I have a pretty laid back island lifestyle here in St Maarten. The charter catamaran I work on does a variety of charters. Three times a week we do a pub crawl around the lagoon taking our guests to different restaurants for drinks and appetizers. We also do sunset cruises and day charters. The atmosphere is totally different to that on board the mega-yacht I worked on before. I meet happy and fun people with whom I sit and chat and tell gypsy girl stories. By the end of the day as they get off the boat we exchange hugs and warm greetings, many have become fast friends. The contrast could not have been greater. On the mega yacht you only spoke when spoken to, and never actually held a conversation with the guests. I will never forget, after the two and a half week charter in the British Virgin Islands 'Madame' finally showed emotion. After beautiful weather, beautiful anchorages with hardly another boat around, she was jumping up and down and saying "Paris, Paris ....". She could not wait to get home after two weeks being coddled in Paradise. I often repeat this story to remind my guests on the charter catamaran that money does not buy you happiness .
Since it is not a full time job I fill the rest of the time with my sewing projects. I could have made a lot more money if I spent the last year working on mega yachts, but could never have had the quality of life. I needed having my own physical and emotional space. I needed to learn gypsy girl can do just a fine job looking after herself. It has been a year of emotional and spiritual rebirth.
Even my neighbor's kitty thinks
I have a pretty comfy space.
In this time I went to a lot of trouble and expense to officially start my canvas and upholstery business and to go through a mile of red tape to establish myself here for residency. After I started the process, the rules suddenly changed. The Lord opened so many doors for me here, that I did not believe this was an oversight on His side. Everything happens with a reason. I have been praying for God's guidance in my future. Is St Maarten merely a stepping stone in my life? A place where I learned to change the focus of my life to a God centered one. A place where I have learned to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul and all my strength. I joined a little Baptist church, where I soon felt like a family member. I developed a hunger for God's Word. Because of my flexible work schedule I could spend a lot of time doing Bible study. I became involved in the youth leadership, and later the planning of the Vacation Bible School (VBS).
In the last year I have investigated immigration to Australia. After all my gypsy years I am ready to settle down long term, even if it means giving up my easy island life, and everything I have built up here. For it seems unfortunately St Maarten holds no long term future for me. I have prayed earnestly about this matter in the last year. One of the verses that came to me was Jeremiah 6 : 16
'Thus says the Lord:
"Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it:
Then you will find rest for your souls."
In the last few months I started having more certainty about heading to Australia. I suddenly look at my apartment that has been such a cozy nest with different eyes. I look at an object and think - should I leave that behind? I will need to reduce my life back to bare essentials. It is always best to travel light. I have started developing a plan of action to depart early next year. Most importantly i need to save money. I was not sure how I was going to make it work, yet I felt in my heart of hearts if I am on the right road all will fall into place. Logically, with my current earnings there was just now way the numbers would tally.
In between all this my church had taken on the mammoth task of organizing a Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood kids. I took a week off all my jobs for the actual event. Giving up my income made the numbers tally even less, but I simply placed my faith in the Lord and gave my time and energy wholeheartedly. The event was an important milestone for me. I am beginning to feel more and more that God has something in mind for my future that involves youth ministry.
After VBS I was just starting to get back into my normal rhythms. I was back on my day charter job, a girlfriend covered for me while I was doing VBS. Sitting in my favorite chair the phone suddenly rang. A year later, the mega yacht captain suddenly called me out of the blue. Could I possibly fly to Venezuela to join the boat for a few weeks - they where having a crew crisis. He would pay me 50% more than last year. I just so happened that my girlfriend that did my job during VBS was still available to cover that. And the sewing project I was getting ready to start was not urgent. My faith was rewarded. God was giving me the chance to make my lost income back five fold. The pieces of the puzzle is slowly falling in place.
Within a few days my life that had become fairly ordinary and predictable was suddenly upside down again. I was boarding a plane headed for Venezuela. But this is a whole other story ............
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