There's a lot of building repair to be done on this place. Here's an example. It's what was left of a small I-beam that holds up one side of this classroom building. i found a nice piece of galvanized at a junkyard for dirt cheap. i'm REALLY suprised this place hadn't fallen down yet, but i geuss buildings can have gaurdian angels too! My family and i have been so blessed to be here! The kids have lots of room, good weather and good friends to play with. Atreyu rarely wears anything but a diaper. And Lauren is deepening relationships but misses friends DEARLY! i miss you guys too, but i stay busy enough to keep me from gettin' bummed. A few days ago we had a gathering in the worship building that partly consisted of breaking up into small groups of four people. In these groups we picked a person then prayed for GOD to give us something to share with them, and continued with each person. WHOA! It was cool! Everyone had a different vision for that person, but they all corresponded. After we shared with that person what we saw, we prayed for them accordingly. Talk about gettin' your socks blessed off! It is so fitting to take time to listen to GOD when we pray, but seldom practiced or taught. A creed of YWAM is to "Know GOD and make him known." i believe we spend lots of time thinking and talking of what we know of GOD, but too often forget to strive to know him better. As much as i like to be out in the quiet countryside, i'm starting to understand the importance of community and the meaning of fellowship. Accountability, encouragement, unconditional love, seeking truth without agenda, and opening ourselves up to what GOD has for us as a church, not just for ourselves; These are all very important parts of fellowship and GOD's plan for us as christians. Hug somebody today that you fellowship with, especially if it's uncomfortable. Comfort zones are gardens for weakness. Stretch out your spiritual muscles so that you may have that fulfilling feeling of knowing that you worked a good day for the ultimate purpose. Point of Grace has a song that says "Love is the answer to the ultimate question", the "ultimate question" being "What is the meaning of life?" None of us have seen GOD, so we don't fully understand this concept. But as your eyes adjust to HIS light, the picture becomes clearer and more beautiful. Ask HIM to show you his character, seek and you will find. Have a blessed Sabbath.

Youth With A Mission

As we pulled into the mission base, it was more humble than i expected. There is tarps on almost every roof and termite holes large enough to be used for extra storage space. But we're greeted joyfully and the spirit of the base is good. Time to rest. We spent the next 3 days as jet-lag zombies, Going for a couple walks and getting terribly lost. So i bought a map after hours of wandering. On monday i did my first repair, a washing machine needed a new belt. It seems like a small thing until you're the one with no clean clothes. i also fixed a roof that was bare of roofing for about 12 square feet, which calculates into LOTS and LOTS of water coming into the house! Some people laughed at us when we told them that we were going on a mission trip to Hawaii. But having a beach 2 miles away doesn't make life easy at all. YWAM is pretty much a missionary school. This particular base puts out more long term missionaries than any other. So right now, we're missionaries to missionaries. i didn't know there was such a thing 'till i became one.

In The Beginning

It's Tuesday, April 8th. We arrived in Honolulu last thursday. i'll start with a week ago... i got online to check in for our 9am flight from San Diego only to discover that the airline we had booked with was shut down for bankruptcy! No time to worry though, we had another plane to catch. My Mother dropped us off at Indianapolis airport at 5 pm tuesday, we were in the air at 7pm. It was my first time flying that i can remember, i was a little nervous. The kids were thrilled with the experience! Even though i was nervous, a great peace settled down on me as we left the ground and i know that GOD has us where he wants us. We arrived about 6 hours later in San Diego. Trying to sleep in an airport in not a pleasant experince, but the kids were incredibly well behaved! About 4am wednesday, i got in line for an alternate airline that was accepting tickets from the airline that had shut down. Around 8am, we were in line for "stand by", meaning that we could get a plane as seats were available. 11am: "No more flights today, try again tomorrow." AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! We all looked pretty haggard and were in dire need of sleep, so we broke down and got a hotel. We walked a few blocks from the hotel and spent $12 on the best greek food i've had in my life! After about a half hour walk on the bay, it was bedtime. Thursday 4am: Back in line. We have to check in again to get a flight. 8am: back in line for "stand by". 11am: Bingo!! We've got seats! Thank GOD! The plane was to stop in Maui and we were to catch another flight to Honolulu. As we were about to land, i discovered that i was missing the important half of one of our tickets! Lauren and i looked for a few minutes around our seats to no avail. Time to give up. i opened my bible to Psalms "A song of praise for GOD'S provision" the heading said. Faith, We've been working on that alot the past month. Lauren asked me if maybe i put the tickets in the... There it is! Stuck in a piece of wall trim 2 feet in front of us! Thank you JESUS!!! Time to land. Hawaii is soooooo beautiful from the air! Thursday 2pm: There's room for us on the next flight and it's leaving right now! WoooHooo! One problem... the ticket lady says there's been no ticket created for Noah. Looks like we're gonna miss this flight. "Wait a minute" she says "Where is he?" "He's right behind me. Why?" She peers at Noah, "I need you to walk really fast, ok." "Um, ok" She scribbles on a Boarding pass(for children under 2) She pushes us through the door and says loudly "Hurry, the plane is leaving right now!" as she handed our "tickets" to the ticket lady who seemed to think that something was suspicious. Whew! We're on! 2:30pm Honolulu! As we stepped outside the airport, Noah looked up at the mountains and said "I don't ever wanna go home, this place is beautiful!" And it is. The air is sweet and warm. The mountains are lush, and the water is so, so blue.