What's Stopping You?

Ten months ago, I had no idea my life was about to take a sharp, hard turn.

I had been living in Grants Pass for the past 40 years. I raised my family there. I was married there. I had a 28-year career in radio there. I started in TV there. Grants Pass was home!

My grandparents moved to Grants Pass in the mid to late 1940s (I'm not sure of the exact year.) My dad grew up there, and Grandpa Rod and Grandma Eva’s house on New Hope Road was the place for family reunions, and they were HUGE. Grandma was one of 17 children, so you can imagine!

I built a beautiful life there. I got married there. I had two of my 4 children there. I sang in a band, played on a softball team, and rafted the Rogue River most summers. And when I wasn't rafting, I was often at the water’s edge.

But a seed had been planted in me decades earlier. From about age 5 to 8, I lived in Southeast Alaska. And for the past 25 years, I have thought about it, yearned for it, and at times quietly plotted how I might someday return.

In 2004, I said to my late husband something like, “Hey, our baby boy graduates in two years. How about we move to Alaska? Open a little bed and breakfast, maybe run a small fishing charter?”

His answer was not just no, but NO!

Ten years later, it came up again, but once more, it just was not going to happen.

Wendell passed away from cancer in early January 2021, and since then, I have been learning how to "do life" without a mate and without the tremendous help and partnership he brought to the table. I have grown!

Fast forward to early 2024.

My son Larry wanted to revive the tradition of family reunions. That summer, 24, or so, of us gathered for our first campout-reunion at Sunset Bay on the Oregon Coast in late July 2024.

One day, I was sitting by the campfire with my grandson Warren. We were chatting when he asked, “Grandma, are you always going to live in Grants Pass?” I shared my dream of moving to Southeast Alaska. He looked at me like I had lost my mind as he asked, “What's stopping you?”

Wow. That hit me like a gust of wind in my sails! What is stopping me?

I prayed about it. Meditated on it. And finally decided to put my house on the market to see what might happen.

I looked at many communities in SE Alaska. I threw a lot of darts, but nothing stuck. Doors were closed left and right. Then I threw a dart, and it landed smack dab in the middle of Haines.

I had never been to Haines. I knew no one in Haines. But something in me came alive. I got excited.

It has now been half a year since I moved here! When people ask me, "What brought you to Haines?" I always reply, "Haines chose me."

In that time, I have made many new friends. I have learned so many new things. I have created glass art; volunteered for the first time with a nonprofit, attended many social events and been out in nature more than at any other time in my life.

I found a most excellent gig with KHNS radio, hosting the early morning news show. I have paid more attention to high tides and low tides. I give sea forecasts, ferry arrivals, and now, with the summer season: which cruise ships are docking and where.

I was recently invited to be part of the Rainbow Glacier Adventures team and so I have been training heavily for that.

Last week, I started filming again with Better Life TV. My days are full; but my heart is fuller.

Sometimes we think it’s too late for new beginnings. But here is what I have learned: it is never too late to listen to that voice inside you! You know the one; the one that has been whispering a dream for years.

And sometimes, it only takes one honest question from a grandson to give you the courage to say, Why not?

As I think about the journey of these past 10 months, I can’t help but think of the verse from Psalm 37:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 ESV

Really Lord?? You will give me the desires of my heart, if I delight in You? Oh I do! I really, really do.

For years, I thought this desire to return to Southeast Alaska was just a dream I had been carrying. But now I am absolutely convinced that this desire was planted by God Himself.

How can I be sure? Because of this right here:

"For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13 ESV

I believe God does not just fulfill the desires of our hearts; He often places them there.

When we walk with Him, those persistent longings deep in our soul may very well be part of His plan.

And while we may think we are simply making plans, Scripture reminds us:

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9 ESV

So if there is a dream you just can't shake, and you have been praying, waiting, trusting… maybe it’s time to ask, “What is stopping me?”

Because it might not be just your dream. It could be His.

And He’s really, really good at bringing dreams to life.

by Jeanette Stark - Friday, May 16, 2025

(Just one of many photos I have taken of the beauty of Haines.)