Susan's Perspective--On Location

Okay, okay, folks---so sorry there have been no follow ups.  My fault!  We have been BUSY!
  We are still living in our Cozy Camper in the driveway of  our dear friends Lisa and Larry and their two ADORABLE children.  Ethan, the youngest, has my heart  wrapped around his little finger.  Joel is quiet and intense and SO bright.  We are so blessed to have their help and support.
   WELL--where to start.  First, the pertinent stuff.  After 16 months of being unemployed in Richmond, Vernon , within  2 WEEKS,  got hired on at the Icicles Seafood Seward Fishery as a plant engineer.  He is one of 5 guys who keeps the machinery up and running.  It is a big job--8-4:30 m-f.  And he loves it.  He started last Monday.  He is getting his hands dirty, wearing jeans and  and  knee high Extra Tuffs boots, and is a VERY happy camper.   He is one of   The Guys,  and has quickly made friends.  Right now the plant is heading into the slow time of year--40 employees.  In the summer, it swells to over 400, with on-sight housing for the workers who are seasonal.  And his work-week will expand to 60 or so hours a week, with overtime pay. The money is good.  Most important of all , his self esteem has returned, and he is happy.  I take him to work each day--5 minutes away, and  at 4:30 I pick up my smiling, grinning blue collar worker.
      I had an interview today for a job, and I continue to look.  The pastry school  is not hiring right now,  but I plan to pester them on a regular basis.  I already know the head pastry chef--we plan to lunch next week.
       We have settled into our new church, St. Peter's Episcopal,  downtown.  Vernon has submitted his paperwork to begin prison ministry.  He met with Pastor Dave from Soldatna last week.  He heads up the program here in Seward, and said they had been praying for a person to take it over here.  And Vernon called.  So they are wasting no time in getting him cleared.  Again, Vernon is happy. 
        In these three weeks, we have met so many people, and they are all so warm and welcoming.  This is a small town.  It has the atmosphere of  Mayberry.  I kid you not.  Folks smile here.  They wave to you as you drive or walk by.  You are greeted in the street with a handshake or a hug.   Children play outside, and ride bikes all over town.  "Rush hour" lasts 5 minutes, and  means that at Nash road, it will take an extra 3 minutes to make the left going downtown.  Downtown is  6 blocks,  27 corners,  no stoplights.  Speed limit is 25, and EVERYBODY obeys it.  No buildings are over three stories high.  That's the law.  It is immaculately clean because people CARE that it is.  Everybody knows everybody, and are more than happy to help you solve a problem, or find somebody who can.
          We arrived at the perfect time, as the tourist industry is closed for the year.  We looked at a house to rent the other day that we both liked alot.  Has a view if the Bay.
           I am still overwhelmed at the beauty here.  We have spent our free time walking on the docks, watching  otters play,  talking to the fisherfolks as they come in and out,  and taking in the incredible sea air.  It is so clean here  that it takes some getting used to.
           So--we have  settled in.  Winter will be here soon, and the snow.  No wondering if Christmas will be white.  It goes with the territory, and oh, what beautiful territory it is!

Susan's Perspective

I am, three days later, still pinching myself.  We are well and truly here.  We arrived on a sunny day, stopping at the local Ace hardware store so Vernon could pick up a shipment.  A huge cruise ship was in port, and the place was full of tourists.  But we ain't tourists no more!  We are HOME, and we were expressing our jubilation with hugs and tears.  Made friends within ten minutes.  Folks we did not yet know were welcoming us...the salesman at the hardware store, the lady out front who liked our camper, the engineering recruiter Vernon met.  And the tourists were watching and listening with gazes of envy.   I felt like yelling "WE don't have to leave again....!"  The mountains were glorious across the bay.  The drive from Anchorage to Seward was so familiar; we had driven it four times on our last two visits.  The highway  runs along the Kenai Fjords,  where earlier in the year you can see whales  breaching.  The mountains all along the drive are so high you  can't see the tops due to clouds.  And covered with snow and glaciers.  Beauty such as this cannot be described.

View From St. Peter's

  We are camped in the driveway of our dear friends Larry and Lisa, and their sons, Ethan (5) and Joel (10).  We're "plugged in" and comfy, surrounded  by snow covered mountains and tall sweet pine trees.   Friday we spent at DMV, the post office, the bank, and picking up job applications.  Also rented a storage unit down the street.  We have unloaded the pickup truck, as well as the stuff in the camper we stored.  It has been a couple days of work. 
  Last night, we went for ice cream, and a walk in the rain on the docks.  Folks were coming in off the water, with enormous fish  We watched them hosing off their boats, unloading gear, and swapping stories.  Vernon had a ruddy glow about him.  His smile is quick to his face now.  He is living near the water again, and breathing salty CLEAN air.  It was not long before he was engrossed in conversation with these fisherman, talking boats and tides and rudders.  He is happy.  And I am blessed to be married to this man who guided us thru 4,567 miles of terrain to get us here.
   As we knelt in church today with our new family around us,  I  thanked  our God who was with us every step of the way, and who continues to guide us here.  Every new face we see has greeted us with  genuine warmth and  handshakes, if not hugs.  We are here because He wants us to be.  We still have alot to do...a house, jobs, etc, but we will do the work to make that happen.



    To all of you who have followed our journey, it is not over yet--we will continue to update.  But I also want to thank you for  your prayers.  You know who you are. 
    And to those of you who think a dream cannot be achieved,  I say YES it can.  Get out from behind your desk and DO it.  This life affords you one go 'round.  DON"T waste it wishing.  Get off your butt and SEE THIS COUNTRY and meet the people who live "out there"  on the road.   Take it from me...it is worth EVERY mile.

Home, at last

Dear Friends,

It is with great joy and tremendous humility that I tell you that we have made it to Seward.  We arrived last Thursday, just as predicted, to find such a welcome as could not be imagined.  We laughed, we cried, we did the "happy dance" on North Harbor Street, to the bemused gaze of the cruise ship tourists and the locals alike.  Everyone we have met has been just as kind and pleasant as you could want, with the possible exception of the surly bus driver in whose space we had briefly parked our truck and his shoes probably were pinching him..

So we got here and found a space to park the trailer with some very kind and lovely people who have made us feel welcome like family.  Ten minutes after we hit town, I met an engineering recruiter who asked me to shoot him a resume this weekend.  Susan also met, at about the same time, someone who wants to buy our Airstream.  Everywhere we turn, we are finding our hopes and dreams fulfilled.  God is good.  I mean, REALLY Good!

 

This morning, we got to worship with our new church family at St. Peter's Episcopal, here in Seward.  It was such a joy to finally be able to bow before our Lord, in the company of these dear, good people.  What a blessing!  This truly is a church family and we are so blessed to be here.

I met some wonderful people, this morning, who know the people to talk to about getting my prison ministry going.  After all these months of spinning my wheels, with ministries that did not ever quite get around to doing anything, it will be wonderful to get back into the field to serve.  Of course, there will be a period of background checks and reality checks of various kinds, but I feel like I am moving forward again.

I will be keeping this blog going as the ministry here develops.  Keep watching.  God is going to do some amazing things!