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.