ACMNP 2013: Mount Rainier National Park

Spring semester has been a paper-packed launch into my 20s. It has been a time of growth, process, and deeply rooted joy. So, you'll forgive me, I hope, when I tell you I've been keeping a secret from you for months. I promise it was not in the least bit on purpose. 

In January I applied to A Christian Ministry in the National Parks to be a ministry team member this summer. Squinting at my laptop in the dim lighting of a Yellow Deli table, I pressed submit and prayed that God would open the doors I was meant to walk through this summer and slam the ones I wasn't. A month later I received a placement offer in Mount Rainier National Park. After a few days of prayer and calling my mom who asked me a lot of hard and good questions, I accepted the call to go. From May 10 to August 25 I will be living and working in Mount Rainier National Park as a hotel receptionist and volunteering with ACMNP on a team of 6 students from all across the USA. Needless to say, I am stoked.

I was hired as a front desk receptionist at The National Park Inn in Longmire for the summer and will be working for a private concessionaire. My team consists of 3 other ladies and 2 men. About 2 weeks ago, I attended a training session in Marietta, GA and got to meet some of the other summer volunteers. We practiced leading worship services and took in a lot of information very quickly. 

Allison and Noah during their 2010 ACMNP adventure.

I first heard about ACMNP the summer I was a counselor at Camp Donegal. As a young girl I accepted Jesus into my heart at Donegal and was poured into by loving and faithful counselors. Two of those people were Noah and Allison (who are now married!). Allison and I kept in touch during the rest of the year through letters and I can truly say she has been one of the most inspirational and formative people in my life. The summer I worked at Donegal, Allison and Noah were on an ACMNP team in Olympic National Park which is also located in Washington. Allison wrote me some camp mail on the leftover receipt paper from her register at the park gift shop. I was intrigued then and there. ACMNP remained in the back of my mind for nearly 4 years. 

When I applied I listed Olympic as my top choice, also including Acadia and Glacier Bay as two I would love to work at. Upon receiving the call I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be at the beach, but I truly believe this is God's perfect plan for my life. When my parents were still married we lived in Lacey, WA and my dad worked at Ft. Lewis. On a clear day, you could see Mt. Rainier from our front porch. I have such fond memories of Washington as a small girl and I have always longed to return. What a beautiful testimony to God's faithfulness that I will be able to return. 

After my parents got divorced my mom, brother, and I took a train from Washington to Maryland, where my parents had grown up. I was only 6 years old, so I don't remember much about it except for what train cases we carried on, that my brother and I were seat-belted into our bunk bed at the top of a tiny sleeper car, and the cartoon artist woman who attempted to teach us how to draw. This summer I will be making the journey in reverse. Departing from DC, I will travel via Chicago and Seattle to Tacoma where a dear friend will pick me up and host me for a night before dropping me off at the park. The two routes I will be taking are the Capitol Limited which follows the historic B&O route, and the Empire Builder which goes through the Dakotas and Montana. 

Some of my goals for the summer include hiking to Camp Muir, keeping a journal and including watercolor paintings, learning my job really well, loving my team members and co-workers to the best of my ability and beyond that. I want to hike a lot, read a lot, and write in abundance. I think my team members are planning on attempting a summit hike which is super exciting, and I will be cheering them on.

Mount Rainier rises above the Seattle skyline at 14,410 ft. above sea level. It is the 17th tallest peak in the contiguous USA. It is categorized as a Decade Volcano because of its proximity to a large population. The last eruption occurred in the 1890s. The mountain is home to the largest glacier in the contiguous US, the Emmons Glacier. Probably the trail I am most excited about is also a short one, the Grove of the Patriarchs which is in an old growth forest. 

My prayer requests for the summer are that I would put the gospel of Jesus Christ above all else, that I would be protected as I travel and live in a wilderness environment, and that our team would be changed and grown in ways particular to the needs of our heart. 

Please write me letters this summer! I will reply :) My address is: 

Samantha Moreland

C/O National Park Inn

47009 Paradise Rd. E.

Ashford, WA 98304