Christmas Recital and other fun activities...

My mom making cookies with an enchange student, Vanessa, who we have been getting to know.

The Christmas wreath I re-decorated for my mom. The guys think it looks crooked, but the bow is supposed to be on the side.

Here I am with 22 of my piano students at my recent annual Christmas Recital.

Saturday we had some friends over and made gingerbread houses. We cheated and used graham-crackers, but they turned out pretty neat anyways. I think we used a lot more crackers than my mom was expecting. :) Mine is the one on the far left and Ryan's is on the far right. I cheated, however. I had a former interior design student help me. :)

Here is a picture of the singles Bible study I have been attending for the past 8 mos. We meet on Monday nights at several different houses. We are currently studying the book of Mark.

Magic Mountain with friends and family...

Last Friday I drove up to Magic Mountain with some friends, my brother Ryan and a couple of cousins. It was a special priavate party for homeschoolers, so it was practically empty! We enjoyed riding in the front of most of the rides--the best place if you love rollercoasters--and didn't have to wait hardly at all. A couple of the new, more popular ones had a little longer lines, but nothing compared with what it is like in the summer.

Here we are at the beginning of the day...before we got drenched on a water ride or our hair got messed up from all the rollercoasters. :)

Here I am in front of my favorite rollercoaster...Goliath!

California Fires

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has expressed concern and prayed for me this past week. We have been affected by the fires, but our home has not been threatened. My aunt, uncle and cousins were evacuated Sunday night, so they have been living with us. I know lots of people who have had to evacuate, but so far none of my close friends have lost their homes. Many people still have no idea if their house is still standing or not. The air quality has been pretty bad since Monday, but we are trying to conserve electricity and so we are just running our house fan to try and keep the air breathable. Many stores and businesses were shut down for a few days, but things are starting to return to "normal" now. For me, I have lost most of my piano lessons--at least for the week. Hopefully most of my students will all be able to resume lessons next week. It has been a crazy week, but we are rejoicing in the Lord and thankful for His many blessings and mercy. We have only lost power once for a few hours. My aunt & uncle's house was spared even though it was really close to the biggest fire.

You can continue to pray for all the people who have lost everything--as far as earthly possessions. Plus, for those who are displaced and might not be able to return to their homes anytime soon because of polluted water, downed power lines, and flare-ups from the fires. Also, please pray for protection from looters and vandalism which is already starting to break out.

We are so glad that God is in control and He is using this for His glory. Our beautiful city looks like a war zone at the moment, but we know that by His grace we can clean up and rebuild. Our God is the healer and restorer of life! And He can bring beauty from ashes.

The sun sets into the smoke on Wednesday evening...notice the two helicopters picking up one last load of water before dark?

Praising the Lord...

...for all His wonderful works for the children of men.

He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good...

From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORD'S name is to be praised.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory...

...because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.

...the heavens declare the glory of God!

Link to more Alaska pictures

Several people have asked to see more of our pictures from our trip to Alaska. I have uploaded them to the Kodak easyshare website, so you are welcome to view them there. Hopefully this link will work:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=xj4mh43.4mks28rb&Uy=-1p40ga&Ux=1

Fun with cousins!

This week my dad's sister and 8 of her 9 children stayed with us from Wednesday until Saturday. We had 4 busy, fun days filled with swimming, talking, playing instruments, indoor games, basketball, etc... Of course whenever you have that many people there is a lot of cooking and eating and fellowship that goes on too. Sleeping is always a little tricky, but there is always plenty of floor space in the living room and a few extra mattresses and futons always come in handy. Thursday night we all headed down to mission bay for a bonfire and Saturday morning we visited Santee lakes and rented paddle boats for a hilarious spin around one of the lakes. (It was funny for those of us who were on the shore watching. :) )



the girls--Rachel, yours truly and Rebecca



the guys and the bonfire

we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the bay



fun in the pool with balls and friends--the Townsend family with their four girls made several activities more exciting

the paddle boats were harder than they looked--especially for the girls in skirts, I think


our annual shot of all the cousins on the sofa--that back row gets bigger every year!

A few pictures from Alaska...

My parents and I with Mt. McKinley in the background


one of many shots of Mt. McKinley


a wild rose




A beutiful little pond in Anchorage




Flattop Mountain right outside of Anchorage

The last few days of our trip....

Sorry for the interruption in my posts. While in Denali I was unable to get online.

On Saturday we drove up to Denali National Park and spend the day exploring it. In the morning we hiked to the top of Mount Healy Overlook and had lunch at the top enjoying the beautiful view. For a snack on the way down, we enjoyed some wild blueberries. :) At 2:00 we visited the park kennels and learned more about sled dogs first-hand. It was fun to watch them get so excited when they started hitching up the team for the demonstration. It seemed like each dog--regardless of its age or size--suddenly came alive and was pleading "pick me, pick me" to their trainers. Of course in doggy language "pick me" translates into frenzied barking and racing around in circles, but the message was clear--they love to run!!
The final activity of the day was a leisurely bus ride to Savage River. Along the way we saw a caribou and a mother grizzly and her two cubs. The most exciting part of the ride occurred when an unsuspecting photographer came upon the grizzly bears (as we were watching them from the safety of the bus). For a few minutes I was afraid that I was going to witness a mauling, but fortunately the mother bear decided to take her cubs and find a more secluded spot rather than continuing to charge the foolish man.

Sunday morning we spent resting, listening to a sermon, and reading our Bibles. Toward lunch we headed up to the park to get something to eat and enjoy the visitor center and science center. Since it was raining, all these indoor activities were more pleasant than anything outside. Fortunately it stopped raining in the early afternoon--just in time for our white water rafting tour. To protect us from the 38 degree water, we were told to dress warmly--as many layers as possible--and given dry suits which only left our hands and heads exposed. After signing our lives away and receiving detailed instructions concerning every possible emergency situation which might occur during such activities, we were helped into the large, sturdy rafts by our able guides. For the next two hours we enjoyed a thrilling, but not terrifying, ride through numerous rapids which were rated between categories 2 and 4. Our friendly lady guide was very experienced and chatted with us the entire way. After riding a bus back to the beginning, we decided to buy the picture they took of us to prove that we had done it!
Monday we drove back to Anchorage, but on the way stopped to hike around Byers Lake in the nearby state park. We enjoyed a leisurely hike of about 6 miles around the lake while taking numerous pictures of the beautiful landscape and unique creation we saw along the way. After a later dinner in Anchorage, we turned in early after a long day of riding in the car and hiking.

Tuesday we packed up all our dirty clothes, souvenirs, and paraphernalia and hit a few more tourist sites in Anchorage before eating lunch and turning our rental car in. My mom's cousin Steve Baker picked us up and took us out to his beautiful home in Eagle River--a suburb of Anchorage. We met his family and spent a nice afternoon and evening at their house. Around 12 midnight we headed to the airport to catch our 2:50AM flight home.
On the way we flew through San Francisco, but on the way home we flew through Seattle. We all agreed that we liked stopping in Seattle better because it broke it up more evenly. In Seattle we had breakfast and my dad and I started the process of weeding out our pictures. I took over 400 and I think he took about 200 so we had barely begun when they started boarding for our flight. We arrived home around 1:30PM and were able to unpack everything and eat lunch before crashing around 4PM for a couple hours of sleep.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to see such a beautiful part of God's creation. It was a wonderful break from the busy routine of our normal lives. God really blessed us above and beyond what we expected with regards to the weather, safety traveling, and wonderful Christian fellowship with our relatives.
I am continuing to go through all our pictures and hope to post some here soon.

Denali State Park

Today we drove a couple hours north of Anchorage to Talkeetna. On the way, we stopped by the Idiotrod Headquarters in Knik. It was interesting to learn about this famous sled dog race which is a vital part of Alaskan history as well. They had a few sled dog puppies out there--very cute! In Talkeetna, we took a jet boat tour of several nearby rivers. For the most part it was a quiet, peaceful ride, but we did have a little fun when the driver swung the boat around to the dock. After having lunch at the historic Roadhouse inn, restaurant, and bakery, we walked around the town and saw some of the other historic buildings. Around 4PM we headed up to our hotel. We have a picture perfect view of Mt McKinley from the deck of the main lodge. It is so nice an clear today too! I've gotten lots of pictures.
Tomorrow we are headed further into the park and are staying in a cabin for the next two nights. I am looking forward to some hiking and to NOT meeting any ferocious, deadly, or otherwise harmful animals--unless at a distance. :) I don't know if I will be able to post from the park, so it might be a few days until you hear from me again.

Back in Anchorage

Yesterday we got up early--beat the sun--so that we could be on the road by 7AM. We had to drive 2 1/2 hours to Whittier to catch our boat tour of the sound. We also had to take into consideration 30 min. road construction delays and waiting at the tunnel. The tunnel into Whittier is the second longest in the country, but is only one lane wide. Therefore, they have a scheduled times for driving into the town, out of the town, and also a time for the train. Apparently it is only in the last 5 years that this train tunnel has been open to cars at all. We ended up having plenty of extra time before our tunnel time--so I got some time in the Word in--I figured we would because my mom usually plans plenty of time for everything. Plus, we arrived in Whittier with an hour to spare, so we walked around the town and my mom got some postcard stamps and my dad replaced his sunglasses which broke yesterday. I thought that Seward was a little fishing town. Well, I had no idea what a little, dirty, backward fishing village looked like until I walked the streets of Whittier. This place was amazing. There is basically one huge building which everyone lives in and which houses the post office and other things. We saw the general store which has a little bit of everything. The rest of the town consists of a few dinky--and I mean dinky--shops along the wharf, plus about 5 to 7 tour boat companies. At 11AM we boarded our boat and found seats on the lower deck. The 6 hour tour included crab cakes for lunch and a narrated tour of about 5 or so of the inlets, bays and straights of Prince William Sound. A few of the highlights included seeing a hunk of glacier larger than our house calf off of Surprise Glacier; millions of salmon fighting to get up to their home stream outside of the hatchery; and several bear, bald eagles, and sea otters in their natural environment. After disembarking at Whittier, we made our way back through the tunnel and back along the Turnagain inlet up to Anchorage. On the way we saw several rainbows through the mist in the valleys we passed. By the way, it was pretty cold and misty in Whittier, but when we got out on the sound the fog lifted enough for us to see around pretty well. It was mostly cloudy the whole day, but the sun peaked through a few times. From what our tour guide said, we had above average weather and saw more calving of the glaciers than most. So, I would say that the Lord must be blessing us with not only safety traveling, but also good weather and extra special opportunities to see unique aspects of Alaska. We are thankful!

Salutations from Seward!

Today we took scenic Seward Hwy from Anchorage down to Seward. We stopped at several points of interest along the way including a mining camp, waterfall, lake, and glacier. Upon arriving in Seward we discovered that although we paid for the cheaper room without the view of the harbor, we were given a room with a spectacular view of the marina, harbor and rugged mountain peaks. After exploring the small fishing town for a few hours, we had some boiled halibut and Greek salad at a local restaurant. Now I am enjoying typing while watching fishermen clean their boats and otters play in the harbor. I think I'll be turning in early tonight because in order to make our cruise of Prince William Sound tomorrow, we need to leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 7:00AM.

Greetings from Anchorage!

Yes, I am in Alaska now. I am with my parents on our family vacation. We arrived early Tuesday morning (1:30AM). We were planning to sleep in and take it easy yesterday, but when we got in we found out that they only serve breakfast until 8:30. So, we ended up getting up for a free hot breakfast--who wouldn't?! :) After getting our rental car we decided to rent bikes and see the city. We found this beautiful bike path along the water and ended up taking it all the way to the point - about 9 miles. Needless to say, we were pretty hungry by the time we got back to the bike shop around 2:00. After enjoying a light lunch at a local fish shop, we headed to the visitor's center to get some information about Anchorage and the surrounding area. The friendly helpful people there suggested that we hike in the Chugash Mountains which surround the city and provide beautiful views of it. We ended up hiking 6 miles (round trip) up to Flattop Mountain. Under normal circumstances a 6 mile hike would be nothing for us, however, we were already tired from our 18 mile bike ride, and to top it off there was a 1300 ft elevation gain from the parking lot to the top. The last 1/2 mile or so was pretty much straight up--we clambered up it on all fours. Anyways, the view from the top was worth it all! We have probably taken between 100-150 pictures already! It was so beautiful and clear yesterday. We are thanking God the wonderful weather to enjoy His amazing creation in. The snow-capped peaks are breathtaking and the wildflowers abundant. I wish you could all be here to enjoy it with me.
I'm not sure how often I will have access to a computer, but I will try to update the blog whenever I do. Feel free to email me and post comments, because I might actually be able to respond! Alaska is not as backwards as I thought! :)

Update from July 14th

Dear Friends and family,
Marcia called today from the laundromat in Waimea. What better thing to do with the waiting time than to call home. :) They had a busier week with about 45 teens, more guys, than girls. Marcia had 4 gals and one of them had accepted the Lord last week at camp. This week, she was eager to apply what she was learning and Marcia and Kayleigh had a lot of good talks about walking in obedience to God’s Word in her difficult home life.

(Kayleigh)

Marcia has appreciated the emphasis that is put on prayer, not only the 24 hour prayer vigil each Sunday ( that I mentioned last week) but also the daily prayer times. Each morning before the campers get up the counselors meet for prayer at 6:45-7:15AM. They will not be headed down the mountain this weekend. Tomorrow afternoon ( worship time in the morning) they plan to take two four wheel drive vehicles up the volcano. It involves some hiking as well.

(the cold, bumpy ride to the top!)

(it was worth it for the view from the top!)

No sickness to report, but they are getting tired. Pray for them to be renewed and eager for this last week. For most of the campers this is their only week of camp and the counselors want to be as enthusiastic as they were the first time they played all these games, etc. This next week is junior week again and the younger campers take more watching than the teens.

Next Saturday they have a special activity planned that all the campers will be invited too. She thinks it is at the Christian school down by Hilo. Marcia didn’t know any details, except that it is kind of a wrap up/ goodbye day and one more chance for everyone to gather.

Thanks for praying,
Raynell Harrison
PS. For all those in the San Diego area, Marcia will be sharing a power point presentation about this summer ministry at our church (Faith Community Bible Church) on Sunday evening, Aug. 5th. If you’re interested in attending and need details, feel free to ask.

Update from July 7th

(smallest week of camp)

I just heard from Marcia. After about 60 campers last week, this week was quite small with only 7 teen girls and 12 teen guys. So they decided to only have 2 women counselors and 2 men. The other counselors worked on operational staff.

(Marcia and her cabin at the sand dunes.)

Marcia was a counselor with 4 teen girls. It wasn’t quite as intense this week, but Marcia got a cold, so didn’t feel quite up to par. She said it reminded her to depend on Christ for the strength she needed (which is a good thing all the time, right?) The teen girls in her cabin had all attended the Christian school and professed to know Christ, so she was able to challenge them in their walk and encourage them to live for Christ. While it has been raining at the coast (near Hilo) they have not had rain up at the camp and it is dry. They had a fire nearby last week. She said it reminds her of the hills of Southern California. They had a bit of wind and it blew over one of the staff tents, flipping it over one of the staff cars.

Pray for this next week’s teen camp- about 40-50 expected.
Pray for safety and good health.
Pray for unity among the staff.
Pray for the speaker and his family. (his wife and two year old son will be there as well)
Some of the teens that attended last week will be coming back up this week. Pray for all of the campers—that the seeds of God’s Word that have been planted will take root and produce fruit in their lives.
Each Sunday the staff has 24 hours of prayer in preparation for the week and each one signs up for at least a one hour time slot, maybe two, depending on the number of staff. Marcia has had the 4-5 AM time slot on Sunday mornings. (They keep a fire going in the lodge for those who have the night shifts, which is nice)
Thank you all for your continued prayer for Marcia and the ministry at the WINDS Christian camp.

Update from June 30th

Well. I just had a real nice talk with Marcia. All the counselors are headed down to Kona for a swim and relaxation for the day.

(shopping in Kona)


(view for our picnic dinner on the beach)

They had a good first week of camp. It was a junior camp and went from Monday through 9 AM on Friday. Each counselor had 8 or 9 campers. Marcia was able to talk to each one of her girls one on one. Some attend the Christian school, but even then do not have strong Christian background. Marcia had a 45 minute Bible class with them each day and then 10 min. devotions at night as well. None of them prayed to receive Christ, but Marcia could tell they were thinking and counting the cost by the questions and comments they made.



(some of my girls)
It is cool during the day. (the one day that they planned water games outside it was warm, which was a praise!) At night she said you want to pull your head down in the sleeping bag to keep warm. They each get a bucket of water and cup for pouring to bathe each night. So she washes her hair in the bucket first and then uses the water to clean up the best she can.
They do have running water in the lodge/kitchen building which is nice. The days are full and for the most part the girls were ready to sleep at night. There were no major discipline issues, but she said that none of them have been taught to obey right away.
She asked that we pray for wisdom for counseling this week as she will probably have 5 teens in her cabin and some come from pretty rough backgrounds. Pray for continued good health for all. The teen camp lasts until Saturday morning, so is a bit longer.

Update from June 22

(Picnic dinner at Akaka Falls - after VBS)



I talked to Marcia last night and the week of VBS had gone well. They had about 90 children. Marcia was in charge of crafts for all the age groups. The first day had a bit of a learning curve as she realized how very little K-Ist graders can do. “Mom”, she said, “some kids can’t even bend a pipe cleaner in half” . The dragonflies (made with round wooden clothespins) were the favorite.







This morning they are headed up the mountain to prepare for camp which starts next Monday.





They will be using a camp that is also used by the Girl Scouts and is empty most of the time. So they have to clean the 4 cabins (which the girls will use) and the lodge. The guys will be setting up big canvas tents, lay down wood planks for the floor and setting up cots for the boys’ lodging. They have a lot of work to do, but she sounded excited. Marcia talked to a local girl who had been a counselor up at the camp a previous summer and she suggested buying a big storage tub from Wal Mart to keep her clothes in. (to keep the critters off, J) So the girls went to Wal Mart.

(Marcia's cabin)

They have more prep to do for the camp program too. They will have two teams, each made up of 2 girl cabins and 2 guy cabins. One is the Black Diamond Climbers (Marcia is on this one) and the other is the North Face Mountaineers. They have been preparing songs as a staff choir; Marcia is the pianist. Some songs they are being accompanied by a guitar, and then she will sing.
She is not sure if she will have cell phone coverage up on the mountain, but if I hear from her, I will pass on the news.
She thanks you all for praying.

Update from June 16th

Marcia arrived safely, minus one bag, but it came two days later. She has been busy with staff training this week. God has provided some good deals for VBS and things are coming together. They are working together well as a team. Marcia is in charge of crafts for the VBS week. The theme is the Days of Creation. It was a bit overwhelming at first but she has had time to organize and plan and feels good about it. Up until last Saturday they were experiencing a drought and with the majority of people on cachement, it was looking very serious. They estimated only 18 days of water remaining for the county. Well, this week it has rained and rained. Marcia had a great practice game of paintball with the leaders in preparation for camp, IN THE RAIN. At least it is warm!


A number of details need to come together yet for camp. They need a speaker for the first week. The speaker originally planned backed out. Pray for the children to be open and accepting of them as white counselors. There can be difficulty between cultures (white vs. Hawaiian) Pray that the counselors will be wise and not unnecessarily offensive. This Sunday night they will be sharing testimonies and special music at a local church.

My deepest apologies...

I was unable to access my blog at all while in Hawaii. I was afraid that might happen, so I set it up for my mom to email updates to my blog. Unfortunately, I did something wrong and that didn't work either. I am so sorry for leaving anyone hanging. I tried to have my mom email as many people as possible, but I apologize again for anyone who had no idea what was going on.

I did have a wonderful trip and I will now post some of the updates my mom sent out with some pictures to fill you all in. Thank you for your patience!

Trip to Hawaii

Today I am leaving at 4:45PM for the big island of Hawaii. I am going to be working at the Winds Christian Camp for six weeks starting Monday, June 11. The first two weeks are staff training and preparation in and around Hilo. The last four weeks will be spent at a little camp nestled between the volcanos working with teens and junior age kids from a wide variety of backgrounds.
I am going to try to post prayer updates as much as possible, but am not sure what access I will have to email or the internet. If I am unable to post myself, I am going to call my mom with updates and have her post my news for me.
Thanks for praying!

Let me explain...

I'm sure the first thing everyone is going to ask is "where did that title come from?" It is taken from Ezra 7:6-10 which says "...Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him... And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month,...according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."
My attention was drawn to this passage and specific phrase through a series of messages given by Dr. Matt Olsen--the president of Northland Baptist Bible College, my alma mater. If you would like to listen to them, they can be found on sermonaudio.com.
The purpose of this blog site is to share evidence of God's hand and work through the ministry opportunities He gives me this summer and in the future. My desire is to give all the praise and glory to Him for the work He accomplishes through me this summer!