Inspirations from Kerstin Hack

Month: March 2014

Growing in Trust: Even When it Takes a While

2014-03-15 13.39.22Today, a team from the Lukas Church in Berlin was on board. They glued insulation, derusted the anchor locker and rudder locker, sawed wood, painted… in short, they accomplished a ton. Yesterday, Anne and Friedrich helped and with their united strength, the water tank for drinkwater was balanced in its place. Last week, a team of men from Treptow insulated the bilge in the seminar room – and  brought the tank off board to the boat manufacturer to shorten and weld it.

In addition, we derusted and sanded the roof, laid the floor in the seminar room, painted the tank lid for the dirty water tank, and did 1000 other small things.

I am unimaginably thankful for the help from one-time helpers but also for the loyal souls and strong supporters who regularly help for a few or many hours. I am also thankful that we can give some tasks to the boat manufacturer, like welding high-grade steel, when we don”t have the expertise and tools for them.

Despite all of the support, it is still going to be a little while before the ship is fit for action. I had hoped and prayed that we”d be finished by my birthday on April 24th. This is not likely to happen safely. One reason is because of the many delays caused by a previous boatbuilder not doing things or doing them poorly. In many places, a layer of lacquer was simply sprayed on top of rust, which then came back up, and we had to redo all of the work. This was pretty frustrating and cost a lot of time – at least four, probably closer to six, weeks.

On the other hand, because it”s just the way things are, many tasks are built on one another and are interconnected. So, the compost toilet had to first be ordered so that we knew the exact measurements for the foundation so that we could begin to weld. Then the corresponding water tank needed to be shortened and welded and it had to go in before the toilet, which sits over the tank, could be put in. The water tank had to be taken off board, which required 6 strong carriers. Then it had to be put back in (5 were enough). Then the steel foundation for the toilet had to be welded, then painted… now the big compost toilet cabinet can come onto the ship – when we have 6 people again who can carry it together… When the requirements are not being met – having 6 people who are there at the same time – things go more slowly.

I am very thankful… and a little bit impatient… I would have liked to be further… and sometimes I worry… a woman and a team of helpers signed up for April – but not until the end of April – and I still need one or more carpenters and sanitary engineers, electricians, ventilation engineers… and many who want to lend a hand with derusting and painting the exterior…

I will continue to trust. Day by day.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/vertrauen-lernen-auch-wenn-es-laenger-dauert/#sthash.CvVfSbV0.dpuf

Growing in Trust: Loved First

the-father_s-loveA sentence that Joshua Lupbema, one of the chairmen at Gemeinsam für Berlin at the Transforum, said really moved me. The gist was this:

Peter bragged about how much he loved Jesus. Yet, when it came down to it, he betrayed Him.

John bragged about how much Jesus loved him. John remained by Jesus” side until His death on the cross.

You can”t construct a theology out of this, but what I became aware of was that it”s not our great or even weak love for Jesus that carries us… rather it”s the awareness of His deep love for us.

On this theme: the inspirational booklet, The Father”s Love, that personally formulates the loving affirmation of God, is going into its fourth print today. I can warmly recommend it for anyone who would like to be touched more deeply by God”s love.

And I am glad and thankful that, with this inspirational booklet, we can contribute a little bit to people being touched by God”s love.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/glaube/vertrauen-lernen-zuerst-geliebt

Mandarin Oil for Cleaning

Today, I was on the ship and painted (among other things). The paint ended up where it was supposed to go, but some also ended up on my hands. I tried to get it off with turpentine and paint thinner and wet towels, but nothing worked. So I rode home with dirty hands. On the way, I realized that I’d once heard that orange oil can remove paint. I had a mandarin in my purse, peeled it, and squirted the oil from the peel onto my fingers and rubbed it with a tissue – and the paint came off. I sat in the tram and ate my mandarin and marveled: my God makes the best things!

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/besser-leben/mandarinenoel-zum-reinigen/#sthash.5SKRIN0c.dpuf

LEA – A Course with Impact

LEA Header QuadratA few days ago, I received a note from a woman who currently has a lot of stress at work because her coworkers have been absent: “Daily, I use many small things from LEA. It has been so good for me.”

I think it”s wonderful that LEA has such ongoing effects. When developing the course, my goal was to help people gain more

  • Life
  • Energy
  • Appeal

And I am glad to know that this is apparently happening, as can be seen in the Feedback of participants. For many, the model of receiving a coaching email with inspirations and questions Help Ali Baba find the seven lost jewels with every free slots spin!Hollywood fame is just a free spin away for Betsy Chiffon. for reflection 2 x per week is exactly right. And the many book and media tips are helpful as well.

The courses always start at the beginning of a quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1). You are cordially invited to participate in the next course! You can register directly on the LEA sign-up page.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/lea-ein-kurs-zieht-kreise-2/#sthash.c1tji4iS.dpuf

Spring Regimen

2014-03-05 12.46.24Like many people, I long to shake off my winter lethargy and to gather new energy. Some of that will happen naturally – the increase in sunlight gives new energy and stores up important vitamin D in our bodies – although this only happens when we don’t wear any sunscreen. Medical professionals recommend getting half an hour of sun on your skin per day.

I’ve made a list for myself of the things that are not easy for me but that I know are good for me.

I give myself points when I have successfully implemented one of them. At the end of the month, if I have collected 100 points or more, there will be a special reward.

Will you do it with me?

Perhaps you would also like to do something during this time that cleanses and renews your body or your soul – and we can support and encourage each other.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/fruehjahrskur/#sthash.1vTUTe19.dpuf

March 2014 – A Splendid Month

2014-03-01-16.34.42

This month has already begun splendidly with a day in Potsdam to reflect and pray – with many wonderful small encounters in between.

I am excited for everything that this month will bring. Of course, we never know what will happen and whether we’ll sprain our ankle or if something bad will occur. But, if everything goes according to plan, this will be a good, full month.

– Fitness program: In our world in general and when rebuilding a ship from the 50’s specifically, our livers often have to work very hard. For this reason, I am going to do a liver-cleanse (first a classic one with Glauber salt + grapefruit and oil, then later with milk thistle) and do a whole-body detox of a garlic-lemon tincture (sounds terrible, but it’s not so bad – and it’s antiviral and energizing).

– Learning new things: I wanted to participate in a class at the Kingly Garden Academy about how to create pots for plant seeding. I will need this in the future because I would like to grow as much food as possible myself on the ship. I misunderstood it – it was more like a vending event. But I still learned some things.

– Receiving inspiration: Transforum is taking place in Berlin on the 6-8 of March. This is a conference that occurs every two years and deals with the question of how we as Christians can positively shape our society. I am still thinking about many of the inspirations from the last Transforum. I am thankful for this inspiring conference – participation is free, by the way, in order for people who can’t afford it to participate. And people can decide to come last minute as well.

– Giving inspiration: After the women’s pamper days were so nice for both participants and speakers, we planned two sequels. On March 14 and May 9, the theme is “Spring into Abundant Life” at 8pm in the Gemeindehaus des SV.  I am already excited to see the wonderful ladies again. In the afternoon, we are offering the option to book a coaching session with me – a special service for those for whom Berlin is too far away and telephone coaching is not a good option. At the end of March, there is another women’s cafe in Britz with me and the theme is SWING.

– Writing. There are several things laying on my desk. In addition to all of the organizational tasks that come with running the publishing company and building the ship, I’m writing two more inspirational booklets: Friendship and Grief. I would also like to begin work on the new online course, IDA – In deinen Armen.

– Ship: Of course: continue building with all my strength and as much wisdom as possible!

– Men-Teams on board: On March 14 (Treptow Church) and on March 22 (Lukas Church) a whole bunch of men are going to energetically help with the ship. I am looking forward to showing the ship to the “guys” and making an impact with them! In addition, a “mixed” team (1 man/1 woman) is coming for two days – also wonderful!

– Women in Paris. This is probably the biggest surprise. For months, I’ve been occupying myself with the life of Coco Chanel, probably the first modern woman who out of her own strength – she came from bitterly-poor circumstances – built a worldwide undertaking. The wish awoke in me to visit the places of her work, but it was more of an idea than a plan. With the ship, I have more than enough to do and to pay for. It was just a silly idea until I began to research pictures for the inspirational booklet. The pictures cost 180 Euros each! This is way over the budget. But we still need 3-4 expressive pictures. A plane ticket to Paris only costs 120 Euros – much cheaper. In addition, I haven’t taken a real vacation in over a year – if you don’t count the moving of the ship (4 days) and Antwerp (3 days during which I was ill!).

So, I asked a friend if she was interested in coming to Paris with me (she’d pay for herself). She wrote back, “For the past few weeks, I have been working on cleaning, organizing, and clearing out the house of my recently deceased great-aunt. I really need a change! And I have friends who have an apartment in Paris. They live in the middle of the city – only a 15 minute walk from the Chanel head office!”

Accordingly, I am looking forward to this exciting month!

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/maerz-2014-ein-glaenzender-monat/#sthash.TQksvmSF.dpuf

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