Miss you.

Xoxoxoxo

Move All Your Maps To Here. I Love it.

I’ve been jealous for a long time of anyone with Instagram. And the other day I spent forever messing around with my dad’s I-pad. But I gotta say. I really do love Christmastime around my house. I love how my mom decorated my room for when I got home from Bible College, I love the wrapping of presents, I love seeing my Christmas present from 6 years ago playing with her toy (my dog Lucy-girl) love sleeping in, and I love the light shining through my window in the morning. I love it.

Home For the Holidays

There’s nothing so pleasant as coming home.” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster.

 Ah, home! There’s nothing like it after being gone for a while..

“Lately”, has been full of traveling (wish I could have looked this glamorous while traveling home), thoughts of ugly christmas sweater parties, family, opening presents by the tree, and getting to drive my old Volkswagen again.

Feel in the mood to bake? Click here.

Feel in the mood for some christmas music? Listen to this album.

Sigh, I sure love Christmas-time.

What To Do With Life…

“Come climb the hill with me come and be still with me come watch the sun sink away if you will with me – Magic Hour Andrew Peterson”

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know that I’m sure thankful this year.

“Faith with thankfulness doesn’t just look for the Lord, it looks to the Lord. It knows who He is. It remembers past mercies and bases today’s needs on their proven source. It comes to God with possibilities, not knowing how He will address them, but knowing He will address them well. It is not a tentative question about God;  it is a knowledgable statement. It understands His grace.

Your prayers have no need to be filled with fear and confusion; wondering if God will be good to you-there is no reason for such uncertainty. Scripture is filled with His goodness and so is your life. Look between the hardships and the pain and see that He has granted you life and redemption. There are always blessings to find-far more than we can count. gratitude makes faith strong. Thankful people understand the God who is strong. They see His face and are not afraid. They aren’t just hoping for His goodness. They’re expecting it.” – “Gratitude Believes” (A Daily Devotional Excerpt for November 26th by Chris Tiegreen)

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend full of lively things. Don’t forget how much there’s to be thankful for even after the thanksgiving dinner has been eaten and the football games are over. Be thankful for LIFE!

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place?

Sometimes words get stuck in my head; I’ll wake up with them on my lips. Today I had a phrase pressing upon my heart as if someone kept whispering it to me over and over. “Dwelling place” is what it was and it so did press upon me, yet in the gentlest way. I don’t  know for sure, but I think everyone has a dwelling place of their choice; a place where they feel their safest, the most themselves. For some of us, maybe it’s  a place we’ve been once to in our lives and spend our time dreaming of when we will go back, or maybe a place we go to often; a spot down by the lake, or a nook tucked in the trees in a pretty forest, or or our favorite chair by the window in our room. But for most of us, I think we’ve never really physically been there before.

When I think of a Dwelling Place, different places come to mind and I’d like to describe them for you; some are exotic and wild that whisper of adventure, others are quiet and calm and shout of rest and peaceful things. But though I’d like to tell you about them more fully, and describe them in detail (because theres’ so many things to love about these places) I can’t tell you, because it almost feels unfair to put my image into your head. My dwelling places are my own, and you I’m sure have your own tucked into your heart somewhere too to enjoy.

But I can tell you that each place I think of has things in common. Each place is pleasant and nice, homey, a place of safety and rest, peaceful, soft, earthy, warm and cool at the same time, gentle yet wild, refreshing with a sweet-aroma, there’s always a sense of security and solitude too, yet I feel known and understood there, like I can be myself completely without any pretenses, or trying to be anything at all. And when I think of these things, that’s when I realized who was whispering this word to my heart…and I smiled as I felt Him smile at my reckognizing His voice; He’d been waiting for me to recognize it, and I think he was calmly excited as I did. These descriptions, and my dwelling places were all filled with Him. They were drenched in His likeness and presence. And that’s when I realized too, that He’s my dwelling place, He’s my place of rest, the home for my heart and my heart is His home, His dwelling place! What a wonderful thought. I can’t help but think of David’s thoughts on this. He wondered what the Lord’s dwelling place looked like “How lovely is your dwelling place Lord?!” And I marvel at the thought that my heart is where He dwells. “I’d rather spend a day there than a thousand anywhere else!” David said. And I can’t help but marvel that if I want Him to, the Lord will dwell in my heart, and I can find that He is my dwelling place!

I think that maybe this is the secret to that contentedness Paul talked about in Philippians 4. That no matter where you’re at, whether in the lovliest of places surrounded by exotic flowers or in a homey nook resting by the fire, or sitting in the drabbiest shabbiest of shacks without any luxury at all, you can smile and enjoy the pleasantness filling your heart. We can enjoy our dwelling place, our refuge, and shield; Jesus. Maybe this is how Paul and Silas found joy to sing praises in prison, or how Corrie Ten Boom and Betsie could smile in a concentration camp cell. Maybe that’s how I can learn to smile no matter what. I’m so thankful that Jesus is our dwelling place, and that He is pleasant even when Life is not!

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Saturday Morning…

Just spent an awesome Saturday morning at Honolua Bay…

Weekend Things…

A weekend with him:

Carving a pumpkin while singing to Jack Johnson. Grocery shopping together. Making dinner in the kitchen. Doing the dishes as a team in his condo. Playing with the neighborhood kids. Tickle fights. Singing and playing guitar together. Day early trick-or-treaters. Worship night at the church. Rollerblading in the park. Cuddling while watching a movie. Sitting together at church. Watching a friend be baptized in the ocean after service. Lunch with friends. Laughing together. Talking to his mom on the phone. Loving his smile.  Playing with his curly hair. Not thinking about homework. Riding the bus. Stormy warm weather. Sharing the camera; Taking pictures of eachother.Cold raindrops on a hot Maui day. Laying on lawn chairs; watching the sun go down. Racing eachother to the pool. Walking on paths lit by lamplight. Staring at the stars. Finding Constellations. Italian restaraunts and super good pizza. Scary stories the night before Halloween. Billy our pumpkin being used as a stepping stool by little children looking in the windows. Walking home together and saying goodnight to a wonderful weekend together…

The Little Things That Bless You…

 It’s funny how the smallest things can bless you! Like the little card from my parents I saw sitting on my desk as I woke up today, or the sweet text I got from a friend back home, or the video of my niece who’s one year old today that my sister sent me… or the new friend I made this morning!

I got up way too early, just as I do every week day, and before that, debated how long I could get away with staying in bed for. I ate some cereal, and blow dried my hair, and just as I went to grab my bike out on the Lanai and head to school, I heard something I’d never really noticed before. I know it’s there every morning, but for some reason I always ignored it, except for today …this morning, I heard the saddest bark in the world; and instead of ignoring it in annoyance as usual, I decided to stick my head over the side of the lanai and see who the culprit was! You couldn’t really stay mad at him, he was the sweetest little beagle ever. He looked so sad. So I smiled and spoke down to him “Hello puppy.” He looked up at me and cocked his head. He formed his lips to bark, but I smiled bigger, and he seemed to change his mind, and instead he wagged his little dark tipped tail at me. “good doggy!” I said and he seemed to smile too. I think we instantly became unlikely friends this morning just from the simple hello we gave eachother. I loved it.

You Expected to Be Sad In The Fall…

“You expected to be sad in the fall.  Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light.  But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen.”

 

— Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

 

 Image Via Here

 

This quote used to be true for me. Fall was a time that felt sad. No more sun or warm weather. But honestly I live in an endless summer now; so everytime I walk into the Kihei Starbuck’s and the signs say, “say hello to Fall with a Pumpkin Spice Latte” I’m just not feeling it! It just doesn’t feel like Fall, and If it’s not fall, I  don’t feel like having anything with pumpkin spice in it.

 

But other than not wanting to drink Pumpkin Spice lattes, I’ve felt pretty happy about October. I feel hopeful it’s gonna be a good month. I’ve been reminiscing today. I talked to my sister on the phone and could hear her husband Nate’s voice in the background talking to Coco in his “Coco voice” and it just made me so happy. I remember this time last year, my sister was 9 months pregnant with Coco and little did I know my brother would soon be married, my sister and her husband would be moving, I’d be headed to Maui, and that my parents, my brother and his wife; my sister in-law would all be moving too! Ah, life is so full of changes.

 

I also remember last year writing the verse “He makes all things beautiful in it’s time” – Ecclesiastes 3:11 and feeling like that person holding onto the hope of Spring. But today, as I sit here at the start of Fall being in full swing; I’m not just hoping, I’m seeing the sun and goodness. I feel like the Maui sunshine is the reflection of the sunshine in my heart. I’m so happy. And so blessed. God has taken care of me over this last year. And I feel like for the first time in a long time, I can just rest in the fact that the sun wont just be shining at some point but is shining. I can see that God has made things beautiful in His timing and I can see that God has worked things out for good. And without all those cold days, I don’t think I’d appreciate these warm ones as much as I do So thank you Lord for being so good! Thank you for sunrises on Fall mornings and birds to greet me as I ride my bike to morning chapel. Thank you for happy Fall days. Thank you for being to me a sun and shield and for doing abundantly beyond what I could ever ask or think!

 

…(Ah, on a side note, I have to confess though that I kinda miss getting to wear jeans, comfy sweaters, socks, and eating smores in the backyard with my family. But I have been enjoying all the little things that are so beautiful like sweet and thoughtful letters from home (there’s nothing better than seeing a postcard or letter sticking out of the mail slot with your name on it), smiles, and sunsets on the beach.

 

 

 

 

Waterfalls, Stars, Red Sand, Rainbows, Waking Up Early, Watching The Sunset, Spending Time With You…

Wow! I haven’t written in forever!!! …And I haven’t even really thought about that fact until the other day when my brother commented and so nicely said, “You’re in Maui for Pete’s sake! Post something!” Haha. And ya know, he’s right! So here we go.

If you’ve ever been to Maui, I sure hope you’ve been to Hana, ’cause Hana is so amazingly beautiful. I’ve never been to Maui before coming to Bible College, so anywhere we go here I’m amazed with…but Hana…Hana’s something extra special. My school took a three-day camping retreat there a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, it was so darn cool!

If you don’t believe me, let me describe it to you. Lush green trees filled with long wild mossy vines, flower filled branches with so many colors; pink, red, yellow, and purple… The ocean is such a vibrant clear blue and it rains at least once every day; and not just any rain, but real RAIN!! Like hard-core down-pour kinda rain…but it’s awesome ’cause it’s still warm out.

If you go to Hana, here is a checklist of things you MUST do:

1. Wake up early and watch the sunrise
2. Hike to the Four Hundred Foot Waterfall
3. Walk through the Bamboo forest
4. Go to Hamoa Beach
5. Swim in the seven Sacred Pools
6. Enjoy the windiest road in the world known as “The Road to Hana”
7. Go Camping
8. Eat Guava straight from the tree
9. Pick a different color flower from every tree
10. And you must, absolutely MUST take a sunrise swim at Red Sand beach in the rain when a rainbow is smiling across it…’cause that is seriously the coolest thing ever!

Oh and if you have time, lay on your back and watch the stars, watch the sunset over the water, and do devotions on the edge of the ocean! Those are good things to do too.

And now as I’m sitting in Starbuck’s listening to the new Feist album…all I can say is, “Oh Hana…I miss you.”