24 hours in Maui

Well, more like 36 hours.  Gina and I left Molokai this morning and caught the 5:30am ferry to Maui.  She is flying out to Seattle tomorrow and wanted some time to actually get to shop (Molokai's shopping is not quite up to par).  I have taken several pictures of the sunsets here, but this  morning I took my one and only picture of the sun rising.  The trip was good for me, but several people (including Gina) got really seasick as the water was really choppy from the trade winds.  

We checked into the Royal Laihana (Priceline steal) and the first thing I thought of was "Jesus Loves me!"  It's a beautiful room with a great lanai and view of the beach.  We shopped all day, and had an amazing dinner.  My first time having filet mignon!  SOOOO good!  We also had some really great conversations about what God has been teaching us in Molokai, love, relationships, how to use our gifts and other great life topics. For me, I am learning lots of lessons on my relationship with God and with others.  More on that later.  

I'm pretty sure all of our new island boys friends loved getting to know her this past week too. They came over last night, sat on our lanai and serenaded her on the ukulele.  It was really sweet.

The difficulty of rest

I find myself having a hard time blocking out everything, resting without progression, sitting at the feet of Christ without worrying about what dishes need to get cleaned in the kitchen. Last night in a series of thoughts (none of them completely finished) I found myself in the kitchen again so to speak.

"Will I ever get married? Ooh, I should use the relationships angle from the Shack for my article to the Student Youth Ministry journal. How much playdoh do I need to buy for the Wyldlife camp in January? Should I talk about Zacheaus for the whole weekend?" My thoughts pretty much run like this at 2am on a regular basis. It may be why I'm so tired all the time.

But when I catch myself I have to force a deep breath. Having dial-up internet service, no cell phone coverage, and no stores to shop at have all helped me slow down some. It's amazing how many distractions we face at any given moment. There are few errands to run; few "things to do" for the day. Today my goal is to read and write. That's it. Read and write. But guilt sets in and I fight myself to be okay that I won't accomplish much in the day and I will probably gain some weight to boot. Sitting around and just "being" is tough.

Mobettah Molokai

I have a feeling God had His hand in "unplugging" me for a couple weeks. I wasn't expecting it to be so hard to get internet connection but it was. The first problem is that I don't have a dial-up port on my Mac. That seemed to really confuse Justin from Mobettah.net the internet provider. Wifi doesn't really reach the end of the island where I am. He then referred me to Trevor.

Trevor is an African guy who came to Molokai via Minnesota (?). His business is in a trailer in the back of his house. There are two young locals that seem to work with him. They were talking pigeon and computerese and I couldn't understand a word they said. Trevor looked at my computer and couldn't understand why there wasn't a dail-up modem. "Every computer has a dial up modem. Is this new?" "No, I bought it two years ago." I mentioned the Airbook which doesn't even have a cd drive. Maybe that was too much tech to throw at him all at once.

I finally got the external port I needed but it took a few days, to get it (via phone order and fed ex) and make it work. All of that made me realize, I needed to be unplugged. I have no cell phone coverage and no Internet for the past two weeks. It's been good.

I had two solid weeks of just me and God. I read The Shack and Through Painted Deserts. Both of which reminded me that the main business I need to be about it building a relationship with Jesus. So simple and so true, but so hard. Just sit as His feet? Don't worry about quiet time rituals or studying the social context of the book of Philippians? Don't build a stronger volunteer base or set larger goals for the upcoming year? Just sit as His feet?

The beach where my condo is is incredible. I have dubbed it the Sanctuary. I truly feel as if when I sit on the lava rocks and stare out to the ocean (you can see Oahu on a clear day) that I am sitting before God. Prayer is too formal of a word here. It's more of just being with God, taking in creation, breathing in His air, listening to creation say, "I am loved, how much more you?" The Sanctuary is where I have cried and sang and listened. It us unlike any other place I've been to. It's safe and beautiful and welcoming.

I can't seem to post pictures here, but you can find it on my Facebook.

My cousin Gina arrived last Monday. Since then my solitude has been changed, but it's welcome change. 10 days is a long time to be alone. We also met a group of guys who are living and working on the property. It's been nice to have people to hang out with. They are mostly younger guys, some from Oahu, some from Utah, one from Connecticut: all Mormon, all Asian or Pacific islander. They love God and Jesus, sing on the ukulele how much you can depend on Him, and are genuinely some of the nicest guys I've met in a while. I'm a little unsure about the difference between our faiths, but I'm trying not to go there in our conversations since I don't have a ton of knowledge about the differences. They consider themselves Christian, but somehow I struggle with "the line" between us. I know the book of Mormon automatically changes the game for us, but what are the other essential differences? Any wisdom out
there?

Our new friends have shown us how urban we are. They asked us why would we buy mangoes and Papayas at the market when we can just pick them off the trees (we couldn't identify what one of those trees looks like). Maana also called us ballers because we bought our water. Gina and I felt a little silly when they are living off the land. They spear fish for their dinners and climb trees for coconuts. Darah (the one from Connecticut oddly enough) even shot one of the turkeys that roam around the property, plucked it and cooked it up. That's pretty smart considering I spent $181 dollars at the market my first day out here. Gas is $5 a gallon and the town is 20 miles away. It's expensive to leave the condo.

Today is really windy and rainy at times. Our new friends are leaving for Oahu for the weekend and we're getting some time to ourselves once again. I'll have to write about my massage experience in the next blog. Here' s a teaser: the woman stuck her fingers IN my ears and told me I was a Giver. It gets more wierd trust me.

I made it! Aloha!

My head and Diamond head (hehe)

I got on the plane this morning, kicked of my shoes and prayed for a smooth journey and a refreshing trip to Hawaii.  It was nice except for when we were about to land and I realized I had lost one of shoes!  I started picturing someone two rows down picking up my sandal and asking who's it was.  Then I'd have to sheepishly claim it and everyone would know I had my shoes off on the plane.  I also pictured standing at the baggage claim without my shoes while people looked at me in pity.  I panicked for a few minutes while trying to look cool, but before the last person deplaned I found my shoe and all was well.

I landed at 11am and had a whole day in front of me.  I took the shuttle to Waikiki.  The traffic of Honolulu stressed me out.  I'm glad I'm staying here for a couple days, but the idea of rural Molokai sounds so much better to me.   I checked into my fabulous boutique hotel and set out to hunt and gather food.  Okay, so I just went to the end of the block and ordered take out from Roy's.  In the next few hours I walked around the shops, took a dip in the ocean (okay got my butt kicked by the waves), Caught an outdoor show celebrating Hula Week, bought my dinner from the ABC store and retired early since I'm a bit jetlagged.  Ah the island life :)

Tomorrow I'm taking surf lessons by the pool even though I don't know how to swim.

Back in SF

I'm back in SF for a couple days before I leave for Hawaii. Today I got to spend some time with my roomate Renee. We had lunch, bought a bluetooth (law in effect tomorrow) and watched Sex in the City the movie. Good day.

I'm adding some shots of Seattle I took on the trip.  The girl on the left is my niece Sarah, singer and brown belt in Jujitsu.