Suspicions Confirmed

This blog is long overdue but I figure it is never too late to share a funny story.

                Every weekend there are countless open houses in my neighborhood. My neighborhood is very interesting and eclectic. My parents and I like to go to different open houses on the weekends for free entertainment. It is also a chance to get decorating ideas.

                A few months ago we went to an open house put on by our former real estate agent. Her associate, David was manning the house. My dad recognized him as someone who had been at our old house for our open houses. My dad started talking to David, who didn’t recognize us despite the connection. My dad told him about how we’d bought another house that the real estate agent had been listing and he remembered our house.

                Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. The house next door is for sale. My parents don’t like the neighbors too much partly because their loud conversations on their porch filter right into my parents’ bedroom. My parents wanted to see the inside of their house but felt awkward going to an open house in case the neighbors were there. My roommate, Katie and I have never really met the neighbors so we decided we’d go to their open house so we could look around.

                When I got inside, I saw David, the real estate agent. I figured he wouldn’t recognize me because he didn’t recognize us last time and I was with Katie and not my parents. After I had only been in the house a few minutes, David said, “Haven’t I seen you somewhere?” I told him that I had seen him at another open house with my parents. I thought this was the end of it. A few minutes later, he said, “Don’t you live next door?” I was caught. I sheepishly fessed up. He was nice and said that often neighbors come to open houses and up telling their friends who are looking for houses.

                Katie and I explored the house. As we were looking around upstairs, I got a great idea. My bathroom window looks out at the neighbors’ house. I’ve always been concerned about how much they can see as I take a shower. I called my mom and said, “Mom, can you go stand in my shower?” She immediately replied, “Okay.” She didn’t even wait for an explanation. As Katie and I looked out the neighbors’ window, all of sudden, my mom’s face appeared. Weird. We could really only see her head and shoulders until she pantomimed washing her hair. If she’d been naked, we’d have totally seen her chest. Eek! My suspicions were confirmed. I need to get a cover for that window or start charging my neighbors for the show.

                When we went back downstairs, real estate agent David asked us why we were laughing and we told him about our experiment. We started talking about how Katie wants to buy a house and it turns out he has a lot of experience in the area she’s thinking about. He was very nice and knowledgeable. Looks like Katie found her real estate agent. The next step is to find a house. Overall it was a fun afternoon at the neighbors’. 

Thoughts on Feminist Theory

I am currently in a Counseling Theories class. The point of the class is to give us an overall picture of some of the most widely-accepted counseling theories from Freud and beyond. Our professor encourages us to find the parts of each theory that we like the best to use later when we are counselors. Some theories I definitely identify more with than others. So far, I am most interested in Reality therapy and Cognitive Behavior therapy, though I have a lot to learn.

We recently learned about Feminist therapy. This is a theory I do not like very much. I am not saying it is not without merit but it does not fit with how I see the world. The therapy attempts to eradicate traditional gender roles and blames much of society's problems on them. I am not saying that men haven't oppressed women and there might not be room for change. What I have a problem with is the idea of trying to get rid of gender roles. Personally I believe God made man and woman different but equal. Regardless of your beliefs about why we are that way, it seems ludicrous to me to believe that men and women are the same or are interchangeable.

Here are some situations where I would prefer a man:
Moving heavy things
Driving (esp. backing out of a tight space)
Packing a car
Fixing just about anything
General protection

Here are some situations where I would prefer a woman:
Shopping
Talking about my feelings
Decorating
Hospitality
Caring for kids

I am not saying that men can't do some of the women things I've listed and that women can't do some of the men things. I am just saying that most men are better than most women at the first list and most women are better than most men at the second list. I mean, my friend, Sarah Morgan O'Bryan picked up a couch and moved it all by herself and my cousin, Roy has decorated his house quite well. I like that men and women are different. If men were just like women, I probably wouldn't be attracted to them. I think when men and women do what they are best at, it actually provides more freedom, not the oppression that feminist theory purports. We are equal but different and for that I am thankful. As you can see, I will not be becoming a feminist therapist anytime in the near future.

The Beginning of My Softball Career

I am still on Spring Break and I am realizing how nice it is to have some free time. Too bad it ends in only a few days. One thing I added to my already busy schedule is a co-ed softball team. Rojas, the P.E. teacher at the school I work at, has organized a co-ed team that plays in March. Basketball is really my sport but I am decent at most sports and enjoy being part of a team. I didn't play softball in high school but I did play some co-ed intra-murals in college. I didn't already have anything scheduled for Friday nights so I agreed to be part of the team.

I missed our first games because I was out of town visiting my brother's family. Last night was my debut performance. Our team is called the Third Base Bullies and we are mostly Mexican. The first team we played was mostly Black and the second team was mostly Asian. I am not sure if all the teams are so racially-segregated but it was pretty funny.

We ended up losing both games. Some innings we looked pretty good and other innings we looked pretty terrible. I played third base and definitely wished I knew more about softball or third base, for that matter. I had pretty realistic expectations of myself so I was happy to do anything good and not mess up too bad. I did okay. I was the second to bat, which was handy since most of the pitchers weren't too warmed up. I ended up getting walked three times, struck out once and got one hit where I beat the tag at first. Not too shabby. I caught a fly ball for an out, I stopped a line drive and caught the ball for an out at third. I made a few mistakes but I like to focus on the positives.

My friend, Erin is on the team and she, like me is fairly athletic but without much softball experience. She was in right field for most of the game and didn't get much action. She hadn't had much luck at the plate either. In the last inning I got walked and then the guy behind me got walked, which meant he got to take two bases. This put me on third. I prayed that Erin would get a hit and she totally did. I ended up running home and scoring a run. It was a nice way to end the game. Too bad we still lost by 10 runs.

It was fun to be part of a team and I look forward to our games next week. Maybe I will find someone who can give me some pointers so I can actually feel like I know what I am doing.

Young Life

I have been a blog slacker but here's a video of what I have been up to.

Think Before You Speak

I've been working as a tutor/substitute forty hours a week. It's really nice to be back with kids. I really do love them! On Friday, I substituted for a fourth grade class at my old school. It was field trip day to the Science Museum. I enjoy field trip days as long as they don't include incessant questioning. Fortunately in this case, I was being honest when I told the kids I didn't know anything.

The field trip was a bit too short to see much of the museum. We started by going to the planetarium and watching a movie about space. It made me bitter about how NASA is essentially being shut down. Then they divided my students up into small groups, each with a guide, and showed them around the dinosaur exhibit. The tour guides were a bit strange and I think they are volunteers. I didn't really know what I was supposed to do, so I just walked from group to group, making my presence known. One of the tour guides seemed like a conspiracy theorist. He kept talking about 2012 and how people were going to try to make money off it and the kids should be careful. I think they were just confused.

After the dinosaur time, we went into this classroom where a lady taught a lesson on animals. It was actually very well done The best part was when she gave each table of kids a real animal skull and then pictures of animals that they had to try to match to the skull. It was a cool hands-on activity. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of animal skull access so it would be hard to replicate this one. The teacher asked the kids different questions about animals throughout the class. At one point she said, "Name a carnivore that lives in the ocean." One of my students yelled, "Cougar!" I laughed in her face, and kind of loudly. I am sorry but that's just a stupid answer. Sometimes kids need to know when they've said something dumb.

Traumatic Timeso

One of my classes this semester is called "Intervention Strategies for Psychological Trauma.As you can probably guess, this class is pretty intense. I didn't really know what I was getting into because the course catalog only listed it as Intervention Strategies. It is a hard class emotionally but I would love to help traumatized people.

Last week we watched a fictional movie about child molestation. The movie waas intense and I wouldn't recommend watching it. It follows two boys who were sexually abused by their baseball coach. One boy grows up to be a male prostitute and the other boy concocts a story of being abducted by aliens to explain why he has periods of time he doesn't remember.

I was a bit traumatized by the film, especially the sex scenes. I didn't feel like I was going to cry until after the movie was over. I began to think of all the people I know and love who were molested as children. Unfortunately that list is too long. I wrote down the names of all the people I know who were violated as children and I came up with 25 names. And these are just the people who've told me. I am sure I know other people who haven't told me.the whole thing makes me so sad and mad at the same time. I know how negatively this affects people and it makes me so sick that people hurt kids like this.

When I got home, I prayed for each of those people I know by name. I prayed that God would restore what was selfishly stolen from them. I prayed for a healthy view of sex and for healthy sex lives for all these people. And I prayed for the people who victimized them. I prayed that they would get help and never do this to another child. I don't see how people can honestly say that they think people are good when children are used and abused by those who are supposed to protect them. "The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Looks like our society has a long way to go!

My Third Career Day

I've been working at my old school three days a week. It's actually been great! I don't have all the pressures of being a teacher as I tutor and substitute and I get to be with my friends there.

On Friday, we had Career Day. This is one of my favorite elementary school days. My school growing up didn't have Career Day but they were prominently displayed on my favorite TV shows like Full House. I think Career Day is a great idea to help kids see what types of jobs they can have when they grow up.

The event is set-up so that each class gets at least 9 presenters. This is great but the sheer number of participants means that some presenters will be duds. Some people's jobs are too complicated or too uninteresting for children. Some people are too complicated or uninteresting for children. This time I was subbing for a fourth grade class that got really engaging speakers.

We started with a lawyer, who did a decent job of explaining his profession to the kids. Then we had a woman from the city's gang prevention task force. She knew how to talk to children and had a nice powerpoint. My favorite part of her presentation was when she showed a picture of a woman with short blonde hair. (The presenter was a Hispanic woman with dark hair.) She asked who the picture was of and one of the kids said it was her. In fact, it was our mayor. Our kids really don't know much about our city government or apparently the difference between grown women of different ethnicities. The third speaker of that group was a judge, who looked to be about 25 but I am sure that was not the case.

The next group was probably the most interesting. The funny part of the presentations is that the other two presenters just stand there while one person is talking. It is interesting to try to guess what the other presenters do for a living before they speak. The cop was in uniform and he went first. Just before he came in, one of the kids had said he wanted to be a police officer so it was great timing. The cop was quite a character and I am pretty sure he would have talked the whole time if he'd been allowed. The kids started asking him if he'd fired pretty much every weapon that ever existed. I don't know if it's a good thing that they are so familiar with various weapons of mass destruction. While the cop was talking, I tried to figure out what the other people did for a living. There was an old guy who looked like a professor and a youngish guy who frankly, looked like a drug dealer. He wasn't dressed up at all and he had two facial piercings. I figured they wouldn't let a drug dealer in for Career Day so I guessed that he owned an auto body shop. Then when he began presenting, it was clear. He was Dave Morales, a DJ for local radio station, 96.5. He definitely had a great radio voice. He had the kids name their favorite singers and then told stories about how he'd met almost all of them. I think a girl almost fainted when he said he'd met Justin Beiber. It was hilarious! The old guy turned out to be an electrical designer, which simply can't follow after a cop and someone who's actually met the Beiber. Poor guy. It's like the year my dad, the lawyer had to follow the animal cop. He tried his best, though.

One of our last presenters was a retired educator whose son is our school's namesake. He was a state representative who died in a car crash. Then we had the most successful African American ballerina in Houston and a guy that worked at the Children's Museum. Overall it was a fun day and I think all the kids want to be cops or Djs now.

Livin' La Vida Loca: Grad School Edition

I've finally had a full week of my crazy new schedule. Here's the gist of my life these days: I tutor 40 hours- 3 days at the school I used to work at and 2 days at another elementary school. I wish I could quit the job at the other elementary school because it pays half as much, but I have made a commitment that I should uphold. Then I am taking 12 hours of classes in school counseling. I am also a Young Life leader, which keeps me busy 2-3 nights a week. And did I mention I am starting a small group with my church on Thursday nights? It's pretty nuts but I realize I actually really like being busy. I've already gotten into the habit of bringing my grad school books with me everywhere to make use of any spare moment. Now I do feel good about schedule right now. Let's see how I feel when all the tests and papers hit.

Here's an example of what my Wednesdays look like. Last Wednesday was my first day tutoring, first day of school and first night of Young Life club. I woke up in the 6's. Ugh! I drove to the school I was tutoring at. I left a little too early so I ended up chilling in the parking lot for about 30 minutes. This is why I will have my grad school books with me at all times from now on. It was interesting to see how a different school runs but eight hours was a long time. I left a 3:30pm and headed to U of H. I changed in my minivan. That thing may guzzle gas, but it makes a hell of a changing room. Unfortunately I forgot my tennis shoes so I had to wear my fancy teacher shoes with my jeans and t-shirt. I brought foldy, my folding bike, which was a good thing since I got a little lost. I rode foldy from the parking lot to my class.

Even though it was the first day, my class went all the way from 4:30-7:30. I almost ran out of energy half way through but a Coke remedied the situation. After class, I swiftly rode foldy back to the minivan for another costume change. This is where the lack of tennis shoes was really problematic. I changed into my biking clothes for a Young Life skit. I ended up just wearing my socks since I thought it looked a little less weird than bike clothes and my fancy teacher shoes.

I drove to Young Life and arrived about 15 minutes after it had begun. We were having our annual Pizza Olympics, where we call three pizza places at the same time and place an order. They are unknowingly a part of our little game. As each unsuspecting pizza delivery person arrives, they are awarded gold, silver or bronze medals and treated to the Olympic theme song. Their facial expressions are priceless. My job was to pretend to be a pizza person and bring in the three pizzas for the pizza eating competition. I dressed in my full bike gear and had one of the students sit on the back seat of foldy carrying the pizzas. It didn't quite go as planned. The kids mobbed me at the door and since I hadn't been around in a while, some of them thought I really was a pizza delivery person. Other kids did recognize me and tried to hug me as I was trying to make it through the sea of high school kids to the front of the room. In the process, some of the kids grabbed one of the pizzas and started to eat it.

I didn't know what I was going to say for the skit when I finally got in but it didn't matter because the kids were so loud, they wouldn't have heard me anyway. I ended by folding up my bike and walking off. It was pretty crazy and overwhelming to be thrust into a crazy crowd of teenagers. After everything calmed down, my friend Ann gave a talk about how God created us. I don't know if it was partly because of my long day but I found myself wanting to cry, not out of sadness but out of gratefulness. I felt so blessed that I got to end my day sharing Jesus with high school kids. It made it all worth it.

Foldy's Big Debut

Yesterday was quite the emotional day both good and bad. I started the day by going to Oran Tarlton's funeral. Oran was a really great guy and a good friend to my parents and boss to my sister-in-law. He was only 53 and left behind a wife and two daughters aged 24 and 21. He died after a tough battle with cancer and will definitely be missed by many people. The funeral was good as funerals go and really felt like a celebration of his life. I couldn't help but cry when I saw his male friends crying as they spoke of Oran's life. Men crying gets me every time. Several of us wore bicycling jerseys as a tribute to his love of bike riding. I wasn't sure how to pull off a bike jersey at a funeral and ended up wearing a jersey with white long sleeve shirt underneath, fancy grey pants and a pea coat on top. It was a little unorthodox but the other people who wore jerseys dressed about the same so it worked out. The pastor told of how in his last days, Oran was thinking of heaven and also of riding his bike. It's not theologically sound, but it's nice to think of Oran up in heaven, no longer suffering and riding his bike.

After the funeral, I headed home to get ready for my birthday party that night. My friend, Sara Stanford was already in town so she helped me cook and get ready for the party. My mom had me vacuum the whole downstairs and since their house is fairly large, it took a long time. I'd just finished vacuuming and was still kind of in the vacuum zone, when I saw my friend, Jocelyn. We've been friends for 21 years, so it wasn't that weird to see her. Then I realized that she lives in New Jersey and I had no idea she was coming. It was so great to see her and such a surprise! I already felt like my day would be good just because Jocelyn had come in town.

We got everything ready and people started to arrive. It ended up being a very eclectic mix of people, just as I had hoped. There were about 25 people there who I knew from childhood, high school, church, college, summer camp, Young Life and YWAM, in addition to my family members. It was pretty awesome! I showed everyone "foldy," my folding bike and they were quite impressed. People took turns riding it in pairs down the street. For gifts I got a lot of school supplies for my upcoming grad school. The most memorable was my Justin Beiber notebook. That's sure to make me some new friends. Overall I had a blast and it was a great way to celebrate my 30th year of life. My real birthday is tomorrow but I don't have any special plans other than dinner at Chuy's. I think yesterday was probably sufficient for celebrating. Good times with good people. Most of the guests live in Houston so it definitely got me excited about all the friends I have here. I feel very blessed.

Massaged in Maui

I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks. Better late than never.
I've had a few massages in my day but only the dirt cheap Asian kind. My first massage was in Thailand. We laid on what looked like gym mats while ladies in hospital scrub-type outfits twisted our bodies like pretzels. They used their knees and elbows to put pressure on various body parts. I can't say that the experience was too relaxing.

My next massage was in China where the lack of English made the whole thing a lot more weird. You can look at that experience in my post titled "Trina Warrenton, this one's for you." Last time I went to China, I got two foot massages and a lot of head massages. It's a great cheap activity to do with friends. My hour and a half foot massage included a half hour back massage, all for about $7. The head massage included a shampoo for about $2.50. I think head massages are my favorite and coincidentally offered cheaply at every hair salon in China. Up until very recently I had never had a massage in America, mainly because I am used to such cheap prices and can't really justify them on my limited income.

When my family visited, my mom decided we should have a spa day. My friends have a concierge business that offered a good deal on the Grande Wailea spa. This is one of the best spas in Maui. Here is our experience:

When you enter the spa, it looks like some sort of Roman palace and I instantly felt not fancy enough to be there. We were escorted to the locker room where they had electronic lockers for us to store our things. As they showed us around, they continued to stress that the spa was clothing optional. I was a little afraid that everyone would take them up on this offer. After we changed into bathing suits and walked around the spa, I was relieved to find that none of the women we saw had chosen to take the staff up on their nudity offer.

The spa had a bunch of different pools you could lounge in for the hour before your massage appointment. Some were like hot tubs and others had scented oils. My mom and I gave each one a try. As we moved from one area to another, I noticed that one woman had chosen to take advantage of "clothing optional." This was the biggest lady in the whole spa and the one I would least like to see nude. I will refrain from being graphic but I didn't know the human body could look like that. It was like passing a car accident, you know you should look away but you just can't help yourself. I guess I should admire her lack of self-consciousness; but then again, I had to see her.

In the middle of our time in the pools both my mom and I got a sea salt scrub. Then, after an hour of pursuing the pools, we were told to go change into a robe. Then we headed upstairs to a waiting area with plush couches and chandeliers. It was so nice that the staff spoke English. During my Asian massages, I was always very confused about each thing that was coming next. The massage itself was amazing and the best I've ever had. I think it was a Swedish massage and it seems like those Swedes really know their stuff. I felt like I was in a trance and was totally confused and disoriented when my masseuse told me to turn over.

It was a really fun experience and I am thankful that my Mom paid for it. I know now how fancy people live and boy, is it nice!

My Ideal Man

I've been pretty busy with my family in town but it's time to get back on the blog train.
Our base has been reading through the Bible in chronological order this year. This has been good for me. I am always more purposeful and intentional about reading through the Bible when I have a plan. Recently I was reading in Titus about the qualifications for a man to be an elder or leader in a church. I quickly realize that they are good husband qualifications as well. So, if I was going to create a personal ad based on those qualifications, this is what it might look like:

SWF, 29 seeking SM who is blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain, hospitable, loves what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined, of a firm faith, encouragement to others, knowledge of sound doctrine and able to defend the faith.

Now if we just add funny, sporty and cocky, you pretty much have my dream man. Let me know if you know anyone who fits the bill.

The In-Between

I'm in a strange transitional phase right now. At the end of November, I was so ready to go back to Houston that I would daydream about it all the time. I think this was a result of feeling a bit burned out after 9 months of hard-core discipleship of students in DTS and SBFM. I basically had one day and one night off each week and was on-call 24/7. I loved it but it was quite time consuming. About Thanksgiving, I  was feeling the burn-out big time.

Now that I am done with my responsibilities, I no longer feel so anxious to go home. I feel like I am sliding down a big slide to Houston and now I am trying to climb back up the slide. I know I am not supposed to stay on staff with YWAM and I know I am not supposed to live in Maui and get a job. Texas and grad school is where I am supposed to be. But nevertheless, I am  feeling sad about leaving. I realize how extreme this feeling is when I almost got teary-eyed seeing an older Hawaiian man walking into a grocery store carrying a ukulele. I know I won't see that in Texas.

Here are some of the things I will miss about Maui (Just what came to my mind, not an exhaustive list):
The beaches- I definitely didn't go to them everyday but I liked the idea that I could have. And as you might have heard, they are pretty nice.

Local people- There are certain stereotypes about Hawaiians that are just true. They are super family and community oriented and they like any excuse for a party. They also like tattoos all over their bodies with Hawaiian themes, which you don't see much of in Texas- tribal designs, turtles, Hawaiian flowers, sharks, the Hawaiian islands, etc. I will miss hearing them speak pidgin and the way they block the aisles at Wal-Mart and Costco catching up with their old friends. You can't go to one of those stores with a local person and not run into 20+ people they are either friends with or related to.

YWAM Maui- I love my friends in YWAM and the way they love me, pray for me, make me laugh and challenge me to be a better person. I have met some of my best friends in the world here and though some have moved on, I still have plenty of friends here whom I will sorely miss.

The Food- Hawaii has some really good food. I don't like seafood but there are plenty of other good options. I will miss chicken katsu, potato wedges from Minut Stop, steak and rice from Blazin' Steaks, kalua pork, pineapples, haupia, sweet potatoes, cara-macs, and more. I will miss the restaurants in Paia: Fish Market, Milagros, Cafe Des Ami, Flat Bread, Charley's and of course, Anthony's coffee shop.

Paia- Though I have lived in both Haiku and Paia, my heart is in Paia. It's where I have spent most of my YWAM career there. I will miss celebrity sightings, the random hippies roaming the streets among Hawaiian flower print tourists, all the small businesses and living so close to what is probably the easiest, most efficient post office ever. I will miss being able to walk to the beach and riding my bike to Kanaha beach.

Words and phrases that are known only to people familiar to Hawaii-
talking story, spam musubi, Aloha drinks, shoyu, haoles, Aunties and uncles, Zippy's, all pau, pog, tutu, spam in general, no ka oi, kaamaina, keiki, etc

Rainbows and sunsets- There is so much natural beauty here. Gorgeous sunsets occur on a regular basis and rainbows are so frequent that you don't always take notice. In fact, the guy in the following video probably wouldn't survive as he would die of over excitement.

I think there might be some bad language, so I am warning you in advance.




And here is the musical parody:

Playing Tourist

I have lived in Maui for about three of the last seven years. Living in Maui is definitely different than being a tourist in Maui. For one thing, as a missionary, I have never really had the money to do the touristy things on Maui that aren't free or almost free. Thankfully hiking, cliff jumping and hanging out at the beach don't cost any money so I have managed to have a lot of island-style fun in my time off.

Me and Israel enjoying the complimentary beverages

Up until November of this year, the only touristy things I had done were two snorkel cruises I went on for free and a whale watch I went on for free. All the trips were super fun and I definitely recommend them to tourists. That's not a lot of tourist activities for the past 7 years. I've only stayed overnight in a hotel here once and I didn't pay for that either. I am not sure if it's because I am leaving but lately God has blessed me with more free tourist activities. In November, after living in Maui for three years on and off, I got to go to my first luau. It was really fun and tasty. Even though it is stereotypical, I think all tourists should go to a luau. I had seen hula and fire dancing before and I had eaten local food before but never as part of the luau package. My parents are coming in about a week and taking me to my second luau, The Royal Lahaina Luau. It is supposed to be the best. I will tell you if I agree.

Getting Cozy with the Performers

Wil making a new fire dancing friend

On Monday, I got to go on the Flyin' Hawaiian zipline. It has eight ziplines that cover two miles. It was pretty fun and not too scary. You basically started from a ridge that didn't feel too high and then zipped over a valley. The guides were fun and really sarcastic. They played a joke on my friend, Chelsea leaving her dangling about 12 feet from the end of one line. It was pretty hilarious. I went with my friends, Chelsea, Kristy and Shannon. The group was made up of only us and one Indian doctor named Ravi. Along with our three guides, we had a really fun time. I don't know if I would have paid full-price for this activity but free was a great price!

So Scary!

Me zippin' along

Our whole group

Yesterday I got to play tourist again and go on the Atlantis submarine. My Maui dad, Jim Walsh is the general manager of the submarine and got us free tickets. There's nothing better than being a tourist with hook-ups! His daughter, Shannon has been on the submarine about a 100 times and never seen a shark. Before we left, she said she really wanted to see one and we totally did! There was a reef shark just chillin at the bottom of the ocean. Pretty cool! We saw lots of cool fish and I found the schools of fish to be the most interesting. There were so many of them in such tight formations. The whole dive made me want to snorkel really bad so I could get closer to the fish. It was cool to see what happens at the bottom of the ocean. I recommend it to tourists, for sure. It's also good for people who might not be physically fit enough for snorkeling as you get to see the fish without swimming. 

I feel really blessed by all the free tourist things I have gotten to do lately. I couldn't afford to do any of these if I had to pay. If any of you are interested in discount Maui activities, you should check out my friends' website. They are former YWAMers who've started a business where you can buy all your activities in one place for a discount. 

Click here. if you are interested.

Children's Theater

I am a bit of a children's theater connoisseur. Well, I am not sure if that's actually true but I like the way it sounds. Last night, I went to the preschool children's program at Doris Todd, a local Christian school. Our base director's son, Elias was in the program along with Selah Kim, whose parents used to be on staff with YWAM and Owen Stewart, the son of the owners of Anthony's- Maui's best coffee shop. With such an all-star cast, how could I resist?

Elias- top left green shirt, Selah- left black and white dress, Owen- center red vest

We arrived at the school a little early to secure good seats. Seeing all the kids and being in a school definitely made me miss teaching. However I was thankful that I was not the one in charge of the whole thing. It definitely brought back memories of the Christmas programs I participated in during my two years as an Elementary School teacher. The last year I was a part of it, there was a real pony in the nativity scene. It was interesting that we were allowed to have both a live pony and Jesus in a public school Christmas program.

Elias hamming it up

Shannon, Joey and I settled in our seats after saying hello to some of the people we knew in the audience. The show started a little late since some of the kids had not arrived yet. There were many underage siblings in the audience  so the overall atmosphere was pretty crazy. The whole program was a study in chaos. The teachers tried to instill order overall but we are talking about two dozen preschoolers so there is a certain level of chaos that is unavoidable. The kids sang songs and then helped participate in a story-telling time. As a whole, they seemed most excited about performing "Jingle Bells" since they actually got to use real jingle bells during the song. I couldn't hear many of the words but I am sure those kids were having fun!

As for the three performers we came to watch, their attitudes to the show varied greatly. Selah was one of a couple of children who crumbled under the pressure. Within minutes of the start of the first song, she had dissolved into tears. Her mom later said she thought it was because Selah forgot some of the hand motions to the song and can be a bit of a perfectionist. She spent the remainder of the performance on stage but wearing a somber face and sitting on a teacher's lap. Her younger sister on the other hand, was not even in the performance but kept sneaking onto the stage to be part of the action.

Elias, my boss's son, was going for the class clown approach. He jumped and gyrated himself to his place on the stage and spent most of the performance making faces. He is such a contrast to his serious, more introverted older brother that it is hard to believe that they are related sometimes. Elias seemed to relish his time in the spotlight even if he was sharing it with his classmates.

Owen is one of the youngest kids in the class so his parents were a bit nervous about how he would do. Like Elias, he seemed to enjoy the attention. Instead of making faces though, he kept standing up in the middle of his seated classmates. Sometimes he waved to mom and other times he seemed to be just standing there. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he was the only one standing. It was pretty hilarious.

The program was followed by pupus (Hawaiian for snacks/appetizers.) I didn't know there would be food and it made me feel properly rewarded for my patronage of the Children's theater. I got pigs in a blanket and jello jigglers! What more could I ask for? It was a great ending to a fun night.

Impacting the Spheres: YWAMer in Hollywood

The school I am staffing in Maui is called the SBFM (School of Biblical Foundations in Missions). The main purposes of the school are to prepare students for missionary work, help them to develop a Biblical worldview and to learn how to impact the spheres of society. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM developed a system to break down society, which they called "mind molders." They divided all of society into 7 spheres of influence: Family, Church, Education, Media, Government, Business, and the Arts and Entertainment.

Personally I have always felt drawn to the education sphere and this has definitely influenced my decision to return to school to get my masters in school counseling. Our base focuses on this concept even in our entry-level school of YWAM, the DTS. One of the DTS students from our Summer 2009 school has begun to make an impact in Hollywood. I only met her briefly when she returned from outreach to Indonesia. Nevertheless, I am really excited that she's impacting Hollywood. She is currently playing a homeless woman on "The Bold and the Beautiful" and will be in an upcoming episode of "Lie to Me."

Here's an article about her: http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/news/bbs-brad-bell-kristolyn-lloyd-speak-on-the-homeless-story/2010/11/01/ Please pray that she will have a positive and powerful influence on the Arts and Entertainment Sphere.

Just Like Family

I consider myself very blessed in the family department. I have a loving biological family and my younger brother is one of my favorite people in the world. In recent years my family has grown with the addition of my sister-in-law and nephew. Besides my biological family, I've also had the opportunity to have been "adopted" by awesome people who've been like second families to me.

I grew up in Houston in the suburb that NASA built called Clear Lake. We moved there when I was eight and I quickly made friends with our neighbors. Our street was a safe place full of kids where everyone played outside almost nonstop. My brother and I would run around and play with our friends, moving from house to house. I spent just as much time at the Regans', Patels' and Harnlys' as I did at my own house. My parents became good friends with the Harnlys and they soon became like second parents to me with their daughter, Jocelyn becoming the younger sister I never had. Throughout the years, they have loved and supported me as if I were their own child. Their relationship in my life is so precious. Mr. Harnly will even sign cards "Dad 2."

Some of my awesome neighbors from the street I grew up on

Me and Neha Patel with Our Second Parents, The Harnlys

I've lived in Hawaii on and off for a total of about 3 years. Because of the nature of our work: training and discipling missionaries to go overseas, I have spent most of my time getting to know the students who come through but not getting to know many people in the community. I definitely regret this as I prepare to leave Hawaii, possibly forever. During this last DTS I staffed, I had a student named Shannon who is from Maui. She is now my SBFM student and one of my closest friends here. It's been an interesting experience to be friends with someone who is actually from here and not just here for a few months. She corrects my pathetic pronunciation of Hawaiian words and my mislabeling of beach names. She also teaches me Hawaiian words like pau, shoyu and saimin. One of the best perks to being friends with Shannon, besides learning where to get the best shave ice, is her family. I finally have a surrogate family in Maui just as I am leaving. They live in a comfortable house about 20 minutes away from our house. I have been there countless times to relax and get away from the crowded, dilapidated house I currently live in. They have a nice TV, a hot tub and they've given me full refrigerator privileges, something I don't even have here in my YWAM house. I've spent many Saturdays there commandeering their TV all day to watch college football. (Thankfully they are also fans.)

One Saturday, we took Shannon's truck to the beach and her dad ended up driving my car back to his house. When I got my car back, he'd changed my oil and filled my tank with gas. What an unexpected blessing! Uncle Jim has done many other dad-like things that I appreciate so much since my dad is so far away. When he heard about our insect and rodent problem, he bought poison for us to spread around and gave us tools to defend ourselves from angry demonic centipedes. Then later, he spent hours at our house cutting down the tall grass where the centipedes hang out. He ended up killing about a dozen of them.

They've also blessed other YWAMers by having groups of us up to their house for meals. On Thanksgiving, they made an amazing meal for a dozen of us. I've also been invited to various events with their Maui extended family. I've been to several birthday parties and family dinners. They've really made me a part of their family and it makes living here so much better. I know I am going to miss the Walshes - my Maui Family, so much when I leave.

Uncle Jim and Auntie Debbie Walsh

The Thanksgiving Crew

Adding Another Name to the List

Pastor Dale and his family

Here in Maui, I go to a church called Waipuna Chapel. In my time here, I've gone to several churches but this is the one that feels the most like home.  It reminds me a lot of Clear Lake Presbyterian Church, the church I grew up in with a lot of nice families and loving people. The church loves YWAMers and always supports us in our overseas trips. The pastor there is named Dale Gustafson. I'm not personally close to Dale, but I have a lot of respect for him. I have seen him meeting with some of the guys from YWAM, sitting on our driveway with them and I'm so glad he takes the time to disciple our guys. He also preaches Biblically sound sermons that make me think and often laugh.

This week Pastor Dale announced to the church that he has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His accompanying message was very powerful as he explained how life with the Lord isn't a formula. It's not that you do good things and only good things happen to you or that if something bad happens, it's because you've done something bad. I think the story of Job pretty much refutes that idea. It was interesting to hear how some people had already reacted to the news. One person told him that if he had enough faith, he would be healed. That's a pretty ignorant thing to say to a pastor. Having a lot of faith doesn't prevent you from hardships. If anything, the Bible implies you will have more hardships. Pastor Dale's transparency was encouraging and I think it will open new doors of intimacy for the church. After his message, the whole church surrounded him and prayed for him. I think that's the way the church should be.

I don't want to add people to the list of people I know with MS. But unfortunately this is the case. So, now in April when I ride in the MS150- the 150 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin, I have another person to ride in honor of. I will be riding in honor of Sara Stanford and Dale Gustafson. I pray I won't have anyone else to add to that list. Please pray for healing and strength for Sara and Dale as they live their lives with this unpredictable, debilitating illness. And pray that we can raise enough money to end MS forever.

Pastor Dale's Blog
http://www.coachgus.blogspot.com/

My MS150 Fundraising Website
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=8933909&pg=personal&fr_id=15941

Young Life

I have to start this by giving a shout-out to my good friend, Joey Brunette who brought my computer back to life.  It still has issues and I am glad I am getting a new one, but I was able to get everything I needed off of it and I am using it right now. Yay!

There are many things I am excited about when I go home to Houston. Two of the main ones being: riding my bike in organized rides and volunteering with Young Life again. My grad school schedule interferes with both of these things unfortunately. I have class on Saturday mornings (common time for group rides) and on Monday and Wednesday nights (Young Life). Luckily my class ends at 7:30 and Young Life begins at 7:37. I will have to be late but I will still be able to volunteer. I love those kids and our ministry with them. Check out this video to get a taste of our ministry:


YoungLife West Houston 2010 - Friday Night Lights from Ben Gillin on Vimeo.

The Memorial Service for Kirra Simone Daughtry

Disclaimer: I am in the process of trying to get a new computer. Maui has no selection so I have to order one online and it's taking longer than I would like. Because of this, I probably won't be blogging as much since I have to use other people's computers. Bear with me.

With the events of the past few days, I have realized that even in the midst of heartache, there's always hope and much to be thankful for. Without hope and thankfulness, I don't know if we could make it through the difficulties of life. I'm not saying that the hard things themselves are good, but that good can be found in the midst of adversity.
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20

On Saturday, we had a memorial service for Kirra Simone Daughtry. She was the unborn daughter of my friends, Maria and Bryan Daughtry. The Saturday before, a bunch of us girls had gone to the beach to celebrate Maria's birthday. We talked about how excited we all were that Maria would finally have her baby girl in February, after all the miscarriages she's had this year. How quickly things change. The next day, Maria was admitted to the hospital and told that her precious baby had died in her womb. Maria would then have to deliver the baby. So terrible! And yet, Maui was the best place this could happen. Maria and Bryan had moved to Oahu about a year ago and most of their close friends still live here in Maui and were able to rally around the family. Also Maria's best friend, Holly was visiting from the mainland and was able to be by her side. Because Maria was so far along this time, the doctors did an autopsy to determine what went wrong. This information will be used to prevent a miscarriage in her next pregnancy. Even in the midst of heartache, God gives hope and comfort.

Bryan and Maria wanted to celebrate Kirra and held a memorial service at the same beach we'd gathered at to celebrate Maria's birthday only a week before. It was a sweet time for all of us that included both laughter and tears. People hung out at the beach for a while and then the service began. There was a time of worship and Maria spoke about their experience with Kirra. I don't think there was a dry eye in the group and I saw even the macho men shedding tears. It was so inspiring to see Maria and Bryan praising the Lord in the midst of their pain.

Next we hit the water for a traditional Hawaiian paddle-out to commemorate Kirra's brief existence. We brought flowers and paddled out to form a circle on our surfboards. Everyone released the flowers into the water in her honor. Kirra's ashes weren't ready yet so Maria and Bryan are going to release them into the ocean later. We all headed back to shore and I even caught a wave on the way in. Unfortunately Holly stepped on a sea urchin on her way back to shore. She was in pain with about 10 needles protruding from her foot. There was talk of peeing on her foot to relieve the pain, but thankfully this idea was dropped. After Holly was stabilized, Maria's pastor, Duane led a time of prayer for the Daughtry family.

We finished the time by hanging out and enjoying the beach together. It was a sweet time of catching up with old friends. Many former YWAMers who live on the island came. We all have so much to be thankful for. Please continue to pray for Maria, Bryan and their five year-old son, Kieva.

Why is Everything Breaking?

I am frustrated. Several important things in my life have broken at once. As a missionary, I have enough support for all my day-to-day expenses but I don't have enough for unexpected expenses and I don't know what I am going to do about all this. So here's the scoop:

My car
This summer my friend borrowed my car and part of the door handle broke off on the driver's side. Thankfully it was still functional. Then last week my passenger side door handle broke off completely while a friend was getting in. Apparently this is a common problem with 2000 Corollas, but this doesn't bring me much solace. Now I have to open the door from the inside to let people into the passenger seat. I looked online and found some door handles for about $25 but I couldn't get them shipped to Hawaii. I shipped them to my parents' house and they will send them on. Luckily we have handy boys here who will be able to help me fix this problem when my handles get here. I feel like I have a handle on this particular problem, at least.

My computer
My computer has always been abnormally hot. But all of a sudden, ast night it would not turn on. I suspect the excessive heat fried something. When I try to turn it on, it just blinks twice. I found out online that this signals that the BIOS is corrupted. I have no idea what this actually means but it sounds difficult to fix. My computer-saavy male friends can't even help me because the computer doesn't turn on. I am going to try to see about getting it fixed. I definitely don't have the money for a new computer right now and I may not have enough to get it fixed either, depending on how much it is. Ugh! I use my computer for everything, including my current job so this is super inconvienent! Luckily everyone here has one and people are nice but I hate continually borrowing stuff from people. I also have to register for grad school on a computer on the 9th. The worst part is that I may have lost my pictures. I backed up my computer this summer but I have taken a lot of pictures since then. Please pray that I can at least retrieve them even if my computer can't be fixed.

My Kindle
So, I was feeling super frustrated about my car and my computer. I had a friend pray for me about my frustrations. Right after the prayer, I went to my room to read my kindle. I was horrified to find that 1/4 of the screen looks like there is black ink spilled inside. My guess is that it somehow got stepped on. I don't remember this happening but regardless, it is no longer readable. This is probably the least of my worries as it is not a neccesity but I real enjoy it and I only got it last Christmas.

In the end, I know that these are all minor things compared to all the things people go through. I mean, my parents' friend, Oran has cancer for the second time. That's a much bigger deal than all my electronics dying. It's still annoying, though. I am trying to pray and learn from this experience but it doesn't mean I like it one bit. Please pray for me and that nothing else will break. I hate it when God smites my toys.