Still His little girl

In the midst of a tear-filled afternoon one spring day, my friend Elayne gave me the most wonderful picture of God: A business man, sitting in a meeting, when his little girl runs in. He puts up his hand, halting all the important matters being addressed, and patting his knee, says "Come here, baby, what do you need?" Our God is always ready to listen, nothing is too small or too big, and when we come running to Him, we can know that whatever we are carrying, it's a priority to Him. How amazing is that?! I am important to HIM, the Creator of the Universe, the same God that gave Moses the 10 commandments, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who delivered Daniel and comforted Job, knows ME, loves me, has a plan for me. He is always ready with a hug, or to hold me for awhile til the aching goes away.
A bruised knee or a broken heart, He is always ready to comfort, always knows exactly what we need for our wounds to be healed.
When our spirit is completely crushed, the blinding pain overwhelms us, and all we can do is crumple to the ground and sob in despair, He picks us up, sets us back on our feet, and says "Don't give up now! Trust me. There is always hope in me! Here's my strength, lean on me,,,there you go."
Sometimes He doesn't remove instantly what is hurting us so badly, because He knows we need it to grow, but His kiss can always ease the pain.
My Papa God says to me: "I know it hurts. It hurts me to see you in so much pain! It's never easy to change, and you are becoming the woman I planned for you to be, but you still will always be my little girl." I can climb into His lap and He wraps me up in His strong arms where I feel so safe and warm. He rocks me gently, holding my head against his big shoulder, and whispers,,, "It'll be ok."
--Tracey Miller

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

New Life

Looking out my bedroom window this morning, I spotted the first tiny, fresh, green leaves of spring misting over bare, brown branches. What a welcome sight after the long, dark, Alaskan winter. Sometimes it seems that winter here just will never end…but it finally does, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but spring always comes!
Everything looks dead, cold, and hopeless as the far north’s endless night stretches on, but gradually the short hours of sunless light lengthen and then as the sun’s weak warmth grows stronger and brighter, one day those new baby leaves appear, spreading a soft feathering of green over the bare branches ,and our hope turns into reality and reality into joy.
Those branches that seemed so lifeless, the hard, frozen ground that held no evidence of any life at all, out of those very things, with the sun’s warmth, come new living foliage…fresh, vibrant, green and growing.
The old dry leaves and grass are gone and brand new ones spring forth from the old roots. There was no evidence of it, but underneath the surface, in the cold deadness of winter, they were still alive. All they needed was the warmth of the sun to bring out that new life.
That brown, dry, wrinkled spring bulb has to go through a time of cold and darkness, before it can again become the new springs blooms, which are always the brightest and most colorful of all. They look so empty, devoid of any life, colorless and hopeless….but somewhere inside there is still a tiny spark of life.
Seasons of winter come to all of our lives, some darker and colder than others. The icy winds of fear, grief, pain, loneliness and disappointment howl over us, swirling a heavy blanket of utter despair around us that shrouds our hearts in its frozen grip, numbing our hopes for the future, and paralyzing us with an emptying intensity.
But inside our hearts, under the pressing, frozen weight of ice and snow, there is still that small spark, just a flicker of life that He has covered with his protecting hand. He, himself, allows this season to encompass us, because He knows we need it, to grow into the beauty He plans for us.
Finally, when He knows this season’s growth is sufficient, and can no longer bear to see us in such pain, with tender mercy and grace, He gently cups the almost imperceptible flicker, and just breathes over it. The dying embers glow with new hope. A warm spring breeze lightly dances over the barren landscape, spreading that hope to the farthest reaches of our soul.
The Son’s warm rays penetrate through the ground, melting the snow, bringing water and warmth. The tiny spark grows, breaking through the ground into the light, and finally bursting into full bloom. Spring’s promise has overtaken the empty death of winter and replaced it with newness, life and irrepressible joy! With breath-taking color and intricate detail, it blossoms back into the bright greenness of new life, becoming something delightfully refreshing and infinitely beautiful.
May 8, 2009

Flashback: Denali Camping

I wasn't able to do anything on here this summer, but I would still like to share some of the pix from things we did. It was a really insane summer! I guess I should have started with our trip home in April and May,, but I just resized the pix for this camping trip, so thats the one you're getting first. Put on your big girl panties and deal with it. ;-)
This was our first camp of the season and it was a blast. We had the rare treat of seeing a mama brown bear and two cubs by the Savage River Bridge. Its not often that you get to see brown bears this close to the park entrance. We saw some moose and a few caribou and that was about it for this trip. Ask Jerry about the camp robber (may he rest in peace).



Baby Moose


Can you find the bears??


My Mattster


I love this pic of Jer!


Coffee is ALWAYS on...


Somethin's really funny!!


..she finally caught him!!


Stevo expounds on the technical efficiencies of the coffee pot. (He never shuts up.)


My best bud, Dani :-)



"He alternated between two expressions: thoughtful...


...and bemused" :-) (Pat McManus!!)


My favorite pic!


Miss Addy


They live on marshmallows....


...the goofy twins...

1/25th SBCT Deployment '08/'09

Steve left for Iraq a month ago and will be gone a year. He is at FOB Normandy. Please pray for him, his safety and well-being, that the time will go quickly, and for all our troops in the Middle East. Thankyou!

My soldier

I love this pic of Sergeant First Class Miller :-) and wanted to share it with you guys! It was taken a few days ago in the Mojave Desert, California. Everyone please pray that his return flight date gets moved up,, we really need him here to get ready for the wedding and family coming,,,and he sorta would like to come home, and I MISS HIM!! :-D

Ok Ok!

I knew this summer would be insane, but if really would have had any idea I would have jumped out of the plane on the way home from Michigan. :-) My sincerest apologies to everyone who checks this regularly and is sick and tired of seeing me holding a gun. Kaitlin,, thankyou lovey for that gentle reminder. I haven't seen any recent updates in yours, so I dont' want to hear it! :-)

Here's my favorite pic from vacation.. hopefully I can get more of these up soon.

Steve is in Cali for the month,, at Fort Irwin for NTC (training for the brigades upcoming deployment to Iraq) Please keep him in your prayers as he is having trouble getting internet connections and time in which to do his actual job. Also, its pretty dang hot there, this time of year, up to 125F. Fort Irwin is located in the Mojave Desert. It was out last duty station before PCSing to Alaska.