[a pondering pooch!]
Believe it or not, we worked extremely hard this week! Pictures fail to do justice to the massive improvements in those coffee fields. It's one of those 'you have to be here to appreciate it' scenarios. Here's the low down: there's approximately 700 trees per acre and we are working six acres. That's 4,200 trees! Our task, these past few weeks, has been to prune said trees. Now some can be skipped over, but the really gnarly ones may have up to ten different branches (that are 10-12 feet tall!) needing to be sawed off and dragged to the piles. My family is supposed to be on vacation but have continually insisted on working and staying busy and we said 'Okay, if you insist!' Even though my husband could take first place in a sawing competition, this daunting task would have taken the two of us months to accomplish. And, as my Dad always loves to remind us, 'many hands make little work'! With their help we have made enormous progress. I can't even begin to describe what a blessing and relief it is when I look across the fields, realizing I won't have to be out there pruning away at seven months pregnant like I had been...how do I put this, not exactly 'looking forward' to!? (I'm sure we'll still be in the fields, come May and June, but I'm envisioning riding lawn mower duty?!) I must admit, I definitely had a few 'moments' this week where I didn't think my legs could take one more trip up that hill. But then I just reminded myself that I could be picking and I practically sprinted up that slope!!! Joking aside, the moments may not always be lovely but what I will take from it is the memory of all that we accomplished!
It hasn't been ALL work and no play, though! Snorkeling and body surfing are some of my family's favorite pass times. And we discovered that one of our least favorite fruits, papaya, is actually very tasty when drizzled with fresh lemon juice!! Usually we're too tired to stay awake for a whole movie at night, or maybe my pregnant habits are just rubbing off on everyone. "Oh, look at the time, 8:05! No wonder I can't keep my eyes open!!" But even our tired, sore bodies can usually manage a few hands of cards before hitting the hay! You can't play cards without snacks, though, and with a whole stock of bananas ripening at once it was perfect timing for Derek to come down with a hankering for homemade Banana's Foster! We also realized that after three o'clock our favorite bakery sells all their pastries and cookies for half off. It blows my mind that for $5, which is how much they charge for one slice of pie or fancy dessert, we can walk away with a whole box full of goodies!
The guys witnessed a spectacular site while at the beach this week:: WHALES! Apparently they were slapping the water with their tails and jumping straight into the air, spinning full circles! Mom and I, unfortunately, missed out on this; we were making the Costco run. At least we had free samples to console us!
[photo cred, once again, goes to Abe Riddering!]
No new developments with pregnancy symptoms, except for a minor episode in the fields where the whole world started spinning. Oh, and I did run into the screen door once. We're just chalking that up to a blonde moment, though! I'm getting very excited for our next appointment. A whole month between baby viewings seems like an eternity!! My back is sore almost all the time, but I don't know if that has to do with the baby or just dragging loads of branches uphill all day. Derek actually bought me a massage chair for Christmas; leave it to him to reason 'I can either buy her a massage or buy the chair insert and she can have a massage every day!' But it never arrived and I think someone in the postal service is taking full advantage of my present right about now. Thankfully, the money was refunded and we're going to try again. Can't WAIT!!One afternoon Derek, Abe and I were sitting on the porch and witnessed a kamikaze gecko drop from the roof of the lanai onto the cement with an unbelievable 'SPLAT'! He then proceded to look from side to side, evaluating who all had seen his crazy stunt, and then scampered off the porch! Needless to say, this had us laughing hysterically and imagining every possible scenario for the next twenty minutes... his buddy pushed him, he was showing off for his girlfriend, etc. Just one moment out of the whole week, but it's become a memory. A hysterical one!
My walk with God is made up of moments as well. Talking to Him at night while gazing up at the stars. Reading the Bible and discovering things for the first time. Being overwhelmed with life but being able to rest in His incredible peace. These moments won't necessarily become life long memories, but they are woven together as part of my journey; the legacy I will leave behind. My life is a collection of moments, the day-to-day decisions and how I choose to respond. The memories I cherish are built from moment upon moment of seeing God's faithfulness and coming to new realizations of His love and grace.
It's citrus season here in Hawaii which means we're up to our eyeballs in oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, lemons and every possible combination in between. Because we can't eat them all, my Dad's been juicing them and the results are extremely.. tangy! It might be a strange way to make my point, but earlier Derek said 'When life hands you lemons and grapefruits.. make orange juice!' and, of course, I thought that was hilarious. But then I started thinking about it, realizing how true it is. Life will hand you all sorts of tricky situations, unknowns and daunting tasks and you can either say 'There's no way we can eat all this fruit!' or you can start squeezing those fruits; you can embrace each moment, choosing to follow God even when you have no idea where He's leading! When we look back at our time in Hawaii there's no way we'll remember every single moment, good or bad, but those moments are leading up to memories which are priceless and life changing!
[my favorite surfer, Derek Pearl!]
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