Sunday morning is always the beginning of a wonderful day when you serve the Lord. I awoke and set my thoughts on Him. Not difficult when that amazing view out my window reminded me of His faithfulness and good gifts to His children! I quietly prepared myself for church by showering and laying out my outfit; I also prepared by reading Scripture and praying. It was blissful to have nothing else to do and no one else to worry about except my own personal readiness for the house of the Lord.
After another tasty breakfast together, Janet and I drove to church by ourselves. Tony was on the worship team so had already been at the church for an hour to practice. Brett and Justin were unable to come to the morning service due to health issues. And Elijah left early to pick up a friend.
Its always a little disconcerting when I am about to enter a new environment. Whitehorse Baptist Church was a new environment to me and I wondered how the service would be. We pulled up and parked about half a block behind the church building. The day was warm and slightly cloudy. As we walked into the old-style building, with a small foyer in light brown paneling, I felt at home. It reminded me of the little Alliance Church in Arcola, Saskatchewan, where I went to youth group in highschool. The only differences were chairs instead of pews and a full worship band up front rather than a pulpit and single piano!
We slipped into the second row, middle section with just a few minutes before the service began. I enjoyed the music and knew all but one song. Then a unique feature: their associate pastor was away for wilderness safety training and did a brief video of the announcements for the upcoming the week. He ended with a dramatic dunking of his head into the frigid Yukon River!
Janet and I gave each other a meaningful look when the pastor revealed the title of his message: prayer. With the very special times we had enjoyed in the Word and praying together, this was "icing on the cake" as the saying goes. She took notes and even picked up the handout with quotes on prayer. I can never get enough on that subject!
I turned around at the close of the service to greet the Ens kids sitting behind us. Chris was the only son I had not seen yet, so it was nice to catch up on his life and work. My knowledge of his line of expertise, mechanics, is limited, but I did converse somewhat intelligently on the old 1928 Dodge Brothers car that Walter is rebuilding. I used terms like "flat-head six" and "suicide doors" so hopefully he was impressed!
The plan was to have lunch at a nearby park but all their sons were otherwise occupied. So Tony, Janet and I went back to change and then load up the food for a simple weiner/smokey roast. Nothing tastes as good as meat cooked over an open fire. We enjoyed a pleasant meal and afternoon in a park that is actually about 15 or 20 minutes away from Whitehorse proper, yet is still within city limits! It got warm enough to pull our lawn chairs into the shade of their vehicle for a while. We chatted, laughed, reminisced and shared as old friends. I missed Walter particularly then and wished we could have shared this trip together! Well, that would have certainly changed the dynamics of the "girls getaway weekend" but Tony would have had guy company then!
Someone glanced at their watch and realized it was almost supper time. We packed up and drove back to their home. Janet quickly prepared a stir-fry for the boys' supper but we weren't all that hungry. I grabbed a coffee while there, knowing it would be a long day yet. Daylight and the fact that this was my last evening meant I would not have trouble falling asleep even with caffeine after 5 pm!
At sometime around 8 pm, Chris picked us up in his suburban and five of us headed up to Grey Mountain. Again this mountain is within the city limits, I believe. We picked up his friend and her mountain bike because Chris and his friend were going to ride the trails up there while we hiked. Crazy Yukoners! So by the time we reach the top of the road (a cell tower perched at the peak), it was already 9 pm and still plenty bright. I was glad to be sitting in the middle seat, not on the edge overlooking the valley! This prairie girl was out of her element up the narrow, winding gravel road. Once at the top, the view in all directions was spectacular. Mountains off in the distance, the Yukon and various other rivers meandering below, dark green trees, tiny specks indicating houses and other points of interest below.
The trail the young people took off on their bikes wound up and then down this mountain. We planned to hike a ways and then text them when we were turning back to the vehicle. (Technology is alive and well, even in such wild and remote country!). Janet had brought a book on plants in the Yukon and we stopped frequently to identify this purple flower or that yellow blossom. I was interested in it all but most were foreign plants to me. Janet laughed at one point as Tony stood patiently up ahead, while we bent down to examine the delicate and short-lived northern vegetation.
"I bet you're glad Cindy is here, or you'd be the one nodding and pretending to be fascinated with my flower fetish!" Tony didn't exactly protest her comment!
Along a particular spot on the trail, we spotted a tiny chipmunk perched on a ledge and munching something tasty! It must have been 15 feet or so above us, not concerned with our noise or business at all. Thankfully, this was our only encounter with any wildlife. No bears! We did hear some beautiful bird calls and I don't think any of us recognized the distinct song/trill.
At some point still quite a distance from the actual summit of the mountain, I mentioned that I was fading a little. Tony and Janet both could have kept going but I think they are in better shape and are used to the altitude. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it! We turned around and retraced our steps. I also realized nature was calling and didn't think I could last another hour until we reached civilization. So I wandered down into some cover...at least I thought it was okay until Janet called down that some folks were pulling into the parking area and had a clear view! Glad she had my back on that!
Chris and friend joined us at the Suburban and we drove down the mountain. Although cloudy, it was not even twilight yet at nearly 11 pm! By the time we got to Janet's friends place, we all were quite hungry. So we raided the fridge and warmed up various leftovers. It was so fun!
The guys left when the food was consumed. Janet and I sat up and talked awhile, knowing it was our last precious hours before I flew back home.
Another sweet time of fellowship and my final sleep through the almost
No comments:
Post a Comment