If I could live anywhere in the world, I'm sure it wouldn't be here.  But here is good.  I'm sure most people wouldn't choose to live where they currently are, if other factors weren't holding them in place.  Finances, I'm sure, prevent many people from relocating.  Family and loved ones close by I'm sure root many people to their geography.  Weather for others, and no place or reason to move for even more.  But what actually brought us here?

There is an easy answer: a job.  We were losing the one we had to the economy and so we went looking for another.  When money is tight, people don't go running to counselors, as paying the bills is always the priority.  As such, the entire field was shrinking.  This place in Alaska was looking to grow their outpatient department as other, more costly departments, were being shrunk.  When having a job is the goal, and the field is being whittled away, any job is a good thing.

I would have flipped burgers if it took care of the family.  Nothing in the middle of Tennessee opened up, nothing south into Tampa presented itself, and nothing northwest into Des Moines became available.  That corridor was where our focus was, and Alaska's position was the only opportunity out of that area where we put out feelers.  We had previously identified it two years earlier, prior to moving to Tennessee.

I think we were being emotionally prepared for the severity of this jump by that initial contact.  When our house finally sold in Iowa, we squatted for the winter close by, and kept everything as stable as we could.  It was then that we threw open the sashes and let in all of the options.  This position was one of them, however we chose the option half-way between the in-laws, and right close to Val's sister, in Tennessee where the hills start.  It was a very good choice, and we were blessed to have had that time.  We visited my folks three times, which is three times more than we had been able to since they themselves moved down.  We were able to work in two visits to see Val's mom during those 18 months as well.  We were able to connect with Val's sister at least twice monthly, and oftentimes each weekend out of the month.  All in all, it was a great location, and a wonderful time; a tremendous extended vacation.

Sure, Alaska was the only option this time, but I believe that was purposeful on God's part.  I think we probably would have taken another option closer to those that we love.  When you look on the globe, Bethel is as far from Tampa as is Spain, western Africa, and southern Brazil.  We are in The Far Country, not just spiritually but also physically.  The ability to get back to family is our main concern; not the weather, not the culture-shock, not the dark.

We believe that Jesus Christ is not just our Savior, but also our Lord.   He is Sovereign, and we have choices, which can be boiled down to obedience or disobedience.  I would rather be going where God wants to me go like Isaiah, "Here am I.  Send me," than Jonah, as he willfully took off in the opposite direction.  With this being our one option at this time, I think the choice is not so much in the coming, but in the attitude with which we come.  He answered our prayer by giving us Tennessee for a time, which was certainly the desire of our heart.  As Christ has prepared us for Alaska, I am sure that He has prepared Alaska for us.  I see us as having a job to do while we are here.  I don't know His overall purpose yet.  I certainly would like to see the big-picture that He is painting, yet living with faith only gives me this daily brush-stroke.

I think the changes we had to go through as we moved to Tennessee helped in the transition to Alaska also.  At each point we down-sized.  We have thought that we were minimalists, yet with each move we have given away so much.  We haven't been living with nothing by any stretch of the imagination.  We have been blessed, and we want to be a blessing to others.  There is tremendous joy and freedom in knowing, better than we ever have before, the difference between wants and needs.

When people ask why we moved here, I have all sorts of pad answers.  I say that many people vacation where they want for a week or two, while we do it for a year or two.  I say that we wanted to show our children that there is more to life than middle-class, middle-America.  I say that we wanted to work in the third-world, yet still provide some stability for our children.  I say that we wanted a different culture, and there are more cultures mixing themselves up here than anywhere.  I say that the opportunities for ourselves and our family are greater here than anyplace we have found in the Lower 48.

All of these things are true.  What is the most true?  I am a therapist, and I was offered the position of a therapist.  Val has said that it is my calling; I certainly recognize it as my gift.  Will I always be a therapist?  Here am I.  Send me.

I went to the hardware store again today.  It was 20 below, but no wind.  It was perfectly fine.  The air is different in the cold, and somehow the moon is also.  It was quite striking: the full moon in the middle of the day, while the sun was shining bright.  There were people driving all along the river.  There were many people ice fishing, and a few people traveling here from the towns close by.  It was interesting in that there was actually water alongside the banks; not ice.  The radio brings frequent weather forecasts, and part of the forecast is information about the tide.  Because we are about 20 miles in from the sea (not the Bering Sea itself, but the Kuskokwim Bay), there is an actual tide that still occurs even up here.  My guess as to where the non-frozen water comes from is simply the tidal surge.  So these cars and trucks that travel on the river find spots where there has been enough ice and snow pushed together to travel from the very fozen inner parts of the river onto the actual ground.  They all act like that's normal.

Many of the people were ice fishing.  What they do, while the ice is starting to form in the Fall and barely thick enough to stand on, is go out with a big poker and chip a hole in the ice.  A foot or two down the way, they chip another hole in the ice, and then they string a net from the first hole to the second, using sticks as they reach underneath the ice.  They go on down the line, making roughly ten holes all along the way, while their nets hang down.  As the temperature drops, they continue to chip at their holes; keeping them open and large enough to pull out the fish that get caught.  Naturally, they need to check their nets daily, but they need to keep the holes open too, which at almost four feet thick, is quite an endeavor.  They put up flags so that when people snow-machine and drive, they stay clear of the very significant holes in the ice.

Our house is almost a home, as silverware has finally arrived.  Samara has made a good friend in a neighbor.  There have been multiple sleep-overs that have occured in both directions in the past couple of weeks; mostly during Christmas vacation.  Her friend is in the third grade, while she is the second.  They are in different schools, however.  Our kids are now in public school, and try as Aidan might, he enjoyed his first day of school anyway.  Samara absolutely loooooved her first lesson in Yupik, while that was Aidan's only complaint, (which was very feabile, even considering his extraordinary talent).  The girls all went to a Slavik celebration yesterday (Russian New Year).  Many people all getting together, mostly speaking Yupik, singing Christmas carols and handing out candy.  The party goes on for a couple of weeks, or however long people want an excuse to play.

We got the web-cam operating today.  That was wondrous for the kids to talk with their cousins in Tennessee today.  Now we can branch out and talk with others in the mix.  Love the Skype!

It's 27 degrees below zero right now.  That's according to the mercury.  The wind is blowing hard.  I believe the wind chill brings it down to 45 below, or maybe even 50 below.  The cold, of all things, is actually quite tolerable.  I'll even go so far as to say that it is good.  The wind, on the other hand, is what cuts.  I remember Chicago being extraordinarily cold one winter, and it felt as cold as it feels right now, because of the wind of course.  When we walk from place to place, it is quicker than driving someplace in an unwarmed-up vehicle, sitting still and shivering.  Walking, of course, is moving, and in moving there is warmth.  Of course, we don't want to walk far, and thankfully we don't have to.  The farthest that we need to walk is really to the Post Office, which takes no more than 25 minutes.  Church takes 15, because we have Eliana who likes to walk extraoooordinarily slowly.

I was talking with the folks down at the hardware store yesterday.  They were saying that it is indeed cold, and that it has gotten colder earlier this year than any year in their memory.  It isn't supposed to be this cold for another 30-45 days.  Nobody is worried, though.  "Just use common sense and bundle up," is the thought.  Frostbite is the issue, of course.  As such, they close the schools around this temperature.  Of course, it is Christmas break right now.

The snow is certainly different here, than in the Lower 48.  It is so dry and so cold, that the snow has the look, feel and response of sand.  There are snow dunes.  The wind is quite strong here, too.  As we are on the tundra, there are not very many trees, and the ones that are here are simply too small to be a wind-break.  I imagine this might be a bit like being in the desert, except a cold one. 

Christmas was wonderful here.  There was snow on the ground and in the air.  We trudged through snow drifts up to our waist.  There were more people walking than there were cars on the road, due to the snowfall from Christmas Eve.  We went to the Moravian Church for the candlelight service, which was very sweet.  Roughly half of that congregation, perhaps more, are Native Alaskans.  They have a separate service which is done entirely in Yupik, and even still the English service is very well attended.  It is good to be with new friends, but we very much missed our old friends.  Skype is good for the free long-distance calls, yet it is certainly distant.

In fact, that is the only real complaint about being here: we miss our old friends and families.  We are certainly making new friends, and doing so is actually occuring quicker than previously.  The community is a really tight community, as well as welcoming and willing. 

On the day of Christmas Eve, our belongings arrived.  Being connected with our belongings at long last, was one of the best presents that we could have wished for.  We have only recently identified what didn't get on the truck, though.  We are missing a toaster, but that is en route, at this point.  Amazon is wonderful, especially when free shipping is involved.  We are pleased to see how many different items include free shipping.  The down-side, of course, is that we have to be patient.  We have always been patient people, I think, and now we are learning an even greater level.  That is good -- I like being transformed not just through the renewing of our minds, but also by using our ciricumstances purposefully to connect with Christ.