ate Lebanese food. Christa learned about some of the Canadian universities--Concordia where Nadia attends, as does Amy [who is a former summer missionary who returned to Montreal to marry a French Canadian]; McGill, Amanda's alumnus, which is said to be the Harvard of Canada; and the universities of the French-cultural-immersion experience within Quebec's capital, Quebec City. Today Christa was immersed in daycamp prep with Alex, her hostess for the next couple of days, then to dinner with Sue's good friend, Julie, a local doctor. On Wednesday night, she returns to the Jones' girls until her 11:00 bus to Maniwaki through Ottawa on Saturday. Since she will travel alone, we ask your prayers for her safety and peace on the trek to her French-speaking host family, the Alraies, and their 3 children, 8, 5, 9 months.

John's Alaska Adventure--Part 1

On Sunday John flew to Anchorage, Alaska, still a 5-hour flight from Salt Lake City, UT. It's hard to believe that it's still part of the USA with the 4-hour time difference and the 24/7 twilight-dusky skies. John had dinner with his Uncle Marvin and SueAnn--salmon, broccoli, "dirty rice," and cake. The two had not been together in over 25 years. Marvin is still trim at age 70, playing handball 3x a week and doing a bit of Nautilus with minimal weight and a few reps. John was reminded that his uncle had hiked the entire 3,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail, chronicling his journey for Memphis' Commercial Appeal and his Sierra Club chronies. He told a few funny stories of the old days, including an account of Uncle Stoy's denial that his Marine Corps buddies had put a bucket over his head, as is tradition for new recruits. To which, Marvin suggested that perhaps the reason was that they could not find a large enough bucket. Stoy brooded for hours over this verbal assertion! He recalled being baptized at the old Calvary Baptist in Memphis, along with his brothers; Hilton and Mary Gene's wedding when Marvin was 21 and Hilton was 31; and that Grandmother Bailey attended Furman University, being from Upper SC, which is one of the top universities in Christa's hunt. Marvin keeps up with Uncle Milton's Knoxville brood and is not fazed by cousin Pat's people skills which greatly outweigh her love of mental gymnastics, which is clearly Marvin's passion. The two discussed Jimmy Carter and James Wallace, mixing religion and politics in a sometimes lethal combination, especially when one is a "denominational serpent" and the other, a Democrat and an environmentalist. It must have been an informative evening for both uncle and nephew!