Father's Day 2010

30 cups of coffee, 1 pan of brownies, 1 bundt cake, 30 spam musubis, kids done with breakfast, and kitchen cleaned by 7:40am. On to church to set up tent and table for coffee.  This is our last week for our fundraising Sunday Cafe, and we leave for Ohio. 

Church was held outdoors again this week.  The sun took turns with the wind and rain, but by the end of service, it was shining brightly and hot.  Not to miss an opportunity to make good use of the ice cold water, Josh starts "bombs away" with the water bottles.  Koen and Kavin join him with Uncle Jeff watching.  After a while, Uncle Jeff realizes that he's supposed to stop them and starts shaking the finger at them.  Good times!

Home from church at 11:45 am and on to cleaning the house and cooking for the next meal. Trifle, ham, smoked turkey legs, layered bean dip, soybeans, and fresh strawberries. The kids are busy playing wii while the big kids sleep.  

Jime, one of our former foster teens that we worked with, calls to check in and say Happy Father's Day.  You know that the time and effort that you put in to change a kid's life is all worth it when they come back.  I ask him what he's doing today, and he jumps at the chance to come over.  He visits and catches up with everyone.  The kids are glad to see him again.  He is one of their favorites.  He has to leave right after dinner to catch the bus back to Job Corps, but not before I stock him with some food and get a promise that he'll call again in a couple of weeks.

We're never sure who will show up for our get together, but we know we'll always eat well and have fun.

Tonight, I reflect on those fathers that have touched our lives.  My own dad spent the day with us.  The one thing I am always thankful for is the morals and values that he instilled in us.  My grandpa who is gone, but a person that I will never forget and has forever left me his legacy of being a hard worker and great provider.  My brother-in-law, Kawika, who has been gone for the last two years.  He left behind a wonderful family, and we still miss him dearly.  My two brothers, Len and John, who have never shied away from stepping in to be "fathers" to all the kids.  My two brothers-in-law, Dave and Garrett, who live in other places, but you're great dads as we can see by the wonderful kids that you have.  And Jeff, who has had to be "dad" to so many that aren't even ours.  Thanks for all you do and who you are!

 

Aunty Malia

I took Koen home this morning. The whole way he complained although he was warned many times over the last couple of days to behave. He says, "I wan to go to the airport. I have to be away from people (his famous words this week). I have to see my family." I told him okay. I would drop him off at Aunty Malia's house. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I don wan to go to her house. I don like Aunty Malia." "Well, she's your family," I told him.

On the other side...I was hanging clothes this afternoon, and Kavin took out the water gun to try to shoot bees (yes, *rolling my eyes*). He told me he wanted to use water. I told him to wait until Sunday when his friends come, and we'll play water and have a party for Father's Day. So he asked if only "faders" could come, and I told him no. Everyone would come and celebrate fathers. So he said he wanted his family to come. After a pause, he said he wished that Aunty Malia would come, because he misses his Aunty Malia, and he wants her to come stay here. Then he said, "let's call her tomorrow, so I can talk to her." Expect a phone call again.

 

How Soft is Your Heart?

This is taken from the Challenge blog today:

Hey students,
Hosea 10:12 says, “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord” (NLT). That’s the call we’re holding out right now.
You see, it’s quite possible that thousands of us could gather later this month in Columbus, OH, hear incredible messages, sing great songs, have fun hanging out with our friends, and leave entirely unchanged, if our hearts are hard. On the other hand, if we come with hearts softened and prepared, there’s no limit to what God can do through that week. He could bring us to the point of total surrender, radically transform us, and raise us up as an army to take His fame to every person on the planet who does not know Him.
There’s a lot that God will do. He will do whatever it takes to confront us with the truth. But He asks us to prepare our hearts. How soft is your heart? Are there areas you’ve refused to surrender? Are there aspects of your life that you just haven’t allowed God to investigate and clean out lately? How sensitive are you to His conviction and direction?
Now, says Hosea, is the time to seek the Lord. Start plowing the ground now. Don’t wait until we arrive in Ohio.
If you look through the Bible, you will find that most intense times of seeking God, repentance, and desperate prayer were accompanied by fasting. Fasting is a very tangible way in which we can set our heart, mind, and entire being on God. The natural desire that we have for food can be deliberately directed to God, allowing us to see our desperate need for Him.
The Challenge 2010 team has set aside Wednesday, June 23, as a day of prayer and fasting for the conference. I’m writing this to you to encourage you to take this day seriously. You don’t have to fast the whole day. You can give up dinner. Or breakfast. Or TV. Or anything else that you feel you couldn’t live without. Let God fill that spot in your life. You don’t have to wait until June 23, either. You can start now (although it might not be wise to fast all food for a few weeks!). All we ask is that you intentionally give up something in order to set your heart more fully on God as we approach the dates of Challenge 2010. And that you pray.
Pray for the speakers, the lead worshipers, the workshop trainers, the drama teams—pray for their personal holiness, clear direction from God, and sensitivity to the Spirit. Pray for every group that will be going—for safety, prepared hearts, and transformed lives. Pray for the youth leaders—for rest, renewal, wisdom, and openness to God. Pray for the outreach and ministry projects—for effectiveness and right hearts. Pray for Columbus—that we would make a dramatic difference in that city. Pray for God’s will, His way, His glory.
Praying with you,
Glenn Olson

Celebrating the 25th

25 years ago, we stepped up as our name was called to accept that empty folder that would eventually contain our high school diploma.  A princess, a Hawaiian princess, bestowed upon us an opportunity that would take many of us far.  We had completed our high school education up on the hills of Kapalama and were entering the "real" world, ready or not.

This summer, many of our classmates gathered together to celebrate those 25 years, reminisce about the good old days, and create new memories to last us another five years.  Kapuaiwa was the home base for the class of '85 and the dorm that rocked each night.  Our class closed Don Ho's for a private party with over 250 people on class night, and many of us made it for the class picture, even if it meant running down the aisle right before the camera snapped.  The luau was the event of the week with tickets being sold out before the deadline and being resold for the same price.  Where else but Kamehameha would premium tickets not be scalped!  Only a handful made it to the memorial service on Sunday morning to remember those that we have lost, but not forgotten, along the way. 

There were many more events that highlighted the week and leaves us looking forward to another one in five years!

By the way, in true KS '85 style, our class pulled off a stellar performance and took home the trophies for Best Contemporary and Judges Choice.

King Kavin

We needed to go to Home Depot yesterday (the 3rd trip for this project), so we stopped at Burger King for lunch.  As we were walking towards Burger King from the parking lot (the one on Dillingham), Kavin asked me how we were going to pick up food without the car.  LOL!  The kid thought we could only get food by going through the drive thru.  To his surprise, we were actually going in and eating there!

It was crowded (lunchtime), but there wasn't anyone in line to order.  As soon as we approached the front, the shift manager greeted us and offered him a crown.  There was no stop to the excited talking after that.  She soon found out about his other crown, how old he was, where his grandma is, how sad his brother Koen is that he had to stay home with Kayla (that's right, Kayla), and on and on and on.

Today, he woke up and went to look for it.  He was wearing it all morning until we put "sparklies" on his gems with my Stickles (craft glitter glue).  I convinced him that he needed to leave it at home to dry while we went to Starbucks.  It's now on the floor next to his "bed" where he fell asleep with it.  That Burger King got my highest ratings.  I don't remember the food being outstanding, although it was good, but the smile on a little boy's face and the joy they created is all that counts!

Hawaii Scrappers Site

This is a local site that I stumbled upon a while ago.  Scrappers and crafters have their very own place to go to post to discussions and find out about what's going on around the island.  A really neat place to meet other people who love to do what we do.  It's free, so check it out!

Hawaii Scrappers Website

Father's Day Card

This is this year's Father's Day card that I made using one of the two step stamp sets from Stampin' Up.  It was simple and fast to create.  The colors go well together and can be changed for other occasions.

Shhh...don't tell the dads yet.