Aloha from Kona

Greetings from beautiful Kona, Hawaii! This past week should (hopefully) go down as one of the more eventful string of days in our lives...

On Sunday, with the help of our dear church friends, we moved the contents of our home into a storage facility and passed the house keys off to the new owners. The mid-90s temperature made for very pleasant moving conditions.

On Tuesday, after staying with Angie's parents, Russ and Kathy Fuller, for a couple of relaxing days, we loaded our suitcases into the truck and drove down with Angie's parents and sister Amy to Portland to meet up with Russ who was on business. We enjoyed a final Banzai Burger at Red Robin that night as a family.

On Wednesday morning, we flew out of Portland airport at 10:30 PST for our flight to Maui. After a 2-hour layover, we hopped to our final destination in Kona. Sam and Katie were pure champs during the travel. We were very proud of them. Since we were arriving one day early, we spent the night in a local hotel.

Today (Thursday), we were able to spend the morning at the hotel pool. The kids had a great time. Then this afternoon, we arrived at the YWAM base here in Kona. The staff and residents have welcomed us so graciously. It felt like home the minute we arrived. Sam quickly attached himself to a group of older boys who were playing tetherball outside. Our room for the next three months is perfect. Very simple accomodations with a kitchenette, bed in the living room for Angie and me, and a loft for Sam and Katie (pictures to come later). Angie has already begun to add her decorators touch to the room.

The rigor of this week finally caught up with the kids tonight. They both began to realize that we are not going home for a while and, even when we do come back to Seattle, it won't be to the home that they know. Sam had a good sad cry and really missed Tiger our cat. Please be praying that they adjust to this new environment quickly.

Tomorrow (Friday), we begin our first day of classes and orientation. We are really looking forward to getting into the groove and to meet all the people we will be spending the next five months with.

More updates to come!

THE BEGINNING

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” Helen Keller

What would cause a family of four with two young children, a comfortable home, secure jobs, and close family and friends to pick up everything, sell their home, take a leave of absence from their jobs, and leave their close family and friends to embark on a journey to a destination that is still partially unknown?

Is it temporary insanity? (Some might argue that.)

Is it chasing a dream? Yes, but not necessarily a specific dream to go to a specific place. Rather, a dream to do something adventurous as a family that will assist and impact the lives of others, and ours as well in the process.

Is it fate? Yes, but not a fate of random circumstance. Rather, we believe it is the fate planned for by a God who loves us as His children and creates us all with a purpose...

PSALM 139:13-18

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable!
18 I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!

Over the last six months or so, we had become increasingly restless with our everyday lives. We longed to expand the definition of who we were and what we could accomplish as a family. We felt a distinct tug in our hearts towards something that seemed to be just over the horizon that had yet to come into view. We clearly felt that there was a significant change approaching us, but no idea what it could be. We began to explore avenues of potential interest, but sensed we should do something that is very difficult...wait. Most nights as we tucked the kids into bed, we would read Psalm 23 together out loud:

PSALM 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.
6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

And then, through various circumstance and relationships, the horizon began to come into view. We were reintroduced to an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). YWAM is a non-denominational Christian organization with bases and ministries all over the world. The purpose of YWAM in a nutshell is to share the love of Christ throughout the world by helping those in need. We wondered if this could be the adventure we were craving. Through more prayer, research, practical confirmations, and confirmations of the heart, we determined this was indeed the next step in our family journey.

And so, we leave this Tuesday, June 27th, for five months. Just to add an additional layer of excitement, we have sold our house. This allows us to help fund our trip and avoid the headaches of renting the home and/or covering the upkeep and costs of the home in our absence.

The first three months of our trip will be spent in training at the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii (yes, a very tough place to go for training). The training will be a crash course consisting partly of Bible training, language training, and other practical training for the work we will be doing. Sam and Katie will attend a school at the base while we are there to keep up with their academic work as well as training that will partially mirror ours. Even though we will be very active with the training, we will also have plenty of family time in the evenings and weekends to relax and enjoy each other (in a pretty sweet area of the world).

Following the training, there is a two-month outreach trip to a foreign country (yet to be determined for our team). This will be a time for us to use our professional abilities, natural talents, and God-given giftings to live and minister in a cross-cultural setting. Examples could include working in orphanages, building schools or churches, running sports camps, and helping in the other practical and physical needs of the people we will be living among. Sam and Katie will be with us for this portion of the trip as well and we will work side by side together as a family.

We will have internet access for at least the three months while we are in Hawaii and will plan to update this blog as regularly as possible. Please keep us in your prayers.

“The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.” J.R.R.Tolkien