Fairbanks, Grace, Scribby's Skis

For the past three weeks, a pair of Piper SuperCub skis have lain in Dwayne's garage, suggestively abandoned by those expected to work on them. They were a project imparted us by Larry Scribner, the guy whose aforementioned Piper SuperCub Dwayne sold at the pancake breakfast in May. The project was to rivet a 3/16" Teflon lining on the bottom of the skis so that surface tension between ice and aluminum wouldn't exist. Upon Dwayne's first look, he (and we all) saw that the rivets Larry provided us was what we would use to attach the Teflon. The first thoughts about the riveting was that it would be difficult to accomplish neatly. Drill the holes, countersink the Teflon on the underside, bang in the rivets. Great plan, so it sounds. But getting those 3/16" rivets in position perfectly would require more than novice skill. And to repeat the luck-or-whatever-it-took 280 times would be tiring and time consuming. I was not looking forward to the day when I had to get this done. I soon donned upon this dreaded project the affectionate name "Scribby's Skis," and each time I passed them, I had a new gripe about them. "Why do I have to do Scribby's skis, I'm gonna mess up Scribby's skis, Why, Why? Oh yes, we're getting paid for them, great, money! K, can we just get done with Scribby's skis, Dwayne, please?"
Dwayne wrote a deadline on them this week: September 19, Monday. So I was due to face the dreaded Scribby's skis. Very soon.
God worked in our affairs this week in a very cool way. As I side comment, i just want to point out how on many days, God seems to write our schedules for us. I reflect on hours past in the day and see how opportunities that came my way belonged in that moment and the rest of the day wouldn't have worked if they arrived any other hour. People coming, going, me walking someplace, all occuring in timing that is so perfect to be divine. So this particular week, Shane and I were both of one mind about getting the garage sorted and cleaned, then Daniil sorted hardware, then we were not ready to fly to Fairbanks, so we stayed home today. Then, this morning, three great things happened: a curiosity, a keyboard, and Katrina King.
When I got up this morning, I knew full well that i had to get my hands to work on Scribby's skis. But another method-one i can really beleive in - had to exist; it was a nagging curiosity. And while I was praying, a picture came into my mind of nuts and bolts substituted in the holes where all the rivets would be. I was immediately sold to that idea.
I cleaned the kitchen, then wrote down a list of things I need to do before leaving on the 29th. One of the items was "return electric piano to Katrina." This electric piano was the one I let lie in the "shack" for the last two months, never used, and about which Katrina asked me yesterday if it was working ok for me. And guess what i told her? Yep; "Yes." The guilt pricked me like a needle. Now I had to try it, then return it. I had to know if it even worked. What if it didn't? I'd be in deep. ///So I plugged it in and tried it. Lights but no sound. I tried every key, every button. Nothing. Now the guilt drove in deeper, and i knew i could not go on living today with that on my conscience. /// I carried the keyboard, a prayer and a rehearsed message to Katrina's door. Long conversation short, she appreciated my confessions and apologies, and we talked for an hour about Christian life, business and relationships with others and with God. I wish i could work around her too on a daily basis because she is filled richly with spiritual insights. With her testimonies, she challenged me to seek total purity in my relationship with God and other people; give God the firstfruits of everything (or he'll take them himself); and to take the solitude of being in Alaska to gain a more clear perspective, undiluted by the busy culture in the Lower 48. I talked to her also about my ideas surrounding the Scribby's skis project. This branched the discussion in two directions. The first was about our decision making and that my choices can affect each other, so i need to be sure that God is guiding me through each big one, especially the ones that directly touch people surrounding me. Herein lies the lesson I wish Shane would learn while he is here. The second branch was about the words we speak. Words can tear a heart, taint morale, and treat to a helping of grace, and many times we need pray for God to set a watch over our tongue and just think about words that ought to be said, not just feel to be said. This connected to the rivets vs. screws in the skis project in that I need to share my ideas with Dwayne after having counted the cost of this other method, as opposed to petitioning for an opinion of mine that I merely "think" we need to use.
I left her house refreshed, encouraged and relieved of my guilt.

I attacked my next duty of finding the price of the new screws and nuts that we'd need for the project. Pam at Glacier Air Parts told me that everything would cost just over fifty dollars. I went to Dwayne and asked how much Larry is paying us for the job. He quoted me $60 a man-hour. Then I told him my plan. Another long story short, we pressed on with just getting the job started and right away it went like clockwork. Dwayne and I were the perfect team, both anticipating the other and volunteering ideas and incorporating them to make the system faster. Following a little experimentation , he ascertained that "we are going to use all screws."
We made tremendous overall progress on the pair of skis, and I have felt more excited by this project than any other on the ranch.
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In other big news, I talked to Daisy for 1-1/2 hours tonight. With few others can i talk for so long and so freely. I guess that when one doesn't talk to a friend like her for a whole-ah-four days, a lot is piled up that needs to be shared. This talk in particular was significant because it affirmed that she is not completely withdrawn from our relationship, as my foolish fears say. Among ten other topics, she brought up the time when I wrote "are we ok?" in my email (see blog from 2 Fridays ago), and I confessed to her that I used it as a device to get her to write back. She said that it was ok and that she would have done that too. Boy was I surprised, first that she remembered I wrote that, and second, that she saw my stratagem and forgave me for it! I proposed that we talk or write at least once a week, and doing so seemed important to her, too. I appreciate that.
We mentioned you too, Elmo, and that $5 bill you have. Would you mail it back soon?
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At this point, I have 135 Alaska flight hours. That means only 15 hours between me and 150. This is a possible achievement: Fairbanks trip is about 5 hours flight time, continued flying with Daniil (more on that later) another 5 perhaps, and a trip with Sam to Port Alsworth would be around 8 hours. I pray that God will provide just that little bit. It would sure be a complement to my career by which I need to be making gobs of money right now. God has already provided exceedingly above what I asked for this summer-nearly fourfold! He can bring 15 hours of blessings in the form of flight hours if He wants to, so I'm going to walk forward and trust that ground to support these ambitions will be present under me.
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My CFI student told me yesterday that he knew $1,000 wouldn't be sufficient for his training and that he's almost out of that by now, so he won't be able to pay me for my time. Sorry, Mom, I know this is disturbing. I really am in the boat of my close company who all say we don't know how we're going to pay for loans and life. However, i am reminded of 2 Corinthians 9:8.
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Time for a poll and something to think about. When you consider your relationship with God, do you see yourself wanting to live a life of pleasure to Him, or do you see yourself living a life of service to Him? Are they or are they not mutually occurring, and which is more important to you?
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Another something to think about. Is trust the opposite of intimidation?
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How, in a country whose motto is "In God We Trust", do we have judicial leaders (e.g. California) whose ambition is to expel God from it?