Maui Part 1

We have finally seen the light! And, it only took us one week of SPF 40 to be able to bear it. Thankfully, we have managed to avoid sunburns and are cheerfully soaking in the warm rays.

We are currently in Molokai, Hawaii having spent the last week in Maui. I went to a medical conference and Ian had the daunting job of being my chaperone :)

We will be staying here in Molokai until Thursday then headed back to Anchorage. Molokai is a small and quaint island (we seem to have a new found love for isolation) in-between Maui and Lan'ai. Many say that it resembles Maui 30 years ago, not very populated and very quiet. However, it does boast a famous landmark, a leper colony run by Father Damien in the 1800's. Tuesday we are hiking down a winding 3.2 mile mountain range into the valley where the colony once lived. Ian and I are both very excited to do this.

This is the view from our hotel in Maui.  We really enjoyed sitting on our balcony and looking out over the ocean.  

One of the best parts about our hotel was the landscaping. As you can see from the following pictures they put a lot time and money creating a tropical atmosphere. 

They even had 6 live pink flamingos..I am still not sure how I feel about this...... to call PETA or not? In the beginning I was convinced that they were chained in place (thanks to Ian) as they never changed location, but after much worry and observation, I finally saw them move. Whew!

Out to dinner

As usual, Ian is most happy in the shade with a good book.  Here he is waiting for our ferry to Molokai in the Banyon Tree Park. 

On our ferry to Molokai. 

Our condo in Molokai. 

The condo complex in Molokai. 

View from pool. 

After much anticipation, tomorrow I am going scuba diving along the Molokai reef, yeah! Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures and post part 2 of our vacation.  Ian is looking forward to finishing his 3rd book and continuing to develop his inner self :)

Blessings to all
-Sarah

An Honest Blog

Its been a long week. Amidst a double stabbing and suicide attempt, there have been personal struggles as well.

This morning as I was drinking my coffee and reflecting on the long week God lead me to Jeremiah 17:5-8. As a matter of fact, I was so moved that I decided to post it on our Alaskan Bush Couple Blog and not my other more religious one. I am trusting that there is someone out there who this will speak to like it did me.

Thus says the Lord:

"Cursed (tormented, afflicted, unhappy) is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh (the world) his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited (dead) salt land.  

Blessed (favored, happy, content) is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. " - Jeremiah 17:5-8

I carry a lot of conviction about how I am perceived by others. Not only as a christian, but as a medical provider I know that how I treat and respond to people is watched and evaluated. Shamefully I not always respond with love and light. And, when this happens, I feel very guilty. Sometimes I think guilt is my biggest enemy. 

In times of trials and struggles sometimes I let darkness prevail. I respond harshly, get angry quickly, cast blame, or judge (sounds nice and sweet, huh?)  After I read Jeremiah and reflected on my week I realized that I had been living as a shrub in a parched and dry desert. 

As a christian I am called to be a mighty fruit bearing oak tree planted next to the living waters of Christ. And through him I am to be a source of comfort and shade for others, a love umbrella of sorts. 

But this I am convinced, as a shrub, I wasn't able to see any good come. I was blinded by the darkness of my own heart and dry from not seeking out his living waters more. As a result, I had no life or love to give anyone. 

How I interpreted the meaning of this verse really invigorated my spiritual walk. I felt so much strength in knowing the power that being blessed by him reveals. 

In trusting the Lord when heat (trials, conflict, etc) comes, my leaves (action, thoughts, responses) can and should remain green (life giving) and not wither up.

In the drought (silence, worry, anxiety) I can still bear fruit (love, patience, self control, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness - Galatians 5:22) IF I continue to abide in God.

I don't have to give into darkness and become a little shrub! I can remain an oak, God promises that I will be blessed when I seek him first!

You see as humans we are only able to think of one thing at a time. Try it, think about a beach....not try to think about a beach and the upcoming presidential election....you can't, once you think about the later, you are no longer thinking about your beach...

Same thing with life for Christians. Once you start thinking about your problems, shortcomings, and troubles you are no longer meditating on God, your source of faith. Hence, without his constant watering you become a dry shrub in the uninhabited salt land. 

But BLESSED he says, is the one who trusts in me first. In all situations you will be given life and continue to bear fruit.  This means that your second step or thought can still be life-giving. You no longer have to be afraid or regret what you do if you first paused and consulted God. It may not be like a "poof" moment and suddenly be all ok,  but it will be in accordance with his will, and his will is perfect. 

I pray this for myself and loved ones who know or who are wondering about the greatness of our God:

Give me eyes to see more of who you are. May what I behold still my anxious heart. Take what I have known and break it all apart, for you my God are greater still. 

Give me grace to see beyond this moment here. To believe that there is nothing left to fear, for you are high above it all. 

Because no sky contains, no doubt restrains all you are, the greatness of our God.

 I spend my life to know and I'm far from close to all you are, the greatness of our God. 

- Natalie Grant.

- Sarah

The Ringenberg's Take Aniak

And they are here! After 8 long months I was finally able to see my mom and dad. As you can see, they haven't changed too much...haha...

As a welcome to Aniak gift, I made my mom her very own kuspuk. After all of her years sewing for me, I was so excited to sew something special for her.  Thankfully it was a perfect fit, and she looked beautiful as always. 

  

Even though it was a short trip, (they were only here for 3 days) we had a great time showing them our little village.

One of the first places I took my parents was down to the famous Kuskokwim River.  Even though it was an overcast day, they were still able to see the mountains and enjoy the beauty.  They were even able to catch a few fisherman cutting up their fresh caught salmon.  Below are some salmon eggs. These are used for bait. 

Here are some Salmon fillets, yum! 

Sunday morning we all hopped on the quad and rode to church. Since we don't have a car, traveling with four adults was interesting. For the first several days we were all able to ride together as one big happy family, that is until our motor started smoking! After that it was individual rides only.

Sunday afternoon our good friend "Wilderness Tom" (his new nick name) took us out for a boat ride on the Kuskokwim and Aniak rivers. 

  

As you can tell by the picture, we were all very excited to go on the boat ride. 

Riding as the lookout, my mom was on the prowl for wildlife.....Did she see a moose? An Eagle? Or a bear?

 These are VERY happy feet!

One of the best parts of our boat ride was when we stopped for some camp coffee and wilderness survival training........ 

 Oh, and watching my father shoot his first gun.... A 500 Smith and Westin. If you ask him, the gun had a HUGE kick. 

Here is his "post kick" picture.....Good ole peer pressure was the precursor for this event. Tom taunted him with the "real men do this" speech, and hence my father had to shoot the gun. And of course, Ian followed shortly there after. 

Here we are getting water for the coffee. Wilderness Tom can do everything! He used this little gadget to collect river water and purify it for our coffee.  

Then Tom showed us how to build a fire without matches. He used only chapstick, a cotton ball, and a flint. First he had us gather several small sticks and build a little tee pee around the cotton ball. Then we continued to gather larger and larger sticks until we had a area that would sustain a fire. Sure enough, it worked! 

Here we are enjoying the fruits of our hard labor...camp coffee. As a coffee epicure, this stuff was actually VERY good. 

On the way back Tom let both Ian and my dad take turns driving the boat. As you can tell they had a lot of fun navigating the Kuskokwim. 

The following morning Ian took my dad to the Aniak Walmart..the town dump. Seriously, people throw away some of the most useful things...just ask my dad, he found 6 license plates! You know how the saying goes, one man's junk is another man's (my father's) treasure!

Afterward we continued the sight seeing tour to our good friend Randy's garage (unfortunately I do not have a picture). He is a master builder, collector, jack of all trades. My dad found a man after his own heart with all his tools and odds and ends. Here is my dad holding a mastodon bone likely from the pre-historic era. 

Next up was a stop for my mom. This is Kathy, the president of the Canine Comfort dog rescue. My mom just loved her and her cause. 

We had such a great time with them. As their flight was taking off I stood in the airport and sobbed like a little child. No matter how much I age, the love for my family never grows old.  I am so thankful to have four wonderful parents: my mom and dad, and Ian's parents Jon and Dianne. We love you all so much and count you as blessings from God.

 Here is where I should also mention my brothers and sisters.......Jason, Blake, Susie, Orianna, Bri, and Jay....

And of course my nieces and nephews: Niecko, Evian, Malek, McClaine, Micah....

Love you family!

-Sarah

Eating Well

As you can see, Ian and I are doing and eating quite well. I have mastered some delicious vegetarian recipes (from my bulk food cookbooks), and we are really enjoying all the fresh king salmon that has been given to us. 

Its hard to imagine that we have already been here for 8 months, time is going so fast. Our weather is still cold and mostly rainy. Sometimes the sun comes out for a few hours, then it starts to pour again....In speaking with family back home, it is hard to imagine what the heat and humidity feels like. However, as true Alaskans, we have purchased some good rain gear and actually find ourselves smiling as we cruise to work on the quad in a downpour. 

Last week I went on a village trip for 3 days. The village is on the Yukon River and is home to about 100 people. Because we flew a small 4-seater bush plane there, we were low enough to spot 5 moose and one mother grizzly with her 2 cubs from the air.  The plane ride was about 1 hour and the view was just beautiful. As for traveling, this will be the start of monthly village trips for myself and our new provider, Michelle. Together, we will service about 20 small villages on the Yukon and Kuskokwim. 

The trips are set up for medical follow up with diabetics, hypertensives, prenatals, etc...however, we will treat and see just about anyone who needs the care.  For most of the people, we are all they have. 

Though my trip was extremely busy, (was up to 11:30 p.m. the first night with patients and charting)  it went very well. The community health aid even took me out to hunt for real Indian beads on the shoreline. 

And, we actually found some! The beads were sparsely scattered along the shoreline of the Yukon, and are remnants from an ancient Indian tribe several hundred years ago.  It was such a special find for me, and I am excited to make a necklace with my new clay Indian beads. 

Ian and I also went blueberry picking last weekend with some friends. We took a short boat ride to Artie's Trail, then hiked up a small mountain range to the blueberry fields. Total we were able to gather just about 1.5 quarts if you count the berries stored in Ian's stomach......When we compared our pickings I was amazed at how much faster of a picker I was than him...that was until he assured me that most of his he was carrying in his belly. They were very tasty though, just ask the black bear that we saw!

Our friends took their st. benard with us and he started to act very strange. Shortly thereafter we noticed a black bear (well known for their meanness and reputation for hunting humans) about 200 yards away. Our friends fired two shots to scare him away and he ran into the nearby forest. When the coast was clear we started picking again, this time all eyes and ears alert. 

Ian Eating His Berries

After 30 minutes or so I looked up and noticed that same huge black bear again, this time at our backs. Needless to say our adventure thus ended and we carefully followed the trial back to the boat. 

Later, when we returned to Aniak, we heard that a large grizzly was spotted at our boat dock. Sometimes  in all the adventure you just forget about all the wildlife that also enjoys this great state. Thankfully, though, we have intelligent friends with guns. 

I am still enjoying sowing and recently finished my first baby kuspuk for a friend. She named him Jett, and he was born at 28 wks and 2.2 lbs. They are still at the hospital in Anchorage and I would appreciate prayers for their long road ahead.  

Ian remains very busy with his job as well. He also recently returned from a 3 day village trip. He went to Kalskag to help out with a vacation bible school. He even made me a pair of beaded earrings while there! And I have to say, they are really good!

Ian's Earrings

And, every Wednesday he continues to have games and activities for the children. He often says that this job is more suited for him; he really enjoys people, especially children. And, he has a wonderful boss who is very friendly and flexible, that is always a plus. 

Blessing to you and may God continue to fill, change, and guide you with his divine love. 

-Sarah