Turning 55 at 53 by the Sea

The calendar turned another page and the 26th anniversary of my 29th birthday arrived.  For several days Les had been grinning about the dinner reservations he had secured.  Friday evening we traveled down Ala Moana Boulevard.  A left on Ahui Street had us driving past warehouses.  At the end of the road was 53 By The Sea.  At first glance I knew it was going to be a special evening.

The view from our table was amazing!  We watched boats go out and surfers catch waves all evening.  After taking a few pictures, we put our phones away and just enjoyed a relaxing time.

The food, of course, was off the charts!  We ordered Creme Brulee for dessert.

They also brought me a piece of cake for my birthday!

Saturday was our last day on the island for this trip.  Les was up early for a bike ride and I enjoyed coffee on the lanai.

I then drove to the windward side of the island to meet up with Les.  We had lunch at Buzz's.  The burgers were delicious.  Our waitress brought me a brownie sundae for dessert #3 of the weekend!

We spent the afternoon driving and stopping wherever we desired.  This included a stop at the Mac Nut Farm for Pineapple Snow and Kona Coffee.  Our final stop was the Puʻu O Mahuka Heiau State Historic Site.  It is the largest heiau (religious site or temple) on Oʻahu, covering almost 2 acres. The name is translated as “hill of escape”.  The views are spectacular!

I know I live a blessed life and I'm so thankful for it!

Wordless Wednesday

We've been in Hawaii for the entire month of April.  We have had major internet issues, including needing to have the router replaced, so blogging has fallen to the wayside.  That hasn't stopped me from taking pictures.  Enjoy!

The view from our condo.  Mountains one way...

And a peak of blue the other way...

A visit to the Honolulu Zoo:

So much beauty!

Breakfast with my favorite human being!

Honolulu Coffee Company, they roast the beans in the restaurant!

Resurrection Sunrise Service at the Park

Service with the Samoan congregation

God does sunsets right!

Repost: Encouragement

During a recent conversation, a friend thanked me for being an encourager.   Any time I am able to encourage someone, I always walk away encouraged myself.  I'm not talking about fake "empowerment," but truly lifting someone up with true words.  I posted this back in August 2012 and thought it deserved another chance to bring encouragement.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Samuel 30:6

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

I think it's important that we learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord.  Reading His Word, standing on the promises, learning to trust.  All of these will help us in times of distress.  We can find the strength to encourage ourselves.  I picked up Mom's Bible, looking for a quote for this post.  I saw one encouraging word after another.  It was her way of encouraging herself in the Lord.

I also know encouragement from outside sources is a huge blessing.  I was reminded of that while out running this morning.  Just as I got to a service road, that is extremely steep, a mountain biker started going up it as well.  He said, "You're going up this?"  "Yeah."  I asked where he was riding.  Then he asked where I was running.  "7 miles of hills today, I'm training for a marathon."  "This is a hill, for sure."  About 2/3 of the way up, I had to walk.  My heart rate was 166 beats per minute, and I just couldn't keep up with his cycling pace.  As I slowed to a walk, he simply said, "Good job."  But I could tell by how he said it, he meant it.  He wasn't patronizing me.  He knew the hill was tough and recognized my effort.

True, honest, encouragement doesn't take a lot of flowery words.  Two words.  That's all it took to give me some encouragement for the remaining 5 miles.  "Good job."

It really takes so little to be an encourager.  When someone is down, telling them we're praying for them can make a world of difference.  When someone does a great job singing a special song, tell them so.  I do my best to thank each of my musicians every time they play for the choir.  I hope showing my appreciate will encourage them.

I don't know who the young men are in this picture.  But what a great example.  Be an encourager today!

Source

Resurrection Power!

We had an amazing Resurrection Sunday!  We are currently in Hawaii and Pastor McGriffin was asked to speak/preach/teach to the Samoan congregation that meets in our building.  Their service starts at 1:00 and ours starts at 4:30 so it was a back to back kind of Sunday.  The Samoan Pastor and a few other members of their congregation have received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  They are hungering for more of God and asked Pastor McGriffin to preach on that subject.

The Samoan service was filled with worship.  It was genuine and I know the Spirit of God was in the house.  The Sunday school children did an Easter skit and one darling girl did an amazing job speaking bilingually.

Pastor McGriffin gave them the full gospel and then it was time to respond.  The people flooded the altars with hungry hearts.  They did not go home empty!  Eight people received the gift of the Holy Ghost!

While the service was winding down I noticed a young girl near me.  She continued silently crying and I could see that God was really touching her.  When I next turned around she was gone.  After the service I found her and had a sweet conversation with her.  My new friend is Mary Ann and she is nine years old.  I told her that I received the Holy Ghost when I was 10 and she wasn’t too young.  She touched my heart so much!  There was a tenderness about her.  I told Mary Ann that I am looking forward to the Sunday when she meets me between services to tell me that she received the Holy Ghost.

We are believing God for a great revival in this congregation.  There are so many hungry hearts and I know God is going to fill them.

We had about 45 minutes to catch our breath before our service started.  It was a beautiful Resurrection Sunday.  Our Sunday school department also did a great job.  The littlest ones sang “He Arose” and one little guy arose many, many times!  It was priceless.

I’m so thankful for the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  The cross split time, but it’s the power of the resurrection that changes lives!