Outwardly I was frustrated because I felt like he never bothered to do things the right way, like pulling up directly alongside the dump station instead of catty corner, but inwardly I am sure this comes from something deeper. I doubt my frustration has anything to do with him actually. I think that my frustration is an outward manifestation of some heart problem that I can’t quite identify.
It is very easy for me to become frustrated or irritated by someone who does something in any way other than how I think it should be done. In fact, it is easy for me to become frustrated with someone for no reason at all. I am an easily frustrated person. What does that mean about me?
I just finished praying that the L-rd would reveal to me why I am so easily frustrated and irritated. I hope he will teach me this over the course of my trip.
On Another Note…
Valdez strikes me as a very odd town. It has a strange blend of urban and rural feel to it. The town started in 1898 as a gold rush boom town, built on soft, super saturated ground at the base of the Valdez Glacier which was the first route that prospectors took into Copper Country. After the massive earthquake in 1968, in which the town was torn to bits, the dock sank, and tsunamis killed 33 people, the town was relocated to a more geologically stable area, with perfectly laid out blocks.
The blocks and sidewalks make the town feel like a city, but the large spaces between buildings and the mix of residential and commercial buildings give the town a more rural feel. The city is neither urban nor suburban, but it is not quite rural either.
Surprisingly for a town of 4,000, Valdez has a community college and at least 4 museums, three of which we visited today and all of which were of good quality. The museums deal predominantly with the history of the town, but also feature videos and exhibits about the Alaska pipeline which ends across Prince William Sound. One of the Museums contains an impressive collection of stuffed wildlife, Native art and tools, and other items collected by Maxine Whitney, an early resident.
The town definitely deserves its nickname, the Switzerland of Alaska, because everywhere you look, you can see beautiful snow covered mountains. Not only are the mountains beautiful, but so are the birch forests, the rocky beaches along the sound, and the bald eagles that roost in trees all over the valley. I wish that I could be here to see the bears, eagles, and fishermen that come out for the massive salmon runs.
1 comment:
This has little to do with your post, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
You may remember a conversation we had just before you left the contiguous United States. I realized one night as I was washing dishes that there is another purpose behind the "compliment sandwich" that Mrs. S describes ( I could never refer to her as BS) besides opening up conversation between spouses. Surrounding a criticism with complements changes (or manipulates, if you'd rather) the heart of the critic. When I take the time to remember M's excellent qualities it changes the way I think or feel about his defects. This consequently changes the way I approach him with my complaint. I find that praying for our relationship does the same thing. When I ask God to make our relationship what He wants it to be, I start to remember that our relationship, or even my responsibility to him, has very little to do with what M does or doesn't do for me.
I think perhaps it does relate to your post.
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