About six weeks behind our latest timeline and two years behind our original timeline, Selah is finally done! A week before Christmas, we moved aboard and early this week, in the wee hours of the morning, Aaron and Captain Dan, left our home port of Elizabeth City, NC aboard Selah and started a long journey southbound.
A video of our “finished” boat below (as many already know, a boat is never truly finished)
The emotions I’ve experienced these last few weeks are unusual to me. Not ones I often feel. “Surreal” is really the best word for it all. For two years it felt like there was a giant mountain in front of us and more times than not, the thought of having to climb it was overwhelming. And then, almost as if overnight, we came to find we were standing on top of it! It feels unbelievable that we actually made it! It doesn’t seem to calculate, all those small steps and days of work, don’t really seem like they would equal this beautiful, functional boat we now live in. I feel like a proud mama who’s just given birth (without an epidural) or maybe this is what it feels like to win an Oscar (there are so many people that I would like to thank.)
I think it feels surreal because of the supernatural element of it all. The logistics and finances that have worked out to make it here are worth marveling at. What lies before my eyes today, is the culmination, I believe, of a 1,000 miracles. No single one significant alone to impress, but the consistency with which they appeared, for me, has been the proof that God has been working with us too.
Each miracle often connected to a person. A person who brought a tool, a supply, an encouraging word. Some people gave money, some gave their time, others their knowledge. Some came to help for an afternoon and others came weekly. Some were strangers who remained strangers. Many have become friends, and a few were old friends, who have been around long enough to hear Aaron talk of dreams of sailboats and ministry for over 20 years now.
I am super excited to live out these next few months, slowly moving south aboard our boat as a family. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited and yet scared. I’ve talked to enough boaters at this point to know sailboat life is a lot of work. I am nervous for the trials I know will come, but I’m equally as excited to see why God has had us walk this path these last two years. I must believe that these last two years are just the beginning of a new chapter for the Koerner family.
THE BOATS DONE, NOW WHAT?
Even though we have been at this for over two years now, we still see ourselves as “in training.” We have learned so much about building and maintaining a sailboat, but there is yet another list of things to learn and experience that can only be done by living aboard a moving boat. In about a week, the kids and I will meet up with Aaron and Selah and take Dan’s place as crew aboard the boat and continue to head south via the Intracoastal Waterway. This initial winter and spiring season, we plan to be on the move a good bit. We have many friends and some churches we would like to connect with in Florida, and we anticipate many divine appointments with people in need of the love of Jesus along the way. We hope to round the tip of Florida and make it up the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Tampa area and maybe even cross the Gulf Stream and spend a few weeks in the Bahamas if things go according to plan. But just getting the boat off the local ministry docks already feels like a major win. When the spring comes to an end, we plan to head back up to Elizabeth City for hurricane season. We are already excited at the thought of being back in this small city with a fully functional boat.
Our goal for the next two years will be to gain lots of on the water experience as a family while being in tune to the leading of the Holy Spirit to minister to those in and out of the boating community. Beyond that, Aaron still has a heart to be able to disciple and encourage young men through on the water experiences. Even further beyond that, we are already aware of needs for sailors and sailboats to reach the lost on islands communities mostly in the Pacific Ocean. But as continues to be our story, it’s all in the hands of the Lord, and all one step at a time.
As always, thanks for reading and following along. Feel free to reach out to learn more or if you’d like to be apart of our support group and get more updates or hear about more real time prayer needs.
GET IN TOUCH
Thanks for the update! It means a lot to those that follow you. I know you don’t have time to videotape all that’s going on but some of the key events are exciting and will keep people in close contact with you. Bill and I love you and look forward to hearing more about your adventures and God’s divine Appointments.