Wild Alaskan Spring

A whole month and a half has passed since we drove into Alaska. Time really flies when you are having fun! Brady and I will be celebrating our 6 month anniversary come Sunday.

Let me catch you up on life out at Cohoe Fish Camp. 

To be quite frank, I was terrified the first day I had to spend alone at the camp. Brady had a job in town, building a house, and I was left to fend for myself in the Alaskan wilderness! Haha, it wasn't that bad...the fish camp is only a 20 minute drive out of Soldotna. But, my imagination was running wild and paranoia set in quite quick, as I walked around the lonely camp site, that fateful day. Long story short, Brady came back at 6 PM, and I had survived. No wild animals had scattered my bones, no wild-Alaskan savage had kidnapped me, and I hadn't been swooped up by a giant-ravenous bald eagle. After a week of looking behind my shoulder, and fearfully glancing into the surrounding woods, I began to relax in my gloriously beautiful surroundings (it also helped that Dave and Donnie, the couple who own the camp, came back from their family vacation, and I wasn't completely alone anymore). And this is coming from the girl who grew up in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Ha. Yes, I am quite the scardy-cat. 

All joking aside, Alaska is beautiful! I have loved waking up to the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the beach, below the bluff. Watching the winter fade away and all the flower blossoms open up and the trees turning to a lush green. Seeing the baby moose wobbling around with his protective mother. Listening to the bald eagles call out to each other, and being an audience for their skilled aerobatics, as they rush past me, held up in the sky, only by their huge feathered wings. I get lost in it, really. 

When Brady isn't working, we have had some fun adventures. One day we decided to Hitch-hike to Homer! Something I've always wanted to do - hitchhike. We created a sign, one side reading Homer, in huge, black, letters, and the other, Soldotna. Then we walked the 3 miles out to the main road, and stuck our thumbs out. The first ride we hitched was in the back of a pick up truck! Then we got a lift by an older man, with a long grey pony-tail. He spoke to us about his first impression of Alaska, many years ago, "What is this strange chemical that I am breathing into my lungs", he exclaimed, "Oh it's AIR!" The next person who picked us up, was a fellow believer! We chatted all about midwifery, being as she is the new director of a midwifery school in Homer, Alaska. Finally around 2 PM, we had made it to Homer, and we ate pizza at "Fat Olives", then continued our walk to the Homer Spit. We ended up walking the whole length of the spit, which is 4 miles long, and by the time we made it to the Salty Dawg Saloon, I was downright exhausted. It was pouring rain on us as we ventured back onto the road, with our pathetically hopeful little thumbs sticking out. A young fisherman, felt sorry for us, and picked us up in his truck and drove us right off the spit. With a few other rides, we made it home by 9 PM, with 12 miles of walking under our belts. Lot of work, hitchhiking is, but really rewarding, the people you get to meet and chat with! 

Another week, Brady and I moved all our belongings out of our "unfinished" cabin, and mudded, sanded, textured, and painted it, then moved back in to our cute little "finished" cabin. Through this process, I learned how un-enjoyable sanding can be, especially when one takes on the challenge of sanding the entire ceiling.

Other adventures have consisted of, taking the four-wheeler down the beach, and getting it really stuck good, in the horrid stuff they call "blue mud". That night we had to knock on Dave and Donnie's door, asking for help, which they graciously gave! 

One week, Brady and I had to create a make-shift bucket shower, to bath under, cause we ran out of hot water. Quite the process, heating up pots of water over the stove, just to get clean. But what a view we had of the sun-setting. 

Other evenings, Brady and I have collected as much drift wood as we can, and made s'mores over a blazing fire, on the beach. 

   

Brady loves playing Frisbee golf. We've set up a course around camp, and practice our throwing skills. I have improved a little. Brady's throws are very powerful, but he says "Sarah, you have precision! You are quite good!" (Personally, I think he is just trying to encourage me, so I don't get discouraged and give up :))

One night, we were walking back to our cabin and the sky was turning dark, when Brady points out unusual looking wisps of clouds stretching all the way above us. We quickly realized, after staring for a few moments, that the clouds were shimmering and changing into different hues of colors. The Northern Lights! Wow, what a splendid thing to behold!

I have joyfully taken on the task of learning how to cook and bake. Now I know that this is an art that one must slowly discover and grow in, over a long period of time, and I have just begun this journey of becoming a great cook. While I was in college, to be honest, I was very lazy and did not use that time to practice the art of culinary skills. But I always dreamed of doing so. For a wedding present, my wonderful sister-in-law gifted me with a personalized cookbook to begin my culinary journey with. And my mouth about dropped open upon arrival at the "Cook House". Here at Cohoe Fish Camp, I have had a huge, fully stocked kitchen with all sorts of cooking utensils and pots and pans. Brady and I quickly set it up and I have been enjoying trying out all sorts of recipes. This has been what has kept me busy for hours on end.

One day, I helped Shea (Brady's cousin) put out buoys on the water, to mark the sets that we will be fishing this summer. First this begins with tossing about 20 buoys, from the buoy pile, into the boat. Then donning rain gear and taking the boat down to the beach hitched to the back of a tractor. Then the boat is launched into the water, and you are out upon the waves. It is my job to snag the cork from the water, with a long hook in my hand as we motor up to it. Then I must clean off the ocean scum, which is weighing the rope down, (the part I find most disgusting - the squirming little creatures), while Shea attaches the buoy to the line. You use quite a bit of upper arm strength in doing so, 20x in a row. But you find it's all worth it, with the wonderful view of the mountains, and the peaceful ocean waves swelling all around you. I've gone out twice to put buoys out now, once with Shea and once with Brady.

In about a week, my family joins Brady and I up here, for a little family reunion, before my parents head back to PNG for Bible translation work. I am ecstatic to see them! Then the fishing season begins for all of us up here! 

One last thing. I want to share what God has been teaching me over the course of these last few months.

I am learning to TRUST God in everything, with everything. Haven't I learned this lesson like a billion times? Yes, however, I must still press on to fully know what it is to trust. This lesson can only be obtained perfectly through a lifetime of trials. And I'm okay with that, for as hard as it gets some days, when it seems the bleakest of situations, you must remember that God is still providing for His child! He still sees you! He's not forsaking you. He's asking you to keep your anchor down. To hold out in the waves, as rough and loud and scary and as seasick as they make you. Hold out, and be brave through it all! Sometimes all you can do is to watch and see what God will do.

I awoke on the morning of my birthday, in a horrible downcast mood. The sun was not shining, and Brady would be leaving for work, and I would be left alone on my birthday, of all days. Of course I was only thinking of myself. Looking out for #1. I cried and pouted after Brady left, and sat down to have my devotions. "Take possession of your own soul", the words of Oswald Chambers popped out at me, from the page. He goes on to speak of our "moodiness" and how we must work at pushing it out of our hearts. Moods after all, are rooted in our "physical conditions". He says, "We must pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believe we are unable to do." What is that he speaks of, that we think we are unable to do? It is realizing that God is above all our circumstances and far greater than any of them. Realizing that we don't have to "submit to our moods" or to the shifting shadows on this earth, but that we can have a firm and solid hope in the One who does not change like the shadows do. 

Right then and there, I realized that I had a choice: I could go about my sad miserable day, or I could realize that God has given me a wealth of blessings in Christ Jesus and another year to live for Him. So that is what I did, I took a walk on the beach and dedicated this next year of my life to the Lord. Dedicated it to a heart of gratitude and thankfulness, to the One who daily carries my burdens and forgives all my sins. 

Psalm 103 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 

and all that is within me, 

Bless His Holy name! 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 

and forget not all His benefits,

Who forgives all your iniquity, 

Who heals all your diseases! 

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with good things,

so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.