This is Not My Home

Living in Hawaii during this temporary season has been quite interesting and quite the adventure.  We have loved learning a new place, but we live very differently here than we did back home.  When we moved here, we brought very little with us; and, as I do things like grocery shop, I typically buy just what we need for the week so that we will not have extra food items leftover when we leave.  In other words, we really don’t stock up on many things because we know our season here is short. 

A lot of the time, we stick out like a sore thumb.  It is very evident to most people here that we are not ‘local.’  Between our skin color (and its propensity to sunburn) and our inability to pronounce the Hawaiian street names, it’s quite clear that we’re not from around here.

Even after being here for a month, it still does not quite feel like home.  Oftentimes, I catch myself thinking about my family “back home,” wondering what the weather is like, thinking about our new nephews, longing for the fellowship of our church family…  Our living situation here is great – ideal, in fact; but most days I find myself dreaming about our future house where we will live when we are finally settled, done with this transitory year.  I picture it filled with guests for a dinner party; or I imagine what the garden might look like in the late spring. Some days it is difficult to be fully present here while my heart is longing for there.

While I was reading this morning, it occurred to me that this is precisely how I should feel about life on Earth.  I should feel like a temporary citizen, like I don’t quite belong.  Just because I live in Hawaii right now, does not give me Hawaiian residency. My driver's license still says, "Oregon."  I do not walk through the door of our apartment and feel enveloped by that familiar comforting sense of home.  It's great, don't get me wrong, but it's not home.

I want to long for our future Glory the way I long to be home now.  I know my heart, and my heart is desperately tied to the things of this world. I find great comfort in familiarity and great security in what I can see. I want to gain a more eternal perspective of our time here on Earth.  What a blessing to spend this temporary season in such a beautiful place, but what greater Beauty awaits!  Hold on, heart, we're not Home yet.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." - Phil. 3:20-21 

Wave After Wave

This morning, we awoke to gray skies and threatening, dark clouds.  Today has been a day of slate-wiping, dust-clearing, blustery, totally cleansing rain.  And it's only 8am.  After days of hot, humid weather, this rainstorm is complete relief.  I always drink my coffee hot, but it's nice to actually want it hot on a morning like this.  Even in this cleansing rainstorm, this place maintains its own unique sense of beauty.  But, enough about today.  Yesterday is the real reason we're all here.

Yesterday was pretty incredible.  Not because of the weather and not because of the beaches.... but because we had the joy of becoming an aunt and uncle for the second and third time.  My incredible sister-in-law gave birth to our two handsome nephews bright and early yesterday morning.  Yes, we are loving it here in Hawaii, but I can honestly say, I've never wanted to be back in Washington more than I do right now.

So, after living on my phone watching for updated information and pictures of the boys, I figured it was time to do something productive with my day. (Not that following your nephews' births is not productive, I had just barely left our apartment all day)  So, I decided to put together a little picnic for Cole and drive him up to the North Shore after work for a surprise sunset dinner.  It was worth the drive.

After we'd finished eating, we just sat there watching the *huge* waves roll in.  I really don't know what it is, but waves can be so mesmerizing.  There were a few kids playing in the surf a bit down the beach and the waves were so strong that, even if they had wanted to resist, the kids were continually bowled over by the power of the waves.  Driving, overwhelming waves.  

And, all I could think about was God's grace.  Wave upon wave of driving, overwhelming, completely undeserved Grace.  Two brand, new, healthy lives back home.  Grace.  A safe delivery.  Grace.  Living in this beautiful place. Grace. A great local church. Grace. Nearly 3 years of marriage to this incredible, forgiving, loving man.  Grace.  The cleansing morning rain. Grace.  Bowling me over day after day after day.

5 Things

The View atop Diamond Head

1. It's incredible how a slight change in climate can affect so many things. My hair, for example, though hard to control in this humidity, has never been happier.  And, one thing that I've learned in the two weeks that we've been here thus far is that, given this humidity, food turns stale far more quickly.  Tortilla chips were chewy in a matter of hours; and the Oreos went soft overnight.  I guess that means we have to eat them faster.  Darn.  

2. I've learned that if you do not speak any English whatsoever and cannot understand the sign that says, "Cash Only," and all you have is your credit card and the attendant is irritated with you, my husband will step in without a second thought and pay for your entire family's admission.

3. Given the limited time that we are here and the *extremely limited* size of my kitchen, keeping dinner healthy, fresh, and creative has become a challenge.  Not wanting to load the shelves of our temporary home with seasonings and spices that will not be used up during our three month stint (and not wanting to take any home or have too much go to waste), we have learned to appreciate the beauty in the simplicity of a little salt, pepper, and garlic.

4. If you ever need motivation to workout, spend a day at the beach.  

5. It has been so refreshing to have our evenings back, now that Cole is done with the "schooling" part of school.  Perhaps life on the island is getting to me, but it has been so nice to slow down a bit. Easily, the highlight of my day is our nightly dinner that we linger over on our back porch overlooking the harbor.  I really like this guy.

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The First Week

And now, for a very non-sequitur update…

Well, we made it.  After all the packing and planning and travel logistics, we made it.  With three large suitcases, two small bags, and two backpacks, we moved to Pearl City, Hawaii.  While we have been extremely busy getting settled, we have most definitely been enjoying our time here.  We were even blessed to have Cole’s parents here for the first week to help us get settled.

The view from our back porch

 
 
 
It has been so fun exploring the surrounding areas.  Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, warm ocean water will never get old to me.  Every time we swim here, I can’t get over the extraordinarily blue and amazingly warm water.  So cool.  We have so enjoyed trying some of the local restaurants and soaking up all the aloha spirit (can you say “live music and hula dancing during cocktail hour”??).  But, lest you think that our time here has been nothing but paradisiacal, let me give you a snapshot of our week.

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A few years back, another Optometry student who was here on rotation bought a car; and it has since been passed down to student after subsequent student.  We were thrilled to hear of this arrangement and relieved to have an answer to our transportation problem.  The arrangement sounded great and we planned to pass it on to the student after us, until on Sunday night, just 4 days after Cole had inherited the car, it went belly-up on him.  The downside to the whole car arrangement was that this breakdown was inevitable and we were the fortunate students upon whom it decided to conk out.

I arrived on Monday night and spent the first day here at the mechanic trying to solve the issue while Cole was at work.  Long story short, it would have cost more than the car was worth to repair.  So, Wednesday was spent with my in-laws looking for cars.  By God’s grace, we found a decent replacement and have already beaten a path between Pearl City and Waikiki. Needless to say, dealing with car issues is one of my least favorite things.

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We are living in a residential area about 15 minutes from the beach. Cole absolutely loves his placement and attending doctor. And our little studio apartment has a washer and dryer.  This is all far more than we could have asked or imagined.  We are so very thankful for this adventure and for the way that the Lord has showered goodness upon goodness – even in a dead car – on our time here.  We are so excited to see what the next three months have in store!

Again, lest you think every day here is sunshine, palm trees, and Mai Tais on the beach, we are currently experiencing our first – and quite blustery! – Hawaiian rainstorm. I may or may not have a sunburn that is thankful for a day out of the sunshine…  Don’t let our pictures fool you, it gets cloudy here too!

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