The solo vacation

I love God's sense of humor. I mean, of course it's going to be awesome, because he created humor and laughter. But when I see it on display…well, it's like no other.

A couple of weeks ago I made an impromptu decision. I love being spontaneous. So I got online and made plans to take a mini-vacation, a long weekend skiing at a place I had never been - Big Sky, Montana.

I have not skied in several years, but every time I do I love it. Makes me wish I lived closer to places where it snows. So I am enjoying a nice relaxing evening before hitting the slopes tomorrow.

All by myself. And I'm enjoying that part of it.

So what's the funny part? Well, as I boarded the plane from Minneapolis to Bozeman, I saw a man walking down the aisle wearing a Bama cap. Someone from home - cool. That should get me a "roll tide." And it did. But then he and his family took their seats, and he was right next to me.

I've got to confess, I was a little thrown. I was several hours into my solo vacation, and I was enjoying the idea of 3.5 days away from everything and everybody. I love vacations with my nephew and nieces, my sisters, my dad, and my friends. But the idea of a few days to recharge my batteries in the open cold air is good too. At least for me.

And now God had put me right next to someone with clear instructions to engage. 

I enjoyed the conversation, but part of me was thinking, What if God wants me to use this vacation to spend time with this family and be a light to them? That was not what I had in mind, and I know God was not pleased with my attitude.

So here's where God's sense of humor comes in. I was sitting on the plane reading a book when this family came into my life for the day. Here is the specific passage I was reading from How People Change (Keller & Tripp):

These are the very reasons why community is such a big part of God's plan to transform us  into the image of Christ. Living in community pushes us to die to ourselves.

Yeah, pretty much part of a whole chapter about how we are need each other, how we need to live in community, how dangerous it is to be a "lone ranger Christian."

All of which I believe. I love my community, my church, my family, my friends - all of which are helping to conform me to the image of Christ.

But this was my time!

Ummm, no, says God. There's no such thing. We are all in this together, and there's no such thing as a vacation from that. God had to be laughing as he brought this family to these seats…on this flight…during this vacation…while I was reading this passage.

Oh no, Donnie. There is no solo vacation, or solo anything else.

We parted ways after we landed, but they are still with me. They are with me as I eat dinner, hang around the lodge, and will be with me as I ride the lifts tomorrow. I am not here - even here - for myself. I'm here for God and for others.

And that makes it all worthwhile.

A moment of wonder

Today I was walking along the South Bank of the Thames River with four of my favorite people. It was a gorgeous day with absolutely perfect weather, and we were on our way to ride the London Eye. It was a perfect day to be lifted high above the city and get some great pictures.

It was packed! Today was a British holiday, school was out, and there were a ton of people there from other countries. There were people everywhere. People of all cultures and backgrounds.

And suddenly I was overcome with a sense of awe. In the midst of trying to get through all those people and spend as little time as possible in the "queue" for the Eye (yes, I can use the correct local term for a line), I somehow noticed all those people and thought of them as individuals. Like me and my family. I thought about how the God of the universe who put all the stars and galaxies into place knows the story of every single one of those people. And he loves each one of them deeply, whether they know it or not. I looked at person after person and thought, "What's his story?" "What's her story?" And I realized that in every single case God knows the answer.

It was a moment of wonder in the midst of chaos. We serve an amazing God. And I am so thankful.

Does it show?

Tonight here in London, there was apparently a pretty big soccer match. Two German teams were playing for the Champions League championship, and from what I could tell it was THE game for this soccer-crazed culture. The equivalent of the Super Bowl or the BCS Championship (Roll Tide!). All day long there were fans in the colors of both teams everywhere we went. and several people asked me if we were going to the big "football" game tonight. (Don't worry, I didn't tell them that football season doesn't start for another 96 days.)

And then the oddest moment of the day occurred. We were standing outside the Hard Rock Cafe waiting for a table and a guy dressed in his team colors came up to me. He asked, and I do not lie, whether I had any tickets for sale to the game?

I was like, what?? What was it about me that led you to believe I had extra tickets to a soccer game?

So apparently, the sports fan in me just radiates. Somehow people look at me and think, "He has football tickets!" Even if it's not what I would call football.

And so now I know. Interesting.

Alaska 2011 - pics and slideshow

We are back from our journey up and down the Alaska coastline.  I could go on and on about it but I couldn't possibly do it justice. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful area, although I must warn you - if you go you can't borrow my family, so you'll miss the best part. :)

I loaded a few pictures on this site at the halfway point, but now I have about a hundred. So to see them all at your own pace, use this facebook link.

Finally, here's a little slideshow I put together, to the music of Alaska by Sky Sailing:

Alaska...halfway through

Ok, it's a little more than halfway, but I wish it weren't. I am having the most awesome time seeing Alaska with family. I will be posting a large number of pictures on facebook when I get home, but I thought I'd put a few on here for those of you who are wondering if we're still alive. (Online and cell phone communication has been spotty.)

Before we set sail, we spent the night in Seattle. And how can you go to Seattle without seeing the Space Needle?

Brooke and Hunter atop the Space Needle

We have all had such a good time hanging out. Here are a few pictures from dinner - I hope you can see the joy in everyone's eyes like I have in person.

Macy enjoying a cappuccino

Joe and Kay

Kristy and Joe

Macy, Haley, & Brooke

And, of course, Hunter

And somehow my Dad has avoided the camera. Gotta remedy that!

Of course we have seen some unbelievable demostrations of God's creativity in the glaciers.

A picture of a picture being taken...cool, huh?

The Reid Glacier, in Glacier Bay National Park

And as we were taking it in, here is maybe my favorite picture from the trip so far:

Kristy, Macy, Haley, and Joe taking it all in

And on it goes, as we spent the day in Juneau.

At the state capitol

Macy, Brooke, Haley and me...as close I wanna get to a bear

And we topped the day off with various excursions, including my group that got to do some dog sledding:

All in all, an amazing week so far. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

And with that, I've used enough online minutes, and I also need some sleep. Good night!