porch time!

I love porches, or rather porch time!  Derek's family taught me to love porch time.  Whether it's coffee in the mornings or a nap on the porch swing, eating watermelon or telling stories; the porch is just the place to be at the Pearl house!  This week has been wonderful for so many reasons but, in my opinion, many of them have to do with a porch..

[at 'End of the World']

When we moved into the apartment at church, we knew that there were two weeks in January where we would need to find alternate accommodations.  We weren't too worried about it, after all, we have a whole six months at the greenhouse under our belt, what's two weeks?!  Only problem is that once we'd lived in 'civilization' for several months, heading back to the jungle started seeming slightly more overwhelming.  Add to that the fact that there would be five of us, six counting Baby Pearl, under that lovely piece of plastic (and without a toilet!) and the result is an extremely, anxious prego!  This was the first of those two weeks, however and God has, once again, blown my mind!  Long story short, my parents got in touch with some family friends who have a house on this side of the island but don't live here year round.  They're returning to Hawaii in a few weeks, but their gorgeous house is empty right now and they graciously agreed to our strange request to invade!  What had literally been cause for nightmares turned into the best possible outcome!
"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the LORD, and my ways are FAR beyond anything you could imagine!'  Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)
Even in my wildest dreams I would never have been able to conjure up this scenario!  From greenhouse to vacation house!  There are the perfect amount of bedrooms here, although I think Abe was fairly attached to his blow up mattress in the living room!  We're all completely hooked on the outdoor shower which, I realize, sounds a lot like jungle life but this one actually comes out of a shower head and is hot and clean!  Every evening has been spent on the porch; meals just taste better outside, especially with the sound of the waves crashing in the background!  We watch the sunset, we tell stories and play 'Chinese Checkers' and 'Sorry'.  Mornings find us on the porch again, watching the light dance it's way onto the horizon as we sip coffee, or tea for those of us who still can't stomach the Kona brew.  Okay, I'll admit, I'm not always present for the break of dawn but when I do arise the porch is usually calling my name.  This house also allows for everyone to have their own space which became very important with the arrival of sore throats and sneezing!
There's a first time for everything and this week it was being pregnant and sick at the same time!  Nothing too serious, thankfully, but it's no fun being achy all over and trying to swallow around what feels like a golf ball in your throat!  I couldn't take extra vitamins, apparently my prenatal has all its bases covered!  So, I battled this sickness with about 300 oranges, chicken noodle soup and some R&R..on the porch!  Thankfully, Derek almost always has a hankering to go surfing so it wasn't too hard to talk him into a day off.  Speaking of surfing, my husband is getting good!  Last weekend had us at the beach as much as possible so he could take full advantage of the biggest swell we've seen yet.

[photo cred. goes to my little brother, Abe Riddering]

Other than loving our housing upgrade and battling sickness, this week also included pruning.  We're still waiting on the last bit of coffee cherries to ripen for the picking, but in the mean time there's plenty of other projects to tackle.  We should have pruned a lot heavier than we did last year but we were hesitant to chop down all the trees.  The reality is that so many of them were too tall and overgrown to even pick this time around.  So, now we start fresh in a lot of the rows... sawing off all the unhealthy, giant branches and allowing the new starts a fighting chance.  All the branches that are sawed off then need to be dragged out of the rows and to brush piles throughout the property.  I don't even have the words to describe how GRATEFUL I am to have my Dad, Mom and Abe here for this project.  Between the five of us we've already worked our way through three acres and it looks amazing!! 

Derek and Abe fluctuate between harassing me for overusing the 'I'm pregnant!' excuse to defending my less than impressive stack of branches because 'She's making a baby, too!'  The truth is, I feel amazing (in an exhausted way!) and sleep SO good after a day in the fields!  Any other boss would fire me for taking a water break every 15 minutes, but Derek kinda likes me :)  As enticing as it sounds to lounge, read a book and eat truffles all day, dragging branches through the fields is exactly what I need.  Staying active and being outside is vital.  Plus, I have the weekend for good books, kayaking adventures and all the Christmas chocolate we acquired.  The crazy part is that I've almost completely lost my sweet tooth!  I still enjoy the occasional cookie or chocolate sent all the way from Germany!!  But, more often than not, even thinking about rich desserts makes my stomach twist up in knots!  Blessings in disguise, I suppose! 

There's not exactly a 'moral to the story' this week.  2013 is off to a great start.  The little peanut and I have started our second trimester.. woohoo!!!  Derek is the best husband in the world!  My parents LOVE this beautiful, island we live on.. no surprise there!!  And Abe and Derek took 'Grilloha Friday' to a whole new level of deliciousness this week with their top-secret, grilled chicken recipe!  We are finally starting to get paid from the coffee mill and that brings massive relief!!  I've learned enough about patience to fill an entire post, but I'll spare you.  Jesus is teaching us so much; at the top of this week's list:: we should never underestimate Him!!  As I sit here (on the porch!!) listening to the palm trees sway, I considering how to end this random collection of thoughts and happenings.  I'm overwhelmed with how blessed I truly am and I'm humbled by the magnificence of God!!  I mess up, I fall down, I become discouraged... but He is faithful!  He's using me and loving me and guiding me.  He has provided for us, above and beyond anything we could imagine!  AND He threw in a porch, because that's who He is.. my God is generous and intimate and He cares about the 'little things'.  I can't even imagine how amazing the porch time in Heaven will be!!  

[the THREE of us, on the last day of the year!]