jumping into 'spring'!

Although Hawaii doesn't offer the dramatic shift of seasons that we are accustomed to, we do feel a version of 'spring' arriving on the island.  The rain continues to soak the ground on a regular basis, the coffee trees are in full, gorgeous bloom and our garden is producing a whole new crop of lettuce, beans, peas, etc.  Granted, a garden in Hawaii can accomplish this at any point throughout the year, the difference is that we started a new garden at the apartment and can actually maintain it!  And by 'we', of course, you realize I mean Derek :)  My ground breaking abilities are less than professional and 'baby brain' seems to thwart my best attempts at remembering to do the watering.  I did, however, do some weeding last week and when it comes to picking and devouring the fresh produce I'm totally game!
There may not be any melting mountains of snow but we found plenty of ways to celebrate spring this week.  We had a beach barbecue with friends and took a 'tourist day' to explore more of the Big Island. A nice drive up the coast brought us to a gorgeous beach and some billion dollar mansions.  We stopped at a macadamia nut factory and took full advantage of the free samples!  Whale watching is a new favorite pass-time and I had Derek pulling off the road multiple times as we rounded the northern tip of the island.  He's very accommodating, as long as my request doesn't include any gasping.  There's so much beauty packed into this place and we are still FAR from having 'seen it all'.  It was a great day to get away, eat ice cream and do what we love: adventure!

When the rain would allow, we did get some work done at the coffee farm.  Remember my pruning stories from January; the sawing and the dragging and the piling?  Well, we were finally able to have the gigantic piles of branches mulched!  No more massive stacks of dead twigs lining the road.  All that was left to do was spread out the wood chips.  It's mind boggling to compare the farm to the state it was in last year at this time.  We've come a long way, by the grace of God and with a lot of comic relief!  While filling buckets with mulch and flinging it down the rows, Kai got us laughing pretty good.   He comes completely ALIVE when we're in the fields, constantly sprinting from one section to another; he's king of the farm!  At one point in the day he came barreling down the hill and ran straight up our pile of mulch, not realizing the other side was a drop off.  He shot off the top and had several impressive seconds of hang time before tumbling into the weeds and jetting off on the other side.  Needless to say, we had to take a momentary laugh-attack break.
Not only can our little man can hear the commotion on this side of the womb, but because of the brain-wave activity now happening, he can even respond!  Basically this just means that when Derek scares me really bad, 'Peanut' jumps, too!  And I'm sure he's VERY familiar with the sound of our laughter by now.  His eyes are open at this point, which I love to think about.  Basically, he's fully formed and has simply gone into the bulking up stage.  Weighing in at 2 pounds this week, he continues to pack more and more of a punch!  And there's no longer room for my belly button to remain tucked away, it's made a grand appearance and is even noticeable through most shirts!  Oi vey!

Speaking of tiny things: Derek got the cutest, miniature espresso maker I've EVER seen and it inspired me to try coffee for the first time in six and a half months!  I really had no idea if this coffee we're selling is any good, but now I can give it my full endorsement: Pearl Kona Coffee is the real deal!  Don't worry, though.. it was a one (okay, maybe two) cup thing.  This pregnant lady is sticking to water, water and water!  I'm fully confident in Derek's tasting skills and know that by the time I can drink coffee on a regular basis he will have perfected the art for me!
This weekend's plans were put on hold with another torrential downpour.  But we salvaged our Saturday by concocting chocolate pudding from avocados and going to the movies :)  Sunday was a beautiful day and we were able to go to a sunrise service in town and then head back to our church for a great time celebrating our RISEN LORD!!  It truly is the most exciting and crucial detail of history..  If Jesus didn't rise from the dead then all of this, my existence, everything he did.. is for nothing.  But, He DID rise!  He conquered death, sin and the devil!  'The LORD lives!  Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!' 2 Samuel 22:47  Hallelujah!!  And here's what really gets me- the SAME Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in ME!  (Romans 8:11)  There is SO much power available, I can't even begin to grasp it!!
The fact that Jesus laid down His life for mine, a perfect sacrifice to pay my debt, is mind boggling.  That He made a way for me to be right with God, even though it cost Him everything, is unbelievably humbling.  And to know that He conquered, that He holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18), is incredibly empowering!  I don't even have words to describe the knowing that His Spirit lives IN me, now!  All I know is that my life should look a LOT different than the lives of those without his Spirit.  That presence should be noticeable; people should be wondering what I have and how they can get it!  Derek put it this way, 'The evidence should be our lives!'  As we jump into 'spring' that is my heart's longing.. that my life would be unexplainable apart from the Spirit.  Jesus is ALIVE and my life should be a daily reflection of that amazing truth!