I'm getting there. It feels as though it's almost time to be done and on to the next place. The weird part about it is that the next place will be so incredibly different! How will it all look?
The last week of August 2013 will not see me packing my bags and loading the little blue car to make the four and a half hour drive from Gig Harbor to once again to envelop myself in the pine-cone curtain that is Whitworth University. I say that with some weird emotions. Not only will I not be going back to Lighthouse Christian for my umpteenth year, transitioning to Bellarmine Prep for four long years, or engaging in incredible studies at what will then be my alma mater, but I will be done with my formal education. Wow That was weird to say. Alma mater. Well I guess it is true, I do graduate in less than three months.
I'm excited to say that while the past has been excellent, challenging, and overall beneficial for my health, what is to come is going to be as refreshing and life-giving as ever. I try hard to wake each day and acknowledge the new day and all that that brings, but soon I will launch into something totally new. With some sad feelings in me I will wave good bye to the Evergreen State and take on one that turns more white in the winter than Washington. That's right, I'm headed to Alaska.
If you know my story, it has been a perennial place of interest for me, but now it is going to be more than a vacation away or a summer mission experience. Rather now it will be home. I have been working with Covenant Youth of Alaska (CYAK.org) over the past few summers, working with youth from villages across Western Alaska. I have been invited to serve on staff full time with CYAK starting in June. I will be living in Anchorage in a college ministry house with a group of men as the 'resident director.'
God has continued to open doors on my way up to Anchorage and as of now I am nearly completed with my fundraising for the two(+) year commitment. If you are interested in contacting me about how you can support me though, email me at david@cyak.org. We are in the process of launching a capital campaign in order to purchase the home that the ministry will use starting in the fall.
It is with mixed emotions that I will be moving away from the great state of Washington, but as the title of this blog implies, I will forever be North and West of somewhere, and that somewhere is awful close to home right here in the Pacific Northwest!
