Each year,

if at all possible, I make my pilgrimage to Alaska as a chaplain for North

Country River Charters out of Fairbanks. My dear friend Bill O'Halloran

has a first-class operation for fishing and hunting. If you would like

to see the operation on the Internet, do a search for "North Country

River Charters (NCRC) and it will come up.

They have just

added a "World Class Pike Fishing" experience up the mighty

Nowetna River. We are talking here of the great Northern Pike that when

you hold them up for a photo, the mouth is as high as your chin, and the

tail is at your knees. Yes, in most cases, they keep one to eat, and release

the others back into the wild, and I do mean "the wild." Bill

calls these fish "water wolf," if that is any indication how

difficult it is to land one.

The reason

I share all this is that I would hope that everyone who reads this article

will have the courage to call Delta and hook up (no pun intended) with

Bill and Pat and experience the thrill of a lifetime. You will also surely

meet my dear friend, Roger Fleming, Bill's right hand man, who is a truly

experienced fishing guide and just an all-around wonderful friend. Sorry,

I got to chasing that rabbit/fish and got off the "things aren't

always as they seem" trail.

Before we (Robbie

and I and Paul Toth from our church) went up to Alaska, I would go to

the weather site on the Internet and check the weather. Each time, I would

crank in "Delta Junction Alaska" and the weather for that area

would pop up. By the way, this very small town is where the Alaskan Highway

ended which was built in World War II.

Each time I

went to the weather Web site, it would indicate rain, rain, rain. Occasionally

it would indicate "cloudy" and occasionally it would show the

sun peeking out from behind the clouds. This is not a good forecast for

three days of fishing.

We had three

"blue bird days" in the mid 50s with just a sprinkle of rain

the first day. It may have appeared that we took too much gear, but had

those rains come in on us, we would have changed clothes two to three

times a day. We brought home 89 pounds of Salmon fillets. Things aren't

always as they seem.

While we were

there, Robbie, our son, went to our house where we lived for two years

at Fort Wainwright there in Fairbanks. He attended his first and second

grade school and had many great childhood friends that lived just houses

away in our cul-de-sac. He and Nikki, our daughter, played many a day

on a sled hill about 75 steps from our house. Nikki was in her third and

fourth grade year and they both played in the woods and near the Chena

River which ran right behind our house. I can remember them running back

home screaming that there was a "moose" in the back yard!

It had been

said "you can never go back" but I believe we should "go

back" to get God's perspective on where we are today. Robbie and

Nikki's sled hill has been half way cut out to build a new modern plastic

playground set. They will never know that our kids probably had a much

better time on the high old sled hill climbing up about fifty stairs and

flying down the other side with screams of laughter than the kids will

have on the modern new gym set. Things aren't always as they seem.

While we were

in Fairbanks before boarding the plane to return home, we had the honor

of visiting the O'Hallorans in their home. Bill and Pat's daughter, Dana,

has been through some very rough times fighting cancer. She is a beautiful,

young, smart, loving mother of two beautiful twins, Christian and Zhoe.

Her husband, Eric, is serving our country in the Air Force at Eielson

Air Force Base near North Pole, Alaska.

Just a note

here. If Eric ever asks you to go with him to cut a willow walking stick,

be sure to take your rifle. The last time I did that with him, we jumped

a bear and had to shoot it. If you want to see it, call me and come over.

He is lying on the floor looking at me in the form of a rug! Thing aren't

always as they seem.

Dana not only

had these two beautiful twins but had a large cancerous tumor all through

the pregnancy and didn't even know it. Dana today is still the wonderful

person she has always been and if you talk to her today although she is

going through the horrible protocols of chemo, she will bless your heart.

You will come out of the visit, whether it is by phone or in person, with

a renewed faith in God and in the human spirit.

If you are

reading this and are not a Christian, go get on a plane and visit Dana.

You just might become one. Things aren't always as they seem.

The Rev.

Dr. Knox Herndon is pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). The Rev.

Greg Mausz is senior associate pastor. The Rev. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the

Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The

church is just below Fayetteville, on Ga. Highway 85, a mile south of

Ga. Highway 16, just below the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church

office and prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected]. The church's

new Web site is www.hishousecommunitychurch.com.

Back

to News Home Page |