The winters in Alaska are, in my opinion, breathtakingly beautiful, but they are also breathtakingly long! In the winter all the fields of "tundra" and "muskeg" become your playground if you own a snowmobile, snow shoes and skis. In Alaska there were many people who would just shut down and hate the winters and for them the winters were extremely long and painful. But for many of us who "embraced" the winter, it was a wonderfully fun time. I would ride my snowmobile in temperatures as low as 20 degrees below zero, but beyond that it got too cold and you couldn't wear enough clothing to stay warm. Most of the winter however was at minus 20 degrees or warmer so there was a lot of time to spend out in the beautiful snow.

I had bought an old wooden "stand up" trapper's sled and would hook it to the back of the snowmobile. I would then bundle up our young children, get "Chico" (our little pound puppy) all in the sled, and head for the ski lift across the Chena River for cups of steaming hot chocolate. This trip would take us about 30 minutes each way through the snowy woods where you would see moose and wildlife feeding on the trees sticking out of the beautiful snow.

Some of the best family times our family has ever spent together were in the winters in Alaska when we would all bundle up and make this weekly family pilgrimage.

"Breakup" is the time when the solstice or sun begins to stay on the horizon a little longer each day and the snow and ice slowly begin to melt.

Many people think that Alaska is dark all winter. This is just not true. The sun comes up around 10 a.m. and goes down about 2 p.m. Each day the winter sun's strength is increasing seven minutes a day, toward the 24 hours of daylight in the summer months where you fish till you drop.

When you knew "breakup" was beginning, it was for me, a spiritual awakening. I knew that Easter was near.

The very thought of "Easter" in Alaska has everyone totally excited because it is such a time of "renewal" of your faith in Christ who gloriously rose from the dead and for all of the outdoors as well.

We at His House Community Church like to celebrate a form of Lent. It is the six weeks before Easter where we as Christians join Christians all over the world in preparing our hearts for the glorious Resurrection of Jesus of Nazereth.

It is my prayer and hope that this Easter you get off by yourself and re-read the Easter passages in the four gospels and realize what our Lord did for you and me. God bless you this coming Easter.