1. What did I learn about God?
2. What did I learn about others?
3. What did I learn about myself?
4. What has Satan stolen or tried to steal
KONA
The island of Hawaii has 7 out of 9 climate zones. This variety brought out the beauty of the island. Snow in the mountains, the lush tropical rain forest of Hilo, the dry desert and lava rock of Kona and the pasture lands of Waimea. Traveling from one place to another you could see the change. In Hawaii, I learned adaptability. I learned there is beauty in variety; not only in a landscape but in human nature as well. I count myself fortunate to know people from around the world. To have learned about cultures so different from mine.
Hawaii is a volcano. To sit on top of a volcano is not pleasant all the time. There is the smell of sulfur, the intense heat, and the rumblings below the ground. Beauty may be above the surface but there is a hot, bubbling undercurrent that so often goes unnoticed. People don’t always respond the way we expect. So many fissures of pressures exposing the red hot lava, destroying whatever came in its way. But from the ashes, what will come? Will it be a thing of beauty, a resurrection of new life or will it stay covered over and scarred.
God has always brought beauty from ashes, resurrection from death. Even now I see it in lives of people I know. They are venturing into new areas, new places they probably would have never expected to be without the lava forcing them to change directions. God brings new life from the old.
One thing about the ocean is the changing tide. It rushes in and it rushes out. Sometimes there is a beach, sometimes there is not. The sand comes and goes with the tide - as at Magic Sands Beach. This would be my description of YWAM friendships. Sometimes they are there and sometimes they are not. Yet one thing about YWAM friends is like the sand of the beach, they always come back. Maybe in a different location but within YWAM it is a small world. I wonder how far away the sand that returns to the beach has traveled.
During my sabbatical in Kona, I had a picture of deep sea fishing with God. In my exhaustion, I pretty much wanted to be left alone. However, God never went too far away. Fishing was the example for me. Like a big Marlin he had me hooked. He’d reel me in a little and then let the line out to let me run. Reel in . . . let run. Reel in . . . let me run until finally He could pull me on board with Him.
I still consider Hawaii home. What made it home for me? I spent 10 years there. I had my own apartment. I was rarely with out transportation, even if it wasn’t mine. I spent holidays there, Christmas in particular. There were traditions. Friends were as close as family. There were good and bad times, but there was an acceptance. I belonged. I was a part of the community. When I left, I left a piece of my heart there.
