Bucket List



For a few days of spring break last week we went three hours southwest to San Antonio to see our good friends the Feldts.  They are in the Air Force but have been in SA for a pretty long time as Brent finished up residency for doctor-hood.  Maggie mentioned that she had some things on her Texas bucket list.  I don’t think I have a bucket for Texas…I have one for Alaska but there’s not much in Texas that I have left to do.  Before my Texas friends disown me, it has brought to mind some things that I’ll really miss from our 10 years here.  Here's my current top 5 things I'll miss...not in order, just how they roll off my brain. 

Aggie baseball with Zach and Josh

1) Zach, Josh and I went to the Aggie ball game on Saturday.  I’ll miss that…sitting in the shade (I would not have as many romantic feelings if we had to sit in the sun) watching a really well played 2-1 game.  When its 75 degrees and a slight breeze sitting at a ball game with a couple of my kids—yea I’ll miss that for sure.     

2) Friends are of course a gimme, doing life with friends is one that we will miss from here.  Good friends that bring food over or ask if we can bring food on the spur of the moment.  I know that happens as the norm in Port Alsworth too, but there is something about good friends who we have shared a lot of life with…

3) To be fair, I’ll miss the days at the pool.  I guess days is not quite accurate as the “day” is too hot, so I guess I’ll miss the evenings at the pool. Will not miss the days…

4) I’ll miss my office where I can go and read, study the Word, prep/plan for things.  The Office.  Julie calls it “The bachelor pad for married men.”  It would be fair to add “Married, middle aged men…”  I share the office, which is really just a small one bedroom guest house near campus, with 3 other ministry leaders which help me process stuff going on in my ministry and life.  The "Married man bachelor pad" and the friendships are life giving.  I will miss not having a place outside of the home-life routine to detach and concentrate. 

5) Julie and I get up on Saturday mornings and go to Blue Baker, a bagel shop, for breakfast.  Simple and routine...we touch base about all sorts of things; schedule, money, people, our people.  Most of the time there are no fireworks, it is just great to get up and go somewhere to talk and to do it whenever we can.  We will miss that...there are no bagel shops in Port Alsworth...Hummm, maybe there should be?

While I was in Anchorage a few weeks ago I registered our Suburban in Alaska.  The other day when Julie came out of a store someone was bent down behind the car snapping a pic of the Alaska license plate.  They nonchalantly tucked the phone in their pocket when she walked past them and opened the car door.  Makes me chuckle every time I think about it.  Maybe we helped complete another person’s Texas bucket list; to see an Alaska license plate…