Inspirations from Kerstin Hack

Month: February 2014

Miracles Take a Little Longer

2014-02-05 16.23.55“Miracles take a little longer!” This is so easy to say when you aren’t waiting for one… yet it is wonderful when something occurs about which we can wonder…

One side of shipbuilding: Hard work

Building a ship is a lot of work. I putter around on the ship on any given 3 afternoons and on Saturdays. It also takes work to earn money. I do what I can to bring the required finances together. I rent out my guestroom, recycle bottles, sell used items and books, coach, hold seminars, and much more in order to earn money. Hard work is one side of the coin.

The other side of shipbuilding: Miracles that occur

A friend of mine who identifies as an atheist mentioned recently that as he noticed how often things that I prayed for happened, he began to wonder: “Until now, I have always just believed in coincidence, but in your case, it’s pushing the limits!”

A few miracles from the last couple of days:

– The money that I have earned, borrowed, and received as a gift has sufficed so far. Sometimes, like with the high wharf rent, it was really tight, but it has always been enough. I am so thankful for all of the big and small donations that have made this possible.

– I’ve been praying for several months that God would send me a ventilation engineer who can help me with the ventilation plans. A man from Ghana who studied ventilation in Spain and just came to Berlin looking for a job has contacted me and is now going to make the calculations and plans for me…

– On my list of things that I still need for the ship is “espresso machine for seminar operation.” At the birthday party of my father, I told one of his friends about the ship without revealing any details about the needs. Suddenly, he asked, “Do you need an espresso machine?” And he gave me a fancy, barely-used unit.

– Friends were telling a young woman about my ship. She has visited the sea for many years, loves ships, and currently has more free time than she’d prefer, and now, she’s getting involved with the ship…

Someone – was it Luther? – once said: “Pray as though you cannot work. And work as though you cannot pray.” Absolutely!

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/erlebnisse/wunder-dauern-etwas-laenger/#sthash.IcpAcJd1.dpuf

Finishing the Ship: 10 More Weeks?!

2014-02-08 14.07.23There are only 10 or 11 weeks until the planned deadline at the end of April. It is ambitious but not impossible. Whether it’s possible I can’t yet say; it’s hard to tell exactly with construction projects. One thing is clear: we’ve made a lot of progress over the last weeks and months, despite some adversity. The whole ship is finally derusted and painted and the seminar room is almost finished. We’ve started with the substructure for the walls and the window frames under the deck. We’re making headway.

Since August, over 1000 hours of work have been put into the ship!!! About 90% was from people who gave a couple hours, days, or even weeks to help. The many motivated helpers have been a huge blessing and a large portion of the work doesn’t require technical knowledge or it can be learned quickly when someone explains things well. For the next phase (until finishing at the end of April), I will continue to need people who simply want to tackle it with me, although I will also need specialists for different things (ventilation, heating, electric, sanitation, etc.).

Including specialists, I still have about 800-1000 hours of work until the ship is finished. I myself work, when I am not travelling, about 30 hours per week on the ship: 5-10 hours of planning and the rest on-board. A carpenter friend who currently has free time and knows how to do everything (wood, welding, etc.) offered to work for me whenever he can for the next while. Of course, he still needs money to live on – 10 Euros per hour with legal receipts. I would love to hire him for 100 hours per month through the end of April.

I am searching for people who will help finance one or more of his work hours so that the progress on the ship continues. If you would like to contribute, you can donate via Betterplace, Paypal, or bank transfer. This would really help with my burden – and increase the chances of finishing soon.

Of course, just like before, helpers are warmly welcome and will be utilized.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/hausboot-heart-of-berlin/zieleinlauf-schiff-noch-10-wochen/#sthash.dfYPvK1t.dpuf

Growing in Trust: Professionalism

Kerstin HackA short while ago, Birgit-Cathrin Duval was on board my ship. She interviewed me and took photographs for a report about my ship project.Despite the cold, I felt totally well. She didn’t ask me to make unnatural poses that are supposedly potent – I’ve experienced that before. Rather, she understood how to see me. Once in a while, she made small comments like “Head a little more down,” when I had overstretched my neck. Otherwise, she worked calmly and professionally. And the pictures… here is one of them… speak for themselves. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a pretty picture of me that radiates power as well as reflecting my dreams. I find it simply wonderful… almost better than the original… (and I wasn’t even wearing make-up… it’s all real!). Spree-SonnenuntergangI myself am not photographically untalented, but her picture of the ice floes on the Spree uniquely expresses the mood that reigned there last week. It was calm, but at the same time always funny, when we heard knocking on board and we asked ourselves: who’s there? And then we remembered… no, that was just an ice floe that had smacked against the keel. SteuerhausYou can see in her pictures that Birgit is a professional. Because I am currently thinking a lot about trust, I realized that this is also an aspect of trust: the professionalism with which a person goes to work. There are a few very well trained coaches whom I would more easily trust than someone who means well but doesn’t have command of the required tools. And I myself go to yearly trainings in order to broaden my knowledge and abilities. Wenn ich gerade so über Gott nachdenke, dann wird mir klar Er ist der professionellste von allen: Der bestausgebildetes Coach, der kreativste Künstler, der erfahrenste Arzt, der begabteste Zimmmermann, der umfassennds gebildete Lehrer, der Meister aller Meister… Ich nehme mir das mal vor: Wenn ich Gott wegen etwas vertrauen will, dann überlege ich mir, auf welche Art und Weise er in dem Bereich Experte ist. Ich denke, das könnte beim Vertrauen helfen. Ein Beispiel: Aktuell belastet es mich, dass ich an Bord so viele Dinge habe, die wertvoll sind, die ich aber nicht mehr brauche und die im Weg rumstehen. Ich wünche mir, dass ich all die Sachen an die richtigen Menschen und zu möglichst guten Preisen – loswerde. Wenn ich dafür bete, dass Gott mich dabei unterstützt, dann tut es mir gut, mich daran zu erinnern, dass er Aufräumprofi ist. Er schafft es im Riesenchaos, wo es wüst und leer war, Ordnung zu schaffen und eine kreative neue Welt zu gestalten. Da dürfte es ja kein so großes Problem für ihn sein, mir zu helfen, ein so kleines Schiff zu organisieren….
Impulsheft Fotografieren Down to Earth VerlagSprung zurück zu Birgit. Weitere Fotos und einen Kurzbericht über ihren Besuch an Bord sowie einen Podcast mit einem Interview zum Schiffsprojekt gibt es auf ihrem Blog. Und: Birgit behält ihr Wissen nicht für sich. Allen, die gern von ihr lernen möchten, empfehle ich ihr Impulsheft “Fotografieren! mit richtig guten Tipps von einer Meisterin. Fotografieren gibt es auch als Ebook. Und ihren Blog Takkiwrites für weitere wunderschöne Bilder und spannende Reoprtagen.

– See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/vertrauen-lernen-professionalitaet/#sthash.KRIr6GFS.dpuf

Growing in Trust: The Substance is Invisible

030On the ship, there is much work that one later won’t see. First, the steel is derusted, then vacuumed and cleaned, then preserved with ship flooring oil, then painted with primer. Before each new layer, it has to dry well and be washed in order for the next layer to hold. 2014-01-24 18.04.55 Finally (again after washing!), two layers of insulation get laid down. Then the laths for the paneling, then the paneling. In the end, people only see the pretty wood on the wall. They don’t see the many hours of work that are behind making the ship safe and warm: the substance is invisible to the eye. 2014-02-03 16.54.30 Sometimes after going through a new process, I forget all the things that went into it, and I have to remind myself consciously: oh yea, first I had to derust, then… I only see the respective last layer. I also find it interesting that the word for “paneling” in German is the same word used for “costume.” I think it’s a pretty picture for the inner processes in our lives… that what is underneath is no longer visible to the eye in the end, and yet, it’s still substantial. The substance is invisible to the eye. – See more at: http://kerstinpur.de/allgemein/vertrauen-lernen-das-wesentliche-ist-unsichtbar/#sthash.jVkO4EpJ.dpuf

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