December, 2022 | Sailing For The Son

All in

I’m sure we can all recall times in our lives when we kind of knew what we wanted, or even knew what we should do, but we held back for some reason or another. Like the time I knew I should have gotten out of the car before my brother drove onto the icy pavement and started doing spinouts “just because”. That was back in high school, of course. I think he probably still does that sort of thing-I’m just not going with him.

Living on a sailboat and cruising several months a year requires a hefty dose of all in. Sure, there are times when I still hold back (think 10 foot waves), but I’m mostly all in. I am committed to being all in, but I admit that I still fall short sometimes.

December 2022 finds us in Grand Bahama. It’s beautiful here-the water, the beaches, the weather, and the people. Getting here required my first Gulf Stream crossing. I was apprehensive, but I trust my husband’s sailing abilities, God’s providence, and, as I say, I’m all in.

I am loving it here. And it doesn’t even have anything to do with the sunny 78 degree weather here vs the -1 in Nebraska today!

On the entrance into the channel we saw locals who are clearly all in.

On our first week here I participated in karaoke, singing “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” with my buddy boater, Michele.

And this week I upped my game a bit by writing my own Bahamian version of “The 12 Days of Christmas”, enlisting the help of 12 others, and we brought the house down. (That is if “brought the house down” means lots of laughter!)

In the grand scheme of life, these are all small things. Many years ago I made the big decision to go all in with Jesus. Now, let me tell you, that was a radical, life changing all in. Going all in with Jesus gave me the freedom to abandon my past failures, put my regrets behind me and rejoice! Can I have an amen for that? Jesus washed me of my sins and made a new creation out of the mess I had made with my life.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who has reconciled the world to Himself, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5: 17-18

Following Jesus is a great adventure, and He’d love for you to join us. Are you all in? If not, today is the day of salvation! Please feel free to contact me or find more information about Jesus at LifeSpring.church. http://lifespring.church

Gardens and Gardeners

As often seems to happen to me, the plans I make for the day don’t always go exactly as scheduled. This week, in Grand Bahama, Bill and I, together with our buddy boaters John and Michele and John’s brother Darrell, experienced a bit of authentic Bahamian hospitality that I don’t think any of us expected.

A popular tourist destination here is Garden of the Groves, a nature walk highlighting the beauty of the island. Planning to make a day of it, we headed out walking towards the bus stop. Half way to the stop the bus passed us, stopped, turned around, and came back to pick us up. That should have been the first clue that we weren’t going on a typical bus ride. At least not a typical American bus ride.

Chatty, as usual, Michele struck up a conversation with our bus driver, Lady J. Michele discovered that she and Lady J have a mutual appreciation for gardening. I’m not really sure how this happened, but the next thing I knew, we were pulling into Lady J’s driveway. The driveway at her house! Then Michele excitedly announced that Lady J is going to show us her backyard garden!

I just can’t see that this would ever happen in the States. However, in Grand Bahama, it somehow seemed to fit right in. And Michele was almost giddy! Lady J was very methodical and Michele was positively enthralled as they made their way around the garden. Some plants we recognized-banana trees, palm trees, herbs-but many were foreign to us.

One tree was full of a fruit none of us recognized. Lady J explained that this is a sapodilla tree and that the fruit is very good. Although it wasn’t yet ripe, Lady J picked us a few and explained that when they ripen we can eat them like an apple. I’m not a very adventurous eater, but I’ll give it a try!

Following the private tour, Lady J did drive us to the Garden of the Groves. The garden is beautiful-great trails, waterfalls, birds, turtles, butterflies and more.

Reflecting on the day, I believe it wasn’t either of the gardens that were the most memorable- it was the gardeners-Lady J and Michele forming an easy kinship over a shared loved of God’s creation.

I’m going to remember that.

Back to the Bahamas!

The 2022-2023 cruising season has begun. Bill and I are currently on S/V Liberty in Lake Worth (West Palm Beach, Florida) awaiting a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. We are buddy boating with our new friends John and Michelle Schultz on S/V Yes My Dear.

This summer was particularly eventful starting with the high school graduation of our first grandchild! We’re so proud of you, Ella!

My mom, Mary, turned 80 this year. She is so beautiful. The party we hosted included several of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, lots of nieces and nephews, and even 3 of her high school classmates! At her request, we held the party in my cousin’s barn. My mom is a farm girl at heart.

My mom, daughters, granddaughters and me

A surprise event this year was the engagement and covenant marriage of our daughter, Becky, to Wyatt Kipp! There is no doubt that God had a hand in bringing these two believers together, and we’re excited to see what He has planned for them.

Bill and I are proud of our son, Kristian, who is serving in the United States Army. He spent just over a year on an unaccompanied overseas tour, and has now returned safely (and joyously!) to his wife, Alejandra. They will be relocating to Texas this month for Kristian’s next assignment.

This cruising season we are returning to the Bahamas! We spent the last two seasons enjoying the Florida Keys, but with the Covid pandemic, together with it’s travel hassles and restrictions, waning we’re ready to head to the “Bahamian Blue” waters again. Bahamian Blue is the color my friend Kelly and I dubbed the unique beautiful blue found only in the waters of the Bahamas.

In the next few days we will cross the Gulf Stream (my first time!) and head toward West End, Grand Bahama. We will check in with Bahamian customs and immigration authorities to obtain our cruising permit, then head to Ocean Reef Resort and Marina oceanreefresortmarina.com . We heard great things about this marina from our friends Dave and Linda Olson on M/V Entrusted.

Our trusty travel buddies, Steve and Susan Holdaway, and Tim and Kelly Will, will be flying in to join us for some exciting adventures this season. New this year, Bill’s sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Gary Slifka, will be joining us for a bit. Be sure to check back for stories and pictures! I’m practically giddy just anticipating watching Susan pet the stingrays at Sandy Cay. According to her husband, Susan loves to be stretched out of her comfort zone, and I’m pretty sure this will be a bit outside her typical routine!