Howz it?!

Howz it is a slang expression we have become very familiar with over the past few months. It's short for "how's it  going", "how are things?" Used very often in our work settings. So with that bit of knowledge.. HOWZ IT?

How are things here? (Thanks for asking by the way :)...

Life = good

Work= good

Church= great

Friends= great


So it seems like I would have little to type about. But I can think of a few things...

First, As many of our family members already know, Ben is going on a mission trip to Africa for 2 weeks the beginning of August. He is going with the youth group he has been involved with as a "leader." It will be quite the trip and one LONG LONG flight- around 24hrs in the air I believe. Swaziland is the country he will be going to. They will be working in orphanages and helping families devastated with AIDS.

Initially, Ben asked me if I would like to go with as they needed more "leaders." I  thought about it and thought "its okay, you can go. I don't even know the youth group or leaders." I was just making excuses. Some times its hard to get outside of your comfort zone. A few weeks later, I was invited by youth pastor Drew to come as a "medical personnel" on the trip. He told me "if we have a nurse on the trip, it gives parents peace of mind." I began thinking about it, praying about it, and even attended the first "orientation" session. I began meeting the youth and could see how God could use me.

 I was really excited about this amazing opportunity but unfortunately this would not last long. I found out that work was very stingy with my vacation days. Because I am a part of the HNA (Hawaii nurses association = UNION), time off is granted via "seniority" therefore, I was not granted time off for the mission trip. I was very disappointed and asked "Why not me, GOD!??" I am willing to go where you want to send me... I decided to stop questioning His plan and just realize that now is not my time. Since then, I have accepted it and began to support my husband and help him prepare for this life changing experience. I am very excited for him and to see/hear all about his experiences in Africa.

Another exciting bit of information= we are moving to a new place in April! Our contract at our cottage comes up the end of April so we began looking for a place that better suited us. We found a Townhouse in the town of Mililani. Yes we are giving up our 1/2 mile jaunt from the beach, but we will be in a more residential area, centrally located on the island. 30 minutes from everything essentially. North Shore, Work (for both of us), beach, church... This upgrade also means a full kitchen (yeah! no more toaster oven meals), garage, private lanai, two bedrooms/two bathrooms (to better host family and friends when they visit), washer/dryer in the unit, dishwasher (I have been married almost 4 years and this will be my first one :) I can hardly wait), closer to our friends, and one of the best perks... (drum roll please...) It's OLLIE friendly. I feel like I am going to be spoiled BIG TIME by moving into this nice place. Of course, there has to be a few negatives, right? Those would be a longer commute to church/work for Ben and its unfurnished. So we will have to scrounge up a few things such as a mattress, bar stools, etc but we will get it settled before anyone plans to visit. Below is a picture of what the outside looks like. Trust me more pictures will come once we get the keys!

So the next few weeks are exciting for the Christians. We will be moving, decorating/filling our new place (not with children), getting paper work/Ollie ready for the flight over, and anticipate our return home in June!

Thanks for being a faithful reader, even if I am not the most faithful writer :)

-Aloha,

Janell

I will PRAISE HIM in this Storm...

Some things in life will always live vividly in your memory. For the three of us, we will never forget where we were when we first got word of the Tsunami Warning that evening this March.

Brady was able to join in on the excitement as it was the last night before he went home. Brady and I were downtown Waikiki, walking down the main strip and checking out shops on the way. Ben met up with us at 9pm after his class was finished. We were just walking around and stopped in the Margaritaville shop. They had a live feed of a band playing in the restaurant upstairs. Suddenly they stopped playing. They said "some of us live on the beach and with the tsunami warning, we have to cut the performance short." I thought it was part of the "show".

We (Brady and I) didn't think much of it. Ben on the other hand was more concerned and began looking up the warning on his phone. We were soon told that the warning it wasn't a joke. Fear was yet to be instilled in us. We started walking back to our cars, about 1/2 mile away and it wasn't until then that we began to notice people leaving the once busy strip. The street performers, side walk shops, and tourists were suddenly packing up and scattering in all directions. Brady and I were yet to really be worried about this Tsunami excitement while Ben had a nervous look on his face.  What was a Tsunami anyway? Were we actually in danger?

According to my good friend Wikipedia, A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean. It wasn't until the moment we got into our cars and turned on the radio, that the reality of it all hit me. Every radio station was talking about the tsunami that was to hit Oahu at 3:00am. They were getting hundreds of thousands calling in, concerned about if their house was in the "evacuation zone." Evacuation zone?! What is that all about. What was supposed to be a quick 20-30 minute ride home turned into a stressful,  1.5 hr ordeal. People were fleeing from the coastlines to the middle of the island, and traffic was horrible. Everyone was trying to leave at the same time. To make matters worse, there was road construction blocking our "quick way to the interstate" and our cell phones were not working due to the system being overloaded with calls.  (Thanks AT&T :) We had two separate cars and were trying to call eachother to find another way home. But our calls weren't going through. Nonetheless, we made it home, unscathed around 11:15pm.

Once we got home, we looked online and noticed we were right outside of the "evacuation zone". We figured we would be close, considering we live a 1/2 mile from the beach. When we turned on the TV, fear really began to set in. Seeing Japanese towns get swallowed up by the water and the water cyclone taking out boats, cars, houses will forever live in my memory. That cannot happen here, can it?!

It was just about that time that our friends Brandon and Sheena texted us to make sure we were okay and that we were more than willing to spend the night at their house (which is in the center of the island, Mililani). Thankfully, Brady's phone was working so I called Sheena back and we began packing. Brandon and Sheena were so gracious to open their house to us as they just arrived back home at 9pm that night from a week long vacation. Inspite of the jet lag, no food in the house, dirty laundry, and just wanting to rest they invited us over. Thanks for being SUCH great friends and hosts :)

Packing. You cannot imagine how odd it feels to pack your "stuff" in two bags and have to "choose" what is important and what's not? What will stay and what will come with? We didn't know if the water would reach our cottage and possibly carry away our earthly possessions. We packed necessities and were told to prepare for possible power outages for days. Food (dry cereal, bread, fruit) was a necessity. We also packed a few change of clothes, back account information/check books, Bible, and brother Brady. The golf clubs, desktop computer, and bikes stayed.

We didn't sleep more than an hour or two that night. Our eyes stayed fixed to the TV as we watched the tsunami play out. We were expected to get the most damage of all the islands (along with Kauai). But when it was all said and done, there was minimal damage on our island. The Big Island (near Kona) got the most damage. The water crept into a shopping centers and caused a lot of damage to boats in the harbors.

We were so thankful to see the tides rise and fall and not much more happen than that! God kept us safe! He was our SHELTER.

Here is a video of what we were watching. It was hard to see what was coming since this was happening in the middle of the night. When we saw the water recede, we held our breath as we were scared of the big wave would follow. Thankfully it did not! 

As Brady said that night, "this was not on my list of things to do" :) He always knows how to keep the mood light. 

Hope all is well back home!

Have more updates on life, but will post them separately.

Take Care- Janell

PS. Once again, we have the 5 hr time difference between Hawaii and Central time after daylight savings  was observed on the mainland but not here in Hawaii. I'm not especially thrilled about this as it makes it harder to call home/plan Skype dates with the family.

I will follow.

Ben and I have just started a new bible study with our small group called Experiencing God by Blackaby. It has been a humbling and eye opening experience and we are only two weeks into the study so far. It has allowed for alot of self-reflection and examination of our relationships with God.

Some major points that have stood out to us are: 

- We always ask God for a detailed map of our lives. We say, "Lord, if You could just tell me where I am heading, then I will be able to set my course (or GPS :) and go." When actually we just need to follow God one day at a time. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. -- Much easier said than done, by the way.

-We are to daily search out God and find where he is working and go there. Whether it is at our work, church, community, in our families/friendships...ANYWHERE!


This last point makes me think of one of my most favorite songs:

Chris Tomlin's: I will follow you. 

With our past move and this recent Bible study, we can see what God has us doing here in Hawaii. We were scared and excited all at the same time for the big move. We were unsure as to what we would be doing and how things would work out so many miles from home. We asked so many questions: When would Janell get a job and where? Where would we we live? How can we afford to live in Hawaii? Are we going to find any friends? What church will we go to? Will we be able to live this far away from all of our family and friends?

I tried to plan out all these things to help with the move: I applied for dozens of jobs, and searched hundreds of apartment listings. Nonetheless, all my plans fell through. It's our nature to try to plan ahead, right? We want to be prepared. But looking back, all the things I tried to line up, failed. It was a hard lesson to learn but once we had faith that God would provide, HE did. God quickly provided for our needs in a much bigger way than we could have ever known we needed. Seeing this happen first hand in our lives helps us realize that no matter where we end up next, God is already working to prepare us for that place. Our God is an Awesome God!

I just want to challenge everyone this week to really search out God (ex. at work, Church, in your family), and pray for an open heart to follow HIM wherever he may need you. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Don't have excuses like Moses who said, "God, I cannot speak like my brother Aaron" rather say "I am ready for where you want to send me, I will follow you!" 

Where could God be sending you? Will you be ready to go where He needs you?


Happy Monday,

Janell

PS. Happy Birthday, Kim :)

"Feast your Eyes"

We had quite the week! My family flew in to Honolulu on Thurs Jan 13th. They were jet lagged, as expected from the 4 hr time difference and being up at 1:30am the morning of to drive to Omaha for their departure.


My dad had quite the Bucket List written down of all things he wanted to see and do on the island.
We knew we would hear the phrase"FEAST YOUR EYES!" often from my dad.  This is his famous phrase that gets repeated often when we see something new in God's creation or something that is just AWE-some.

Here is the actual list of all we saw and did every day during their 10 day stay:

Thurs Jan 13th- Mom, Dad, & Chris arrive to airport around 3:45pm. We pick them up and get their rental car. My dad and I were in charge of this supposedly simple task. We get to the Alamo site, and are told we "got a free upgrade to a full size car from the compact." We say "awesome!" :) Free is good! The overweight man looks in the Alamo parking lot full of all 5 vehicles and says "You can have the Gray Suzuki." So my dad and I start walking to the car, excited to tell the others about our upgrade. We open the doors and notice some Alamo brochures, just like the ones we had received. We didn't think much about it and started to get in the car when....a very upset man came running toward the car yelling "STOP THAT'S MY CAR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?!??!". We got out, stunned by the fact that we supposedly got in the wrong car when it was the only gray one in the lot. We look at the man who directed us to the car in the first place and he begins pointing in the direction of the Suzuki and saying we should take the car next to it. We were so confused by this point and weren't going to make another mistake again. We go over to the Alamo man, along with the upset Suzuki driver and asked what car he wanted us to take since he said that he initially wanted us to take the Gray Suzuki. He stated he incorrectly told us to take the other man's car and than we were to take the Red Chevy Aveo, located right next to the Suzuki. So in other words, the upgrade did not happen and we were so to speak promoted and demoted with in a 2 minute period.

So after that whole ordeal, we were glad to meet the rest of the group back at the airport and head to Kailua. Ben had to go to his first class for MCAT prep and the rest of us settled in and ate supper at Teddy's Burgers.

Friday Jan 14th- We went to Costco to get some groceries for the week, saw the Blowhole Lookout, relaxed at Kailua Beach, and ate supper at California Pizza Kitchen.

Feast your eyes

Mom & Dad

Dad and Chris with the Blowhole going off behind them

Saturday Jan 16th- The guys went to the Sony Golf Tournament and the girls went to the Swap Meet and Ala Moana Mall. Dad was giddy as he got a golf ball thrown to him personally from Iowa native, Zach Johnson. The highlight of the day for him. We also grilled burgers together at night at Mom & Dad's rental.

Sunday Jan 17th- We did an exercising tour of Lanikai. I ran and Dad/Chris did biked behind with their beach cruisers. 5ish miles round trip. Then we showered up and went to church. We were able to enjoy a Sunday meal together at church. Guys got free tickets from our small group friend, Eden and Dad/Ben were able to go the Sony Golf Tournament for another round. Mom, Chris, and I went to the beach for the afternoon and enjoyed shave ice and Island Snow Hawaii! 

Monday Jan 18th- We hiked Pillbox in the morning and went to the Polynesian Culture Center for the rest of the day. We had so much fun seeing the center, ate some great food at the Luau, and saw an awesome night show "HA, breath of life" at the PCC.

Crazy Tree Climber!

Floats representing the Polynesian islands

Luau!

Enjoying the close, VIP seating that Chris/Ben scored for us :) 

Retreiving the cooked pig from the stone pit

At the Show "HA" 

Tuesday Jan 19th- We went to Pearl Harbor, returned our Suzuki Chevy rental car, and did some souvenir shopping at Ward Center. The fam (mostly Chris) ended up with some good UH apparel.

Big Oil Leak that day.

Contemplating something about history I am sure...

We also got to see the Missouri!

 

Went to the Pali Lookout

Feast your eyes

Wednesday Jan 19th- Unsuccessfully hiked Diamond Head (not because of our physical inabilities, rather it is closed for maintenance during the weekdays), Snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, and ate a nice meal at Buzz's for supper (where we were given the "best seat/view" of the resturant. It overlooked the beach and canal). More pics to come later of this day. I let Mom/Chris be the photographers.

We caught this amazing sunset as we were leaving Buzz's. 

"The Heavens declare the Glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Ps 19:1 

Thursday Jan 20th- with the possibility of "The Eddie" ( a professional surf competition) that later got canceled to inconsistent 25-30ft waves, we headed up to the North Shore anyways to catch the professionals practicing for the competition. We ate a hearty breakfast before leaving at Cinnamon's. We later headed back to Kailua where we went boogie boarding. After we were all boogied out, we went to the weekly Farmers Market, and ate at Maui Tacos... YUM! 

 

 Pictures don't do justice for the size of the waves

All the Pros waiting for the perfect wave

The famous pro surfer Kelly Slater

 

An interesting sight Mom and I saw while the guys were boogie boarding. 

He gave us a good laugh for sure. He must've been worried about tan lines :)  

Friday Jan 21st- We successfully hiked Diamond Head Crater,  did some more boogie boarding, and had supper with our friends Brandon and Sheena at Roy's. -pics to come.

Saturday Jan 22nd- Whale Watching Tour on the Star of Honolulu (boat), Went to Waikiki and checked out the beach and did some shopping, ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise, went to Kailua Beach, and ate some Bob's Pizza for supper.

City Skyline

"I spot a whale!"

 Diamond Head

Me "feasting my eyes" :)

Whales are tricky to capture with cameras. 

This one came half way out of the water and did a 360 spin. It was awesome!

Breathing

Sea Turtle

Sunday Jan 23rd- Family left Hawaii for -20 degree weather. (not like they had a choice! :) 

It was so hard to see them go, like it always is! My eyes well up just thinking about having to say goodbye.  But looking back on all the fun things we did, laughs we had, and bonding that took place, I cannot help but smile. We made so many memories, ate a lot of good food (hopefully didn't gain 10 in 10- as my dad was worried about. 10 lbs in 10 days :) , and had some great days of relaxation. God has definitely blessed us with a great family.  We are so thankful they had the opportunity to come out and visit us here in Hawaii! 

So back to reality and life as we know it... in Kailua. 

Hope everyone has a great week and stays warm back in the midwest!

-Janell

Ps. Many more photos to come after I get some sent from mom/chris's cameras :)