da kine resort life, yeah?!

I'd like to extend a personal invitation to all of you:: start planning your trip to the Big Island!!  This would be THEE perfect time to visit!!  Here's the first motivator:: in the past two weeks gas has dropped from an astronomical $4.91 (yes, per gallon!) to a more manageable $3.74, and continues to drop!  My second reasoning may seem a bit selfish, but Derek and I have reached the bottom of our to-do list!  We're in desperate need of new challenges and time-consuming activities until harvest rolls around.  Which means we'll be happy to play tour guide- absolutely free of charge!  Last, but NOT least, McDonald's is selling their limited edition Haupia (coconut) pie for $1!   How you can possibly refuse such enticing incentive?!?  Book the tickets!  

[Kai's growing up FAST!]

This last week we had the privilege of 'going on vacation' with some family friends from Westcliffe and one of Derek's cousins!  They were staying at a resort about an hour from where we're living and, after checking our schedules and realizing we were... oh, completely free, we joined the party!  They weren't very impressed with our sun tans, or lack thereof, and we had some explaining to do!  Long sleeve shirts protect us from the live fungus we spray and help with the "zingers", stray rocks and sticks that the weed wackers whip at us.  But those sleeves also do a thorough job of blocking any and all rays of sunshine!  Pair that with our time at the beach, where you'll find us underwater, swimming with the fish or suited up in wetsuits so we can (attempt) surfing and not come away with massive rash burn, and you realize our struggle in achieving that golden brown color!  They were quick to remedy that issue, however, with several lazy afternoons beach/pool-side and their SPF-4 tanning oil!  It's safe to say that I'm sportin' the most impressive tan lines I've had since moving over here!  They also took us to our first LUAU!!  Can you say hula dancing and unlimited 'Bird of Paradise' drinks?!  It was such a fun time! They had all the ladies come up on stage for a quick hula lesson, so yes, I've expanded my list of killer dance moves!  Too bad we forgot the camera....!  It was truly accidental, though, and I do wish we had captured some pictures of the amazing fire dancing!  The 'Bird of Paradise' is a fruity concoction that I thoroughly enjoyed showing off my brand new Hawaiian ID for :)

[frolicking in the ocean!]

It was an awesome week full of laughter, chocolate covered coffee beans and card playing!  Derek said it was high time he had some real competition!  Cheeky husband :)  They also ventured to 'our part of the island' for the grand, greenhouse tour and a trip to our favorite beach and coffee shop!  We're so thankful for our time spent with them, and all the ways God richly blessed us through them!  It was weird sleeping INSIDE for the first time in four months!  We warned them that they might find us out on the deck in the morning; walls and windows and a flushing toilet just might push us right over the edge!  The good news is that our adjustment to civilization was quick and painless!  Even better news is that after a luxurious week of resort life, we were able to come right back to jungle life without any regret.  We know that God has us right here, right now for a purpose and we can see Him working out the details one step at a time!  We are learning to trust God through each moment and to be content with what He has given us and where He has us.  We can come away from this whole Hawaiian journey with nothing more than that knowledge and our lives will have been forever changed!
I mentioned my new Hawaiian ID earlier, but I must elaborate!  After turning 21 I realized I had only twenty days until my Colorado license expired and so began an extensive and slightly painful process!  Talking to the computerized recording on the DMV phone line was just the tip of the iceberg; Derek's Dad (who needs to be awarded a whole bag of twizzlers!) had to search high and low and end up in the crawl space under their house, finding my social security card and birth certificate!  Then came the horrifying realization that I would need to pass a written test, and after failing a practice test online I wasn't feeling extremely positive!  All this to say that my relief after passing the test was IMMENSE!  Derek says I'm not allowed to say I 'aced it' because I did miss two out of thirty questions, but if you know my history with DMV and driving tests, you know this is a big deal!  Plus, now I can check 'having my very own, beautiful Hawaii driver's license' off the bucket list!!
I continue to clean our church each week and it's nice to actually be putting some money INTO the bank account!  Yesterday I was offered another cleaning job, during the month of July, and I'm excited about that opportunity!  Jesus is truly meeting each need as it arises and so many times it's in ways we would've never dreamed possible!  I believe there's no better way to truly learn to trust and surrender than being taken out of your comfort zone.  You won't have to rely on Jesus if you've got a fall back plan!

[Derek's about to catch a wave!!]

We're learning a bit of Pidgin, which makes for much more entertaining conversations!!  Our favorite phrase is definitely 'da kine', Hawaiians use it as a filler and it can really mean anything you want!  Among the locals you hear phrases like "'Ey, wheah da kine?!" or "Bring da kine ovah heah!", you just have to hope you know what they mean!!  On that note, I'll let you get on with this brand new week!!  As long as you start planning your Hawaiian vacation and promise not to forget da kine!!

raw, unedited life <---

I know, deep down, that if people DO read these stories of mine, it's because they want the raw, unedited account of my life.  Although I sit here wishing I was witty enough to start these posts with a catchy saying or inspirational thought, I'm comforted by the knowledge that that is not what you're after.  You want to know what happened in the past few days, what I'm learning, struggling with, and excited about!  So, without further adieu, or lamenting that I can't think of a clever way to begin... here's my week (and a few pictures for your enjoyment!)

[Hi'ilawe Falls]

Although it was rainy almost every afternoon, we did log a significant amount of hours in the field each morning.  Walking up and down the rows of coffee trees, carrying a five gallon tank of Round-Up on my back, I had a lot of time to talk to God.  I realized that's ALL I did, though.. talk!  Three hours in, one morning, it dawned on me that maybe I should give it a rest!  Maybe God would appreciate a little peace and quiet!  Or MAYBE He would like to do some of the talking!?  Try as I might, I could not quiet my mind, though!  It wasn't that I meant to let my brain wander and bunny trail and all of a sudden I'm obsessing about the Rolo McFlurry at McDonalds...what?!!  But I find it immensely difficult to completely clear my mind of distractions and just be still before the Lord.  That became my mission 'for the week' but, I must admit, I still have a long ways to go!  

Derek helped me in my quest for stillness without even realizing it.  We packed up our delicious dinner of fresh marlin, salad, brownies and hot chai tea, and headed off to find free wifi and watch our favorite TV show!  It was a great evening; although we probably watched one too many episodes, and by the time we got home I was ready for sleep!  However, I can't stand going to bed if there's still dirty dishes.  I'd like to let you think it's my fastidious house keeping skills at work, but the reasoning is much more selfish!  I know that I'll dream about rats all night and wake to plates and silverware crusted with gorged ants and I'd just really rather skip all that!  Anyway, there I was, scrambling around to get everything cleaned up so that I could check out for the night, and I hear Derek calling me from up the hill.  I follow the sound of his voice and finally find him and Kai, laying in the middle of the road, just watching the stars!  So, I laid down next to them, my head on Derek's chest, and took in the beauty of the night sky!  There was no need for words; aside from my exclaiming about a shooting star or Derek locating the big dipper before me, we were just 'still'!  I know that God meets us where we're at, and that He talks to us in countless ways.  But communication is a two way street and when I actually make an effort to quiet my own thoughts, step away from my own agenda and actually listen, it does make a difference!  

[one of Derek's amazing gecko shots!]

Hearing from God is absolutely invaluable to me!  He is my Sustainer, my Purpose and my Joy!!  Now that we're winding down on all our huge tasks and just working on 'maintaining' till harvest rolls around, I've been seeking God's will for our days- more than ever before.  I pray that we will find jobs/projects to keep us busy.  I pray that we can still find that sense of purpose and accomplishment even though we're not seeing the mass amounts of progress that we did at the beginning.

The great news is that with this extra time on our hands we've taken up SURFING!!  When we first got here the waves were non-existent, but they're starting to roll in more and more and we are definitely taking advantage of it!  It's been almost three years since we lived in Australia and had the opportunity to go surfing, so I haven't exactly been doing 360's or backflips!  But, I am standing up and, in my book, that's what counts :)  We were able to go to an amazing concert on Friday night and a parade downtown for King Kamehameha Day on Saturday!  Derek invested in new diving fins (he says it's his birthday present...for my birthday?! haha!  As long as I can use that excuse when his birthday rolls around, right?!) so if we're not on top of the water, we're underneath it!  I've been practicing up with the spear gun, too and I feel like my first kill is right around the corner!  I like to say that I'm just holding off because our freezer is already full!!  But it is truly amazing to see how much of our meals actually consist of free food; meat that Derek killed, vegetables from the garden, fruit from friends (I'll spare you the details of how many mangos are sitting on our counter right now, lest you become envious!)  God has blessed us and provided for us beyond anything we could've imagined!! 

[sunset at Ho'okena Beach]

There's a tie for highlight of the week::  It's either the two little boys at the beach that wanted me to go fishing with them and kept bringing me handfuls of plumerias!!  Or our new and improved sweet potato haupia pie made with a graham cracker crust!!  I'm telling you, folks, it's the little things in life.. they must be savored :)  Beyond that, I challenge you to quiet yourself and 'be still', do whatever it takes to be in the position where you can actually hear God when He speaks!  And have a beautiful week!!  

blessed.birthday.week

When volunteering to help with Vacation Bible School at church this past week, I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  It was a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but God, of course, took it to a whole new level inside my heart!  I didn't realize that the four hours I spent with the kids each morning would actually begin to stir things up inside of me.  It really renewed my passion for missions and being used by God to bring hope to people!  It was incredible watching these kids grow in their knowledge of who Jesus is and how much He loves them!  One little girl ran up to me in the morning saying 'Auntie, I went home yesterday and started looking around for all the things God made!!'  I loved seeing their hands raised up in the air, dancing and singing about Jesus!  

It goes both ways, however.... I don't know if the church knew what THEY were getting into when they agreed to me helping with VBS!  I had the privilege of doing the Bible story on day two and it was the story of Elijah and his contest with the prophets of Baal.  The kids helped me build an 'altar' out of legos and then as I told how Elijah poured water all over the altar I spritzed our legos and the kids' hands with a water bottle.  I had paper crumpled inside a jar and as we prayed to the One True God, I lit the paper on fire!  The kids were thoroughly impressed, but as I tried to extinguish the fire we ran into a bit of a problem... it wouldn't go out!!  I grabbed the water bottle and sprayed inside the jar but the fire just licked up the 'water' and the flames grew bigger! Amidst much gasping, I gave it to another teacher who ran it outside and dealt with it!  Turns out, the 'water bottle' I had used was filled with rubbing alcohol!!  Yikes!  Thank you, Jesus, for your protection!!  

Derek was quite a trooper, working every morning while I was off making sand art and eating PB&J's! Every day I would come home to a new section of weed wacked fields and round two is officially DONE!  Our work has slowed significantly, but there's always something new to tackle.  One project for this new week will be wacking down all the weeds growing up the side of the bird net around our greenhouses.  They are crawling right up the sides and are so heavy that they're starting to pull the whole net down, cement poles and all!  We're not in imminent danger, but that net coming down would lead to our greenhouse coming down, which is not exactly the greatest scenario for our living arrangements!  However, I love that we are truly learning to hold everything with 'open hands'; living in a constant place of surrender and knowing that things could change at any moment.  We have seen God provide in unbelievable ways and we can trust that if He takes things away it's all part of His plan; He has something infinitely better in store, or it's part of His molding and shaping us in preparation for a new part of our journey.  

Since my birthday was this last Friday we took advantage of every opportunity to celebrate!  It's not every day you turn 21 and between God, Derek and some incredible family and friends it was, hands down, a week for the books!  For starters, a friend and I had an unexpected and incredible swim with about twenty dolphins while the guys were out spear fishing on Tuesday!  We had seen them from shore, doing their flips and twists, but didn't know if they'd still be out there by the time we swam out.  We weren't disappointed, though!  They came from behind and in front, there was some underneath us and some on the sides... it was breath taking!  The birthday presents 'from above' continued when Thursday turned into a rainy day in the field but a gorgeous day on the water!!  We took a kayak and the longboard and took turns surfing and 'kurfing'!  Even Kai gave it a go!!        

Festivities continued in the form of a chocolate eclair from my favorite coffee shop and free lychees at the Post Office when we went to pick up birthday packages!  We went on our first coqui frog hunting expedition and I actually spotted the first one!  We did a little myth-busting of our own (animal rights activists plug your ears..) and sprinkled baking soda on it, realizing that it actually DOES kill them!  I must say, if you listened to their 'coooquiiii' sound every night you'd feel slightly justified in this action, too. 

Our garden wished me a happy birthday in the form of  PEAS, more green beans and radishes!  And Derek is perfecting his crock-pot pork recipes.... mouth wateringly, delicious might actually be an understatement, regardless of whether 'wateringly' is a real word or not :)

I woke up early Friday night/morning and, realizing it was my birthday, just began to talk to God about the coming year.  Although I surrendered my life to Him a long time ago, it's important to constantly be working on my priorities; remembering who's actually in charge.  As I laid my hopes, fears, relationships, time, finances, LIFE at His feet.. "I love you with an everlasting love!" popped into my head!  Things like that happen to me on occasion, but the thought is usually along the same lines as what I'm thinking and I can explain it away as my own thought.  This time, however, I KNEW it was my Papa God speaking His everlasting love to ME, on my birthday!  When THAT's how you start your day, how can it be anything but extravagant!?  Derek's birthday omelets were top of the line, and phone calls from my family and sweet friend, Ali, all the way from INDIA, made my day!!  I finally got to rip open the package that had been tormenting me for eleven days and found BOBA!  (Quick in service for those of you in the dark.. these are tapioca balls that you boil and they become delicious, chewy additions to your drinks/smoothies!  Since leaving Keva Juice and no longer having them at my disposal I have experienced severe cravings!)  Leave it to my husband to actually order me two bags of the uncooked pearls so that we can have them anytime we want!!  Most Ingenious Husband Award right there!  Sushi, for the first time in four months, was the perfect lunch and I finally purchased the cutest pair of flip-flops on the island!  The surprises continued all weekend with hugs and gifts from my sweet 'family' at church, as well as their taking advantage of each and every opportunity to sing to me!  Talk about an excessive amount of blushing!  Home-made lei's, twenty-one candles stuffed into a cupcake, watching Madagascar 3, a great bon-fire on the beach, my first manta ray spotting... I can't begin to describe how thankful and grateful and BLESSED I feel!!  

Now I begin my twenty-SECOND year (nope, not a type-o, just a little bit of knowledge passed down from my Dad :)  No one believes that I'm only 21 because of how wise and scholarly I appear!  Okay, THAT might be a bit of a stretch.. I could probably still pass for seventeen! But because of all that I've been able to do and see and experience, people feel like that's enough for an entire lifetime and I'm just getting started!  Which makes me realize, once again, how incredibly gracious God has been to me.  I'm on an extraordinary journey and I'm honored to be able to share bits and pieces with you all!!  I pray that you might feel the everlasting love of Jesus this week and be open to whatever He may have for you!  Until next time... Aloha!

living, learning & laminin!

I'm pleased to announce that Kona is greening up significantly with all the rains we've been getting!  The fields are lush and coffee branches sag; heavy with cherries.  We were convinced we'd slept through a tornado or extreme wind when we woke to a whole field of slouched trees!  On closer investigation we realized the branches were just exhausted from the weight of all those cherries!  Unfortunately, if this is 'growing season' for coffee, it's 'exploding season' for the weeds!  Because we've lost our minds entirely, we're taking on round two of weed wacking!!  Joking aside; these weeds don't even begin to compare to their ancestors, but it's still not an easy task.  The field that we cleared upon arrival, three months ago, is now sporting a few weeds as tall (if not taller) than ME!  The unthinkable popped out of my mouth as we stopped for a water break "Derek, I'm actually THANKFUL that the fields were as horrible as they were when we got here.."  silence.  So I elaborate, "Without that victory under our belts we'd think we were really something for taking on these four to five foot weeds!  But this is just kid stuff!'  Perspective gained, I suppose! 

(green coffee cherries!)

We're so grateful for our friends here!  Our work load isn't quite as intense as it was before and if not for the family we've gained we might be experiencing a bit of boredom!  But, not to worry, there's always someone up for going diving, getting a coffee, playing frisbee or having a bonfire!  And Kai keeps us entertained as well.  He's remarkably smart; sleeps through the night and is potty trained without a bit of effort on our part.  We have been putting effort into sit, stay, come, down, etc. and he's learning fast.  His first swim in the ocean was a bit overwhelming; Derek tossed him in, he sunk, I gasped, and after a painful three seconds he surfaced!!  His second encounter was at the beach where he could progress at his own speed and after a third swim in deep water with me, he's officially a water dog!

We've made a habit of taking Monday 'off' since we're usually running errands in town and doing laundry.  But on this last Monday, which was actually a legitimate holiday, we felt the need to build a chicken coop!!  The construction went really well, till we realized that the wire will cost us over $100!  Since we can buy a LOT of eggs for that much money, we're holding off on finishing that project.
Our latest and greatest culinary achievements include an amazing chicken stir fry with green beans from our own garden and eggplant from our neighbor's garden!  Also on the menu this week was some incredible ahi!  We attempted eating it (almost) raw because all the recipes we looked up simply said to sear it on each side and that you want it pink in the middle.  Die hard sushi fans that we are, we thought we were up to the challenge, but in the end common sense won out and Derek cooked it to perfection!
On Friday night we got to hang out with some of the youth at church and watch an incredible video by Louie Giglio "How Great is Our God".  If you haven't seen this, you are missing out!  It rocked my world!  I needed to recognize what a teeny, tiny, insignificant speck I am in this universe and to put God back in his rightful, mind-boggling, place!  It's through THAT perspective that I can begin to grasp how incredible it is that He loves ME!  The Star Breather chose ME and cares about what is going on in my every day life!!  God cares about the coffee trees and the greenhouse life; every undertaking and new adventure.  Not only is He guiding and providing, but He is orchestrating every single detail of our journey!  Amazing!  Louie Giglio has scientific knowledge that will blow you away but my favorite part was learning about 'Laminin'.  It's this protein molecule that basically holds the entire body together and, low and behold, it's in the perfect shape of a cross!  Microscopic crosses throughout your entire body... literally holding you together!  Gives a whole new meaning to Colossians 1:17 'in Him all things hold together!!"  (I'm really not doing this justice, you've GOT to watch the video, or even the shorter version just on Laminin... seriously, Google it!!)  It's with that knowledge that we embrace a brand new week and whatever the Creator has in store for us!!