February 16
The God who created space & time, journeyed with us in human form, & travels with us still, be with you all.
I'm sitting here looking at an old snapshot from nearly 70 years ago. It's of my 2 older brothers, Jim & Sam, with me & our faithful family dog, Blackie. Taken by our mom, Pat, we were on the road from North Carolina to Juneau. We'd stopped at The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming for some R 'n' R for Mom & entertainment for us kids. The adult show is a "Wild" Bill Hickok actor--part of their Wild West shows.
I frankly don't remember much of this trip--I wish I did. I think of the courage & strength it took my folks to make the decision to leave the South; their families, friends, & church, to move to the unknown Alaska in 1954. It surely blows my mind!! Especially across the country to Juneau. "Why, it must be in the frozen tundra--are there towns & such way up there in what's still a territory?"
I know God was surely with us in our drive across the vast USA. I recall Mom talking about car troubles in the midwest & somewhere along the trip torrential rains made for hazardous driving. I know our family had the prayers & blessings of our NC Presbyterian church helping uphold us. And, the pastor there had a seminary buddy, Pastor Sweet up here at the former Northern Light Presbyterian Church who kept us in his prayers, too.
When folks have asked me what brought me to Juneau, I've related some of this story, prefacing it with the anecdote told by Mom. Now she was a good storyteller, but she could at times embellish details. She said, before the decision to move, she'd had a vivid dream where she saw a clear photo from her grammar school geography book. It was in a section about Alaska; being in the late 1920's, you can guess it was of an "eskimo" in front of his igloo. This dream came up in talking with her NC pastor. That led to him contacting the Juneau pastor & so on.
Regardless if this dream was just a story, the fact was, Pastor Sweet, through his networking, got an interview for our Dad at the local lumber yard (Dad, Herman, flew up ahead of us). We were soon making plans for Juneau! So, perhaps my new answer, if asked, "What brought you to Alaska", should be: God's Holy Spirit worked through God's human form to lead us here. And, God continues to lead me & the generations of the Alaska Trivette family. May God be with you all on your own journeys, in whatever form they may be. God's Blessings.
Sue