One of the best things about ACMNP and seasonal work is that you become close friends with people who in “normal life” you would not normally seek out to become friends with and do life together. Seasonal work and the ministry field we get to walk into is unique in that we work with, eat with, sleep in the same halls, and hike together.

One of my friends in Denali, was not a believer, into heavy metal, and was so “lost”. She was a barista with me, so that meant a lot of 3:15am bus rides to work together each morning. We lived across the hall from each other and over the course of the summer had a couple good Spirit filled conversations. One morning, at 5:15am she was blasting her heavy metal music in the bakery so loud that I could not hear the man tell me his order.

After helping the guest I slipped back to the bakery and asked my friend to turn down her music. She snapped at me while continuing to cut cinnamon rolls.

Later that morning she came and pulled me aside and apologized for snapping at me. Tears poured down her face as she explained the difficult night she had just experienced. My heart broke as tears streamed down my face. I just looked at my friend, praying the entire time and inviting the Holy Spirit into the conversation. All I said was, “You are so loved. You are so incredibly worthy of loving and belonging. You my dear friend are so beautiful and have such a beautiful heart. Thank you so much for letting me in, and for telling me this. The amount of courage that took to share that out loud with anyone is impeccable.”

This was one of those Devine appointments where God showed up in the middle of the chaos. What I learned from this is that in the middle of the chaos of the world, I can take a deep breath and step into what God is inviting me into. Then I can hop right back into the chaos feeling light, replenished and purposeful. I don’t miss anything by participating with God, I gain so much more then what this world has to offer, because He made the world.

Danie H., Denali National Park, 2016