lukesoliver.com

Well, a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks since I showed up in Alaska…and as usual I’ve been negligent in keeping you all updated on things.  But my excuse is that I’ve been working long days to try and get ready for classes!

Students arrived on Wednesday and they have been going through orientation activities.   Classes begin on Tuesday…and I’m not ready.  Fortunately I only have one session of each of my courses next week (one Wednesday and one Friday), so I still have some time to prepare.

But enough of all that small talk…I actually started this post to show you some pictures of my new home.  I found a little cabin for rent just about a mile away from the school (which means that I could walk to work if it would ever stop raining).  It’s basically a one room, loft-for-a-bedroom, plus-a-bathroom arrangement with a tiny little kitchen, a gas fireplace (which will be great in the winter), and a nice rustic feel.  The Kenai river is only a short walk-through-the-woods away and I’ve already had several moose coming through the yard.  I feel very Alaskan right now.

Here’s some pictures:

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything of substance on here and as it turns out, this is not going to be the time to break the silence (I mean, honestly, does anybody really want to hear my rants and raves?).  But I thought I’d post a little update for all of you who were curious/skeptical of my continued existence…

I’m back in Alaska!  I made it…actually I made it a week and a half ago.  I made the drive north again and this time I was alone.  Very alone.  Alone for FORTY-FIVE HOURS OF DRIVE TIME…THREE WHOLE DAYS!!!!  I was having some good conversations with myself by the end.  I also ran into (not literally) a herd of buffalo and several reindeer…so check ‘em off the Alaska Wildlife Checklist!

But I made it…only to find that the housing that I thought I was moving into is not going to work out, i.e. the cabin currently consists of only exterior walls with little hope of being finished before winter.  So, I’ve been looking around for others options and I think that I’ve found a nice, cozy little cabin just a mile away from the school.  Should be just enough space for me…a loft to sleep in, a little kitchen/living room downstairs complete with a gas fireplace.  I’ll be moving in later this week.

I ran a race on Saturday: the Lost Lake Run.  It was a nice mountain, trail run…about sixteen miles, nine up and seven down.  Next up, Kenai River Marathon on September 26.

I’m currently spending my time trying to prepare courses, working on the spiritual life component of the year, and generally getting settled and revved up for when students show up in a week and a half…woah.

Anyway, that’s all the news for the moment.  I’ll be in touch again before too long…but now I need to get to work.

For those of you who may have somehow slipped through the cracks of my email and facebook lists, I thought I’d post this little letter up here as well.  This is my humble plea that some of you might be willing to get on board with me this year and help me out in whatever way you are able.  I’d be honored if you’d give it a read-through.  Thanks!

Dear friends,

Well, the summer is certainly flying by.  Here we are, approaching mid-July and I am already confronted with my imminent return to Alaska in just a few weeks.  During this summer break, I have had the opportunity to do some traveling to California and Minnesota to see friends and family, to do some backpacking in the mountains, to linger over long morning cups-o-coffee and books, and to do some much-needed refreshing and preparation for the coming school year at Alaska Christian College.

As many of you know either from my emails or from personal conversations, at the end of this last year in Alaska, I came to the conclusion that my time in Alaska was simply incomplete, that God was not finished with me in this place.  And so, I decided to return to this ministry for a second year, taking on the role of interim Campus Pastor in addition to my teaching.  This is a position that will certainly challenge and stretch me as I seek to help guide and lead the students and the rest of the staff in worship and spiritual life.

The challenges of ministry at ACC are quite significant.  As many of you may be aware from previous emails, the Alaska Native community which composes the bulk of our student body has some deep-seeded issues.  I do not believe that I am at all exaggerating when I say that probably 75% of our students have experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past; that 75% of our students have dealt with alcoholism, either in their parents or in themselves; that probably every single one of our students has had a close friend or family member commit suicide.

As campus pastor, it is my responsibility to choose a “theme” for the year and the theme that I am leaning towards is the idea of transformation. Because it is only through the fundamentally transformational power of Jesus Christ that I believe these problems can be addressed; it is only as we allow Christ to metamorphose (yeah, I looked it up…that’s the correct form of that word…) our lives that we can address our deepest hurts and find a more abundant life.  This is what I desire my students to see this year: that Jesus Christ changes, transforms everything…here and now, not just in the future.

Many of you helped to support me during this last year, through your prayers, your encouragement, and your money.  I am truly grateful to all of you and I could not have served during this past year without you.  But I am writing to request, once again, that you would consider partnering with me; I am asking that you would, once again, send me to serve God and God’s Kingdom. I have spent a good deal of my summer speaking with churches and individuals about helping me out and that has led to some good success.  Approximately 65% of my financial need has already been committed with some more perhaps on the way.  But now, I am coming to you to ask if you might help me to fill in the gap. As I’ve said before, our friendship is in no way contingent on whether you are able to offer me financial support, but if God has blessed you with the ability, I would ask you to consider giving out of your abundance to help me serve at ACC.
Additionally, this year promises to be very busy and very full.  In addition to teaching two and a half classes in the Fall, two to three classes in the spring, and serving as Campus Pastor, I have plans to be applying to doctoral programs (which also means I have to start learning German!), serving at The River Covenant Church, and helping to coach a masters cross-country ski program.  I could sure use your prayers as I try to juggle this all and for wisdom and discernment as I go through the process of seeking out further education and opportunities to serve the Kingdom of God.

Thanks to all of you for your time and for doing me the honor of reading through this.  Again, I would truly appreciate whatever support you might be able to offer.

Grace and peace,

Luke

If you are able to donate to support my ministry, please send a check to Community Covenant Church (with my name in the memo line) at P.O. Box 919, Twisp, WA  98856.  Thanks again.

Dear Loyal Readers,

I apologize for forgetting about this blog for far too long.  But never fear, I am back with a short update.

Last time I posted, I was gasping toward the finish of my first year at ACC.  Well, I made it.  And as we went through graduation weekend, reflecting back upon the school year, I made the decision to return to ACC for another year.  After months of deliberation and looking for other jobs, I finally decided that I simply didn’t feel that my time at ACC was complete.  And so I will be returning to Soldotna in August to teach Ethics (again), Biblical Interpretation, and College Survival, and also to take on the role of Campus Pastor at ACC.  This basically means that I am somewhat in charge of spiritual life on campus.  It will most definitely be a challenge and push me in some significant ways, but I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue helping to shape and mold the lives of our students.

Until August, I am down “south.”  I will be mostly in Portland for the summer, trying to raise support, doing some backpacking, seeing friends and family, and other exciting things like that.

Well, that pretty much sums up where life has been and is going for the next few months.  I will now make a promise which probably won’t be fulfilled about how I am going to be better about leaving updates and posts on this blog.  Let’s just face it…I’m a mediocre communicator.  Until next time…

Luke

Yesterday: Sunny spring day, roads clear, patchy snow.  Today: five inches of soft white powder.

Will winter ever end?

There’s been some great spring skiing here the past few days.  The nights have been cold, down between about 5 and 10 degrees…so the snow has stayed firm.  But then the days have been clear and sunny, warming up into the high thirties.  I’ve been out in short sleeves, no hat, flying along the trails.  This is as good as it gets!

Last weekend I raced the Tour of Anchorage 50k.  It was grueling.  I went out a little to0 hard trying to power through the first fifteen kilometers (the hard, hilly 15k) and expecting to be able to hold on and cruise through the flats.  It didn’t work.  I used up too much in that first 15k.  By the time I hit 40k, I was just trying to hang on and keep moving to the finish.  Oh well…it’s almost time to start running again.

Skiing has been one of the best parts about being up here this year.  It’s kept me sane…allowing me to get outside during the day and soak up some real daylight.  In fact, I’m pretty sure that it’s why the Alaskan winter never seemed that bad to me.  Plus, it’s just been fun to get back into it after a long hiatus after high school…especially the races.

Wow.  It’s the 31st.  Crazy.

It’s been another negligent blogging month.  But hey, I’ve been working hard.  Things are a little nuts up here in Alaska.  Teaching two classes from scratch has proved to be a good challenge.  I’m finally getting to the point where I have a little breathing room between my planning and my teaching.  But only a little.

In other news, it’s sunny!  I mean, there’s actually daylight!  Hours of it!  Yes, there is a drastic difference between mid-December in Alaska and end-of-January in Alaska.  I mean, it was getting light at 8:30 this morning.  And the other day, I was out skiing until almost 6pm…with no headlamp!

We could use some snow up here.  I have to say…I’m a little disappointed in Alaska.  I’m starting to believe that it doesn’t exist. I thought back in November that I was really in for it.  But things just haven’t panned out to be as intense as they initially seemed.  I mean, temperature usually sits around 20-25 during the day and then drops to around 5-10 at night.  But seriously, I thought Alaskans were supposed to be these Xtreme folks.  And the snow?  We’ve got about a foot and a half or so…Where’s the heaps and heaps and heaps of the stuff?  Fortunately it’s enough to ski on, although right now we really really need a fresh six inches or so because it’s basically like an ice rink out on the trails…and I’m only exaggerating a little bit.

But in exciting news, I signed up to do the Tour of Anchorage.  It’s a 50k ski marathon.  Should be fun.  It’s five weeks from today.  So I’m trying to get strong again.  The good news is that that’s more time than I gave myself back in September…and I have a better base now.

Well, that’s the exciting news.  Except that yesterday I came home and climbed out of my car and there was a mommy and baby moose standing in front of my door…blocking my entrance to my house.  But they moved.  So I don’t actually have an exciting story related to that occurrence.

I was talking to a friend here at the Canby House (I’m still in Portland for my Christmas Break) the other day and he was commenting on how 2009 was an eventful year.  I proceeded to think to myself, “Wow.  2009 was a pretty boring year for me!”  I mean, it’s not that nothing happened, but it really was kind of just a normal year (whereas the last several have been quite eventful).  Moving to Alaska was kind of the only big momentous thing.  So here’s a list of the top ten small but meaningful things that happened to me this year.

10.  The Canby House community garden project was a success!  Though I wasn’t there to reap many of the fruits of my labor, it was a great experiment that taught me a lot and allowed for

some great time and conversations with great people and plus it felt good just to spend a lot of time outside and getting dirty.

9.  Spent a day with Cousin Shannon hiking around Multnomah Falls and having lunch at McMenamins Edgefield.

8.  I spent a lot of good time with Cousin Jesse and Now-Cousin-In-Law Jen…two people who are great and who I hadn’t seen a lot within the past decade/hadn’t really gotten to know well at all.

7.  I won a marathon.  Granted there were only about 25 people in the race.  Granted my time was twenty-seven minutes slower (that’s one minute per mile) than my previous slowest time…but I WON!

6.  I traveled into the Alaskan Bush to the village of Shaktoolik…a very eye opening experience.

5.  I took on a job that I actually enjoy!  Let’s hear it for jobs with intellectual stimulation!

4.  I got to spend several days with my whole family in the Methow back in April.  I hadn’t seen my brother Ben’s family in almost two years and it had been three years since we had all been together.

3.  East of Eden entered my list of the best books ever written.

2.  When I was driving up to Alaska with my cousin Jesse, somewhere near the Alaska/Canada border at about 3am, we pulled over to the side of the road to look at the northern lights.  It was pretty cool.  But then it got even better when meteors were shooting across them.  Spectacular.

1.  Lots of good time spent with great people doing nothing particularly special but just enjoying wonderful fellowship.  Thanks everybody!

12:13pm.  December 17.  Four days before the winter solstice.  I guess “high” is relative.

1. Sunrise was at 10am this morning.  Certainly, dawn arrived much earlier, but I still tend to get this feeling that I’m in some sort of ethereal time-warp.
2. Yesterday was the winter’s first ski.  It felt good.  I’m about to head out for the winter’s second ski.
3. Healing takes time.  One of the advantages of being up here at ACC is that I get to take advantage of professional counseling from the counseling center.  So I’ve been going.  And I’ve been realizing that some scars still run pretty deep.  But I’m also starting to see that maybe the point isn’t to get rid of them but to be shaped by them.  After I got a stress fracture in college from overtraining, I had to learn how to run again, how to train again…I couldn’t go about things in the same way and expect to not get hurt again…and even now, when I start training hard, that same spot, the left tibia, sometimes acts up and I have to be careful.  Maybe emotional injuries work the same way.  Be careful, learn from it, be shaped by it, but never forget it, never act as though it isn’t still a deep part of me.
4. My application to Duke’s Ph.D. program is all submitted.  Now I get to wait around for a couple of months to see if I’m even in the running.
5. N.T. Wright is a phenomenal thinker.  I’m getting close to finishing Justification and though it’s a pretty heady book, I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to believe that maybe the message of Jesus is better than even we imagined.  I never used to like Paul much…but Wright is convincing me that I need to give him a new, better, more informed reading.
6. Somehow I’ve found myself “in charge” of organizing worship at the new The River Covenant Church plant here in Soldotna.  Challenging.
7. The semester is coming to an end.  Ethics was discussing food last week.  I ended on this topic because it ties together a lot of the other issues and shows how they are connected.  We are going to watch a documentary tomorrow, Food, Inc. I recommend that you all see it.  It will change the way that you think about what you eat and it demonstrates those connections to many other ethical issues.  Final exams next week.
8. I’m headed home in less than two weeks.  And by home I mean Portland and then Winthrop for a little while and then back to Portland to fly back here to Alaska.  Hope to see many of you then.