hi friends...


hope you are all doing well! the past few weeks have been pretty busy, as usual. in college, i remember getting tired of people always saying "oh i'm so busy" or "life is crazy right now", so i'll try not to follow that usual path. as i like to say, life is full of good things and just a lot of them! i've had some amazing experiences in the past few months - backpacking and camping trips, work retreats and events, time with family, a huge exam for school, friends getting engaged and then the everyday stuff too. I have been learning a lot, so i wanted to share some of that with you all.


back in august, i went on another backpacking trip with my two friends Sarah and Abby. we decided to go exploring in the Sequoia National Park, in the Kings Canyon area. we were so proud of ourselves that we planned out the whole trip and prepared everything all on our own! thankfully, we didn't have to do any midnight rescues...instead, we got caught in a thunderstorm with hail, we had a bit of a scare with our water filter, we spent one night by a lake literally at the top of a mountain and we tried some new freeze-dried desserts that were so terrible we ended up burying what we couldn't eat! the country up there was beautiful- everything from meadows blooming with flowers of every color to wooded areas with streams running through the middle to barren rocks and cliffs with gravel and slate. One night, we made camp in the middle of the forest and we were totally alone. It was incredible! As we were getting ready for bed, we saw the sun set over the mountains and watched as the landscape changed from reds to magentas to purples long after the sun had passed over the mountain range. We sat there in silence and just took it all in. As I sat there, I thought about different things going on in my life, different questions I had, and as I looked out over this beautiful scene, suddenly God reminded me: "alair, where were you when i made all of this? where were you when i set the sun in motion? i have everything under control..." such an amazing thought and so comforting!


a few weeks later, i went on a camping trip to Yosemite with four of my girlfriends and we had a great time! i forgot the luxuries of not carrying a huge backpack around, of getting to bring tons of food and of not having to set up camp every night! we had a great campsite in the Yosemite Valley and spent a couple days hiking, eating a lot of food (especially s'mores) and just enjoying nature. one of the days, Abby and I had planned to climb Half Dome so we got up real early and headed out for our long day's journey. this was probably one of the most difficult/scariest/amazing/rewarding experiences of my life! everything about it- the hike up, the climb up the cables, the winds at the top, the climb back down- was so exhausting yet at the same time pushed me farther than i had gone before. we had an amazing experience and finished the whole trip in about 9 hours! (click on that picture on the left and you'll see us at the top!)



after spending all this time away from the regular routine of life and outside in creation, i kept thinking about how this relates to my theme of story. in the midst of all the hiking and climbing and pumping water and sleeping outside, i realized something huge: the beauty and magnitude of these places will never change. there are certain aspects of a story that will never change. if i asked 5 people to tell me the story of Peter Pan (ok, i just picked a random one!), they would all tell variations of the story, yet some aspects and characters would always be included. no matter what is going on in life or what issues i'm facing, nature is always beautiful, the mountains are always majestic and the lakes are always peaceful. these are the constants in our stories, and they may be different for you than they are for me. regardless of what you see as constant in life, hang on to that as a source of peace and comfort and take time to enjoy those places or people or moments. we need to be grounded every so often by reminding ourselves of what is true and what is secure....


much love to you all...


alair