Our Hawaiian Adventure Began

I'm continuing my look back at the changes that occurred in our life ten years ago this month...

 

This post was my first post from Hawaii.  Of course I had worked on it for days before we actually traveled.  I chose to make my blogs private for several years since we were gone so much.  I quietly changed that at some point and usually do not "advertise" when we are away from home.

McMoments and Memories and McMarathon Moments are now private blogs.   Welcome faithful readers.  And now for the explanation you’ve all been waiting for:

Les is taking a job with a company in Hawaii!

Yes, it’s true.  Les is joining a company in Hawaii.  For the next six months or so, we will be living in Honolulu for 3 out of every 4 weeks as Les goes through an “immersion” period.  After those six months we will come home and Les will work from our home in California, with some travel.  We really got this part wrong!!  We originally signed a six month lease on our condo, but that turned into a year.  After we came home, Les did work from home, but "some travel" does not come close to the amount of traveling Les and I have done in the past decade.  We have taken more than 40 trips to Hawaii in that time and Les has probably taken at least that many trips to other places here on the mainland for business. We have also taken personal trips to many places here on the mainland and to Europe (Italy, Greece, Turkey), The Philippines, Mexico and Canada.  "Some travel" indeed!

Why the privacy?  Les’ new job is not a big secret.  We have counseled with our pastor about this every step of the way, so we’re not running away or anything like that!  The main reason for the privacy is that our home will be sitting empty much of the time (we will have someone coming in once a week and a neighbor keeping an eye on things.)  I don’t know if there are any stalkers reading my blog, but I didn’t want to risk it.  I don’t want to worry about blogging about what’s going on in Hawaii and wonder if someone is breaking into our home in California!

How did this major change come about? Les was laid off his job on October 22nd. We had a feeling that might happen, but it wasn’t easy when it did. The job search began immediately. He looked for work locally and no doors opened. We spent much time in prayer about this decision and asked God to close the door if it was not His will. Well… this is the only door that opened. His first day of work is tomorrow, January 21st, one day shy of three months without a job.  There was one particular day that I was praying about this situation.  I told God, "Hawaii is fun to think about while we are waiting for You to open the right door."  Without a doubt, I felt God tell me in that moment that Hawaii was the door.

In some ways, this might seem like a fun adventure, and it is.  In other ways, it’s a bit scary (Another understatement here! I was very nervous about heading into the unknown) leaving the comforts of home, including our home church. Being even farther from our families is not ideal, but we truly feel that this is God’s will for us.  I felt in prayer that God has a plan that we just can’t see.  I have prayed that this will be a time of growth for us.  That we will be a blessing to the church we will be attending.  

 

I’ve thought more than once – why would God wants us to go here?  We are so involved at Victory Tabernacle.  How can this be God’s plan? But I also realized we are very comfortable where we are and maybe we just need a little shaking up.  If you've been reading my blog through the years, you know that our love for Hawaii and the many people we know there has continued to grow.  God's plan included a wonderful church family and many, many friends.  We didn't go to Hawaii and just relax - I've been involved in music and Les has been used for teaching and preaching.

I’m sure there will be many posts as we travel and settle in.  We arrived in Oahu Friday evening.  For now we are in a hotel, but we'll be moving to corporate housing soon (I hope!)  I’ll be giving the grand tour at that time.  Please feel free to ask questions via comments or email me directly (kathymmc@yahoo.com)

I have used the phrase, “The Adventure Continues” many times on my blog.  Well, here we go again!  The Adventure Continues!