God’s assignment: Winter in Fairbanks

By DR. KNOX HERNDON
Pastor

As I write this article it is cold outside, and when it is cold in Georgia, it is cold. Cold, however is a relative term depending on where you are living.

We spent three glorious years in Alaska from 1990 to 1993. We got there when it was truly a beautiful, beautiful June summer day with 24 hours of sunshiny daylight. You could literally fish for 24 hours in full sunshine until you dropped. Was that a sportsman’s dream or what?

One of the reasons those days were so special was that our children were young and could experience a completely different cultural adventure and environment. Nikki, our daughter, was seven, and Robbie, our son, was five. Nikki was starting her third grade in the fall, and Robbie the first grade.

When we got the news that we were headed for Alaska, I immediately went to the phone and called my wife, Dee. I said to her, “Are you sitting down?” I then said, “Well, we are headed north.”

Since she was born here in Atlanta and reared in Philadelphia, she said, “Cool. Where?”

I said, “Very cool, but a little further north. Alaska.”

There was a gasp and a pause.

Now since I have been married now for 28 glorious years, I have learned that a gasp and a pause can mean a lot of things. It never ceases to amaze me at what can follow after those two emotions. She, being the wonderful soldier that she is, has also learned the same lessons that I had about doing what God tells you to do and when He tells you to do it.

We looked at all our assignments that way, and even today it is the same in the building of His House Community Church. I often feel like Noah, who was told to build the ark. I don’t remember God telling him what was to follow but to just build.

And while I am on the subject, we will be celebrating our 7th Jubilee Year at His House Sunday, March 21. We will have special music, speakers, and BBQ. If would like to come and visit that Sunday, come on. We have secured the building loan (I wonder if Noah had to go through the county planning, zoning and building departments for his permits).

Back to Alaska. When I got news of the Alaska assignment, I immediately went to the library and began my research. I checked out every book I could find and also began pouring over all maps I could find. I then immersed myself in adventure stories and lay awake at night thanking God for the opportunities that lay ahead. When you get an assignment, whether it is in the military or something or somewhere God has placed in your soul and spirit, you usually have only two major responses. You can kick the dirt and sing, “Ain’t it awful,” or embrace it with all that is in you. We chose the latter.

Three glorious years later, we left and returned to Atlanta with memories flooding our mind’s eye, and photo albums bulging with photos of family memories of how God had allowed us this wonderful opportunity. to serve in His “last frontier.”

One adventure (and they were many) that always sticks in my mind, especially in the winter months, were the times we would bundle up the whole family and our Mexican-Alaskan dog Chico to cross the river to get steaming hot chocolate at the ski slope on post. We lived right on the Chena River on post at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. Our living quarters were 30 steps from the river. Right over the river, about two miles by snowmobile, was the ski lodge and ski slope.

I had purchased a good second-hand John Deere snowmobile and a wooden trapper’s stand-up sled I found in a flea market. We would ride at minus 20 degrees or warmer, but if it got to even minus 21 degrees it was too cold to ride. We had a large 15-inch thermometer perched outside our bedroom window which I would glance at to determine how to dress for the cold.

Since our children were small, there was always the fear that they would go outside and play on the frozen river and go through the ice at a warm spot. I continually warned them against this and they were very faithful about staying off the river.

On certain evenings and nights when cabin fever would get the best of us, we would check the thermometer for minus 20 or warmer, and all bundle up for a great adventure across the river.

I would hook up the trapper's sled behind the John Deere snowmobile and give the snowmobile a crank. As she would warm up, I would give a last minute safety briefing to all the three other soldiers and our faithful Alaskan-Mexican dog, Chico. We would then roar through the housing area headed for the river. Often a beautiful gentle snow would be falling. We would have flashlights and a faithful Smith and Wesson .44 mag pistol strapped on, just in case some animal was looking for an evening snack. As we would go through the woods approaching the river, we would often see a mother moose with her calf with her “radar ears” always turned in our direction.

As we approached the river, the kids would begin to give me driving instructions to go faster as to spend the least time on the frozen river crossing. They would both sing out, “Faster, Daddy, faster.” These are some of the best years of our children’s young lives together as a family.

If we made our river crossing, we would fly through the two-mile trail toward the ski lodge and go inside to enjoy a steaming cup of wonderful hot chocolate.

Wouldn’t it have been a shame to have missed God’s assignment? The next time you feel this “still small voice” inside you, listen to it. It just might be Almighty God wishing to give you the adventure of your life.

Happy winter.

(Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). Rev. Greg Mausz is sr. assoc. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church is located just south of Senoia on Ga. Highway 85. Visitors welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365. E-mail address KHERN2365@aol.com. Web address www.hishousecommunitychurch.com.)