One Step Closer

Dear Friends, 

One step closer.

Actually, this week we took two.

If you've been following along, you know we've been working for years to get our new Ice Age Meals kitchen operational.

And I have to tell you, I was getting close to the end of my rope.

Last week, we were told we might have to move the entire mobile kitchen ten feet to the south.

That might sound simple.

It wasn't.

The kitchen is already plumbed in. We've already completed the gas work. We've already spent an enormous amount of time and money getting this thing to where it is.

When I heard the news, I thought:

This might be it.

Not being dramatic. Just being real.

There comes a point where you have to ask whether continuing to fight is wisdom or stubbornness.

Then something happened.

Two days. Two breakthroughs.

First, after another long battle, our propane system was approved.

Then this morning I got the message:

Our appeal with the Reno Fire Department was upheld. We do NOT have to move the kitchen.

Hallelujah.

There are still corrections to make. There are still inspections to pass.

But for the first time in a long time, I can see the other side.

We believe we'll be cooking in our new kitchen soon.

And after everything we've gone through to get there, I don't think I'll ever take turning on that first burner for granted.

Meanwhile, today marks 60 days since I moved to Kauaʻi.

And somehow, while fighting to keep Ice Age Meals moving forward from 2,500 miles away, God has given me another kind of work here.

I just finished building a 30' × 60' Quonset hut at Camp Kahili for the Keala Foundation. 

A month ago, it was a pile of steel and a pooled slab.

Now it's a building.

Last week, almost immediately after we finished it, it was filled with kids, coaches, families and members of this community.

I also spent the month cooking for boys camp, fed hundreds of people through the Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run week, and tonight the boys graduate.

It's been one of the hardest and most fulfilling stretches of my life.

And maybe that's the lesson.

Sometimes you don't know whether you're nearing the end...

or you're just nearing the breakthrough.

A few days ago, I was ready to quit.

Today, we're one step closer.

So if you're in one of those seasons yourself, keep going.

You don't need enough strength for the entire mountain.

You need enough strength for the next step.

Thank you for continuing to support us, buy our meals, read these emails and believe in what we're building.

We're still here.

We're still cooking.

And Lord willing, pretty soon we'll be cooking in that new kitchen.

Onward and upward.

Your Pal,

 

Paleo Nick

PS: In the midst of all of this, I keep coming back to my Anchor Routine and messages like the one below: 

“If there is no strain, there will be no strength.”

And:

“God does not give us overcoming life - He gives us life as we overcome.”

It's one of my favorite entries of the year from My Utmost For His Highest. Worth a few quiet minutes...