Anchorage - Day 6 - The Sights and Sounds of Alaska

After breakfast I packed my room, checked out and headed over to Elmendorf for the last day of class. This group of students has been an exceptionally fun bunch to be with. So I was determined to enjoy every last moment with them.

At lunch Dennis drove me over to the 3rd Wing headquarters building. In front of the building was a memorial. Part of that memorial was a large aviary in which resided three injured bald eagles who are not able to return to the wild. What a treat to see the national bird up close and personal! (See the bald eagles here.) After taking a few pictures with the birds we headed over to the Base Exchange (BX) for lunch.

We wrapped up class and I headed out to the city. My flight wasn't for another 10 hours and there were no seats available on earlier flights. I drove around, looking for a place to have one final dinner in Alaska before heading home. It had to be salmon; what sense would it make to come all the way up here and not have salmon?

Between window shopping and driving around I finally decided to pull into The Sourdough Mining Company. It had all the makings of a tourist trap: The faux mine entrance, the reconstructed dining hall, the Alaska Wild Berry Store and some kind of theme park adjacent. But I went in anyways knowing I could always order salmon.

And I did.

With the salmon I had a dinner salad and some corn fritters, which were like miniature donuts. But the real fun of the meal was Helga, a singing telegram, who delivered her message a few tables over to Jared, the 40-something birthday boy. She was hilarious! Her shtick, singing and general attitude left myself and half the tables in the restaurant laughing out loud at her goings-on. I thought to myself, "Where else have I been where such a spectacle would be tolerated, let alone appreciated?" And quite bluntly, I can't think of anywhere else that would have worked.

And that summarizes the charm of Alaska. This beautiful land is truly The Last Frontier, with its abundance of optimism and can-do spirit. The simplicity of the joys of life combined with the zest for enjoying them is something that speaks to my inner being.

It's a few hours until my plane takes off. Twelve hours later, I'll be back home in Detroit. But a bit of my heart has licked the frozen flagpole of Alaska (and liked it), and will be here long after I'm gone.

Anchorage - Day 5 - The Sweet Taste of Fellowship (again)

The price you pay in Anchorage for a clear blue sky is plummeting temperatures. Yesterday the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. This morning on the way into the office I watched in mild amusement as the outside temperature displayed on the dashboard fell from 15 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The official temperature at Elmendorf: Zero. Yep, it's going to be cold.

Anchorage is set between the sea and the mountains. Cloud cover serves to trap heat and keep the area warmer than when there are no clouds. And today was an absolutely clear day - not a cloud in the sky. While that made for a gorgeous sunrise (at 10:00am), the temperature never climbed above 14 degrees.

After work I headed back to the hotel and rested before heading over to Dennis' house for dinner. Yes, this dear brother has taken it upon himself to be the Hospitality Committee, Welcome Wagon and the Chamber of Commerce. He welcomed me into his home and I sat down to dinner with him and Michael, a fellow believer from Sudan who, in addition to his day job, is ministering among the Sudanese in Anchorage. With Dennis' wife and daughter out and about, it was "Guys' Night." And what refreshment! Dennis prepared a beautiful dinner with steak, wings, salad, potato and broccoli. After dinner we enjoyed some pie. And all throughout the evening we spoke of God's goodness in our lives.

For all the road weariness that has piled up over the last two months, these last two days have been such an encouragement and blessing. To think that Dennis was sensitive to the Lord's leading and saw fit to extend his hospitality to me has been simply amazing.

Anchorage - Day 4 - Feed Me, O Lord!

On the way into work today I came across a car that had slid off the road and into some thick snow. The driver, an airman from Elmendorf, was spinning his wheels unable to get any traction. Well, this is Alaska and you don't just leave people in the cold when they need help. I put on my blinkers and tried to offer my assistance. We kicked snow out of the way and watched as the wheels kept spinning. Another lady who worked in a nearby warehouse also stopped and offered to get some shovels if we couldn't get the car out. But with our pushing, the airman was able to free his car and get back on the road. I climbed back in mine and headed off to work.

This week was starting to take on the routine of all other weeks: Roll out of bed, through the breakfast line, into the car, into the office and back to the room at the end of the day. Thankfully, God intervened through the hospitality of one of my students. Dennis, or "3-D" as his friends and his initials go by, insisted on treating me to lunch at one of his favorite greasy spoons in Anchorage, The White Spot Cafe (picture here). He said it was the place to go for a halibut sandwich. He was right. Simply put it was the best fish sandwich I ever had, coming second only to Rubio's fish tacos.

But Dennis wasn't done with me yet. He invited me to join him at his church for dinner and prayer meeting. And so at 6:00pm I drove down to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church to spend the evening with Dennis and other brothers and sisters in Christ. I met up with Dennis in the gym and had a slice of pizza with salad and 2 clementines. He then introduced me to two believers from Sudan. Apparently, there are quite a few Sudanese refugees living up here in Anchorage and Dennis and the church have a heart for reaching out to them and ministering to them. I never thought I would use my Arabic up here in Anchorage, but here we were talking away much to Dennis' delight. Later, Dennis told me he wants to learn Arabic. Having heard of his love for languages, I don't doubt that he will.

After a tour of the church facility and many other introductions, we sat in the sanctuary for the prayer time and Bible Study. It was so refreshing to hear the people's testimonies of God's work in their lives. The pastor, a 72-year old gentleman originally from the Gulf Coast, continued to encourage us as he led us in prayer and Bible study. At the end of the service he asked whether there were any visitors who needed to be introduced and "honored." Dennis stood up and introduced me to the congregation. The pastor smiled and asked me whether I wanted to "share a word." I stood up and thanked him and the congregation for their welcome and hospitality.

In that moment, I had a taste of heaven. Here I am in a room full of people I never met before and somehow, we had a compelling love for each other. That somehow is Jesus Christ. The pastor was continually reinforcing the importance, supremacy and necessity of Christ. And as followers of Christ we all had more in common than we didn't.

Thank you, O Lord, for the faithfulness of your servants here in Anchorage. May you bless them, their families and the fruits of their labor for the glory of Your Kingdom. Amen.

Anchorage - Day 3 - Another Day at the Office

Today was a routine day at work. I got up, had breakfast and headed over to the classroom building. Class went smoothly, and I returned to the hotel. I tried going for a run, but my new shoes turned out to be a bit small and within 10 minutes I had shooting pain in both my heels. I decided to back off lest I do some serious damage.

After all, I don't want to ruin my chances of running the Detroit Marathon.

Anchorage - Day 2 - Welcome to Elmendorf!

After the 14-hour trip I couldn't quite settle down for a nap. Between having slept on the planes and the adrenaline of arrival, I found myself wondering whether I should just stay up until work. I slipped into my pajamas, turned on the TV and watched SportsCenter until about 3:00 am, when I felt drowsy.

Two hours later my alarm clock went off. I shaved, showered, dressed and ate breakfast before heading out to the Visitor Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base. There, SMSgt Butler met me at 7:00am and sponsored me onto the base. I followed him with my vehicle to the classroom building. He gave me a tour of the building and showed me to my classroom. By 8:30am my 13 students showed up and we had a great time. This group is a fun bunch and I can tell it's going to be a good week.

Sunshine is definitely at a premium up here. This is the dark time of the year, and when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds I snapped a couple of pictures on my phone for you to see what it looks like around 3:00pm: http://picasaweb.google.com/khalaf.writes/AnchorageAlaska

After class I came back to the room and ate a sandwich I still had from Chicago. I was so sore and tired from travel that I was in bed by 7:00pm. Guess I'll have to do my 2-mile run tomorrow. morning.

Anchorage - Day 1 - Just Get Me There!

The month of November saw me travel between Minneapolis (twice) and Fort Wayne (twice). Thanksgiving week was enjoyed at home with a weekend filled with huge meals and extended family. I carved a turkey on Thursday, venison shoulder on Friday, and a quiche on Saturday (that was for breakfast).

The day after my 5K run saw me heading to Anchorage, Alaska for a 5-day class. Now I've been to Anchorage twice before, and both times in December. A quick check of the forecast for the week had highs in the 20s and lows in the 10s, so I wasn't too worried about the weather once I got there.

But getting there was going to be the chore.

The best price on a ticket meant that I would be flying from Detroit to Chicago/O'Hare to Salt Lake City, and from SLC on to Anchorage. As I checked on my flight statuses, I saw that my flight from Detroit was delayed to where I would not make the connection to Salt Lake City. Frustrated I called the airline to check my options. They put me on standby for a flight from Detroit to SLC, but they couldn't guarantee it. Frustrated, I headed for the airport as quickly as possible, hoping that other options would be available if I were there in person.

Strangely enough, when I got to the airport I saw that my original flight was no longer delayed. I ran to the gate to find that it was running only 20 minutes behind schedule. I figured that would still leave me with plenty of time to make the connection in Chicago.

We landed in Chicago on the northernmost runway, which is a good 5-10 minutes of taxi time back to the terminal. When we pulled up to the gate I had 7 minutes to make the next flight. As soon as the door opened I zipped out of the plane and up the jetbridge. When I got to the next gate the plane for Salt Lake City had not yet arrived. Relieved, I waited and recalculated how much this next flight delay would affect my connection time in SLC. I learned that SLC was socked with "weather", but the nature of the weather issue wasn't made clear to me. I figured if they had "weather" then perhaps my Anchorage flight would be delayed enough for me to make it.

When we took off from Chicago the pilot came on and announced the situation: Fog had rolled into SLC to the point that we might have to divert to Twin Falls, ID if it wasn't safe to land. Wow, I thought. If we divert there is no way I'll make it to Anchorage tonight. I prayed, and left it in God's hands.

About 3 1/2 hours later, I woke up from a nap to look out my window. I couldn't see anything. Suddenly, runway lights were whipping by my window and we landed in some of the thickest fog I'd seen on landing. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SALT LAKE CITY!" A collective cheer went up from the passengers. I turned on my phone to check the time: 11:51pm Eastern. That gave me 8 minutes to make my connection which was NOT delayed. We pulled into the gate, and once again I was chasing the gate agent up the jetbridge. I asked, "Is the flight to Anchorage still here?" But before I got a response, I ran down the concourse, from gate B8 to gate C3. It was already 9:59pm Mountain, which was the scheduled departure time.

When running to make a connection there are some things you look for: A crowd of people, which lets you know the state of the boarding process, and the gate agents who can help you. When I arrived at C3, there were no passengers. However, there were two gate agents at the counter. But the best sign was that the doorway was still open. This is your sign that you might still be able to get on. I didn't break stride as I ran right toward the door and stopped to pull out my boarding pass.

"Wow, that was quick!" said a gate agent. Apparently the other gate agent had called ahead to let them know I was coming. (I guess that distance running is paying off already...) "I didn't think you were going to stop at the door!" said the other. We had a good chuckle and I was so thankful that I had made the flights.

We landed in Anchorage at 1:00am Monday Alaska time (5:00am Eastern). I picked up my rental vehicle, drove to the hotel and flopped in my room. It was now 1:40am Alaska time, making my home-to-hotel travel time about 14 hours.

And I have to be at work at 7:00am.

263

A few weeks ago on a Saturday night I was sitting in my living room with my wife and three other couples from church. We were going around the room sharing our lives with each other. When it was my turn I talked about how low I was feeling from the accumulation of travel and absence from the family. Concerned for my well-being, they not only prayed for me but encouraged me to do something about it: Take up distance running.

If you know anything about me, distance running would be the last thing I would choose to do in any athletic contest. I remember doing a cross-country run back in 8th grade - I placed 155th out of 157 runners. Yet somehow, I found myself not only accepting Karen's challenge to run a 5K road race in three weeks, but also welcoming Marty's offer to come by the next morning, Sunday at 7am, to "get me moving for 20-30 minutes."

Sure enough, Marty showed up the next morning and we ran/walked a 1-mile loop by my house. It was tough going for me. I couldn't breathe right and my lower back started to throb. But thanks to Marty's encouragement by my side I made it around. Over the next few weeks I continued to run treadmills at the different hotels I stayed at, slowly expanding my range. At this point I set myself a goal of finishing the 5K run in under 39 minutes. The next Sunday Marty took me on a 3-mile loop by his house. Again, I managed to run/walk the whole thing with his constant encouragement.

And so last Saturday, December 4, I showed up at Northville Downs in Northville, MI for the Jingle Bell 5K Run/Walk for Arthritis. Getting there early, I signed in and received my bib number: 263. In addition to the safety pins they gave me a couple of "jingle bells" to hang as well. A few minutes later Chris and Karen showed up with their son Nick, who would join Karen and me on the run. Chris' job was "Technical Support" which involved driving, cheering and making sure Karen got a warm cup of coffee at the finish. (The temperature at the start of the race was 24 degrees Fahrenheit.)

We lined up for the bunch start and waited for the signal. One air horn later and we were underway. As the mob began to stretch out, there was room for the runners to navigate around the walkers. And by the 1/2 mile mark we were clear enough to keep running at a pace. The three of us managed to stick together for the first 1.25 miles, with Karen able to keep a conversation. I was breathing way too heavily to try to talk, but I appreciated the encouragement nonetheless. As we came around a turn there was a significant downhill drop in the trail. I had decided before the race that if I came across a downhill drop that I would not burn any energy trying to slow myself down. And so I zoomed ahead and soon found myself running alone.

That's when it got harder.

Not only was I running at a slightly faster rate but I didn't have anyone next to me to encourage me. Realizing that at this point the battle was more mental than physical, I began to give myself a series of challenges to keep my legs going: "Push for the next mile marker", "Catch that runner with the silly striped outfit". Before long I saw the 2.5 mile marker - I had run 2.5 miles nonstop! Problem was, at the higher pace my lungs were working super hard. I kept pushing as hard as I could before I mentally hit a wall and bounced off. I broke stride and started to walk, disappointed that I couldn't finish the race without breaking stride. Still, I kept walking briskly toward the finish because I knew that's where I parked the car.

Suddenly, Karen and Nick caught up with me. The first words I heard her say was, "Great job!" As I awkwardly tried to restart my running legs I noticed that they had stopped running to walk with me. I don't remember much of the rest of what was said, but I remember that they were very encouraging. When I asked, "Shall we get running again?" the response was, "If you're ready." And so we were running again, and this time I was back on the original pace. A few strides later and Nick took off for the finish line. Karen and I continued to run toward the line at our pace. When the finish line came in sight I asked Karen, "Are you up for a sprint finish?" She responded, "Not really." I quickly said, "Me neither!" and we crossed the finish line together. Our time: 33 minutes, 15 seconds, which includes how long it took us to cross the start line. True to form, Chris was there with a cup of coffee, a blanket and much encouragement for the three of us.

As I drove from the race to Benjamin's chamber music recital (which showcased the finest tuba playing I've ever heard from an 8th grader), I pondered the total experience and was amazed by the life lessons it contained:

1. God surrounds us with His Love through His people: That night in our living room, people cared for me not just by praying but also by action. Encouragement from Marty and Karen were practical steps taken to show this kind of care. (John 13:34-35)

2. Regular training is important: If I wanted any chance of making my 39-minute goal, I had to try running ahead of time. I had to condition my body and prepare for the event. In a similar way, God expects us to prepare for the work that he has in store for us. (2 Timothy 2:15)

3. Slow and steady wins the race: Had I not broke stride during that downhill part I may have completed the 5K run without stopping. Instead, I ended up taking a breather at the 2.6 mile mark. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and our abilities. But God doesn't expect us to do more than He has prepared us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

4. When a brother falls, pick him up: I'm sure it would not have been difficult for Karen and Nick to blow past me and yell, "See you at the finish line!" But they stopped for me, waited until I had caught some of my breath back, and then ran with me the rest of the way. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

I'm going to keep up with running. Shortly after the race Marty texted me to say that the Detroit Marathon/Half-Marathon is in 10 months (probably not). The next day Basma bought me a pair of running shoes ("Early Christmas present") which will be lighter to pack for travel than the basketball shoes I used that day.

I still don't like distance running. But I'll do it anyways.