I Have Lived in Maui for One Year

A year ago, 4/21/09, we boarded a plane to move to Maui.

April 21, 2009
You can read about our departure here (and see where I swiped the picture from)
Are those long pants and coats?

And a year ago from today (4/22/09), I started working in my new role for Pacific Source (we ship building materials to Hawaii).

Before Maui, I was the operations manager for our Mainland warehouse in Washington.  My dad (one of the owners) and I had a good system, where he would oversee and coordinate with the Sales and upcoming orders and the lumber yard, and I handled the day to day operations in general:  receiving, packaging and loading.  Rob, one of the owners, oversaw our Island operations and coordinated with our facilities there.

In January of 2009, I had a work trip planned to Maui.  We had been trying to get me to Maui for almost 4 years, for work the experience, since Maui is our largest market.  But circumstances and personnel issues made it untimely.  In January 2009, it worked out to fly over to "train" the guys in Maui on how to handle a new product we were carrying.

My wife (who has here own blog) was able to join me for that week.  During the day, I would go to work and she would go places.  In the evening, we would go places together.  It was an enoyable time with one another without the distraction and interruption of the kiddos.  One day, while we were together, enjoying our time, Mandy says, "I can picture us living here."

Now, as I mentioned before, it took 4 years to plan a work trip.  The reason being is that it is hard to manage people from a long distance.  We had 3 managers at our Maui facility in those same 4 years.  Rob was spending a considerable amount of time travelling to Maui to infuse philosophy and direction to those managers.  Every time it seemed I would have a window to make a trip, an issue would come up that required Rob to handle it himself.  By the time the January 2009 trip came around, it was more to give Rob a break.  (The new warehouse and showroom were being built at the same time).

So when Mandy says, "I can picture us living here," a flood of thoughts came into my mind.  My Dad and I had talked about solutions for Maui management.  It really came down to 3 options, Rob, Dad or I could move there, because we needed someone who understood the company and goals and philosophy and everything else.  However, it really never seemed like a legitimate option for me to move because of our family (I am the father of four).  So when Mandy says, "I can picture us living here," I had to ask, "Are you serious?"

We spent the next couple days in Maui, and the next week or so back in Washington, talking and praying about it.  We both felt a release to talk to the company about offering our willingness to move if they felt it was necessary.  When I mentioned it to my Dad, he said, "That would solve a lot of problems."  When he mentioned it to Mark (one of the owners and president), he said, "That would solve a lot of problems."  And by April 21, 2009 our family was in a plane flying to Maui.

When we were preparing to move and people would ask how long we would live there, our reply was that our commitment was for one year, but we would stay as long as God wanted us to be there.  My belief throughout the process has been that God used the vehicle of a work move to get us where He wanted us:  in Maui.

And though my role has moved beyond operations management to include marketing and customer service and relations, I still believe we are here for a different purpose.  To some extent we are seeing it, but to another, there is still that "other" thing.  And we wait with expectant anticipation.

So if you ask me now how long we will be here ... It will be awhile longer; Maui is our home.

April 10, 2010, a year later.

You can read about Mandy's one year reflection here.