Kidnapped

This morning, as I do every morning, I walked out onto our little front deck and gazed at some of the mountains that make up the St. Elias Mountain range in the Kluane National Park (a World Heritage site). They're not in the distance but "reach out and practically touch" close. There were clouds set into some of the nooks and crannies but you could see the glorious peaks. Awe inspiring and breathtaking. Now a couple hours later the clouds have come down even further and the peaks are hidden for the time being, playing hide and seek but always reappearing to capture my attention.

The leaves are turning here and rather than in the ground you find gold in the trees. It's a magnificent display of the richest color you can imagine. It's as if the landscape is saying, "You may have come here for gold but my beauty will keep you here." I feel kidnapped by my surroundings and and I'm a willing prisoner. Peace has wrapped itself around me and contentment has rested itself on my lap. Creator God has a pleased and playful grin as he sees me revel in His handiwork. This was in his heart long ago and He delights in my response.

Life in Haines Junction, Yukon. We're here and we're loving it. Just 5 short months ago Ken and I started to dream a little dream and now we're here. Those of you who know us best know how miraculous that is. We are fantastic at dreaming and lousy at following through. In an earlier post I shared all my anxiety about whether we were doing the right thing. We are. The anxiety has lifted like the clouds lift from the mountains.

We are well. We ended up getting into our place the day before school started (they started on the 31st of August) and are all set up now. It's amazing how it all came together. The house is a double wide mobile home and has an addition. It's very comfortable with lots of windows - the better to appreciated the scenery with! The kids bedrooms look like they were painted for them. Brenna's lime green room perfectly suits her and the boys' blue and red room perfectly match the new Star Wars duvet covers Auntie Kate made them. It's a little thing maybe but all the little details add up to the adjustment in being here going so smoothly.

The kids seem happy. They are enjoying having a stay at home mommy. She's a newer version and some of the bugs have been worked out of her. She's calmer and more relaxed (she does crosswords now!). She still has the occasional glitch when bedtime goes on too long and her head threatens to spin around like in a horror flick but overall she cooks yummy stuff and there is no mountain of laundry to scale in the house.

They're enthusiastic about school, they all like their teachers. The school is a great facility and proof that the territory pours a lot of money into the outlying communities. Today there was a bear spotted outside the playground a couple hours before school let out. The announcements encouraged the kids that walk home to keep their heads up and to walk in groups. Hmmm. Really?!? Yikes!

Brenna is learning Southern Tutchone (the local language) as well as French this year and has already had a friend over three times. Will is doing better than we could've imagined which is great as he's historically been the one that's expressed the most anxiety about this northern endeavour. He's going on his first play date tomorrow with his buddy Dawson. I'll get him to blog again soon - he's such an interesting writer. Jay already has a girlfriend of course - a little spark plug named Remy that he danced the night away with at a local concert we went to on Sunday night. They have a great venue here that they have musicians at twice a month. This time it was the Sophisticated Cavemen - a total hoot.

And last but not least my oldest kid - Ken. He was sooo nervous before school started. But now that we're in the second week he's having a great time, enjoying the kids and staff. Each morning he gets to sit in the music room with his students working out classic rock songs. Talk about a great fit! And as always he's making people laugh - he's a gift to the staff and students. I can see God's kindness in him being here this year as Richard Godson, the man who was on leave and that Ken was filling in for, passed away as a result of cancer this last Thursday. I didn't even know the man and I was in tears. He was obviously an amazing man who has had an incredible impact on the community. Brenna came home and said she'd seen high school boys crying in the halls. That says something about the kind of man he was.

Life is good. There's so much more to tell but supper has to be made. Now that we have internet I'll be able to blog more frequently.

Jesus,

You are my delight. In the midst of all this beauty I sing, "How Lovely You Are". I love you.

The clouds have lifted and the mountains show off their new coats of white. They look so proud of their new outfits. They definitely believe that it's okay to wear white after Labour Day! The air has a bit of a chill but I'm cozy and warm and grateful... oh so grateful.

'til next time,

Dianna