RK went on a trip last week and came back on Tuesday which means we’ve spent the week playing catch up. The clean laundry has gone from being a molehill to being a full-blown mountain. I don’t even know where to start! Well, at the very least, it’s made up of clean laundry!
What I’m Doing
Some sketchy people were hanging out on the lane so I didn’t venture out to do laundry while RK was gone. It may have been a bit of paranoia on my part. Different people who looked like they were on drugs kept hanging out on the stoop across from our apartment. It was happening so frequently that I started thinking that there was a drug dealer that had decided to move his business onto our street. So, I started praying for our neighborhood AND taking pictures of all the sketchy folks hanging around. I know, I know. I sound crazy. But if someone is going to try to move their drug business into my neighborhood you better believe I’m going to try my best to keep them out. Mama bear will come out! But the craziness has died down in part because we have good neighbors who tell sketchy people to move along. I’m thankful for that. There’s something about unpredictable tweakers that puts me on high alert. Of course, I want to pray for them and see them set free from their addictions but I also want to make sure that my babies are safe. I can’t really apologize for that. So basically, I’m taking pictures of people like a super spy and trying to catch the drug dealer in the act all while praying for their eternal souls. Busy, busy, busy.
What I’m Celebrating
We try to do a time of worship and soaking in the mornings with the kiddos. It makes this mama’s heart so happy to see my children engaging with God. It also made me feel really good that we still continued to do our family quiet time while RK was on his trip. They even prayed for RK and got a word of encouragement for him! I hope that in the future when he is on mission trips that the kiddos will continue to pray for him and contribute to what he’s doing through prayer and intercession as well as prophecy. I feel like these quiet times are laying a foundation of godly habits in their lives.
While he was gone we also celebrated Girls’ Day. Hinamatsuri or Dolls’ Day is a Japanese tradition celebrated on March 3rd. Since I’m Japanese, I thought I should pass on the tradition to my girls. When I was a girl my mom would make us pink mochi to take to school and share with our classmates. Girls’ Day came along and I hadn’t planned anything…to my shame! What would my mother think?! But the girls didn’t seem to notice. And then our mailman gave the girls cards and goodies for Girls’ Day!!! And he even through in a treat for Bubs! We’re so blessed! He even gave Keahi a Girls’ Day card that said she’s full of grace (that’s her middle name).
What I’m Watching
I went with my sister Nicole and watched The Shack. It was wonderful. I absolutely loved it. I read the book ages ago so I hardly remember it. They did a really good job of not making the bad stuff super bad (even though it was). I loved the portrayal of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit so much so that I would want my girls to see the movie. I’m not sure I want them to think about how evil the world can be, though. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to them about kidnapping and murder. But I would love to talk to them about how God is with us and heals us. It was so good. I want to watch it again.
What I’m Learning
I also went to a Women in Ministry Luncheon where I got to hear Debbie Stuart speak. I totally feel like I’m becoming conference lady. It has actually been really good for me. I kept thinking to myself that being in God’s presence is better than vacation. He really is. Man, I just think that his presence is as good as it gets. I get too involved in my stuff and then I forget that I have everything I need and I don’t need anything else. His love is better than Disneyland. For real.
I really needed to hear her message. I left there feeling like I have been a real wuss lately and need to take up my cross and suck it up and follow him. Less complaining. More doing. More clinging to Jesus. She gave us some assignments. I started by doing my 20 minutes with Jesus this morning. I still need to make more room for Him in my life and ask him for a word for the year. Good stuff.
What NLC Waikiki is Doing
So, since RK was out and about visiting our home church in ABQ, I did the service last Sunday. I talked about how important it is to keep our commitments in covenant. Covenant is not about what you can get from the other person but what you can do for that person. With that in mind, I talked about the covenant Ruth made with Naomi and how everything worked out in the end. Things had been bleak, depressing and hopeless and yet she stayed. She made a choice and stuck with it. And every day we have the choice to stick with Jesus (no matter how hard things get). And at the end of it all, she got her kinsman-redeemer. She got her Boaz. And isn’t Jesus our Boaz? He redeems us, doesn’t he? At the end of this life, we get to marry our Boaz. We get Jesus. So, we can endure the hardships that come our way. We can work in the fields. We can labor knowing that we will enter into His rest. We can keep our covenants for the joy set before us.
This morning, a woman who attends our church shared a great story. Every week RK asks how we’ve done following (Jesus) and how we’ve done fishing (for people). Today this woman shared about how she was hospitalized this week and had to share her room with a grumpy, elderly man. During her stay she would read her Bible aloud and of course, he balked and complained and told her to be quiet. But she just kept on reading aloud. When it was time for her to leave the hospital the man asked her if she would leave her Bible with him. She did. But she didn’t stop there. She went to the business office and asked them why they no longer had Bibles in the rooms. They replied that they thought no one needed or wanted them. So she got to tell them about her experience there!
I’m really proud of my little church. I see these wonderful God-people following and fishing! More and more I am beginning to understand how God uses the weak things to show himself strong. I’m starting to see that the least likely people–the homeless in my city–can and will be the people who make Jesus famous in Waikiki.
