On how to think straight with a few lagniappe thoughts from Shellie

Hey, friend! I’ve been thinking about you. All of you. I wanted to catch up with what’s going on in your world, and tell you about my recent trip to Alaska where I spoke to the staff of Artic Barnabas. AB is a ministry that exists to serve pastors and missionaries in remote Alaska and I fell in love with their mission to the people living in the bush. I’ll share some pics and memories with you in just a moment.

But first, I’d like to offer you some tools for your prayer time. I put these Scripture prayers together when I realized I was currently praying for eight different people experiencing either mental confusion or delusion. My list includes some older friends and family on it, but there are younger people on it, too! That’s a lot of people with the same problem in my circle and that made me think of all of you. I feel like you may be walking a similar path. Please know that God goes before you, and He hears prayer.  Please message me with any specifics if you’d like me to add your concerns to my list. You can find those prayer helps here. 

And now, about Alaska. Have mercy, God was really showing out when He made Alaska! I fell in love with her beauty and her people, and I will be returning sooner than later because of my aforementioned appreciation for the work Artic Barnabas is doing and my desire to be part of it. With that thought in mind, let me just put something out here because we never know what God will do when we partner with His great heart. I have a businessman who has committed to a 10K matching fund donation to support the work of Artic Barnabas. I’m actively accepting any donations towards meeting that goal and having him multiply it. Message me if you want to help.

So, I may have taken one or two thousand pictures while taking in the sights of Alaska. My intent is to use them as I create companion products for my Feb 2026 release, Don’t Try to Pray Like Her. Want a sneak peak? Yay! I was so hoping you’d ask. LOL!

 

And here are a few more candid shots. My friend Joneal Kirby of Heartfelt Ministries was my traveling companion and because she has been to Alaska numerous times and it was my first trip, she served as a perfect tour guide!

Hamming just a little… 

The female staff of Artic Barnabas. We didn’t let the men come to this party!

We took this little puddle jumper back to Anchorage from Kenai.

And the next picture is of our pilot “Grizzly”. I can’t make that up! 

I wanted to include a video of an adorable otter that swam by on his back, casually snacking on a fish but it was too grainy. Still, he was mighty cute. In this last picturing I’m standing in Homer, also known as “The End of the Road”. Alaska was pretty much the end of the road as far as the Spring 2025 speaking season, too. Summer is here, the men are busy, busy, busy on the farm, and Keggie Kamp will be here before long. The grands continue to grow like weeds. You know that story! The oldest two have their drivers’ licenses now and Kennedy Lee is bringing up the rear at a big five years old! Right now I’m catching up on a thousand and one things that get neglected around here while I’m traveling. I’m also listening for concrete direction from the Lord.

I know many people who use the first of the year to address their schedules and goals, but for me, that’s the summer months. This is the season when I take a good hard look at my plate with God’s leading. I ask Him what’s on it that He wants off and what’s not on it that He is leading me to pursue. He has been faithful to direct in the past with life-giving decisions and I know He’ll be faithful in the future. For instance, I remember the summer I felt called to give up the pressure of my live radio show. That turned out to be a very good and timely decision. Of course, I meant to podcast regularly instead and I’ve been very hit or miss with the Story Table podcast, (sigh), but I’m hoping to talk to the Lord about that, too, and get some supernatural counsel. During all of this planning, I’ll also be listening for how I can serve YOU better. So if you have any thoughts on what you’d like to see more, podcasts that would help you, Bible studies that would support you, etc., by all means hit a contact button and let me know. I’m all ears.

Hugs, Shellie