We have had quite a week! RK met his weight loss goals and placed second in the UFC weight loss competition. Keahi did some street evangelism at Pizza Night. I started a cleaning company. One of the guys at our church got a job in the nick of time keeping himself and his five year old daughter off the streets. The kids celebrated Passover with my family while RK and I went to dinner with the Silvosos and the Transformation Hawaii ‘Ohana. And I keep thanking God for His goodness because it seems that now more than ever we are going from glory to glory and strength to strength.
What I’m Celebrating
RK completed the UFC weight loss challenge and finished second for overall percentage weight loss. He was a little bummed (to say the least) about losing. He can be very competitive. But I was celebrating the fact that he met his weight loss goals. At the beginning of this competition he set out to lose 60 pounds. It had almost seemed like an impossibly large task. He had three months to get down to the weight he was when we got married! And he crushed it. On the day of the final weigh ins he had lost a total of 61 pounds! And although he was moping about losing, I was celebrating the fact that he has added years to his life with his family and that he did what he set out to do.
What I’m Proud Of
Every Tuesday, for the past five years, we’ve served pizza at the first pavilion down near “Walls” in Waikiki. On Tuesday, RK had to go to the final weigh ins at the UFC gym and stay for the awards ceremony. I piled the kids into the car and headed for Papa Johns to pick up the pizza. Along the way, I asked the kids to pray with me for the people we would minister to. We call them the friends of Jesus. After I had handed out all the pizza, Keahi came up to me and told me that she wanted to pray for a young man in a wheel chair. I told her she could go and ask him. I watched as she walked over to the hill where he was sitting and asked him if she could pray for him. He nodded and took off his hat as she put her hand on him and prayed. It was precious to see. It was the kind of thing that I wanted a picture of but didn’t want a picture of. It was just too sweet a moment to cheapen, you know? Even the adults were awe-struck by this display of God’s love and compassion.
What I’m Loving
My Aunty Corinne decided that she wanted to celebrate the Passover this year. I thought it would be a wonderful way for my children to learn about a significant event in the history of the Jewish people that was a type and shadow for the coming of Christ and the sacrificial lamb He was for all mankind. She had an entire script. I was told that it was very well planned out. The children came home full of excitement. They knew the story of the Passover but it seemed that something came alive to them. In their zeal they asked RK to read to them the story of the Passover again that evening. It was 11 when we finally got to bed. I love it when the children make such connections with and through history. It has suddenly become so clear why the Jewish people would chose to celebrate it annually. It has undoubtedly had a profound effect on my own children.
Date Night
While the girls were off with my family enjoying the Passover. RK and I had a mini date at the Barnes and Nobel. It felt like it did before we had kids! Quiet. Relaxing. Lol! But it was nice. We don’t get a lot of time to just enjoy each other. So we did some reading and holding hands and talking. It was really nice.
What I’m Thinking About
On Sunday night we had dinner with Ed Silvoso and the exec team for Transformation Hawaii. I realize now that God has chosen family as the vehicle for transformation. When I looked around that room, filled with giants in the faith, full of passion for Jesus and a desire to see Hawaii made new, I felt as if I was with my family.
I talked about a dream I had where I was called to put on my dress whites and join my people. At Kamehameha Schools we would recite Princess Pauahi’s favorite scripture. It speaks of the earth being the Lord’s possession and all that is in it and how those who ascend the hill of the Lord are those with clean hands and pure hearts. I like to think that that is why we wear dress whites. Whites represent the righteous acts of the saints. Hawaii is changed through pono acts. Hawaii will be changed through acts of service. And Hawaiians will answer the call of their ‘Ohana.
What I’m Listening To
I listened to the Bethel Church podcast by Bill Johnson called “Prayer is Training for Ruling”. It really stirred me up inside. I felt a very strong warning to press in to militant prayer over the prophetic words over our lives and ministry. It made me realize that I have not looked at any prophetic words in years! So that’s going to happen.
Every morning I write down three things that I am grateful for. It helps me to think about what is good, and just, and beautiful in my world. There really is so much to be thankful for. When I look back at the tapestry of my life, I see that God has been there all along. He has made my mistakes and failures into beautiful things. I hope that as you go about your week, you take the time to see all the good things in your own life. And if things are not going well for you, I pray that you will be thankful that God is not finished with you yet.
My brother Bryce made this beautiful mural for Waikiki Beachside Hostel.
