When I was younger and when I was just beginning to travel, I remember marveling at what it was like to experience God in new places. Every new place helped me to see a new aspect of God and visiting other expressions of the body of Christ caused me to experience God in new ways.

While living in New York City for 10 years, I don't think there was a day where I didn't experience awe at the magnitude and beauty of the city and the God who called me there. I started weekdays driving over the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan, often just as the sun was getting up. It would cause an eruption in my spirit of thankfulness and gratitude and praise. Some people get this response by mountains. I get it from skyscrapers and concrete.

When I return home to Alaska, I am struck by the grandeur of God and a sense of how big He is and how much He believes in us, His creation. Alaska is a place full of hearty, independent people. Part of this I think is due to the type of people Alaska attends to attract; those who love the great outdoors and adventure, those unafraid to take a risk on a place some deem beautiful but inhabitable. Part is due to how safe and crime-free Alaska is in comparison to other places. To grow up as a child in Alaska was to grow up free. I spent hours alone on our beaches, in our woods, exploring, imagining, creating. And I spent hours with the kids on our small island home---playing workup, kickball, British Bulldog, Red Rover---for hours on summer nights, never any adult supervision needed. Add to this the fact that Alaska seems to be a place where people come and go a lot. I learned to say goodbye a lot fairly young and learned to hold attachments loosely. The entire lifestyle there gave me a lot of space in my head, and a comfortableness with being alone without boredom; I grew up to be one of those strong, independent people like so many other Alaskans I knew. All of this room and space to become has made me feel very believed in and trusted by God. I've known great autonomy---the reins were held very, very loosely and childhood was more of a time of adventure, exploration, and creativity than one of instruction, discipline, or pressure to perform. I learned how to be alone with God and include Him in my day, I learned to hear His voice, I learned that He loved me and believed in me, even as a child.

I'm writing today while in Boise, Idaho a place that is hot, sunny, and very happy. I've never thought too much about Seasonal Affective Disorder or much about how light affects emotion. But after experiencing the Vitamin D in Treasure Valley, I can't imagine ever being depressed here. When you are flooded with light, it's tough to maintain a gloomy outlook. I John 1:5 tells us that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (KJV). Imagine how much joy God lives in when His whole essence is light. The sun in Boise causes me to experience God's joy, purity, and goodness.

Every new place holds aspects of God's character and personality if we but have eyes to see and senses to sense.

Photo credit: Laura Truitt

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