Update on Life

Last week, we enjoyed a visit from the Americas West Cadence Regional Directors, a couple whom we dearly love. They have been so good to us over the past two and a half years, taking time to call when they are not here, and making visits to serve us. Thursday evening Beryl kicked me out of the kitchen to enjoy dinner with those I feed weekly, as she kept an eye on the kitchen and the clean up. This allowed me to join in the group discussion upstairs, not just listening from downstairs. I am grateful to have such a caring support team.

Our Friday night singles group is going through some interesting changes. I believe some of the changes are due to the natural life cycles of a group like this-- especially in a transient community like ours. But it requires wisdom and discernment in decision making as we (Wes, Dan and I) try to lead this community. Our attendance is down to about 15-20 on Fridays. Pray that we would use the opportunity to minister to this smaller group, while also figuring out how to meet the needs of the larger community. The people are out there.

Finally, an update on the Evans family. Dan and Barb received sad news this week. After reading results from this months MRI and comparing them to last month's MRI they learned that the cancer has spread (and is spreading quickly) to four different areas of Barb's brain. They were told that there are no other medical options to consider. We may be looking at months now. Pray for this family, as they celebrate Christmas together, knowing that time may be short. Pray for Wes and I as we walk beside them, not knowing how to best support them. And pray for our community. Since Barb got sick she has been much less present in ministry, but there are still those here who spent the 3 years prior to the cancer in relationship with her, learning about life and the Lord through her. They fear the unknown as well. They ask questions like, "what will happen to the Hospitality House after Barb is gone?" and "will I see Barb after my 6 month deployment?". Pray for them that they would seek comfort and peace in Christ. And that we would do the same.

Thanks for your prayers. I promise a more encouraging note next week (unless of course I'm in labor- then Wes would provide the encouraging note!)

God bless,
Elaine (&Wes) for the Mountain Chapel Hospitality House community

Giving Thanks

Our "banquet table" set up on Thanksgiving Eve

Last week we celebrated our third Thanksgiving in Alaska, our third with this loving family we call the Mountain Chapel Hospitality House. As is tradition we split our group into smaller groups for Thanksgiving, and and plan on a combined large dinner for Christmas. We hosted about 20 people here for dinner both families and single soldiers and airmen. It was actually somewhat of a light cooking week for me. I was only in charge of the turkey, stuffing, gravy, and some green beans! Among my cooking accomplishments for the day were my first successful homemade gravy, and my first stuffing completely from scratch- it was amazing (sausage, fresh herbs, apples, yum)! It was a great time to share about family traditions and reflect on what we're thankful for.

That evening everyone was invited over for dessert (and oh, how much dessert there was!). We set aside time to hear a report from the folks who have just returned from a short but life changing missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Their reports were encouraging and challenging. They spent most of their time building a school for poor children, and communicating through Spanish-English charades! It was great to have people from our community come home with first hand knowledge of the hardship and love present among that impoverished community. I'd even say that the majority of our community members are now financially sponsoring children through the ministry, Hands of Grace.

I could go on all day about the things we are thankful for. Our family has been so blessed by our Creator. I recognize that all good things do come from above, and I'm not deserving of any of them. Yet I sit here and enjoy them day in and day out. We are 3 weeks and 6 days away from our baby's due date. I'm excited and terrified, but the little soccer player and I are doing just fine.

Keep checking back (we're on a new streak of regular blog updates!).

Elaine (& Wes & baby)

VIDEO UPDATE! Life in Alaska

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

Last night I was on the blessed receiving end of our ministry. Everyone around here is quite excited about our little, "Lucy", "Beatrice", "Claudia", and otherwise "Secretly named girl". The ladies of the Hospitality House threw a wonderfully beautiful shower to celebrate Baby Auldridge.

My hostesses, Anna, Lacy, & Alicia

Anna is a such a gifted and detail oriented hostess, with every bit of heart to match the color coordinated favors, foods, and decor. We were in her home. Lacy is my best friend here in Alaska. She knows me and cares for me, and several times in the planning process added her most knowledgeable 2 cents to what was most "Elaine". Alicia is a passionate and energetic young woman, who appreciates me probably more than I deserve. She ran around ringing a little bell to signal the next event in the evenings festivities. :)

Evidence of the Tea Party theme and a
"Diaper Cake" made with cloth diapers and appropriate accouterments.

It was a completely perfect evening, with the exception of some missing guests, and I also wish you all could have been there to share it with me. I have decided that the addition of our first child to our family is probably the biggest change that will ever happen in my life. Her coming birth has been properly recognized and celebrated by those who love me in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Alaska. Thank you so much.

Our group of ladies.

If you are on Facebook, you really should go see all of the photos from the evening. Anna arranged for a professional photographer friend to document the evening, and she did a splendid job! (I think that I'll eventually have non-facebook access to the photos too).


God bless,
Elaine (& Wes & Baby A.)

Fair Weather

On one of the flights, probably shortly before Elaine took advantage of the ability to curl up on 2 seats.

My husband is a fair weather fan. I know this about him. It apparently applies to entire sports, not just teams. over the past few weeks, many of you know the Texas Rangers (baseball team) have made history, winning their first American League Pennant, and a ticket to the World Series. My new baseball fan of a husband went to great lengths to keep up with the series-- I even thought he was going to opt for the eighth and ninth innings of the final game in the airport seating area instead of boarding our final flight home. He didn't. He did ask the flight attendant if the pilot would be willing to give in-air reports on the game. He did.

We met up with Wes' cousin Chris and heard his band play. Wes even got up on stage.

Wes and I enjoyed good visits with family, friends, and churches both in Texas and Pennsylvania over the past few weeks. We were able to share about the work we're doing here, and stories about the ways we see God working in the lives of the Soldiers, Airmen and families around us. We returned after a long three weeks to a still thriving ministry, a clean and slightly improved home, and a needy dog. It's good to be home, and I know that I'm incredibly thankful for the people in our community that keep things going and growing, even while we're away! This trip serves as an obvious seasonal transition for us, on with winter!

While in TX we met up with an old High School friend of Elaine's, Karen. It was great catching up and meeting her little family (and great that they live so close to Wes' family now)

In the up coming months we look forward to sending eight of our people on a 2 week mission trip to the Dominican Republic, Wes teaching a series through the book of Jonah, a final visit from our (beloved) retiring Cadence Regional directors, celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with our community, and the arrival of our baby!

At Hyner Lookout in Renovo, PA. We took a nice drive with Elaine's dad to check out the beautiful foliage!

Thanks for keeping up with us. I pray that you are all well too.

Elaine (&Wes)

Great July

Dip Netting on the Kenai Peninsula in July

Alaskans are pretty much always doing one of two things: preparing for snow or preparing for salmon. Upon our return from the Cadence Staff Conference (more on that in a minute), fishing and dip netting season were in full swing. Dan took a camper, four-wheeler, and about 6 large dip nets 3 hours south to the Kenai Peninsula- the salmon hot spot. He spent about 10 days down there fishing with family and acting as a "base camp" and guide for any of our ministry folks who wanted to fish. Quite a few small groups joined him over the 10 days, most of them learning to dip net for the first time. We spent 2 days there last week, and caught 4 salmon and 1 flounder (not an impressive number, but enough to make it fun for me).

At the beginning of July we went to Green Lake, WI for a week with all of the Cadence staff from abound the world. This conference is planned every 10 years and is quite a treat! It felt like the perfect cross between a great family reunion and summer camp. It was a very encouraging time as we saw old friends and met tons of other Cadence missionaries. One of the biggest things that I learned to appreciate about our mission over this week is the multi-generational aspect of Cadence. Every age group was represented there, every one. We are a young family expecting our first child, and we met a couple who run a Hospitality House in Hawaii who have been ministering with Cadence for 50 years! Can you believe that?!

I could go on and on about the conference, our time catching up with our mentors the Hawkins, visiting with mission leadership, or the perfect weather in Wisconsin. Thank you, as friends and supporters, for making that time possible this summer.

Our regular ministry is going well here. For the summer we joined our singles and married groups back up for joint meetings on Friday nights. That has been good, but this week we're back in our home and back to two nights a week.

Please be praying as we look at plans for the fall. It would be a good time for Wes to begin a longer teaching series, we also have the opportunity to lead Wednesday "sunday school" classes again this fall. Pray for direction in those.

Cadence Conference 2010
(L to R: Emma Hawkins, Me, Andrew Hawkins, Wes, Rebecca Hawkins, Tim Hawkins, Kathy Fischer, Steve Fischer)

-Elaine (& Wes)

p.s. We're at 19 weeks and 1 day in my pregnancy and doing well! We'll find out this Friday if it's a He or She! :)

Summer Solstice

For the summer months our weekly bible studies have been combined to one meeting on Fridays, back at the Evans' house. For easy identification Wes made a sign. :)

Summer is a big deal in Alaska. And a pretty big deal is made about the beginning, sure there's lots of chatter about bear activity, fishing and hiking. But daylight is a good friend and everyone here knows the whens and wheres on how to enjoy the longest day of the year! Unfortunately June 21st fell on a Monday this year, so the MCHH community celebrated on Saturday. It rained, it was cold, and the clouds hung super low. But we all still knew the daylight was out there, and would continue to be! We had a great night filled with a bonfire, hiking, "ladder ball" (which is your typical "stand in the yard this far from something and toss another thing into it" kind of game.), music, and lots of pizza. I called it a night around 11, but I think a lot of guys and gals made it to breakfast downtown sunday morning! (such enthusiasm).

This coming weekend Wes and I will leave for a week in Wisconsin. We will be attending a once-in-ten-years Cadence all staff conference at Green Lake conference center. It promises to be an encouraging time with lots of fellowship, time in God's Word and relaxing (think cadence pep-rally, but a little deeper). The following week we'll spend in Pennsylvania with family. If you're around we'd love to catch up with anyone who has a free hour or so!

Take Care,
Elaine (& Wes)

Who We Serve (a video)

One of our leaders here, Steven Adams, put together this video of testimonials for Dan and Barb Evans as they visit their home churches. It is a great look at who we serve. Please watch it and meet some of our family here in Alaska. Thanks Steven for a fantastic job.

-Wes

Summer has arrived

Man, it is beautiful here. Psalm 36:6 says, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains..." Let me tell you that if Alaska's mountains display a portion of God's righteousness, what a righteous God we serve. The days are getting a lot longer and we have sun past midnight now. The clear days are amazing and can refresh everyone's soul.

What a mighty God we serve!

Wes

Down Time

I want to start by apologizing for the lack of updates in the last month or so. I (Wes) have had some much needed down time and took a few weeks to rest and recuperate. Many of you know I have struggled with depression for many years and in the past eight months life's junk has been piling up more than usual. The laundry list is rough: Barb's cancer, two miscarriages, my step-mom leaving my dad, people in the ministry getting hurt during our events and on-and-on. I am a strong extrovert and in the last few months I didn't want to be around people at all. So I rested. I read. I watched movies. I spent a lot of time alone. I prayed. I sought God and counsel from friends and counsellors. And I needed it.

I am back working now and fell a lot better. I am learning that I must take care of myself. No one is going to do my walk with Christ for me so I better take care of that relationship first. Anyway, for those who have been praying for me thank you. For those of you who want to pray for me please do. The biggest request right now for me and my whole family would be for my step-mom to forgive my dad and for their relationship to be restored. It would be an amazing act of Godly restoration to see that.

Thank you to all who support us and we praise God for all of you.

Wes (& Elaine)

Pray for us (and ours)

Check out our new web site for ministry prayer request:

www.mchhprays.com

This is a practical way for everyone to serve our people in our community.

Ladies Retreat

(Mandy, Amy, Jeanie, Cassie, Me, Leandra, Hannah, Terran & Anna at the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks AK)

I spent this past weekend in Fairbanks and North Pole with 7 lovely hospitality house ladies, retreating. It's still quite winter-y here, which lends well to enjoying good company and ice sculptures.
We left Friday morning, drove 6 hours and settled into a nice Bed & Breakfast. Saturday we rose leisurely (a much needed break for lots of these busy women) and ventured out to see the ice art. We enjoyed dinner at a fabulous little small town joint called the "Cookie Jar". And yes, I saved the cookie for dessert. Then we went back to see the sculptures all lit up at night. A truly beautiful experience.
Much of the "meat" of the retreat happened in the 12+ hours we spent in the car, counting the miles til the next wilderness potty stop. (A comical side note: we tried to prepay at the first gas station, since the pumps were obviously older than me. The little old man was confused with this concept. Asking, "How will you know how much to pay if you haven't pumped your gas yet?" A question I've always wondered myself, and was glad to see someone else had the sense to ask it too)
Each of the two cars were equipped with a handful of conversation starter questions, some serious, some light, others funny. I think both cars really enjoyed this time for good, meaningful conversation. It's good to reflect on how God is working in our lives with others.

Thanks for your prayers for our safety and our fellowship. I'm slowly learning the planning process of retreats, a concept that regularly stresses me out. I know that asking for help is not unreasonable. I just have to do it. The ladies were great about pitching in, reminding me to ask for help ahead of time next time!

More updates on our busy month soon!!

This ocean scene was a group favorite, check out that fish!

God bless,
Elaine

Iditarod 2010

Every year around this time loads of Alaskans head to Willow, AK, to watch the start of the Annual Iditarod, "The Last Great Race." We took a group of about 35 Airmen and Soldiers to see the official start (The unofficial start is a day prior in Anchorage). We had a great time with this Alaskan experience. So please check out our pictures and videos here: http://gallery.me.com/wesandelaine#100078

Prayer Requests

I figure I'll give you all a short blog update, to see if we can keep things rolling for the next few weeks. This one will mostly fill you in on ways you can pray for us, and this ministry.
I ask that you don't read this one as a news update. Read it in preparation to intercede for us in prayer to our Father.

Sexual Purity. What a hush-hush weighted topic. The need for healthy conversation in Christian community becomes more aparent almost daily. Things related to God's design (or things outside of his design) for sex come up in conversation with singles, couples, men, and women. Pray for guidance, sensitivity, discernment, and assertiveness in exploring what it looks like to be created in the Image of God, a sexual being.

Post-deployment. It sometimes feels like walking a tightrope, trying to figure out what to talk about with our returning guys. They've been in a different world for a whole year. Some people have already asked them stupid, insensitive questions. They'll talk when they are ready, and we want to be here. Pray for healthy processing for those guys who have spent the year in Afghanistan.

Housemates. For the next 6 weeks a good friend of mine (Elaine), Lacy is living in our guest room. She is a civilian nurse and a blessing to our ministry. She'll be marrying one of our single guys in April, and to help her save a bit before the wedding we have offered her lodging. It's a simple way we can serve a friend who has served us in countless ways over the past year.

Praises and Thanks. To have the above requests we much be in relationship with the folks we're praying about. That is a praise. We have flourishing relationships, full of challenge and growth. Yay!
We are also refreshed and renewed from 2 weeks away, and are grateful for that opportunity.

God bless my friends,
Elaine

Photos from our trip

Check out our online photo album from our trip to Australia and New Zealand. Click here

It's Raining Men

Families in the crowd during one of the return ceremonies on Ft. Rich
(sadly, I did not take this pic, it's borrowed)

Who knew how many benefits a regular gym routine could have for my life? First I feel great, second my clothes fit better, but the most fun part is becoming a part of the routine of Army wives. Spending time at the fitness center on Ft Rich has given me a great peek into the lives, expectations, and disappointments of more military families!

Over the past two weeks most of our deployed guys have returned home, and it's obvious! There are dudes all over the place. These are some of the comments I've heard the past couple days at the gym, in reference to "all the men" being home:

"I see a group of guys, and think, where did you all come from??!"

"How can adding one more person add so much more laundry?"

"He's ok with not interrupting our routine, it's been working for a whole year."

from an instructor, "I see lots of smiles today, you can tell your husbands are home"

"Where's Jennifer today?"
"Her husband is home"
" :) "

I see far more guys at the gym, I see dad and little dude coming to meet mommy after her work-out, its just a good time.
It has been fun to watch the ladies light up as their families are reunited, yay!! And we are thanking God for a safe return of our men.

That's all for today, a look on the more serious side of "redeployment" to come later.
Elaine

Happy Groundhog's Day

Well, if this were Bill Murray's movie, I'd certainly make a little better use of today. But I'm pretty sure I'll wake up tomorrow, and it'll be the day the music died and life will go on.

January was a busy month with Wes & Elaine and the Mountain Chapel Hospitality House. Intern-prospect David was here for three weeks, 'tasting and seeing' the ministry, in hopes of joining the Alaskan team for a longer internship later this year. It was great to have him around, to have another hand in teaching, cooking, and loving people.

We also had a visit from Cadence's Pastoral Care director. Gene came for a week, and met with Wes & Elaine and Dan & Barb to help process and talk through all of the many changes and stresses the recent months have brought. We are thankful to God that we work for an organization who cares so much about us, and our walks with the Lord.

Somewhere in there Wes fell victim to the Alaskan winter and road system. Our beloved Jeep that you may remember from a previous post is no more. Thankfully Wes walked away from this vehicle that rolled off the highway one dark morning with nothing more than a bump on the head and a few scratches.

Wednesday night Wes will begin teaching a new series at the chapel on evangelism, and Elaine will be teaching a series called "Understanding the Bible in 30 Days" which will actually be a 13 week class. We're both excited about these opportunities and the people who attend.

Next week begins our long awaited Australian vacation. We'll be sure to post pictures and stories!

God bless,
Wes & Elaine

New Year=New Adventures

Welcome to the Future! It is really hard to believe it's 2010 already. So far this year has started off with a bang. A few days ago this moose in the video above started camping out in our yard. He is a huge bull moose. Yesterday, I (Wes) got really close to him while I was checking our mail. Like most moose in Alaska they are bothered by you unless you bother them.

Coming Events

We are looking forward to new Bible Studies, outdoor adventures and all around ministry for the coming year. So far we are planning some snow caving (diging under feet of snow and building a big kid fort) and other winter sports as well as checking out the Alaska Aces hockey team before the season ends. In February, Elaine and I are heading to the Outback for a vacation. We will visit Sydney, Australia and New Zealand. We will be down there for about 10 days. I told Elaine after we decided to stay in Alaska in August that I would need a big vacation to look forward to. It is almost here! I can't wait.

Prayer Requests

Ministry is going well but I seem to be lacking the needed energy to do everything. I'll be honest, I am having a hard time trusting God with EVERYTHING. Therefore, unnecessary stress has occurred. Please pray I continue to practice the Good News that I preach to these awesome Soldiers and Airmen--You can trust God with everything. It's the truth, now I need to apply it. Elaine is doing well and I want the world to know how much I love her. She is an awesome lady that I certainly don't deserve. I am so glad I vowed to be with her through the good times and the bad. I told her today what I recently heard a pastor say, "If you ever leave me, I'm going with you!"

More to come soon,

Wes (& Elaine)