I’ll be honest, I wanted to write this a month ago! However, the month of May turned into a whirlwind of activity… and so here I am a month later writing.
I had excitedly anticipated the month of May for at least the past year. So many wonderful and exciting things were going to happen. It’s finally getting warm in western Alaska, we are finishing up the school year and preparing for summer break, I get to see my family again after 4 month of being away, my baby sister Nicole was getting married, and to top everything off we had plans to attend the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
But the month of May was also a month that quickly became bitter sweet for me. In August it seemed so far away, by January it was approaching all too quickly. After Christmas break I was already deep into the application process for the World Race, and knew that there was a very real chance that I would not return to Emmonak the following school year. By the end of February this became a reality. I experienced great joy that I would be starting this new journey of ministry and deep sadness in the reality that I would have to say good bye to co-workers, students, and friends. I slowly began to inform my fellow teachers and friends of my plans for the next year, and was met with sentiments of both excitement and sadness…. this might have something to do with all those cookies and brownies I consistently brought to staff meetings 
I held off telling my students as long as I could, I knew this would be the most difficult… but the time finally came and I broke the news to them. I knew they would have the hardest time understanding, I was met with reactions such as, “what?” “no” and “why?” I must say the most entertaining reaction that I received was from a Freshman boy in my sewing class- “Ms. Kremer your causing me anticipatory grief! I can only listen to Adele songs now!” …. and by the way I did allow him to play Adele all during the last hour of my last day of class I think the most heart breaking reactions came from my Juniors- they kept telling me I couldn’t leave because they were my first Freshmen class, and I couldn’t miss their graduation!
I soon found myself trying to pack up my home- which was not an easy task! Imagine 30 or so Rubber maid tubs and having to fit everything you own into said tubs. Not only do you have to pack them, but you have to be conscious of any fragile items, because these tubs will be shipped via the US postal service. I must say our two Post office ladies did an excellent job of helping me. I’m also happy to report, that as far as I can tell, only one coffee mug was chipped, and I’m hopeful that I will be able to repair it.
The first week of May finally arrived, and I was sure I would be a sobbing mess the whole week. Thankfully, I held it together pretty good at school- I think this might have had something to do with being so busy with finalizing grades and helping the Seniors prepare for their graduation ceremony.
On Thursday night I finally broke down. I found myself sobbing and really begin to question if this was what God wanted me to do. I felt that my “kids” needed me. How could I leave them? Had I mad a terrible mistake? Our first deadline of $5,000 dollars was only 1 week away, and I was about $1,500 short of that goal. All I can say is God’s timing is perfect. After I finally calmed down, I logged onto my blog page and was completely and utterly shocked to see that I was now only $99 away from my first goal!!! Whoa! God is so good! This also sent me into another bout of crying…
This post isn’t meant to bring you down or impart sadness, but simply to share that God is always faithful. Sometimes in life you have to under go the sadness and pain of ending one wonderful chapter in order to start the next amazing beautiful adventure. I won’t lie, I miss my friends and students from Emmonak, and I miss the much cooler temperatures and the very long sunny days. However, I am also very excited to meet my squad at training camp this week.
Oh and by the way, God went above and beyond that $99 that I needed! One day before the deadline I found that I had met my first goal, and was $1,000 closer to my second goal!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
