Cornerstone Family Ministries
P.O. Box 8253
Nikiski, AK 99635
907-252-2036
Newsletter November 2009
Dear Friends:
Winter Winds
Whooee!
Fall has come roaring to Alaska and announcing its presence
emphatically!! After a beautiful “Indian Summer” with the neon
yellow and orange foliage painting the forests, it got suddenly very
cold and within just a few days the wind picked up and it rained gold
for awhile. About that same time the ice dam on the Snow Glacier Lake
broke emptying that lake into the headwaters of the Kenai River system
causing the water to rise probably five or six feet above normal.
It was something to behold. Then, this past week we had some of
those fall winds with gusts up around 70-80 mph. We lost four big
spruce trees in back of our house. You’d hear a loud crack and
then a crash as the tree hit the ground. Thankfully none of them
hit our house or vehicles. It reminded me of the time we lived on
the hillside in Anchorage and a high wind came streaking across the
mountains from Prince William Sound and one minute our 10' x 12' utility
storage shed behind the house was just sitting there and…poof, it was
gone. We never did find the crazy thing.
JAWS!!
If
you remember, I mentioned a few months back that I had been on a
halibut fishing charter out of Ninilchik, AK with Dave Teigen, one of
our church elders. We got a few fair sized halibut but the most
memorable part of the trip was the huge SLEEPER
SHARK that one of the
other fishermen pulled up from the bottom. We all thought it was
one of those huge “barn door” halibut because it was so hard to reel in
from about 200 feet down. Then, suddenly that big dorsal fin (a
bit of a floppy one) broke the surface and we knew that it was NOT a
halibut. The skipper estimated it at about 10-12 feet in length
and probably around 1200 pounds. One of the other folks in our
fishing party was a photographer and got a few pictures of the behemoth
before the skipper was able to get his hook back and let the big fella
go back to whatever he was doing before giving us a thrill.
Bizzee
I have noticed some
definite signs that summer is over by means other than the
temperatures, winds and shorter days. I have been MUCH busier in
my CFM counseling office in Kenai. Busy is a good thing because
it means people are reaching out for the help they need in dealing with
an assortment of family and personal issues. Local pastors from
the Kenai, Nikiski, Soldotna, Sterling and Kasilof areas are sending
folks my way. Of course, one of the things that is driving a
sense of desperation in many folks is the economic uncertainty that is
so pervasive in our country these days. Financial stress tends to
lower the flash point and increase volatility in the household.
Our church family is also not exempt from those pressures so we have
been going through Dr. David Jeremiah’s sequel to his DVD series about
end times called “Living Confidently In a Chaotic World.” It is
good stuff and Dr. Jeremiah, with his silver hair and dignified and
calm persona, really ministers to the worried and anxious souls of
many. And personally, I have been re-reading the account of the
founding of L’Abri in Switzerland by Edith Shaeffer. The
faithfulness of God to meet their needs as they simply prayed and
trusted Him is incredibly encouraging! I usually read that book
at least once each year!
Marveen to Colorado
The
high winds of yesterday settled down just in time for Marveen to board
a plane in Kenai at 5a.m. this morning and head to Colorado to
help her mom with things. I will fly down to join her on
the 17th and then we will leave the next day for Ohio where we will
spend a few days with daughter Michelle and her family. Haven’t
seen them at all in three years and that is just too long. Then,
we will head back to Steamboat Springs for Thanksgiving. We will
both return to Alaska on Dec. 2nd or 3rd. We’d surely appreciate your
prayers for safe travels and good health.
Ministry in your sphere of influence
Recently
a couple in our church went on a ministry trip out into the Alaska bush
to the village of Manokotak. On their return, they shared
incredible stories of a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit in the
lives of the people there that included many opportunities to share the
Lord both in the meetings and in the homes of the local folks. It
was really exciting to hear their report and as the husband was sharing
with our Tuesday night men’s group he encouraged everyone to let God
use us in our own sphere of influence. Well, that went off in my own
heart like a cluster bomb causing me to take a look at my own life to
acknowledge that there are indeed areas where the Lord has graciously
allowed me to have a degree of influence. Sometimes it is our
successes that open windows of opportunity for us, other times it is
our struggles. Regardless of how they develop, let me encourage
you to make the most of those connections and relationships for eternal
purposes in the Kingdom of God. I shared with our church two
weeks ago how the Apostle utilized his “sphere of influence” as a Roman
citizen to be able to share his faith in the Lord Jesus all the way to
Caesar’s court! God Bless You.
Have a great Autumn!!
Wayne & Marveen