Thanks for Opportunities

When we were driving home (i.e. to Anchorage) this afternoon from the little town of Hope, a wooly haze hung over our heads, mingling with the mountains. It well depicted the state of my mind...not clouded, but overflowing with thought.
Mind reading powers are not required to discover the amount of brainpower I've been using. Just check my fingernails. If they are shaved too short, the cogs and gears have been going full speed. After days of cloud and crowd upstairs, I would like to share a thought to create space for the blue sky.

"I'll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all..."

"I stand with arms high and heart abandoned" when I look outside or walk amid the trees and mountains (DISCLAIMER: I know, these words were written to praise God for his sacrifice and I am taking them out of context a little). The Lord created an especially beautiful world here in Alaska, an inconvenient place for a Texan. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to spend my summer here, in awe, in fact. When I was sitting in the sun on a bench in Denali, waiting for a tour bus, God suddenly turned on a flashing, red, neon sign in my head that said, "thank your mom and dad."

So here's to you, Mike and Tami. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for me, beginning with your decision to love and cherish one another till death parts you. Marriage is not a piece of pie or cake. Thank you for sacrificing your own dreams and aspirations so that I can chase mine, even if they do not make sense to you. Thank you for working hard to make ends meet and to keep things together at home so that I can run off and have the adventures that you could be having but, out of love, have chosen to forsake (only temporarily, I hope). Forgive me for taking so long to realize the great opportunity and blessing God has given me by blessing me with you. Thanks Daddy for letting me be your princess. Thanks Mom for being my most adamant cheerleader. I love you both very, very much. Thanks for letting me be here.