redneck practices & contagious laughter!

'You know you're a redneck when... you're duct taping the tomato plants to the trellis!'  True statement.  Real life problem!  The tomato plants are as tall as Derek and making an aggressive attempt at taking over the garden!!  

We're thankful for issues like that, though; for anything, really, to help fill our days right now.  It seems so strange to have actually run out of work to do, although there really was only one day of genuine 'boredom' last week.  We managed to occupy ourselves for the rest of the week and it went by surprisingly fast!  One task was venturing to the bottom of a field in which we had never actually accomplished round ONE of weed wacking!  Our original excuse was uncertainty of boundary lines; there was no way we wanted to clear land that wasn't even ours to clear!  The truth of the matter was that we were just tired.  There were no coffee trees to speak of in that section so it didn't hurt to leave it.  Now that we've exhausted the majority of our to-do-list, however, that ignored patch of weeds provided a solid morning of work for us!!  We also started round three of wacking in other fields, and sprayed more Round-Up down the rows.

[the guys playing Badminton!]

With the farm chores being little to none, and the surf being decent, we logged several hours out on the waves this week!  I'm content with being able to catch the occasional 'big one' and stand up for the majority of my ride.  Derek, however, is aspiring to much greater heights.  His new youtube obsession is the pro-surfing competitions, and we all know what that could mean!  Once Derek sets his mind on accomplishing something, not much deters him.  Diving, for example, was something he'd never done in his life, but decided he wanted to get good at.  His birthday present was a spear gun and four months later he can dive 50 feet deep, hold his breath for what seems like hours, and has brought home an unbelievable amount of fish!  
I shouldn't leave you thinking we spent a whole day twiddling our thumbs, either.  Our 'day of boredom' turned out to be quite comical!  With absolutely nothing on the schedule and no work to be done, we ended up in the 'front yard' doing some abstract, karate sparing!  We want to apply for the next season of 'The Amazing Race' and can, therefore, label any slightly ridiculous activities like this as 'training'!!  Derek, of course, abuses this terminology, making me endure severe tickling sessions "because it could win us a million dollars someday!"  After pronouncing myself "TO'ed" instead of "KO'ed (knocked out!) we decided it was high time for a new pass-time!  This led us to embark into the jungle below our greenhouse abode.  Our discoveries ranged from one lonely, little guava to a wealth of avocados, to a new patch of feral pig rootings.  We haven't quite polished off all the pork in our freezer, so Derek hasn't taken much action in the way of trapping, hunting or killing pigs lately.  But I made quick work of that solitary guava, and Derek quickly produced an 'avo picker':  a garden hoe attached to a long pole!  This kept us entertained for quite a while; taking turns climbing into the trees, snagging the avo's and attempting to catch them before they crashed to the jungle floor.  
Thankfully, our friends and church family keep us from being left to our own devises most of the weekend!  Whether it's brunch and 'talking stories', a little face painting, or Derek and the guys going diving, we are so thankful for the amazing people we're surrounded by.  A 'mixer' on Friday night got the youth mingling with the 'non-youth' and resulted in some hilarious moments!  We put on skits, tossed water balloons and competed in a three-legged-treasure-hunt-race!  We laughed SO hard and I won a significant amount of tootsie-pops, which certainly makes for a memorable night!

[Erinn & I with our face paint!]

Last night Derek and I both woke from a deep sleep to the sound of my hysterical laughter!  I'm not exactly sure what triggered it, but it was bubbling up from deep within me and was completely contagious!  Derek kept asking me what was so funny, but he had started laughing, too!  It was a few minutes before I regained control, and even then I could still feel 'it' inside me, wanting to spill out!  I can only attempt to describe this as a result of the beautiful, unrestricted JOY that comes from knowing Jesus!!  Even though we are in a stage of 'limbo', a season of waiting, we are continually filled with peace and joy that comes from our God!  We have questions, yes!  We long for answers and direction.  But we are filled with the Holy Spirit and He is guiding, sustaining and molding us.  
I've realized that this uncertainty we feel has much deeper roots.  Yes, we are wondering what doors will open to fill our time until harvest rolls around.  But, beyond that, we are beginning to ponder 'what's next?'  Will we stay in Hawaii after this harvest?  If so, will we stick with the coffee business?  When will we have had enough of this greenhouse life?!  What's the next part of God's plan for us??  So many questions and no real way to answer them at this point.  I know it's useless to worry about the future, but I sure am excited for God to reveal bits and pieces to us!  I know His design is wonderful; prosperous plans for 'a hope and a future' [Jeremiah 29:11], and I continue to work on surrendering my need to know.  He is faithful.  He is true!  And He has instilled within me a joy so contagious that if I'm not constantly passing it on to those around me it will bubble right out of me in the middle of the night!!