Why Are We Here?

No, this isn't a theological discourse, although that is a good topic for later... Why the Harts are in Alaska is a good example of faith, hard work, other peoples' faith, willingness, and blessings from our Father in Heaven.
For the past 15 years I have been an optometrist in Logan, Utah. The first place I worked for 6.5 years had no idea what I was worth nor did they realize what I had done for them. When I left there I attempted to create a private practice from scratch. Well, we had a good location and a really cool office, but after 4 years of trying it never got to where I made any money form the venture. When I closed the office it was right as Sam's Club was opening in Logan. It could have been a great place. However, another doctor already had the contract to operate the optometrist office. He already had charge of 2 other Sam's so he hired me to be the doctor in Logan. The catch was that I worked for 70% of what I made as an independent contractor. The next year I got a "big" raise to 75%. Oooo. Of course out that I got to pay all of the taxes. I ended up making less than I had 10 year before that. The staff was great, but the "boss" doctor just wanted his money for free.
We really loved Cache Valley and Logan. We had our house the way we wanted it...OK...it was in the process. Our prayers for a better opportunity for me always seem to include a clause about "but we don't want to leave Logan". I even looked at giving up optometry and going in to middle school teaching. That required that I get a bachelor's degree. Even though I have my Doctorate in a biological science, I never actually got my BS. So no state will all me to teach. I finally gave up the school thing and we went back to the drugery of work.
All this time at Sam's I kept trying to secure the contract for myself and inspite of a non-compete clause I had it looked promising last year. But, as with any business or government the politics won and I was on the short end again. Being totally fed up I started looking for something completely different, both in practice type and in locale. We also shifted our prayers to "...something better, wherever you want us".
I came across this position here in Sitka and one in West Virginia at a VA hospital. Both were hospital based, both would require me to relearn many things, and both would require a big move. We liked the WV one since we had lived in the South, the cost of living was pretty equal with Utah, and it was near a ton of historical sites. The only experience we had had with Sitka was one day on a cruise ship about 9 years ago. In our investigations it became clear that Sitka had a higher cost of living. However, we did as much research as possible.
When Dr. Pam Steffes from Sitka got a hold of me by email it quickly became apparent that this could be a good match. After a couple of phone interviews and several emails and lots more investigation AND praying we decided that this was what we need to do.... ie, pack up and move to Alaska.
This process all started at the end of September 2005 about 3 weeks after Meg had left for Italy. As things went along it was extremely apparent how much the Lord's hand was involved. First, our basement was all in shambles...waiting to be refinished...no carpet, no drywall, no ceiling. In 2 months time we had the resources, help, energy, and will to get it completed before moving. Yea, it was only a few days before leaving, but it was finished. And boy, did it look good.
Second, we had to pack and took advantage of the 2 months to go through things and thin out our "possessions". We ended up getting rid of 1/2 of what we thought was important. We had a garage sale less than 2 weeks before Christmas and it went great. Charles and Richard did the sale and were able to make some money for to spend for friends and family. By the time we left we were able to get everything in a 24 foot U-Haul truck. Richard and Charles were wonderful...hauling stuff to the dump, moving things to the garage, packing, etc. We ended up only taking one of our 2 cars after Richard wrecked Lori's 2 days before Christmas and 5 days before we left. This was good in that gas is really high here and the mini van's gas milage would have killed us.
One person we were able to contact here was the bishop of the Sitka Ward of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...Gordon Larsen. He provided us with updates regarding rentals, etc. He also arranged a meeting that resulted in Charles having a instant friend...
Lori, Charles and I went to Sitka just after Thanksgiving for a "site visit". We got to meet the staff, see the area, arrange for housing, etc... Bishop Larsen met us at the airport(along with Pam) and took us to the Bauder's house. They have a 14 year old son who hit it off with Charles. Charles spent the next 2 days going to school with Zack and meeting the other 90 kids in the 8th grade. The people have been praying for new people to move into the ward. So, not only were we praying to get to the right place, but we were being prayed here.
As we got ready we had to figure out how to get things up here. My new employer...SEARHC(Southeast Alaska Regional Health Contsortium)...provided us with a bunch of money for moving. We figured this would be great and we wondered what we would do with the left over... Well, moving companies would be almost double what we got, a U-Haul oneway to Sitka would take all the money for just the truck leaving nothing getting it here... Besides most of the moving companies considered this an INTERNATIONAL move...????...
Lori was inspired to get a truck from Logan to Seattle with 5 days total. We got to Seattle in 3, put the truck and my car on the ferry(Alaska Marine Highway), spent 3 days getting to Sitka, unloaded the truck, put the truck back on the ferry with me for another 3 days, dropped the truck off in Seattle. Even with the extra days, it was only 10% of what is was given... The rest provided ferry passage, deposit on a rental house, etc.
We left Logan with a heavy heart, but with a detemination to improve our lives, and follow what the Lord was asking us to do. The whole process was so smooth we have experienced a great increase in our faith and our appreciation of how our Heavenly Father guides and directs us when we allow Him to be in charge. Ever since we have been here it is evident how he continues to make this the right place. Leaders in the various group at church are such that they will be perfect for Meg and Charles. Our housing has fallen right into place. My job continues to be stimulating, challenging and great. Lori had found many things to inspire her. We now live in the great wet north with eagles and wonderful God-given beauty. We will never forget and forever hold dear our family and friends we left in Logan. Thanks for your support.