Redemption

Our first week here in Elizabeth City I found myself experiencing an unfamiliar, unsettling feeling. I was so excited and anxious to get here but upon arrival the reality of the risk we had taken in moving here and the distance that now lay between us and all things familiar made both Aaron and I feel very vulnerable. There was no familiar rhythm to the days and no certainty of when ”normal” would arrive again. Sitting my my RV in a town that 7 months prior I didn’t even know existed, I had one of those, “if you had told me a year ago today that I would be here today I wouldn’t believe you” moments.

But needless to say we found our new normal and I continue to stand amazed at how smoothly everything continues to go in this new chapter of our lives. The word “redemption” has been on my mind a lot recently. For me this season here working on sailboats feels like a season of redemption. When we encountered problem on the RV, We turned to the internet. I have spent so many hours in the last two years searching the web for “how to fix RV…” We didn’t know what we were getting into when we bought our RV and often felt very alone in our repairs and renovations. Not many of our friends and family could offer advice when it came to recoating rubber RV roofs or eliminating black water tank smells. Lots of repairs felt overwhelming and daunting. Our best hope was often the YouTube video with the most views, or the RV forum with the most legitimate sounding web address. It was trial and error and often making it up as we went. I have learned so much the hard way in the last couple of years!

Work here on our future sailboat home, Selah, has been a complete 180 from our RV experience. We are surrounded with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the staff of Maritime Ministries. Here as we prep to re-paint the deck someone hands me a can of paint and primer, all the tools I need and tells me exactly how to do the job. How refreshing! No hours of google searching here! Although Selah is slowly becoming ours, she will truly continue to belong to the ministry and therefore we all (us and the other staff here) work as a team to get her ready for her next adventure with our family (hopefully starting this winter!). I feel the opposite of alone in this work, and our work together on her is always the highlight of my week. I feel a bit at times like a kid back at summer camp, exhausted at the end of the day but throughly enjoying myself and confident that God has me where he wants me!

I think of the old worship song, ”He gives and takes away. He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say blessed be your name.” What God has taken from our lives in our trials since the pandemic, he is now giving back, in more ways than a single blog post can convey. I am acutley aware though of all those still waiting for their season of redemption, for the giving, for the rain, for answers to the question of, ”how long Lord?” I hope this small piece of my story can be an encouragement to all those waiting, that he sees us, he sees you, and he will not waste your tears, nor will he wipe them away, but rather I think he saves them to water the new seeds that though you can’t see them yet, are sprouting beneath the surface!

Getting our hands dirty – repairs and renovations begins!

We have gotten good at taking out MM’s boats and enjoying the perks of boat life but now the real work begins! We have started making all the repairs and adjustments to Selah to get her ready for more adventures. Lots of sanding and painting and varnishing are currently taking place, as well as a major repair to the aft (rear) deck of Selah which involved removing the mizzen (again rear) mast.

Rielle prepping for teak sanding and varnishing. Although her brothers prefer to play she likes to be involved in as many projects as she can.

Before and after – our first of many teak restoration projects

Removing the mizzen mast in order to repair the deck beneath it. This was quite the operation and took about seven people to accomplish (side note this dock and all the boats pictured here are owned by MM)

Where the mizzen mast used to be – The top skin of the fiberglass deck is cut open to remove the rotted core. Here again! so thankful for the knowledge of these two men!

Laura (at the top) learns how to climb Selah’s mast from experienced climber Rachel (below). Climbing the mast is often necessary to make repairs to lines and equipment that live up there.

The kids doing playdough inside Selah while mom and dad work on various projects above

Other Happenings

The college was in need of a talent musician to lead worship for their weekeday chapel service, good thing this guy was around. Aaron’s taken on a part time worship leader position here at the college for the fall semester. Its been a great getting to know the staff and students here better! Not wanting to be left out, Laura was also able to give her talents to the college. It didn’t take long for the college to hear of her talents from their new worship guy. Laura (and Rielle too) painted this 6 ft tall, prodigal son, faux stained glass stage decoration for a recent multi-church youth event here on campus.

Aaron and Dan (the head of MM) take the colleges entire college basketball team sailing on Selah for a team-building outting.

We took a long weekend trip to Florida for Aaron to play some shows and to celebrate this guy turning 4 with cousins galore!

We took the kids for a field trip an hour and a half north to Williamsburg, VA to learn some history

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