Two Thousand and Ten

Above: Mexico January 2010, Hawaii December 2010

 

What  year this has been, i would if dare to say this has been one of my favorite of my 20 or so so far, i not that it defiantly ranks up there. From the very begging of this year so much has happened, so many trips, so many adventures, and so many good memories. Met so many new people who I am positive i am going to know the rest of my life. experienced God is so many new ways…

January:

Mexico, the first time this year. What a crazy trip this was. Around thursday of our annual week at the mission the heavens opened up and the rains poured down. There was a good 2 to 3 feet of flooding, the main street turned into a rushing river. We had to rush into action sand bagging all the entrances to the buildings and trying divert the water another way. In the end around 5 bridges were washed away on our route home, so we were stuck there for and a couple extra days.

February:

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC. That was such an amazing fun outreach. Our team only went up for a couple of days to support the DRIME team my sister was leading to the street of the over packed city. It was just so much fun, we took the new sky train into the city everyday, we supported the DRIME team while they did their thing, I got to jump into the couple of dramas i new from other outreach. We were out on the streets on one of the craziest nights, the first Canadian-American hockey game, that was crazy people everywhere celebrating everywhere.

March:

Well i turned 19, and i started to prepare for my up coming departure into the world of ywam. There was still a lot of fun events though,I hung out with Magi and participated in all the st patricks day festivities in Seattle then saw I  my friend Kirsten Irish step dance. I saw sanctus real in concert again, oh then i went to one of the best shows i have every been to. I saw Jamie Cullum at the Moore theater. If you don’t know who Jamie Cullum is go look him up right now, seriously.

April:

I left April 8th for the 2010 PhotogenX Dts in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. I love that place, so much. We had the best dts in my oppinion, but then i am a little biased. This world was different but not completely used to what i have grown up doing, each week we had different speakers, we had fun exploring the big island.

May:

The middle of lecture phase, still going strong waking up at 7:45 then going to class at 8:00. It was a good life i lived then, it would just get better though. There was some hard lecture weeks, but then they were overshadowed but the completely amazing weeks. This month we also found out our outreach team, I was going to India with a team of 20, Crazy i know.

June:

Lecture phase was winding down, and we were preparing for outreach more and more, not my favorite thing to do, but that’s ok. As our time winded down in Hawaii i wanted to spend as much time as i could with all these really close friends i wasnt going to see for 3 months. Love feast was amazing one last big party before we left for outreach.

July:

We left July 1st from Hawaii and arrived in India on July 3rd. Flying to japan then to Singapore then to Chennai and then a 5 hour train ride to Dharma Puri my home the next 3 months. Oh yes i should mention that this was the first time i met jaylene in person at the airport in Chennai. It was a good month we spent half of it in Dharma Puri working with pastor Daniels and all of his ministry’s, then the other half in Vallore with Pastor Caleb. For this first month i would say i liked Vallore more, I’m not sure why. So many good memories happened in vallore we got to know each other even more. We climbed the mountain the last day of july, the perfect way to top the month off.

August:

Such a good month, at this point we split the 20 of us up into two teams and the south team was formed and we formed a family right away. We all loved Dharma Puri and we got to choose more of the ministry’s we worked with, I loved working with pastor Daniels orphanage and with Sanjay. Our team bonded together and took every excuse we could to have ice cream together. That month we painted all of the inside of our pink house and even brighter shade of pink, we took mutable trips to Chennai, Vallore and salem, and ended the month off with a trip to Ooty.

September:

We welcomed this month in staying Ooty the cold mountain town for a couple of days. We really didnt go there to do a lot of ministry so we mostly just relaxed and had fun the whole time, we went to a arboretum, to a mountain view-point and just hung out with each other. Our time in India was winding down, it was really hard to say good bye to all these people we had got to know so well, a lot of tears were shed. We went to singapore for a few day before we went back to hawaii for debrief week. Singapore was great an amazing city, We spent the first day or two getting rid of some friends that came with us from India. It was a great time we got to go to the beach, walk around the massive shopping malls, then Me and Jaylene rode the Singapore flyer together, that was a lot of fun. We eventually had to go back to Hawaii, it was nice to see all of our friends again, i was slightly distracted at that point though. That week i told Jaylene i liked her and we left it like that.

October:

I went through the normal after Dts emotions it helped that i had Jaylene to talk to. We continued to just talk a lot over skype and Facebook messages. Then on october 12th, her brother made a comment about me being her boyfriend and we hadn’t actually talked about that yet. so we promptly called each other and talk, and by the end of the night we were officially dating.

November:

I helped with the Seattle harvest a huge evangelical event in downtown Seattle. Just continued to prepare for the 2011 track in january trying to raise the money. not too much happened in november. On the 26th i left to return to Hawaii to see Jaylene for the first time since we were dating. You can look in the archive for those first few days. It was a great reunion.

December:

The 50th in Kona was so much fun, i got to be with Jaylene the whole time, we barely left each others side the whole two weeks. I got home on thursday, got sick friday, then left for mexico on saturday night. Fun times, i was sick till Wednesday, but i didn’t do a lot till thursday of that week. Then we took a little trip to Disneyland with Stu and Brenda after mexico. That was so much fun, it rained the whole time but that just ment shorter lines for all us folk from washington who were used to being out in that weather. We made it back for christmas with our family, and now were are preparing for our annual New Years Eve Party at our house.

This year was amazing…

rainy night

Rainy Night, that brings me great joy

Water pouring out of the heavens onto this lonely earth

The water flowing around my bare feet

Slowing losing all cares in the world

The sound of my girl laughing

Running around the crowds of people

Splashing around the soggy ground

We finally slow down

The water stops

We sit back against the wall and relax to wait for the next

We are completely soaked

Holding each other tight to try to stay warm

we  walk off into the darkness

splashing along the way

the rain is done for now,

But i will never forget this rainy night

Jesus Wen Born.

the story of the birth of jesus, in Hawai’i Pidgin .

Enjoy.

Dat time, da king fo da Rome peopo, Cesar Augustus, wen make all da peopo sign up fo find out how much peopo get every place. 2Dis da first sign up dey wen make wen Quirinius stay governa fo Syria. 3Everybody wen go back to da town dea ohana come from fo sign up.

4So Joseph wen go from Nazaret town Galilee side, to Betlehem Judea side, King David’s town, cuz he come from King David’s ohana. 5He go ova dea fo sign up wit Mary, da wahine da ohana wen promise fo marry him. She stay hapai. 6Wen dey stay dea, da time come fo her fo born her baby. 7An she wen born her numba one boy, an wrap him up inside some cloths, an lay him down inside one ting fo hold da cows food, cuz no mo room fo dem inside da small hotel.

Da Sheep Farmas An Da Angel Messenja Guys

8Dat nite, ova dea inside da fields, get sheep farmas taking care dea sheeps. 9Right den an dea one angel messenja guy from da Boss Up Dea Inside Da Sky come by dem. All aroun dem one awesome light wen shine from da Boss. An dey wen come real scared. 10But da angel guy say, “No scared. I come fo tell you guys Good Stuff From God dat goin make you guys an all da peopo stay good inside. 11Dis day inside King David’s town, one boy wen born dat goin take you guys outa da bad kine stuff you stay doing. He da Christ Guy, da Spesho Guy God Wen Send. He da Boss. 12Dis how you goin know him. You goin find one baby dat stay wrap up inside plenny cloths, lying down inside one ting fo hold da cows food.”

13Right den an dea uku paila angel guys from da sky wen show up wit da first angel guy. Dey saying good stuff bout God lidis:

14“Up inside da sky wea God stay,

He stay awesome!

An ova hea on top da earth,

If God like wat peopo doing,

He goin make dea heart rest inside.”

15Den da angel guys wen go way from dem an go back by God inside da sky. Da sheep farmas tell each odda, “Eh brahs, we go Betlehem fo see dis ting dat wen happen, dat da Boss Up Dea Inside Da Sky wen tell us.”

16So dey run an find Mary an Joseph, an da baby stay dea, lying down inside one ting fo hold da cows food. 17Wen dey see da baby, dey tell everybody wat da angel guys wen say bout dis boy. 18Everybody dat wen hear dat, stay tinking bout wat da sheep farmas wen tell dem. 19But Mary wen put all dese tings inside her heart, an tink plenny how spesho dey stay. 20Da sheep farmas wen go back, an dey tell everybody how God stay plenny good an awesome, cuz all da stuff dey wen hear an see, was jalike da angel guy wen tell dem.

 

Luke 2:1-19

Merry Christmas!

 

 

There’s magic in the air this evening
Magic in the air
The world is at her best, you know
When people love and care
The promise of excitement is one the night will keep
After all, there’s only one more sleep til Christmas

The world has got a smile today
The world has got a glow
There’s no such thing as strangers when
A stranger says “hello”
And everyone is family, we’re having so much fun
After all, there’s only one more sleep til Christmas

Tis the season to be jolly and joyous
With a burst of pleasure, we feel it arrive
Tis the season when the saints can employ us
To spread the news about peace and to keep love alive

There’s something in the wind today
That’s good for everyone
Yes, faith is in our hearts today
We’re shining like the sun
And everyone can feel it, the feeling’s running deep
After all, there’s only one more sleep til Christmas

After all, there’s only one more sleep til Christmas day

Merry christmas to everyone, i hope this year has been full of joy, hope an love…

that sounds really corny sorry, sometime i can’t help myself. I do hope this year was good for all of you, and that you get to spend sometime with your family this holiday season.

 

I’m Back…

I just got back from Mexico, and Disneyland…

I would say it was fun, it was fun i was just sick basically the whole time.

I got sick friday after i got back from Hawaii, and then just continued on a downward slope until yesterday or so. I lost around 5 pounds from saturday to monday, i am pretty sure that is very unhealthy, oh well. Monday and Tuesday i was sick all day, sleeping with a fever in a dark room under 4 different sleeping bags.

Wednesday i was slightly more active, but still not able to a lot of actually work so i just worked in the nut house and the print shop sorting things.

Thursday i was alive, barely…

i actually worked all day, then baby sat that night, i still was not completely there, you know?

Friday we didn’t do anything really, we worked in the morning, but i don’t remember what we did, but we got off early, and then layed down in the field and listened to th pride and prejudice soundtrack, it was a perfect moment. I felt kind of like i was flying, literally.

Then we left to go to the little market in town, i really didn’t buy anything because it is the same stuff every year. i got ice cream, because that was one of the only thing i could eat that didn’t feel like my throat was being ripped to shreds. oh i also had a fish taco, that was surprisingly good, it’s weird i am begging to like fish, i never have before. what is going on?

saturday was a whole ordeal, that i don’t want to go into a whole lot of detail about. I will just say we took 3 hours to get across the border back into the us.

Then came Disneyland!

What a wonderful happy place it is. this time though it was raining the whole time, which is ok for us folk from washington, and that also means all the lines were very short because people did not want to stand in the rain. It also added a new level to some of the rides, like california screaming became a water ride the felt like you were getting hit with a sand blaster, and the Matterhorn had nice puddles that you got to put your feet in. i had a lot of fun over all i wasnt feeling great the whole time though.

I just got home to washington today, and i am exhausted. Oh well i have a lot to do before i head out to brazil on january 5th.

i am currently skyping with jaylene in Hawaii. I just have to say i love skype, i truly do.

We just opened our christmas present with each other, it was a lot of fun, mine had all sorts of fun surprises, Snow flakes, and nice sequins filled the box. I now have a four page note i am very looking forward to reading, and i am looking forward even more to the end of august when we will both be in europe together.

 

– Nate

 

update.

nate is currently in mexico on a missions trip with his family and so that is why we have been a little more quiet these past few days.  i have been working on some big projects in my school so also have not had the time to write.  thanks for reading though, and thanks for loving us.  

Day Two

Saturday i got pulled into the madness of preparation for the 50th. All of the current students had to do weekend work from 9 to 4 on saturday, and that meant jaylene. She got put to work in the stories and inoventions study, which really  wasnt bad because there was just small jobs to do so the rest of the time we just got to hang out in an air-conditioned room. the main guy had us putting trim around the wall, running chords all over the room, and caulking around the air conditioning units. We worked till 12:00 and then had an hour break for lunch, we went to her room and had a little picnic of all the left over food she had collected food.

Sadly we had to go back to work till 3:30. This time we spent most of our time just hanging out in the room looking through everything. When about 3:30 rolled around we left the cold room, to the hot Hawaiian sun. The previous day i thought i lost my wallet summer where in our travel, so after work duty we walked down ali’i retracing our steps. Havering no luck we walk back to the base just in time to have dinner of the most wonderful campus food. At this time we decided it was time for  me to be introduced to Jane Austen because she is Jaylenes favorite author. We decided to start with a classic Pride & Prejudice. So we spent the next 2 hours watching this most terrific movie. I have to say i very much liked it, the music was phenomenal.  By the time the movie was over we just sat in class room completly content just sitting next to each other on the black couch. We eventually decided to go to bed around 12:30 and i really did not want to walk back to lindsay’s house at that time, so this is where i started my nomadic life style for the next two weeks.

day one.

so after a countdown that had started in the 50’s, november 26th finally came around.  this was the day that nate was to arrive in kona and we would get to see each other again for the first time.  again cause yes we were with each other all summer, but for the first time because it we had never been with each other in person while dating.  it became quite the event.

nate’s plane was to come in at 1pm, and so at 12:30 I set out from the base in the track truck with Anne(faithful driver) and Natalia(fellow track sista’ who was on her way to oahu.)  we arrived just as his plane was touching down and out like a shot from the truck i went.  it was slightly nerve-wracking.  i honestly did not know what my response would be to seeing nate for this first time.  🙂  then of course being that i am with these photographer people, Natalia jumped out of the vehicle after me and started taking pictures.  well, she asked first, and i said “of course” and i am very glad i did.  the results follow this…

so there i was a waiting, and then he came, and it was beautiful.  haha.  the security lady made us get out of the middle of the path and move nate’s suitcase which had got tossed down from the beginning.

it was an amazing reunion, a perfect day, and totally natural transition.

{natalia photographed and put this together for us.  all we had to do was add the music.  thankyou dear!}

 

After this whole ordeal, we just wanted to spend time with each other. So we walked down to queens bath to catch the sunset together. We sat on the hard lava rocks holding hands, just watching the sunset, and looking at each other. At the sunset we moved off the rocks unto the sand and just sat together, and then we danced together just enjoying actually being next to each other. In the midst of twilight we walked back towards ali’i drive holding hands and stopping by one of the many abc stores to get some drinks. We really didn’t want to walk so we just stopped again and sat on the wall and listened to the ocean waves crash around us. There was so much we talked about doing these two weeks we couldnt wait so we started the walk up the hill towards the base. We ended up laying in the grass of the soccer field looking at the sky full of beautiful stars. This was just such a perfect way to end our first day together.

Welcome to Kona.

This blog was started on a 2 week visit to Kaulia-Kona where Jaylene is currently living.

How I got there is kind of ridiculous, I bought a ticket for Hawaii less than a week after I had returned to washington from dts. I just couldnt wait, at the begging I used the 50th as an excuse because me and Jaylene were not actually dating at this point.

So we thought we would just go through and share a day by day recap of these most wonderful weeks we had together. Each day was just such a good day we never really were separated from each other very long at all. We went out on date’s we watched movies together, and enjoyed all of Ywam’s 50th festivities.

Nate.

Sanjay

From left to right:

Sanjay, Adelis, Praveen, and Gunasega

Sanjay is the one of the cutest boys in India. He currently lives at the boys home run by pastor Daniels in Dharma Puri. For some reason jaylene & I just fell in love with all of the boys in the boys home when we were there in July – september. There were only four boys there when we were there, and they were all so different and so amazing.

The two us and Zach & Laura spent a lot of time just hanging out with these four boys. Every time one of us would go over the Pastor Daniel’s house they would be standing at the top of the stairs waiting for us. All four of us had one or two boys that we just bonded with so easily. Zach & Laura Loved Praveen, so much. I love Sanjay, every time he would run around the corner when we approached the house and just jump straight into my arms was so great. Then Jaylene loved Adelis and Gunasega, they were so cute together. Adelis showing her all his homework, then Praveen and Sanjay just having drawings and pencil shavings in their work books. We had so many good time with all of them, we just got to love on them so much. It was amazing. Saying goodbye to Sanjay was so incredibly hard, even now sometimes when I look at pictures or think too much about india I can’t help but shed a tear for the boys I left back in India. I know I will see them again someday, I really don’t have a doubt of that in my mind.