240: Distracted in Alaska

In this short solo episode, Nole shares a powerful reflection from a recent, life-changing trip to Alaska with his wife. Hosted by Samaritan's Purse and Firefighters for Christ, the retreat was meant to honor families impacted by major fires. But amidst the stunning landscapes of Mystic Lake Lodge, Nole found himself overwhelmed by a profound sense of distraction—not the negative, anxiety-inducing kind from our phones and screens, but a beautiful, soul-filling distraction by the sheer immensity of God's creation.

He explores the difference between man-made distractions that pull us away from what matters and the "good" distractions found in nature that endlessly point us back to our Creator. This is a call to action for all of us, no matter where we live, to pause, look up, and find the whispers of God's glory in the world around us.

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Transcript

Nole (00:13.273)
This is a solo episode featuring me. This is Noel. Just a brief talk about being distracted and how and why I think at times it would be appropriate to be quote unquote distracted. Thank you for listening. Enjoy.

Nole (00:52.312)
About a month ago, my wife and I went to Alaska. And we were up there for about a week. It was an amazing time. It was probably the best week that my wife and I have ever had together. It was just absolutely incredible, indescribable in some ways. We were up there being hosted by Samaritan's Purse.

in partnership with firefighters for Christ. And we were there at a place called Mystic Lake Lodge with three other couples. All the other couples were also firemen and their wives, specifically firemen and their wives who had been affected by the Eden or the Palisades fires. And that was the reason for the retreat is to honor the sacrifices of the families that were made.

during that time. And it was an immense blessing to Heather and I and to everyone else there. were about 10 people there on staff running it and they were really the shining stars of the experience. were such servants. They had such a heart for Jesus and for us. It was just such a warm and beautiful experience being around these people.

But secondary to that, as we were out doing activities every day in Alaska, doing things like writing quads through the forest, rafting down rivers, going on hikes. found myself continuously distracted by Alaska. There was so much life. There was so much beauty. You'd be riding a quad and there would be a red mushroom.

In the middle of the trail. then there would be bushes and trees and rocks, all these things that I had never seen before. And they were there in so much abundance and in just such an incredible level of beauty that it was distracting. He felt like you couldn't, you couldn't take it all in. And of course on the macro scale, that would make sense. When you think about Alaska, you think about this immense land and you think about the immense mountains that reside there.

Nole (03:19.541)
Mount McKinley, for example, was about 50 miles away in the mountain range that the lodge sits at the base of. And so there's this immensity to it, but also at the same time on a micro level, there's also this. Immensity to it, where there's just so much plant life and so much foliage and so many flowers. And it's overwhelming to the senses. You cannot take it all in.

And while we were up there, I was reflecting on this idea of being distracted. felt like I was constantly distracted almost to an overwhelming sense, but it wasn't distracted in a negative sense. And as I puzzled through this and kind of pondered on it, what I, what I kind of landed on was that God was showing me was showing us that in those types of distractions that are his creation.

There's a beauty there because we're really being distracted by God, by his creation, by things that he took the time to create things that are intricate and beautiful and magnificent and huge and everything in between. And so those distractions are good and positive and they point you back to him, which is the purpose of his creation and being in a place like that, where there aren't any mad made distractions.

where the only man made distractions are the ones that you bring with you. And there's no cell service. So you're not pulling out your phone and checking the news. You're not checking your email. You're pulling out your phone to take pictures, to try to bring some of this back home with you, to show your family and friends and your children. When you get back, because it's just so amazing. The quad that you're riding on is manmade, but that's not a distraction. Nobody wants to stare at a quad. just a vehicle.

So there's really not anything out there that is a manmade distraction and that and therein lies just the incredible beauty of being in a place like Alaska out in the middle of nowhere at Mystic Lake Lodge. Everything points back to him, the people there who are hosting the lodge, feeding us, walking us through Bible studies, just laughing with us around the table. They're Christ filled. And so they're pointing back to God.

Nole (05:39.434)
And everything outside the lodge itself is God's creation and is pointing you back to him endlessly forever. And it was amazing. It was incredible. And it was sobering because I realized that my life, even though I live in the woods, even though my family and I live on the mountain and we live in the woods, but our lives are so full of other types of distractions of manmade distractions.

Some of which are necessary, right? It may not necessarily intrinsically be evil in and of themselves or even bad, but maybe they're just mediocre or the things that are downright negative. Our phones and our TVs. And for most of us everywhere we go, everything that we're surrounded by is manmade. And some of those things are beautiful. Some of those things have been crafted by.

people who loved what they did and were skilled in it. And so we do find a level of pleasure and reverence in that type of creation because it reflects what God does in nature, but none of it ever really reaches the zenith that God has in his creation. If we're paying close enough attention, those things can point us back to him because we recognize in these people that create these things that are beautiful and are useful. We recognize God's nature.

of being a creator, we recognize that mirrored in other people. Sometimes if we're the type of person that is artistic or creates music or other things, woodworking, leather work, whatever it may be, we can actually emulate that creative nature that God put into us because we are made in his image. And that's good. Those things are good, but there are few and far between. And usually they cost a lot. Now, when you have a child and they create a piece of artwork, that's a different thing.

And those things are obviously not expensive in the financial sense, but they really are priceless. But even in that, you see that same thing that God created this being this child and that child is reflecting his creator or her creator, which is an amazingly beautiful thing and can point you back to him. And that was the lesson.

Nole (07:59.433)
That I kind of wanted to try to impart to you today, something that really had an impact on me, on my soul was just this idea that I need to do a better job in my normal everyday life when I'm not at Alaska. Cause I don't think I'll ever be able to get back to Mystic Lake Lodge. Although as soon as we left, that was the only thing I wanted to do was the only thing Heather wanted to do. We just wanted to go back from the moment we left. We relished that time. It was such a blessing, but knowing that we probably never will.

I wanted to communicate. wanted to kind of cement for myself, this desire to keep my head up, to look around, to find those things as small and inconsequential as they may be, or as large and glorious as they might be that point back to God, our creator, and to really take a moment to pause and to enjoy those things. Right now I'm sitting outside and I'm underneath.

A giant pine tree and I can see a palm tree in the distance and there are some other deciduous trees. I don't know what they are, but even here where I'm at in the middle of a city behind a fire station, there is whispers of God's creation. It's right here. There's a lizard running across the wall and things like that reflect our creator. And I think they deserve to be paid attention to.

And most of us can't spend our whole lives just focusing entirely on that. have other things that we have to do. We have other things that we have to accomplish. have responsibilities and lives and some of those responsibilities and lives mean that we have to stare at a screen or we have to sit in an office where there isn't any of that around. And that's okay. But when we do have the opportunity, I think it's important to pause and to look around, to look down, to look up and to really take it in.

Not just to look around that there's different types of looking around. I do constantly look around. keep my head on a swivel. You can ask my wife about this. I look around constantly and I'm looking for threats. That's a different thing. That's not what I'm talking about here. When I'm scanning for threats, which is something that I do naturally, I'm not taking in the glory of God's creation. I'm missing it entirely. And I think that.

Nole (10:22.58)
There is a sense in which sometimes that's necessary, but I also think that there's a sense in which that's tragic and that I'm missing out.

And I don't think it matters if you live in Alaska or Pasadena or Marietta or Arkansas or Florida or anywhere else. There is opportunity to take in God's creation and to enjoy it, to, to, to thank him for it, to acknowledge it verbally. Or if you're a little shy to do it internally, just to let God know, God, this pine tree is amazing. It's beautiful.

I'm thankful for its shade. I'm thankful for its green needles that fall in the backyard of the firehouse that later on I will have to use a blower to blow out because we got to keep the area clean. I'm thankful for the sap that it drips on my car. I don't understand any of it. I couldn't create a tree. I don't know where to start. It's impossible for me to do, but I recognize that you did it and it doesn't make sense. And I don't understand, but I see in it a reflection of you.

and that you didn't create just one type of tree.

You created tens of thousands of different types of trees, things that we couldn't even, that I couldn't even imagine. Even living on the earth and having watched lots of planet earth and types of shows like that with our kids. Even still, I've never seen all the trees you've created and never will never be able to appreciate all of them. And definitely couldn't have imagined creating so many different types of one, thing. And in that is just the glory of God. And that's just trees. If we start talking about.

Nole (12:05.908)
beetles, or animals or anything else or even people. It just becomes even more and more overwhelming, even more and more impressive. But it's so easily missed. It's such a strange thing that we're surrounded by so much beauty and so much glory and so many things that are just beyond our comprehension. And yet

All too often, we're bored. We're unsatisfied. We're anxious.

I think part of that is because we're not paying attention. I really do.

And even being someone who grew up in the woods and who lives in the woods now, I still felt like going to Mystic Lake, being in Alaska, I still felt like that was awoken in me. Just this realization that I was created by this God that created everything and that it's so vast and it's so beautiful and it's so complex that I could never hope to understand him, but that I could hope to get maybe a better picture of him.

And that I do have a desire to do that. I want to know him. I want to know his character.

Nole (13:24.532)
And I think that that's good and healthy. And so that would be my encouragement for you today. And this brief episode is to simply look up, look around, look down wherever you are, take in those small things, recognize that the grass that grows, that's so pleasant to walk on with your shoes off the sand by the side of the seashore, the cold water and the river, whatever it is, wherever you are, all of those things point back to God, our creator.

And they're good. And we would do well to take more moments to absorb that and take that in.

This has been the FireEU Carry Podcast.

Nole (14:18.579)
You were getting these incredibly short solo episodes because I'm currently up in Hume Lake with my family on a vacation. And Kevin was super swamped with preparation for the nine 11 Memorial stair climb, which we will talk about when he comes back. And so I had to record a couple of episodes and just wanted to make sure you guys had something to listen to this Monday. So I appreciate you bearing with the short solo episodes. We will be back to our.

normal operation next week. We thank you for being in the audience. We'll see you then.