My Dad’s Gift
In July 2016 my family took a vacation to Alaska. We had visited Alaska previously in 2014, but stayed the whole time in Anchorage making a couple of day train trips but pretty much limiting what we had seen to be within a reasonable drive during the day. We had made a drive north of Anchorage to try to see Denali but it was overcast and did not reveal itself to us that day and I had regretted not attempting a flying tour that would have possibly allowed me to see the mountain through the clouds. So while our first excursion into Alaska was wonderful there was still much to be seen and we scheduled a second trip in 2016 with some specifics stops along the way to see what we had not seen during our 2014 visit. My one driving hope was to see Denali, to see the majesty of my Dad’s creation and I was not taking any chances I prayed daily for God to let me see the mountain.
Our flight landed on July 16 and on July 18 we rode the train to Fairbanks. As we approached the area where Denali would be visible I was disappointed to see that everything was overcast and while I think I got a brief glimpse of the mountain I could not be certain. We arrived in Fairbanks and the next day was more of the same as the overcast skies continued. On July 20 we took a tour to the Arctic Circle and the day started wet and ended wet. The skies were overcast most of the day but we made it to the Arctic Circle and had a fun time. The picture below gives an indication of what the skies had been like since we arrived on July 16 and on July 20 they had still not cleared.
On July 22 we left Fairbanks and rode to Denali, Alaska where we hoped to see the mountain while we took a day excursion through the park that bears its name. The bus tour happened on July 23 and was amazing as we drove deep into the Alaska wilderness and enjoyed the majesty of the National Park with the wildlife we were able to see. The mountain stayed wrapped in cloud cover all day and our tour driver shared that the previous week the mountain had been visible everyday but this week it was hiding. I got a very hazy picture of the foot of the mountain towards the end of our tour and show it below.
On the afternoon of July 24, I scheduled a flight tour through Fly Denali to see the mountain. I waited for the tour bus to pick me up and the driver said that at the current time the mountain is covered in clouds and the planes are unable to get close because the area was enshrouded in a violent storm. They would however give me a $100 credit if I would make a flight over the National Park instead. I declined this because I shared that I had scheduled an extra day just in case extenuating circumstances required. The driver said she would check and get back with me at 5:00 PM to see if I could be transferred to a flight the next day on July 25. That afternoon she said they had a slot on the 10:00 AM flight and I would have to be ready at 7:30 AM and I said yes I would do that.
On the morning of July 25 I woke early and waited for the tour bus to take me to the airport. After arriving at the hangar we were told that the tour was going to occur and we would probably get a decent view of the mountain. As Fly Denali was lining up the passengers and assigning us to our our seats we all were looking forward to what we were about to do. I was blessed with the co-pilots seat and we took off for our journey to see the 20,320’ mountain. As we were flying the mountain began to reveal itself through the clouds. You can see how it began showing itself in the picture below which is about 60 miles away. If this had been the best I could hope for it would have been worth it, because up to this moment I had not had as clear of a glimpse as this one. But the Father however, was going to share his glory with me.
As we flew closer the clouds cleared off and the mountain was there with no clouds obscuring it at all. God cleared the sky because his son had asked him to and I had a spiritual moment with my Dad as a result. A trivial prayer? Perhaps, I know that more urgent prayers than this are said each minute of each day. But God chose to reveal himself to me through his answer and I will use his revelation to share with the world that he cares and he hears his children.
