Skip to main content

Created to live in freedom.

After getting the rental car we filled a cooler box with ice and after getting a few supplies at Safeway we set off to the beach which was the activity for the day. It was a nice drive although I am realizing more and more that this is a volcanic island and so most of the scenery is black lava. On some stretches of road people have written different things with white stones and this is what they call “Hawaiian graffiti”.

Our first stop was the Hilton Hotel. Not to stay there, but because you can visit the resort and enjoy lunch by the Dolphin pool. It was really lovely. The Hilton is on such a big property that you need to take a little boat to get around (a real boat in a sense, except it runs on rails in this little man-made river). It’s a beautiful place though, and the food at the little restaurant was simple, but nice (I had my first fish tacos ever made with fresh fish).

Looking at the dolphins in this small pool area and observing people coming having paid lots to “play with them” it made me a bit sad. These beautiful mammals were created for a life beyond this. They weren’t created to be confined to a little pool, and seeing the see just a little bit beyond I was thinking that that is where they really belong. In the vast sea, free to jump and swim and really live, not having to entertain people wanting to experience a dolphin close-up.

The next stop was the Hapuna beach. A spectacular sandy beach with lovely warm water, not too wavy and possible to swim in the clear salty water. As I was swimming into the waves my mind went to the verse where it says that God set up boundaries for the sea. And thinking about it, it really blows my mind. I mean, how genius is it to put the exact amount of sand and match it with currents in the water, the amount of water being washed in at any time, and in all of that set a boundary for the sea. Only God could do that. And then, as I was on the beach and looked at the millions of grains of sand there, I thought about Psalm 139 where it says that the thoughts that God has towards me are more numerous then the sands on the sea. And that really blows my mind, that God thinks more about me, just me, then there are grains of sand on the entire planet. It’s unfathomable!!

So those were my major revelations, or rather reminders that just drew my gaze to God and what an awesome Creator He is in the midst of enjoying a day at the beach.

Popular posts from this blog

Packing...again.

I just folded the last load of laundry and I’m almost packed. Off to the airport at 5am tomorrow morning, heading off to Amsterdam. I’m excited, a bit nervous, and wondering what it’ll be like. It’s been a good week at home with lots of quality time with family, especially the little nieces and nephew. I’m glad I’ll see them in April again. Well, not much to write and packing to be done and a bit of sleep would probably be a good idea too. Next time I write it’ll be from Amsterdam....

Single-tasking September: The art of single-tasking.

To change habits and ways of life, the motivation for change has to be strong, and the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to make the change.  For so long it’s seemed like the ability to multitask has been regarded as a great skill, but is it really a good thing? Recovering from burn-out, one of the effects I noticed was that it was harder to concentrate, and especially tricky trying to focus on many things at once. I’d try to multitask, only to realise that all tasks suffered from lack of capacity to complete any one of them. The challenge is that the habit of always doing many things at once goes deep, and when I tried to focus on just one thing, I found that it was actually really difficult.  As I did a little google search on the matter, I found it seems like multitasking isn’t as healthy as once thought, and that it doesn’t help productivity. Some even referred to it as “switch tasking”, in the sense that the brain isn’t doing many things at once, but shifting rapidly...

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...