Countdown to shutdown.... ?

So Friday made for an interesting day in my world. Nearly every conversation I had with both the visitors coming into the park and the many people who called on the phone was centered upon whether the park would be open the next day. And all I could tell them was that we didn't know, that it was entirely dependent on what congress did. As you might imagine, that got a bit frustrating as the day wore on!

I didn't know when I went to bed Friday night if I would be coming in to work the next day for a normal day or to spend a few hours in the morning helping to shut down the park. I certainly maintain hope that congress will do what they said and actually write and sign the appropriate legislation in the next few days or we will be right back in the same place once again. Not a very fun place to be in!

That being said, I was rather disappointed that they passed another CR at the last minute. I think it would have been better for things to actually shut down so that they would have to deal with that reality as a result of the actions they have taken. But I am certainly very glad to still be getting a paycheck!

I happened to be at the desk on Friday when a news crew arrived to film for a story they were running that evening about the impact of the impending shutdown. Attached is a video clip from NBC 29, the local affiliate of NBC which was the lead in to that story which was aired Friday evening. The story was largely centered upon the impact on Shenandoah and I had about 15 seconds of airtime in footage showing me interacting with visitors. This clip only contains a brief image, but you do still see me as the face of the services that would not be available if the government was to shut down. 

I raised the flag in front of the Visitor Center Saturday morning, the officially recognized symbol that we were open and available for service. Yesterday afternoon/evening I hiked ten miles through the mist and fog, roving the trails and enjoying the beauty and wonder of the park for myself. It seems appropriate that while the park was shrouded in fog both Friday and Saturday, today the sun dawned bright and clear, a new day filled with hope and life.

There is Just Something About the National Parks...

I think it would be fair to say that I possess an affinity for National Parks.This has long been true but has perhaps never been more evident than it is now.

I first visited Shenandoah National Park in May of last year in late spring. I hiked several trails within the park including one that took me alongside the beautiful cascading water of the Rose River. As I hiked along that trail I found myself thinking that if there were ever a perfect spot to propose, I was in it. It was with that thought in mind that I brought Alison to that same trail in August, and though there was certainly no proposing that took place, that hike did mark the moment of our first kiss and the beginning of our romance. We returned to the park again in October to enjoy the colors of fall, thus completing for me a record of visitation in three of the fours seasons.

When I found myself a few months later thinking about how I would want to propose to Alison there really wasn't much of a question. And thus I found myself hiking the same trail with a ring in my pocket seven weeks ago in the final remaining season. Little did I know when I devised that plan that only a few days after the proposal I would be offered an eight month position working as a Park Ranger in the very same park. So now, seven weeks later I find myself engaged to be married while living and working in Shenandoah. This place will ever hold a very special place in my heart. :)

I am officially in uniform as an NPS ranger once again, this time aiding visitors in understanding and experiencing the wonders of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is different in almost every way to what I was doing on the Mall! I have certainly enjoyed these first two weeks and am rapidly learning and applying that newfound knowledge in my interactions with visitors. My first significant moment of interpretation and guidance while working as a ranger at Shenandoah had nothing to do with that park, however. My very first day on the desk I found myself talking to a couple about the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC, thus interpreting the very same thing I would have done had I been on the Mall in that moment.

I was blessed with the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the blossoms myself last week, despite no longer living in the immediate area. The single biggest challenge in me taking this job in Shenandoah is being away from Alison as she continues to live in DC. Thankfully I have been able to come and spend each of my days off so far with her, including last Tuesday when we occupied ourselves by playing model for a fledgling professional photographer as he took a series of fun pictures of us with the blossoms around the Tidal Basin including several featuring my NPS flat hat. We had a lot of fun enjoying the blossoms and will hopefully get some fun engagement pictures out of it as well!

The weather in Shenandoah has been anything but spring like for most of my time there thus far. I awaken each morning to temperatures below freezing and last week twice awoke to more than 2 inches of fresh snow on the ground. The second storm was this past Friday and after work I went and hiked up to the highest point in the park and enjoyed some spectacular scenery covered with a blanket of snow as the sun was setting.

My affinity for National Parks is not limited to working, living, and proposing in one. It is looking increasingly likely that I will also be getting married in one. It is a distinct possibility that Alison and I will be married at the Yosemite Valley Chapel in Yosemite National Park (http://yosemitevalleychapel.org/photos.htm) on Saturday, January 14, 2012. This is not set in stone, nor something to count on at all at this point, but is certainly a rapidly emerging preference for both of us.

Life certainly continues to be an adventure!

A Working Update

Today turned out to be a rather significant day in terms of job prospects. As mentioned in my last writing I had been contacted by a ranger at Shenandoah requesting a job interview. That interview took place today. As I was on the phone I received another call which turned out to be a ranger from Arlington House in Arlington requesting an interview. So I called her back right away and did that interview as well. So after months of not knowing anything at all and not moving forward at all, within two hours I interviewed for two positions with the Park Service. It is pretty amazing really that these two interviews took place so close together. Of the more than 80 jobs with the Park Service I have applied for in recent months these two are the two I have been considered for that are the closest to where I live in Falls Church and the two that I am most interested in within this area. So basically the two most exciting interviews I could have received in terms of positions that would allow me to stay in this area until getting married this fall. (By the way, early November is the target time for the wedding!) If that is not evidence of the work of God in this situation, I really do not know what is!
 
Both interviews went very well. Both interviewers were highly complimentary of me and told me that I was one of their top candidates. At Shenandoah he picked me out of a lineup of more than 100 people largely because of the extra work that I had done beyond what was required at both Wind Cave and the National Mall. It was a huge confirmation that God is at work and that what I have done in the past is appreciated.

Both positions start at the end of March. Shenandoah goes to early November and Arlington to October 1, so both pretty decent spans of time. So now I may have a very tough choice to make. Do I take the job that allows me to stay where I am living now, stay connected in DC, and interpret Robert E Lee, but be confined to a single house (which is currently under rehabilitation and unfurnished and therefore much less interesting to walk through) in a single site. Or do I take a job that would require me to move but cost significantly less (saving about $400 a month on rent), allow me to live within Shenandoah, to interpret the wilderness including roving on hiking trails and through the campgrounds, and diversify my resume, while also meaning that I would see my fiance significantly less?

Then again I may be offered one job and not the other. Or perhaps I won't be offered either one.

To further complicate matters I also received an email today requesting an in person interview out at Mt. Vernon on Friday (I was just there yesterday celebrating the general's birthday!) for a position as a costumed living history interpreter on the plantation.

So what do I do? How the tides have changed!

The Difference a Week Can Make

A week ago I wrote about moving forward as we trust in God and seizing the divine moments of our lives. In the intervening days since I wrote those words their truth has been so indelibly pressed upon my consciousness that had I not believed them when I wrote them (which I absolutely did) I would most certainly believe them now. This last week has been filled with such moments, some seemingly simple and innocuous and some clearly and overtly life changing. There are four such moments in particular that illustrate the kind of week it has been.

By far the most significant news is that on Tuesday February 15 I took Alison to Shenandoah National Park and as we traveled along the Rose River we came to an idyllic location where we stopped in recognition that it was the same spot where we had first kissed. It was in that place, standing in snow covering ice out in the river with water flowing beneath us that I asked Alison to marry me. To my great delight and joy she quickly agreed, entering us both into the wonderful world of being engaged. Pictures can be found in an album here on facebook.

This news alone would certainly warrant an update in the status of things in my life, but three other events this week bear mentioning as well. On Wednesday I went through the process to officially change my residency to the commonwealth of Virginia, something I have long delayed doing as I did not know what the future would hold. But in proposing I have committed to Alison and thus committed to this area for at least the next chapter of our lives. So I am officially a resident of Virginia with a drivers license, license plates, and car insurance to match. 

Yesterday morning I completed the final elements necessary to send in an application for an MA in American History at George Mason University here in Virginia. I don't know what the future holds, but I am never going to have a better opportunity to pursue returning to graduate school than I do now, so I have begun the process of doing exactly that. I will be taking the GRE in a couple of weeks and following that will be on track to attend George Mason (if accepted) for night classes (thus allowing me to work simultaneously) beginning as early as this fall. 

In addition to all of these changes and movements in my life I have one more to add. Though things on the mall are still stagnant (as a result of the failure of congress to pass a budget this far--God willing that may change in the immanent future!) in the last few days I have received reason to hope that something might work out at another park. The day before going to Shenandoah to propose I received notification asking if I was still interested in a position at that very park. Yesterday I received similar notification for Wrangell-St Elias in Alaska. This morning I found a follow up email from Shenandoah requesting an interview for a position that could start as early as March 21 which is tentatively scheduled for this coming Tuesday. It isn't a job, but it is hope that my name is actually making it high enough that I am being considered for positions.

It is amazing the difference a week can make when it is lived in such a manner!

Choosing the Moments of Life

Life is sum total of the choices we make. We are defined by our choices, by what we do, by how we respond to the circumstances that we face. It is not the circumstances themselves but rather our reaction to them, that determines the content of our character. If you have known me for very long it should come as no surprise to hear me articulate such truth. It has been a common theme of my life since high school, something I have spoken about, given speeches about, preached about, taught classes about, and even given ranger programs about. It is a common thread that runs through much of my life. And it is a truth I have been keenly reminded of in the past two weeks. 

We must seize the moments in front of us, to suck the marrow out of life as Robin Williams puts it in "Dead Poets Society." We must live our lives to the full. Many of you know that one of the verses that is dearest to my heart is John 10:10, in which Jesus proclaims that his purpose in coming to earth is that we might live our lives to the full, the way he created us to live them. This single verse and the implications in carries for not only the mission of Christ, but the purpose of creation itself has dramatically shaped my life. Christ came to bring us life. It is all about life. It is about making choices in our lives that embrace the mystery and wonder of life and bring us closer to the heart of God. There is no higher purpose, no better way to live. 

This principle has been the guiding force of my life for many years. It is why I decided to stay in Oroville and work in youth ministry instead of taking a full tuition scholarship to go to graduate school. It is why I left Oroville, quitting my job, and giving up my house to take a three month temporary position as a park ranger in South Dakota. It is why I picked up and moved to Washington, DC to work on the National Mall. It is why I am in Northern Virginia right now, believing that God has a plan, is directing my life, and has brought me here on purpose. 

Our lives our filled with moments, each one an opportunity to respond, to make a choice. Each choice determining as CS Lewis says, whether we are moving closer to or farther away from the presence of God and His mission on this earth. Each choice we make has connections to so many others and our lives become the sum total of the choices that we make. I am reading Erwin McManus' book "Chasing Daylight" with Alison and a few days ago read this statement; "While moments are the context within which we live, choices chart the course and determine the destination." Our choices chart not only our course and pathway along the journey but determine the destination itself. We define who we are and where we go in life. 

This truth has been keenly imprinted upon my mind in recent days. It is timely advice for me to be reminded of. I receive a verse in my email inbox every day. The one that arrived yesterday was Proverbs 3:5. Anyone who has been a part of Nazarene Caravans should know the reference immediately, but for those of you who have not sported the blue sash the verse reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." I received this verse by chance. It is one I have known since I was five years old. And yet it seemed as if it had been sent on purpose to remind me that our own understanding is not to be relied upon, that the only way to make the kind of choices that reflect the character of God is to give our hearts up unto Him and to lean on His understanding rather than our own. 

I have also been reading through the bible chronologically and a couple of days ago came to the passage in Judges that tells the story of Gideon, a man who God called to lead His army to victory, a man who faced a Midianite army described as being "thick as locusts" with camels that "could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore." With 300 Israelites (down from 32,000) Gideon utterly destroyed the Midianites because he trusted in God and leaned not on his own understanding, making a choice to move forward in faith when he could not see the path ahead. 
It seems as though God has been trying to tell me something of late, to imprint a message and truth upon my mind that it might be reflected in my own actions and choices. A timely message as I sit here looking into the future. 

I remain unemployed and still have no word about future jobs, but I have hope. I applied for 8 more park ranger positions yesterday, and have found out that I have at least made the initial cut for more than 20 positions including several in Virginia. While waiting to hear further word I am continuing to invest in the National Mall in a volunteer capacity, going in at least once a week to serve as a volunteer. A few days ago I was positioned near the Vietnam Wall. It was cold out and few people were out on the mall, but there were still people coming to the wall and I was able to help several people find a name or explain the way the wall is set up. Among the people I spoke with that day were two men, both of an age that made it immediately clear that they had lived through the Vietnam era as young adults. As we spoke I learned that both had served as doctors in Vietnam, one in the regular army and one as a Green Beret. It turned out that after the war the army doctor lived in Arizona and the Green Beret worked for ten years as a team doctor for various sporting teams at the school that would become Point Loma Nazarene University. Small world huh? Then the Green Beret told me of one of his high school buddies that he had signed up with, a pilot named William Schultz who had been shot down less than a month before he would have finished his Tour in Vietnam. I stood there with him looking at William's name on the wall and I suddenly understood why it was that I was standing out in the cold as a volunteer that day.

It was a divinely appointed moment. No one else was around. It was just me and these two men out in the cold. It was a moment in which a window opened in front of me and I saw something more clearly than I have ever seen it before.  I had shared much with these two men, explaining why the wall was the way it was and giving them historical context of why we were even in Vietnam at all. They had both visited the wall before but left that day with new meaning and understanding. They had lived through and served during Vietnam before I even existed and yet I had given them a new understanding of why it was that they had done so. But it wasn't just me teaching them. They had given me a new understanding of the meaning of sacrifice and of making choices to serve and honor God through that service. They had provided me with a picture of brotherly love and fidelity that will stay with me as long as I live. It is for such moments as these that I continue to go down to the mall even after the government has ceased to pay me to do so. 

We are defined by the choices we make. We are defined by the way we respond to the circumstances of life. We are defined by the physical manifestations of our trust in God. Can I see the way ahead? No I cannot. Do I know that there is a path and that God will reveal it to me as He knows I need to see it. Absolutely. Will I continue to seek to live a life that defined by a determined pursuit of righteousness, living in the aroma of the presence of Christ? Absolutely. Will I keep seeking to live my life to the fullest, trusting in God and His plan for my life? Absolutely. Will I continue to seize the moment and make choices that keep the son in my eyes? Absolutely. 

A Journey to Remember

What follows is a more detailed account of the four week adventure that Alison and I embarked upon the day following my last day of work on the National Mall. I alluded to it in the last message that I sent, but for those of you who were captivated on the edge of your seat wondering what all we had done, this will hopefully satisfy your curiosity. :)

This story begins on a cold Monday morning. So cold in fact that I had to first scrape ice off of my windshield before we could depart. There was a nice dusting of snow on the ground, the first snow of the year in fact, just in time for us to leave. That first day we drove through Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky. We found ourselves driving through a snowstorm from Eastern Maryland, all the way through West Virginia into Kentucky, a perfect way to begin the trip! We awoke to next morning to find that the skies had cleared, which allowed us to stop off at two National Park Sites while heading south through Kentucky to Tennessee. The first was the Lincoln Birthplace where I posed next to the reconstruction of the cabin where Lincoln was born, now housed inside the first Lincoln Memorial, designed by the same man who designed the Jefferson Memorial here in DC. From there we headed a little further south and west to Mammoth Cave, the last major park service cave on my list (I visited Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Lehman Cave, and Carlsbad Caverns last year), and the longest known cave system in the world. We enjoyed a great tour of the cave, learning far more history than I expected including the fact that during the war of 1812 they had an expansive salt peter mining operation inside the cave to make gunpowder for the American Army.

After a brief stop to take pictures at Dinosaur World, we ate an obligatory meal at KFC before leaving Kentucky. We continued along much of the length of Tennessee from Nashville to Memphis and into Little Rock where we spent our second night. Since we were in Little Rock we decided we clearly needed to stop at the Little Rock Central High School, the site of the famous entrance of the Little Rock Nine in 1957, the first major test of forced integration in a public high school following Brown vs. The Board of Education. Soon after crossing into Oklahoma we found ourselves driving through one reservation after another, poignant reminders of the lasting impact of the Indian Removal Policy and forced relocation of many  tribes in the 1830s. By the time we got to the panhandle of Texas we were getting pretty tired so when we saw the Big Texan in Amarillo we felt we had to stop and take a look. This restaurant is the home of the 72 oz steak (that is 4.5 pounds) and if you can eat it in under an hour you get it for free. If you fail you pay $72 for the dinner. We did not try. One look at a cooked 72 oz steak was enough to convince me that I would never be able to consume that in an hour!

We instead continued on to Albuquerque, New Mexico, arriving late and leaving the next morning to head on to Arizona. We hit snow again as we approached the Arizona border, but it slackened off enough to allow us to make a quick circuit through Petrified Forest National Park before driving along the Mogollon Rim down to Phoenix. The snow came back along the rim, obscuring the view, but creating an impressive winter wonderland! After a night at my home in Phoenix we headed west again, traveling through Joshua Tree National Park on our way to Valencia, California, our destination for the next night. The next day dawned grey and dreary with lots of rain so our trip up the coast was not nearly as impressive as it might have been. Still, we did enjoy seeing the ocean once again and stopped off in Santa Barbara and at UCSB to visit Alison's alma matter.

That night brought us safely to Alison's home in Livermore where we spent the next several days with a side trip into San Francisco to enjoy the sites of the city at Christmas. The next chapter of the journey took us to Alison's family's cabin overlooking Lake Tahoe where we celebrated Christmas. It snowed on the 23rd and started again the night of Christmas Day, giving us a nice white Christmas. The snow was still falling the morning of the 26th, which made for a slow and deliberate exit as we headed around the lake and into Nevada on our way back to Phoenix where we stayed through January 2. Or rather, we stayed in Arizona through January 2. We also took a bit of a detour up to the ranch on the 27th. In addition to celebrating Christmas we also played cowboy and helped move cattle from one pasture to another, fired by Grandfather's M-1 Garand rifle from WWII, and visited the Grand Canyon.

On January 2 Alison flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida so she could join her family in watching Stanford triumph at the Orange Bowl. I left Phoenix myself the following morning, driving all the way to Ft. Lauderdale in the next two days to meet Alison and explore a bit of Florida. We first went to the Everglades and enjoyed an incredible array of birds, beautiful sunny weather, alligators and crocodiles, and our 7th National Park on the trip. Before leaving the area we asked a ranger at the visitor center if she knew where we could get a good piece of Key Lime Pie and she immediately suggested Alabama Jacks, a wonderful little restaurant right along the water in Key Largo, just before the bridge crossing the Florida Keys. It was a splendid suggestion and we enjoyed the most amazing Key Lime Pie I have ever encountered before heading north to Fort Wilderness and a Disney Adventure.

In celebration of Alison's 25th birthday we spent the next two days at Disney World, the first day at Hollywood Studios and the second at the Magic Kingdom. Alison wore her special birthday pen and garnered a lot of attention from the Disney folk and we tried to maximize the time we had there. I feel like we did pretty well in achieving that goal. We rode the main coaster at Hollywood studios five times, the tower of terror three times, saw both the big stunt shows (one was Indiana Jones and the other a high speed car chase), and visited nearly every other ride or attraction of note in the park. We began the next day with eight consecutive trips on Space Mountain in less than two hours before spending the rest of the day hitting the remainder of the park, ending with the fireworks show followed by our 3rd and 4th rides on big thunder mountain. It was great fun to stay at Fort Wilderness (the disney campgrounds), especially because that meant we got to take a boat from the campgrounds to the Magic Kingdom.

On Sunday we left Disney World and headed north at last, stopping in Wilmington, North Carolina for the night. We awoke the next morning to find ourselves nearly snowed in so we left rather quickly in an attempt to drive out of the storm. We were already too late, however, and found ourselves right in the midst of it. It was bad enough that I had to stop and put chains on for the first time during our adventure! We did make it out of the storm eventually and arrived back in DC about an hour before Alison needed to go to class on Monday night.

So there you have it. You can officially rest easier knowing the full account of the 8,259.9 mile four week adventure of Garrett and Alison across the country and back again!

There and Back Again: A Ranger's Holiday

Life is a journey. This refrain is one that has oft appeared in reflections that I have written, but is no less true by virtue of repetition. Not only is life a journey, but by its very nature an unexpected and sometimes redefining series of moments, connected together in such a way that it forms us into who we are. Our lives are intended to be lived in such a manner, embracing the mystery and the unknown quantities that we are presented with that we might respond to the situations we find ourselves in as best we are able.

I thought I knew what the future was going to hold for me, at least in some respect. I truly believed that I had come here to our nation's capitol to work as a park ranger on the National Mall. I am good at the job, I love doing it, and I appeared to arrive here at the right time to find myself in such a position. On December 12 I worked my last day as a ranger on the Mall, leaving the next morning to embark upon what would become an epic 8259.9 mile journey spanning four weeks and taking me across the country and back again, passing through 18 states along the way. Now I have returned to Washington only to find my hopes dashed upon the rocks of a fairly dismal reality.

Just yesterday I received official word that the upper management at the National Mall has decided to throw out the job announcement that I was in the running for entirely, hiring no one at all for the position, but rather hiring far fewer staff off of a separate announcement that I could not apply for because I do not have permanent status with the Park Service. This decision has come in response to rumors of budget cuts and a hiring freeze from congress and as a direct result of the failure of congress to pass a budget. They are not willing to go through the process of hiring from that application with the ominous shadow of congressional inaction and potential budgetary reaction hanging over their heads. Unfortunately for me that undercuts any chance of me being hired in a permanent capacity on the Mall.

So here I am, back in Washington with a rather large gaping canyon in front of me. It is a canyon I do not know how to cross, a canyon I had genuinely thought I would not have to cross, a canyon of uncertainty marked by the reality that the decisions of those in managerial positions and those who sit in the halls of congress have dramatic impact upon the lives of people like me. It is a place I did not want to be, a place I did not think I would find myself, a place that tries the souls of man. But here I find myself all the same. I don't know how I am going to pay rent next month. I don't know how I am going to live here for very long at all. But I do know that God called me to this place on purpose, and that that purpose has not yet been fulfilled. I thought I saw the path laid out before me, but I have been reminded that you can never be sure about such paths. Life is by nature a journey, a journey characterized by uncertainty and mystery.

In my way of thinking I can't understand why things would point so clearly toward me getting a permanent position on the mall only to have the rug pulled out from under me entirely. It doesn't make sense. But that is exactly what it is, so now I have to decide how I am going to react.

It is well that this news has come following the aforementioned cross country journey and not in the midst of it, as I very well might not have taken the trip at all had I known with certainty that this was coming. Instead I was blessed by the opportunity to see much of the country I had never seen before, visit seven national parks (Mammoth Cave, Lincoln Birthplace, Little Rock Central High School, Petrified Forest, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, and Everglades), spend time with Alison and her family in California, visit Lake Tahoe in the majesty of a winter wonderland, watch the snow fall upon the lake on Christmas Day, receive and fire my Grandfather's M-1 rifle from WWII, move cattle across the ranch on a beautiful winter day, spend time with my family in Arizona, and visit Disneyworld for two days on Alison's birthday.

Now in coming back from the journey I have found myself upon another. I had expected to return more like Bilbo in The Hobbit having triumphantly completed the journey and committed to settling back into normal life. Instead my return to the shire is much more like that of the heroes of Lord of the Rings in the part of the story they left out of the film version. Sometimes the homecoming turns from relaxation and triumph into the beginning of another journey, another task, another kind of story altogether. But the shire is still there if you look for it.

It would be easy to be embittered against congress, against management, against the park itself. It would be easy to focus on the negative, to feel deceived and abused, taken advantage of and used. But that doesn't make for much of a story. A year ago I stood at the place where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his "I have a dream" speech, facing a crowd of more than 500 people as the stereo broke, leaving me stranded just as I most needed the assistance. I found myself at a crossroads and in that moment, when I embraced the opportunity and decided to give the speech myself, I set myself on a course. It is a course I am still walking today. So rather than wallowing in despair I went to work again yesterday, one year after that experience, this time attired not as a ranger but as a volunteer.

The day was completely different. Whereas last year was a beautiful sunny day and thousands of people came out looking to see the place where the speech had been given, yesterday was cold and dreary and far fewer people came out. I didn't give the speech before a crown of 500 people. But I did make a difference to some. I spoke to one woman from Germany for 25 minutes, painting a picture of why that speech and the events of that day were significant and exploring the true meaning of freedom. Perhaps that conversation is the reason I went out as a volunteer and froze yesterday. Perhaps there is a larger purpose and plan at work. Perhaps I will never know. Perhaps, in the end, it was one moment of many that make up a life, moments where we have to decided how we will view the circumstances we find ourselves in and how we will respond. Moments when we must determine what is worth fighting for and how we will use the time we have before us. Moments that come to define our purpose and existence upon this earth.

In the end the words of Gandalf continue to ring true, that all we have to decide is what we are going to do with the time that has been given to us.