What a Surprise!!

Tomorrow, our country will go to the polls to vote for a president, other officials and different ballot measures.  If you are like me, you are quite sick of all the campaign information.  I have grown weary of seeing the Facebook posts which usually run down one candidate or the other.  I have been embarrassed to see how angry family and friends are about one candidate or the other.  I cast my ballot several weeks ago, so it's been easy to tune out the election hoopla.  I know that Barack Obama cannot fix what ails our country.  I know Mitt Romney doesn't have the solution for the deep problems of our country.  I'm not looking to a politician to bring lasting change because they are the ones who got us in the bind to begin with.  My hope is found in Jesus, the salvation He offers and the abundant life He has given.  So I thought I would let me blog for this week be an escape for you if you have tired of this election cycle.

For the past few weeks, I knew that Leah had planned a trip for us.  She would not reveal the location, only to let me know that we were taking a trip.  She found someone to preach for me and lead the music for her.  She asked family and friends to watch our two sons and found a kennel for our dog.  It would be just the two of us from Friday morning until Monday evening.  She led me to believe that we would be going to Denver, Colorado.  Great location for us since we have several wonderful friends who live in Denver.  One of those is Evan Dalrymple, who was the best man at my wedding and who sings the national anthem before Denver Broncos' home games.  I checked the schedule and the Broncos were at home, so I figured we would be going to a game with Evan.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend away from the kids and work.  Oh, but my wife is tricky.  Many of you are under the false impression that I am the trouble-maker in the family.  You need to know that Leah is really the one you need to watch and keep an eye on. She fooled me.

The day before we leave, it is time to pack, so she tells me our destination...the Big Island of Hawaii.  Of all the locations on earth, the Big Island is my favorite.  We lived there for ten years and it still has the unspoiled beauty of old Hawaii along with some of the friendliest people I have ever met.  We didn't tell anyone we were going, we just hopped on the plane and headed to Kona.  Our first clue to family and friends was the picture we took at the Kona airport and sent to our Facebook pages.  Before we could check Facebook several hours later, the messages were lighting up asking if we were on the Big Island.  It wasn't really a people trip, but a place trip.  After the busyness of adopting Caleb, along with lots of work at the church, we were looking forward to relaxing and enjoying God's beauty.   Before our first day was over, we had gone to two wonderful beaches and driven to Kamuela to eat at Yong's Kalbi.  

We soaked up as much of the beauty of the Big Island as possible.  Here are some of those places:

 A beautiful Big Island sunset with the moon glistening beside Mauna Kea

 Paddling a kayak in Puako

 The Ednie's wonderful beach house in Puako

Leah doing the "Scutaro" at Mauna Kea Beach

Hiking to Maumae Beach

 Hapuna Beach

Kiholo Beach

Rock graffiti on the side of the road which we made in honor of the Giants winning the World Series

We were definitely sad to leave our Big Island after such a relaxing and beautiful trip.

However, what made the trip more special was the wonderful friends we were able to see and with whom we reconnected.  The faces of those wonderful friends brought a joy to my life.  It reminded me of the hours we had spent together, serving the Lord and ministering to each other.  We had friends join us to eat.

We had friends open their homes to us.  We had friends who asked us to stop by and when we arrived, they weren't home (Not to mention any names, but Linda Tohara, this was the second time you did this to us)

We came back refreshed by a place which is very special to us.  We asked God to make the days long in a good way, and He answered that prayer.  We asked, each day, He would give us the opportunity to encourage someone...and He did.  We even got to experience a tsunami while we were there.  One of the churches even put me to work during the tsunami, so we still were involved in ministry.  I am grateful that God allowed us this opportunity to return to the Big Island.  This surprise from my wife was the best gift I have received in a long time and the memories of this trip will linger for years to come.  Whenever things get a little crazy, in my mind I will just drift back to Hapuna, Manua Kea Beach, Puako, Anaehoomalu Bay or Kiholo.  When the media and friends are all in a tizzie over the election, I will drift off in my mind to one of these places - Feel the sun shine, the gentle trade winds and the splash of the ocean.  I know, this isn't the most deep and spiritually profound blog, but I hope you enjoyed getting away from the noise and commotion of your life to relax in the sun drenched beauty of God's wonderful creation of the Big Island.  By the way, how about asking God to give you someone to encourage today and see what happens.  Sip in it, hang loose, relax and don't forget to tip your driver!