The Big Red Tractor, by Francis Chan

Catching up

Well I am officially on fall break and after a late afternoon nap... I am not tired and it is nearly midnight.  So I have decided to catch up on my neglected blog.  So much has been going on but time just hasn't allowed me to put my thoughts down... so here goes...

School:  First quarter of school ended Friday with a trip to Molokai's first pumpkin patch.  I am not sure who enjoyed it more the adults or the children but fun was had by all.  The largest pumpkin weighed in at over 200 pounds.



Hula:  One of the highlights of living in Hawaii is being able to learn hula and dance in worship before the Lord.  This is our halau before we danced at church last Sunday to "Who Am I".  We also had the pleasure of dancing today for the Beth Moore Simulcast.

Labor day:  Some friends and I went camping Labor Day weekend...

Great friends...

 God's beauty...

 Ono food!  (A Hawaiian Smore... graham, peanut butter, brownie, toasted (or burnt) marshmellow and chocolate)

 And what is camping with out some wildlife and a practical joke... Josh decided to put bread outside of Rachel and my tent.  This attracted the wild turkeys that woke us up at 7am on Monday morning. 

When I got home from camping, my neighbors were coming in from catching lobster... so they blessed me with this critter which was taken to school the next day for my little ones to check out and then he was boiled for lunch! 

"I'm Running to your arms"

Most of my inspiration for blogs come from lyrics to songs... recently I heard Hillsongs newest song ..."Forever Reign".  It has a catchy worshipful tune but oh my... the lyrics are so powerful...

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see


You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin


You are peace, You are peace
Whom my fear in crippling
You are true, You are true
Ever in my wandering


You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life
In You death has lost its sting


Oh, I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the World forever reign


You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim


You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go


Hallelujah, forever
All the glory, forever
All the praise to you


My heart will sing
No other name
Jesus, Jesus

My heart is just overflowing in worship to my Lord and Savior.  It seems that about a week ago I was really struggling with some anxiety issues.  You know what I mean... the kind that wake you up at night...  things that I have really no control over but that the enemy wants to distract me with.  Anyway after two or three nights of only sleeping a couple of hours, I was emotionally about ready to lose it.  Even though each of those nights I was spending hours in the Word, in prayer, and in worship, I was still having anxiety.  By the end of the week I went to talk with Pastor Randy about what was going on and as we were talking I realized how much "I" was trying to do.  I can do nothing without Christ.  He is still good even when there is no good in me... He is peace even when I am struggling with anxiety and fear...He is truth even when the lies of the enemy are deceiving me.  After a few reminders and running into my Savior's open arms, sleep has been a glorious blessing.

I truly believe that if we never had trials we wouldn't see all of the daily blessings that the Lord so freely pours out on us.  Hallelujah that the King of kings loves us despite us!

"Mountains I can't climb"

"God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker

Of the mountains I can't climb

I will lift my eyes to the Calmer

Of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes to the Healer

Of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing

Her melody over me

God, right here all I bring

Is all of me

'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever

The Lover I need to save me

'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God

So hold me now

(I will lift my eyes. by Bebo Norman)

Recently the visual image of four mountains were looming around me. Each mountain representing something in my life that needs to be taken care of but seems insurmountable... something that without God, I can't do on my own.

Around that time of struggle, I sent out a note to some friends and prayer warriors in my life to be praying for these mountains to be conquered... for we are told in the Bible that if we have faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains. The past couple of weeks has been amazing as some ground has been conquered....

Yesterday I was reminded that sometime in mountain climbing you slip and fall. After you fall, you have two choices.... 1. to stay down at the bottom in the pile of rubble and lament or 2. to get up, secure your harness, and start climbing again. Now I am speaking theoretically here, not physically. I didn't actually go mountain climbing so I am not all busted up... but in reality, I was humbled by a couple of slip- ups as I was trying to overcome these mountains in my own strength. I am realizing that when I get my eyes off of God, I am more prone to slip.

Thankfully that even when I slip and fall, the hands of a loving, merciful God are waiting to catch me and help me back to my feet. Yes, God allows the scrapes and cuts to remind me of my disobedience but He is waiting with open arms to take care of those wounds when I run back to Him with a repentant heart.

So the lesson in all of this is... God allows those trials in our lives to make us trust Him more. I need to lift my eyes to the Maker of those mountains I can't climb and trust that if He wants me to get over them it will be by His strength not mine!

31st birthday!

My heart is overflowing with God's greatness.  I have had the wonderful opportunity of spending my 31st birthday in Oahu with friends.  My b-day weekend started Friday when I flew to HNL.  Amber dropped me off at the airport where while talking with Uncle Don my boarding pass was brought to me.  While in the airport I caught up with Uncle Bill and then sat with Amy's mom and dad on the flight over.  Arrived, picked up car, and headed to Target to pick up a few things.  Saved over 16$ in coupons!  Reminded myself that it is ok to treat myself to a bag of dark chocolate.  Drove to Mililani where Momma Lisa made me dinner and Lauryn gave me an amazing facial while we caught up and played with the kiddos.  Didn't go to sleep until after midnight as I was so wired from the events of the day.

Reluctantly got out of bed at 6am on Saturday.  Lisa had oatmeal and papaya sitting on the table for breakfast.  Drove to the airport to pick up Bryant, Jeremy, and Bri (oh and Judah!)  While waiting I stopped at starbucks for my free venti mocha coconut frappachino and ran into one of the Nations girls who had come out on a mission trip to Molokai 5+ years ago.  She is now married and works at Starbucks!  Nice surprise as I have stayed with her parents several times.  Took Jeremy and Bryant to CC-Komo Mai and dropped them off at the "How to Walk" conference.  Bri and I then headed to the zoo where we spent a couple of hours strolling around looking at all the animals.  Judah fell asleep halfway through.  Went to Ala Moana and picked up my birthday gift at Sephora and some things for Jenn at the Lego store.  Bri treated me to lunch at Ruby Tuesday!

While eating lunch Jared called to wish me a happy birthday.  As I am thinking about our phone conversation my heart is heavy knowing all the things my brother is going through with his CO poisoning.  He mentioned that the dr's aren't giving him 10 years to live.  My heart just aches as my brother is so precious to me.

Lord even as I write that promises pop into my mind... You made Jared in a fearfully and wonderful way.  You created him with a plan and a purpose and you won't take him one day soon than your perfect timing.  Lord please give him your peace and comfort during this valley.  If it is in your plan... may you heal his body, brain, and heart, and protect him from the lies of the enemy that steal, kill, and destroy.  Lord thank you for your peace that passeth all understanding and your encouragement.

After lunch we headed to Mililani Costco for food for dinner and got HaggenDaz samples... and headed to the house.

Lauryn and family, Paul, David, Kevin, Dawn, and Bella came over for dinner and fellowship and red velvet cake and ice cream for dessert.  Who says God doesn't give us the desires of our heart?  We then walked to the park and let the kids play which they loved.  All of the women are such an encouragement to me.  As part of the evening, they roasted me and I was so humbled by the fact that almost all said that in the midst of hard times, I show joy.  That is such a reminder as I really struggle with joy.  I see myself on such an emotional roller coaster.  Oh the battle of flesh.  Now off to bed as my heart is overwhelmed by emotions!

A day at the beach

For the fourth of July weekend, a few of the Calvary Chapel families went to Papohaku camping. I was invited to come along but instead of camping, I chose to work til 5pm on Friday and then spend most of Saturday and Sunday working on the NAEYC program portfolio for accreditation.

I had a couple of "helpers" with this project.

By Sunday night at 10:30pm, my brain was fried with pulling evidence so I headed to bed with the intent of getting up Monday morning, hiking kalaupapa, and then heading to Papohaku for a few hours to visit with Bri, Jeremy, and the rest of the CC group. Well the hike didn't happen but the beach was amazing!

By the way this is a Molokai beach, fourth of July weekend! You can actually see the sand...

The sand, as Judah will tell you was a lot of fun. The water was crystal clear and so very nice.

Freedom

Recently a friend posted on fb- Freedom comes from 2 people: Jesus and the American Soldier... one gives us freedom from sin and death and the other gives us freedom to live.

On this independance day 2010, it is important to be reminded of the freedoms that God has blessed us with....

• We have the freedom to go and worship with other believers without fear of being arrested.


• We have the freedom to own a Bible (or several) unlike some of our brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world that have to share one copy per village or hide a few pages just to read the Word.


• We have the freedom to share our faith without being stoned to death (but yet we fear the rejection of man so we don't share what Christ is doing in our lives... much less the gospel)


• We have the freedom to live and worship out loud but we have more enthusiasm for our favorite team than we do our creator, sustainer, and life-giver.


• We have the freedom to spend eternity in heaven with Christ. Why don't we share those freedoms as so many living around us are living in bondage headed to hell.

So on this independance day, I truly thank God for each soldier that has given his or her life for my freedom but I truly thank God for sending Jesus for giving me the freedom from sin and death.

Happy INDEPENDANCE Day!!!