Sunset

For the wrath of God is revealed in heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish heart were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible GOd into an image made like corruptible man- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Romans 1:18-23


Last night, Jeni was running on the beach and I was sitting and watching the sunset (my back is bothering me... not that I would be running anyway!), and I was just thinking that God made our earth so beautiful. And no matter how hard we try to capture the beauty with a camera or even art, we can't even come close to what our eyes actually see.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day is a funny thing to a teacher. It's exciting because it's a Day of Love and you just want to love the life out of your little ones. But it's also the Day of Sugar. Everyone and their mom sends chocolate and sometimes pure sugar to school. And it's NOT ONLY for their own child, but enough for EVERY child in your class. You veteran teachers (mom and Jill) are probably thinking, "You let them eat that candy?! You fool!" But I do. I haven't learned yet.

In my 3 lengthy years of teaching I have yet to have a great Valentines or even just an ok Valentines Day (except for today :D. Today was ok.). My first year teaching I spent 4 or 5 hours decorating my room with pink and red hearts. Three to four hours, did you get that? I don't even spend that much time cleaning my apartment. I was that excited about Valentines Day. My kids came in my class the next day and all my boys (4th grade of course) said, "Yuck!!! Why is our room pink?" And my girls could have cared less.

I don't remember much about Valentines Day last year except that my kids were pretty wild and one of them threw up. They were wild again today. SUPER WILD. I made the mistake of letting them pick out two treats to eat in class. One boy (Hale) picked out a whole candy bar and ate the WHOLE thing. I didn't know kindergarten could eat a whole candy bar. But he did, and then he chased it down with a package of pure colored sugar. You know the candy. It has a white sugar stick that you use to get the other sugar out with. Just a side note, that was my favorite candy growing up. One of my kids gave me a package of it today- I was soooooo excited. And then someone else took it. Can you believe that? Kindergartener thieves, who would have thought?
BUT.... there were two things that happened today that made my day.

First thing: One of my girls was sucking on a lollipop. She walked up to me, stuck it out right in front of my face and said, "Auntie, want a lick?"

Second thing: That boy Hale, the one who ate 2 and a half cups of sugar today, he's one of my favorite kids. (not that teachers have favorites ;D). He's the most wild kid but he has the SWEETEST heart. Well today he came up to me and said something silly and we laughed. As he walked away and I said to another boy, "Hale is so silly." And the kid said back to me, "Yeah but I hear you yell at him." I think it is funny because A) it's just a random comment. But B) I think kids can see the complex relationships their teachers have with other kids. And he probably thinks it's really weird that Hale gets in trouble all the time but at the same time I'm always hugging on him and laughing at him.

So, I had a pretty good Valentines Day. I know it would be weird if the same two things happened to you, so I'm not going to wish that on anyone. BUT... I hope someone in your life did something to make you smile or laugh.

Livin' the High Life

I don't want to brag or anything, but Jeni and I are seriously living the good life over here. I took some pictures of our theater room for you guys to see what I mean...

Our home theater!

It's Freezing!

For the past week or so, we have had a cold spell. It's the kind of cold that makes you not want to get out of bed. The kind of cold that seeps into your bones and makes it impossible to warm back up throughout the day. People are even wearing beanies and if I had one over here, I would be wearing one too. Last night I was thinking that even though I'm freezing, it's probably actually not that cold... my guess was in the fifties maybe. So I looked it up this morning. The temperature here is:

High of 75 degrees
Low of 69 degrees

No wonder I was so cold! Hahaha...

Donce... donce like you've never donced before!!

It probably has already dawned on all of you that the funniest things that happen to Jeni and I involve her planning something and somehow that thing goes really bad for only me. Actually, I think it’s just God trying to get me to lighten up. Let’s face it, I am the more uptight one of the two of us (big shock, I know!) and one day I’m going to try and learn my lesson of not letting Jeni get me in awkward situations.
An example of this was Tuesday night. In church, they announced hula lessons would be starting up again on Tuesday nights. So Jeni went and talked to the lady and reported all the answers to my questions: “Yes, it’s lessons. Yes, it’s for complete beginners. Yes, it’s no big deal if we join in.” Then, when Tuesday night rolled around, she had to go see someone and off I went to the hula lessons with our friend Suzie. In case none of you know this, I am not a dancer. Well, I love to dance, but not in public. I have never taken a dance class (unless Salsa aerobics counts, but my friend Tiffany can tell you how well I did in that class)… I can learn a sports play pretty quickly, but choreography???? Come on! I can barely spell it!
The night started with two drug addicts fighting in the parking lot. It has nothing to do with our class, but it set Suzie and I on edge… we were freaked out, but also strangely fascinated. So, "class" started by all of us sitting in a circle and introducing ourselves (there’s only five other people there besides Suzie and I). Then the instructor, Marlene, whips out a calendar and starts telling us all the dates of the PERFORMANCES!!! She’s just going on and on about when we’ll be performing for the church and at this function and that event….. I thought I was going to choke on my coconut shells! (ok, there were no coconut shells) But then I realized she was talking about the month of April which is when I’m going to Africa. I interrupt and tell her I will be in Africa and Suzie shoots me this look like, “Hey, thanks!”. As if performing a dance that you have no clue how to do in front of your whole church isn’t bad enough, Marlene told her that she’d been wearing a different colored costumes because they all already had theirs and there was no more fabric.
Then we line up and class starts. Let me tell you how seriously Hawaiians take hula. Anything revolving around the Hawaiian culture or ancient customs is treated with the highest respect. There is a certain way to act, dress, look and dance… definitely no laughing out loud. I thought it would be a fun night of us white girls trying to hula, and laughing hysterically… but it was totally opposite. It was SO SERIOUS!!! We had to learn dance steps, arms movements and then she actually taught us the first couple of steps to a song! I was absolutely dying. Have you ever been in that situation where you feel so uncomfortable and awkward and you finally resign to the awkwardness of it? I just kept looking at the clock thinking, “It’s almost over… I can do this for ten more minutes.”
It wouldn’t have been so bad if she wouldn’t have yelled at us so much. “Stand up straight! The hula is graceful! There’s no punctuation in hula! (still trying to figure that one out) You look like a wave, up and down, up and down… you need to be smooth! This is not about you! This about worshipping the Lord- so focus on Him!” I had the under-my-breath giggles, but poor Suzie looked like she was going to bust into tears. I felt so bad for her! I wasn’t as stressed as her because she kept thinking about the performance.
After class, Suzie and I laughed (after everyone else had left). I went home and told Jeni about our night. We were laughing so hard. Then she said, “Oh, she did mention something about a performance, but I guess I really wasn’t paying attention… and something about not having enough costumes… oh, and maybe that’s why she gave me the name of someone who teaches hula lessons…”. I made Jeni call Suzie and explain to her that all of her horror could have been avoided if Jeni had paid better attention.
As for me, I really don’t know when I’m going to learn my lesson about listening to Jeni. A lot of times, she has great ideas! It’s just that the ones that backfire, backfire REALLY badly!

Teacher of the Year

How do you lose a 300 pound student with stars bleached into his hair? I have no idea... but it happened to me about 20 minutes ago. He asked to go to the bathroom and about 20 minutes later I remembered he was gone (it's VERY hard to keep track of three students).

I went outside to find him and there he was- riding on the back of the security guard's golf cart riding in circles around the parking lot. Another instance that makes me wish I carried my camera around EVERYWHERE!

Easy Street

Hey, is anyone wondering why I'm writing so much lately? Well, I'll tell you, Ashley! :) I have nothing else to do! :) Our second semester started last week and I'm teaching a study hall class now instead of English. I have 16 students total spread out throughout six periods. And I have an aide. So my schedule looks like this:

Period 1: 5 kids
Period 2: 3 kids
Period 3: 1 kid
Period 4: 1 kid
Period 5: 3 kids (but one is the WORST case of ADD I've EVER seen, so he counts as more)
Period 6: 3 kids

It's very hectic... ok, actually, it's not hectic at all. Right now, my one student and my aide are sitting at the table reading books. And I am here writing. And that is pretty much how my day goes.... rough life. :)

Jeni, on the other hand, has a much more hectic schedule, at school and after school... so it looks like your stuck with me and my looooooooooonnnggg posts and bad pictures for a while!

My Ride to Work

Ok, these pictures are really poor quality.... I was running a little late and didn't have time to actually stop and take the pictures. But Jeni and I had a conversation last night about us needing to take more pictures here because its so unique. So, here's my ride to work... at least the pictures I was able to take while driving. So safe, I know! :)




Pipeline Beach. There's a big surfing contest going on right now. I think Jeni and I are the only two people on this island who have no idea which contest it is.


Sunset Beach... I was driving... there were huge waves this morning and I managed to not get a single one!

My favorite part of the drive... cows!!! It's like having a little bit of Lodi here with us in Hawaii! I need to actually stop one day and take better pictures because the colors are so vibrant.

Baaaa....

Ummm... yeah, these pictures are awful :).

Pass It On

Teaching high school can be pretty hilarious if you take a step back and just observe. One of the things that is pretty comical is how much stuff the kids get away with. It always surprises me because I was never bold enough to try many things in high school.

One of my favorite examples of kids getting away with things is the univeral use of a school pass. Let me explain. At our school, the pass is a light purple color. They are supposed to be pretty detailed so that security or another teacher can tell if the student is where they are supposed to be or not. But, like me, many teachers don't actually take the time to read passes of kids they don't know. So what happens is something like this.... I am walking back from the copy room and a group of kids is doing something suspicious. When I give them "the eye", one kid pulls out a purple colored piece of paper and waves it at me- and I pretend that someone has actually given them permission to be doing that ridiculous thing. But, the pass could theoretically (and most likely) could be a month old pass to the library. The two most recent examples actually made me laugh out loud as they waved their pass at me.

One was a group of four kids who snuck off campus last week to get lunch at the gas station across the street. I was already inside when they walked in. When they saw me, they stiffened, but the most brazen in the group waved a pass as if it were perfectly natural and not something they could be suspended for. I chuckled and nodded back as they headed for the soda and hot dog machines.

The second happened just an hour ago. There are three buildings on campus that are three stories tall. I was on the third floor of one of the buildings and as I came around the corner, there were four students CLIMBING ONTO THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING on one of those maintainance ladders. They all looked super guilty when they saw me (much less professional than the gas station girls) but one bravely waved that pass. I should have read it just for fun. Or checked with whatever teacher wrote it to see if their assignment actually involved four students climbing onto the roof of a three story building. But again, I gave my "approval nod" and walked on.

You might be wondering why I just walk away when these things are happening. I'm kind of wondering that too. :) Actually, one of the first things you learned as a teacher is to choose your battles. If you were to take on every cause, every kid, every broken rule.... life would be miserable. So I try to use my energy on things I deem extremely dangerous or harmful: weapons, drugs, fights, bullying.... Also, in a school of 2,000 kids, tracking down those kids is near impossible because when you ask for their name, they always mysteriously forget it. Of course, I guess I could just look at their pass! :)

Animal Magnetism

My writing for today has a theme.... can you guess what it is?


CREEEEEPPPYYY CRAAAWWLERSSSS
At church on Saturday night, I saw my first centipede. These fun little critters are guys you want to keep your eye on because although their bite doesn’t hurt too bad… the after effects are terrible. Someone explained it as, “It feels like someone is holding something hot on your arm that is continuously burning you." Although I have been introduced to my fair share of creepy crawlers here in Hawaii, I have never had the pleasure of meeting a centipede until Saturday. I was happy to see one so I would know what to look for in the future. It wasn’t too traumatic because we were outside and it was walking away from us.

Then, as we were walking home, I saw my SECOND centipede. Since it was dark, it bothered me a little more, but I was still pretty calm. I stayed calm UNTIL we walked in our apartment and there was one crawling across the floor!!!!!! This sucker was like 6 inches long!!!! And even though Jeni tried to be soooo brave, I got stuck with the job of taking care of this gnarly thing.

I doubt telling this story will do justice to what actually happened… but I’ll try.

Our first thought was to flush him, but we discarded that idea since we don’t know if they can swim. We found out later that they do have super powers- swimming happens to not be one of them. So Jeni grabbed me the biggest knife in our kitchen (anyone want to come over for dinner?) and I chopped him in half. AND THEN BOTH HALVES STARTED CRAWLING AWAY!!!!! We were freaking out! Now I had TWO centipedes to capture and kill! So my screaming assistant grabbed a fork and a jar filled with water and its lid. Since they just multiply when you cut them in half, we decided to drown it… or I should say THEM. In the meantime, the backside of the centipede (not the head half) stopped moving. I went to scoop him up first because it appeared to be LIFELESS. As I went to get him with my trusty fork (you’re still invited to join us for dinner) HE CAME TO LIFE AGAIN!!! The details are a little fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure Jeni was running around in circles screaming her head off… it was like a bad scene from a horror movie.

Well, needless to say, we finally caught BOTH halves and drowned them. Sorry for any nature lovers, but it had to happen. Then I took pictures of him and he now sits by the front door as a warning to his little centipede friends. If you look closely at this picture you can see both halves. I tried to get a good picture of his nasty little head with his mean pinchers and large teeth, but I couldn't get the right angle. You'll have to take my word for it.


FRONT ROW SEATS
Ok, I have to write about this. We have mentioned before that there are like 8,938 cats in the little complex where we live. Some belong to people as evidenced by their collars. Some supposedly belong to other neighbors, which I don’t believe too easily because they don’t have collars. And then there are the strays. There is always some cat drama going on. For example, there are two cats that think they belong to us… they are always on our porch and even try to open our screen door! I actually appreciate their presence because someone told me that they eat cockroaches. And two cats attacked one our friend’s cat a couple a week ago and after the fight, a leg had to be amputated. He’s not used to having only three legs so he still tries to scratch with that leg and his little stump wiggles back and forth. Kind of gross.

But anyway, lately, we have been treated with front row seats to a live show every few nights. Now, its not a hula or Tahitian fire dance… its two cats who sing in the middle of the night! And not just a few notes… an entire concert! One starts in… and then apparently gets the other one going. And they sound like screaming babies!!! The process of them waking me up is so bizarre… first I get that groggy feeling knowing that I’m hearing a sound I shouldn’t be hearing. Then I think it’s a baby crying because our neighbors have a four month old son. Then there’s one screeching part of the song that gives it away that it’s a cat. After a few minutes of listening to this, the second cat joins in and I wonder WHERE ARE THESE CATS (because they sound like they are right outside my window) and WHY AREN’T THEIR “OWNERS” MAKING THEM STOP??!!?? You would think it would only last a few minutes; but I’m always surprise by their vocal endurance as they continue to sing… and sing… and sing…. It reminds me of those old Garfield (I think it was Garfield) comic strips where he sat on the fence with a cat friend and howled at the moonlight.

The bad news is we haven’t figured out a good way to make them stop yet. Jeni tried yelling, “Shut up!” but that seems to only seems to work on the neighbors barking dogs. I tried slamming the door (hey, it was the middle of the night, it was the best idea I could come up with), but so far none of those things work. We are completely open to suggestions!



WHHHOOOOO GOES THERE?
I’m not sure which is worse- having an animal like a cat or dog make noise all the time… or to have an unknown animal making a noise right outside. There has been a mysterious animal lurking around lately. Our house is on stilts (see pictures from earlier posts as reference) so it is quite possible that whole clans and packs of wild animals could take up residence under us. This explains why I have been freaking out about the weirdest, strangest unknown noise that has been floating in through the window.

When I asked someone at youth group what they thought it was, their answer was an owl. Ok, so it does kind of make a “Hoo…hoo..” noise… but an owl living under our house??? I'm not so sure about that. Plus, wouldn’t a singing cat attack a hooting owl?

Good Mornin'!

I was cleaning out my memory card and found this picture I took one morning before church.

Santa's Favorite Cookie Tester

We were cleaning up our Christmas decorations tonight and noticed Petie rootin' around. We were busy putting things away so we didn't think much of it but then he started making weird horse type noices. We looked over to find him fully dressed like one of Santa's reindeers. At first my feelings were hurt. I thought that maybe he wanted to ride off with Santa. But then I realized that he was just having fun.
Petie is so funny like that.

fOnDue pArTy

Before I begin, I must first apologize to those of you who are going to wish you were in Lodi on December 27, 2005. Believe me, you're going to wish you were! Josh and Amy threw a Fondue Party, or as I like to call it- a FunDo Party. It was very "fun to do". They invited a bunch of our childhood friends and their spouses. Amy was a great little hostess! And her and Jaime decided to show us their recently learned "Thriller" moves during clean up.... wow.

Say Cheese!

Well.... we are back in California and it is so amazing to be at home with our family. We flew back Christmas Eve and got up Christmas morning for church. Then we came home and opened presents and hung out with the fam. Blue skies and warm weather has NOTHING on being with your family. We'll write more later, but I wanted to share some pictures with you all. I got a new camera for Christmas and took 266 pictures in one day! :) I was just testing it out. But, if you've never hung out with our family, it gets pretty goofy... if you have hung out with us, this should look familiar! :) There was a little bit of singing, a little dancing, a little napping, grapefruit eating (that accounts for the looks on my dad and brother's faces), lots of laughing.... and Josh and Amy officially launched their modeling careers.....

The Reason for the Season

I read this editorial in our local news paper. I know it's long but it is well worth it.
-Jeni

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays.

His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!

So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more tan a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the filed near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. THe man tried to get their attention, bu that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn.

Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?"

He thought for a moment for and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one fo his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese.

He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn-- and one-by--one, the other geese followed it to safety. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" THen he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. WHy would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what GOd had done. We were like the geese-- blind, lost, perishing. GOd had his Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us/
As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul because quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You, GOd, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm."

I think this article is amazing, especially considering the fact that it was printed in a secular magazine. But there is one thing that the editor did not touch upon. The fact that Jesus went through the most excruciating and humiliating death known to man. And why would He do that? For us.
Read this verse:
"... looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews12:2

The joy set before Him... what was that joy? Something so strong that he went through the shame and pain. Shame that He despised. It was the chance to have a relationship with you and with me.

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." -Jesus (John 15:13)


"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." -Jesus (John 14:6)

I pray that we would all grow closer to Jesus. That we would know the extent of His love towards us. And for those who don't know Him in a personal way, I pray that now is the time. If all you see is a storm when you look at your life, He is waiting to bring you to the safety of His love and peace.


Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Gobble Gobble

Our parents came to visit us for Thanksgiving. It was awesome!! We got to hang out with them for 8 days. It was eight days of laughter, eating, and even a couple tears.
I didn't realize how awesome my parents were till I went to college. When you're raised with something you don't know anything different and therefore can't completely appreciate it (I think). In college, I didn't have my parents right there. And I missed them tremendously. I missed seeing them all the time. But we were able to talk on the phone and I went home every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter Break, and summer. And they always traveled to Boise or other schools to watch our games. But even still, I missed them a ton. And now... the time I get to see them is even less. Jaime and I have really been missing them.
All that to say, it was SUPER nice having our parents here.
Pictures and stories are coming...

Happy Pig-Day!

I know it's usually Happy Turkey Day.... and we did have a turkey, but the main focus of our meal was a little something called kalua pig. If you have never tried it, is is amazing. What makes it so delicious is the fact that they cook it in a traditional imu- which is a an underground method of slow cooking the meat. It ends up with an amazing smoked tasted to it. Jeni knew some people who were cooking the pig in their imu for a fundraiser and we were thrilled.

So, for 12 people, we had kalua pig, a 20 pound turkey, five pies, and all the other usual suspects. Did we eat it all? Yup, most of it! Since Jeni and I have been looking forward to it for so long, we fixed it for leftovers for every meal. My dad finally put his foot down and said, "No more pig, girls." That's kind of embarassing, I know, but you all deserve to know the truth.

Sorry to those of you who are vegetarians. We had a vegetarian as a guest for Thanksgiving dinner and she actually leaned over to the bird and said, "Hey little turkey.... I wonder if you were a boy or a girl." I'm not joking at all.... that's a good way to not get yourself invited back next year.

Some pictures of a small imu and then the guys that cooked ours (not really):

Because Jeni and I usually write these posts when we're mentally going about 100 miles an hour, a lot of the posts have been about what we have been doing or just about little things in our life over here. But, what I haven't ever stopped to talk about is the awesome things God is doing over here!

For me, last year was pretty rough. I didn't have a consistent church I was going to and work was very stressful and time consuming. I just got into that rut of rushing through my days without taking time to make God a priority. I was just super spiritually dry.

Anyway, I think one amazing change is not having a TV. You never know how much garbage your mind is being filled with until you step away from it. Especially nowadays (yes, that's a word!) when there are less and less "clean" shows. We go to an awesome church. Jeni and I both are doing a mentoring program (Titus 2 type of thing) and we both were blessed with awesome mentors that fit our lives perfectly.

But here are some things God has been teaching me:

1. Be nice to other people! Sounds simple, but what a concept to have people leave a conversation with you feeling better than they came. Our world is so full of negative people that we really need to get our acts together and start encouraging each other- because the world really isn't doing it.

2. I've also been learning to protect my heart and mind and stay away from those brothers and sisters in Christ who are so negative and just mean. Psalm 101, 1 Cor 5, 2 Cor 15:33...... I don't think God always calls us away from those who are bringing us down, but I think it's definitely a prayer thing to find out if He'd have you in that situation. Sometimes, we feel like God is leading us to minister to them. But here's a good question.... are they becoming more like you or are you becoming more like them?

3. I've been learning more and more about an eternal perspective. 1 Timothy talks about the love of money.... look at verses 6-11.

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

The verse that says "just having food and water, we shall be content....". What a huge concept! If we have food to eat, we are ok.

1 and 2 Timothy are excellent books to read to contrast living in the world versus living in the Spirit of God- there is a huge contrast of strife vesus peace.

Ok, that's it for now.... my class is about to start! Hope you all have a great day!!!
Jaime

You're So Haole, You Don't Even Know You're Haole

Haole: it's pronounced how-lee. And it is a sweet little, derogatory word locals use. It means "white girl" or "white boy". You'll usually hear it in a negative way, like I did yesterday. Speaking about another teacher, this girl said, "I can't stand her because she's a haole *****". Yeah, Jeni's kids can't control their bladder, my kids can't control their mouths. :)
But sometimes, it's just stated as a fact with no ill intention. For example, my response (after a quick scolding for the foul language) was, "I am as haole as they come... and you hang out in here all the time!" Or the other day when my kids were talking about some kind of bug repellent thing that I had never heard of. When I asked what it was (when you live in Hawaii, you always keep your ears open for a great bug repellent!), she was shocked... and said, "Oh Miss! (they just call teachers "Miss" or "Mister", I'm still getting used to it), you've never heard of that??? You're so haole!"
Since I am pretty much the whitest thing around, it doesn't offend me. But it's an interesting experience to go from California- which is just about the most diverse and culturally accepting state in this fine country of ours- to Hawaii, where racial slurs are a common occurrence.
Another term that is used quite frequently is FOB, which stands for Fresh Off the Boat. And kids will use it to describe people who just came here from other countries. And when they are using it, they're usually describing they way the kid dresses or speaks. But, before you get appalled and want the adults to do something about it... you should know they use it too. In fact, last year, at Jeni's school, one of their dress-up day themes was "FOB Day"! Crazy!

Here are some pictures of my school. They aren't too thrilling, but my classroom is up on the third floor, the classroom to the right of the middle column, post thing that goes through the middle of the building. If you look real close, you can see the words, "GO HOME HAOLE" spray painted on the door. :)

Shee-Shee Down the Leg

Ok, I got the hint... shee-shee isn't a good thing to write about on your blog. I'm not sure what clued me in, the fact that only ONE person responded to my OR the fact that the response was "shh-shee".

I can't help but to tell one more shee-shee story. And that will be it, I promise (somewhat promise).

And please don't that peeing in the class freaks me out. I have someone pee at least once a week. I'm used to it. It's just extraordinary shee-sheeing that makes me laugh or makes me want to cry. Today was the kind that made me want to laugh.

One of my boys came into my class after school. He didn't say anything, just looked around my classroom. The front of his shorts were SOAKED. But he looked so relaxed that I thought, "Nooo, he couldn't have peed his pants." But I decided to ask, "Did you pee your pants?" And he looked at me like, 'Lady, I have no idea what your talking about.' So I decided to aproach it with a different angle, "Did you make shee-shee in your pants?" And he said, "Oh yeah, I didn't make it to the bathroom in time," He said it so nonchalantly, it cracked me up. Did I mention that he had pee running down his leg onto my carpet? Yeah... the joys of teaching kindergarten.

Jaime's going to wish she didn't make me promise to write 2 times a week.

those kids...

Kids in general say the cutest things. But there is something about the kids here in hawaii, they crack me up. I've kept a journal of funny things that they say and I wanted to share some.
These are Kindergarteners but I think Jaime would agree that her kids use the same terms.

"I like color."
translation: I want to color. People use "like" in place of "want to." Example: "You like race?"= "You want to race?"

"I needed to make a lot of shee-shee because I drank a lot of chocolate milk at lunch."
translation: I went to the bathroom because I drank a lot of chololate milk at lunch. shee-shee=pee

"They make trouble for nothing."
translation: They're mean to me for no reason at all.

Puddles of shee-shee

Shee-shee. The local term for pee. And yes, everyone uses it- kids and adults alike. I don't mind the term as much as I mind the actual form of it. Especially when it is in puddles on the floor of my classroom. Especially, especially when my other students walk through it, therefore transfering to my ENTIRE classroom.

There are many things about teaching that Universities don't tell you about when you are getting your the degree in Education. Puddles of shee-shee are one of these things. Why? Why don't they explain that if you teach Kindergarten, at least one kid a week will "make shee-shee" in his pants? Why didn't they explain that once in a great while, you might have a child who will make PUDDLES of shee-shee in your class? WHy didn't they tell you that janitors will hide so they don't have to clean it up? That they won't come out of hiding no matter how many kids you send to find them or no matter how many notes you send to the office? Why didn't they tell you that there's a slight possiblity that you might be stuck in a classroom of shee-shee with little ventilation for over 45 minutes? WHY?

And folks, that's just on shee-shee. We won't get into the poop stories. I'll save those for another day.

I'm Listening to Nothing and It's Great!

Ooooohhhh..... the sweet sound of silence! Sometimes the last few minutes of school are just as exciting for a teacher as for students. I did an activity with my students today that required them to be a little loud and it is so draining! I am really going to enjoy my nap this afternoon! :)

I took this picture yesterday on the way home from school. These are Hawaii's versions of California's taco trucks. It might seem like you wouldn't want to buy food from this happy little truck.... but you do. It's a little pricey, but they sell the best shrimp ever! All along the road there are about 7 or 8 of them.... we have never actually eaten at Fumi's, but I like the pinwheel, so that's why it made it into this edition of my "Hawaii, Jaime's Way" travel log.

Keeping up with the Jones's.... or the Wingos

I have a friend named Ashley who has the cutest baby ever. And I love Ashley to death, but she updates her blog so much..... and we don't.... and I am really starting to feel the pressure. (you can find it at http://www.thejwingos.blogspot.com ). What they are especially good at is taking pictures. Jeni and I always find ourselves in either strange places or around strange people (you might think it's us... but no, we're not strange :> ) without our camera and you'd think we'd learn our lesson by now. But over the weekend, the whole pressure thing hit me and I said, "Jeni! We HAVE to write more on our blog.... how many can you commit to a week????" I guess I made her nervous because she said two. Personally, I think that's a bit of an overkill (I said one), but hey, she's always been the overachiever! :) So here is mine for the week.... Jeni's two should be coming out soon! In the meantime, here's a picture of the beach and some hot surfer chick waxing up her board.

Hit and Run

I think there is one thing that we can all agree on that is worst than being "Stuck in Lodi"- and that's being in "Stuck in jail (in Hawaii)". I came very close to experienceing this the other week. It's a classic Jaime/Jeni story. Jaime telling Jeni to do something and Jeni stupidly following without questioning... here's what happened:

Jaime and I were in our church parking lot. She was in her car and I was in mine. I backed up to leave and I felt a big bump. I thought I ran over something. When I turned around to look, these druggie guys were hanging out their car windows yelling at me and waving their hands at me. Yes, I had hit them (maybe I should have turned around to look BEFORE I felt the bump).

It was apparent that I had hit them. So I smiled at them with that I-know-I'm-an-idiot-smile, and pulled back into my parking space so that we could hash things out. I look over at Jaime and she is waving at me like a mad woman telling me to get out of there ASAP. The way she was looking freaked me out. I thought they had a gun or something. So I drove out of there as fast as I could (I'm suprised I didn't hit someone on my way out). As soon as I got onto the main road I called her and said, "Why did you tell me to leave?!" And she said, "Those guys were mad at you Jeni, they were yelling at you." "Yeah," I said, "Because I hit them." She then advised me to go back. I guess she thought that I was flirting with them because I was smiling at them and pulling back in. ???????? Thanks for the vote of confidence Jaim.

We went back to the parking lot and they were gone. Their car was there so we checked it out and there weren't any dents or scratches. And they were total druggies. They didn't have a liscence on their car, just one of those peices of papers that says, "Aloha." And it was awesome because a friend of ours from church was there and he looked around the car for any damage with us... there turned out to be none.

Time Flies

I cannot believe it's almost November! We have been doing a really bad job of posting lately- sorry! I thought maybe I'd just let you all know some things going on in our lives....

The biggest thing that pops into my mind right now is that Jeni has this WHOLE week off! And I don't. She has totally been trying to downplay it so that I won't get upset, but it was pretty obvious this morning when one of us had to get up and the other didn't! But she felt so bad she woke up anyway and was going to make me breakfast! I told her that most likely I wouldn't be up if the situation was reversed, but she's always been much sweeter than me :). I am glad she has the week off and since I've always known I wasn't getting a break, it's not that bad.

The last two Sundays, we have been playing volleyball at church. Well, I watched last week, but I played last night and it was so much fun. I haven't played in years and pretty much sucked (yeah, this one guy traded me away to the other team! The nerve!), but it felt so good to play! Jeni is a stud and I kind of felt like the unathletic sister who came to town.... but that's ok. I'm going to start training at least an hour a day and I'll show them! Just kidding. I'm not training at all. I was a little worried about being able to get out of bed this morning since we played for two hours, but I made it! The only things that are sore are my legs.... wonder why. :)

We also started a mentor program where we both have an older woman in the church to hang out with and mentor us in a way. We both got awesome ladies and it has been amazing. They fit our personalities perfectly and mine even has a similiar back problem! They didn't know that when they matched us up- talk about God hooking us up! She's has been dealing with her back problem for about twenty years and knows so much about backs in general. She has a been a huge help physically, but also emotionally!

Hmmmm..... what else? We are still living in our little place. This past week, our neighbor moved and in moved a couple with a three month old baby. Not only is our place small, but it also has VERY thin walls! Jeni hears most of the crying, but yesterday I had to leave because the poor guy was crying for over an hour. But it's not all that bad, definitely could be worse.

We have been making a lot of friends at church and go to an awesome Bible study on Tuesday nights and another one on Saturday. Our Saturday night service is usually followed by Smore Night on our porch and this week we even had a guest. :) We got to hear his testimony and it was such a blessing to be reminded how loving God is... and how He can change our lives and when we're born again, He really gives us a new life. It was rad.


Our first quarter of school ends this week for me (Jeni ended last week) and pretty soon Christmas will be coming up! We bought our tickets home.... December 22- January 2.

I can't think of anything else. I'll ask Jeni. I decided I'm going to put her on picture patrol while she's off this week. There are so many beuatiful things here... and some bizarre too (like the pigeon that attacked us at dinner the other night).... but that's it for now!

I'm an Auntie!!!

Well, technically I'm not an "aunt", but in Hawaii, it's a sign of respect to call elders "Auntie" or "Uncle". A lot of Jeni's students call her Auntie, but they eventually learn to call their teachers "Miss" or "Mrs." Because of that, I don't have anyone calling me auntie.... until recently! :)
Jeni and I take some girls that were in her class last year to church with us and guess what they call me..... Auntie Jaime!!! Oh my gosh, I love it. The funny part is they call Jeni Ms. Elson and me Auntie Jaime so I think people get really confused when we are all together. This morning when I dropped Jeni off at school, the sisters (they are seven and eight) were getting there at the same time and came and gave me a hug. Then when they left they said, "Bye Auntie Jaime!" in their little Hawaiian accents. Oh, they are just two cute!

Pencil Sharpener

Oh, the things kids say...
I have a little bit of a cold. Today I held 3 kids in from recess (Peter just happened to be one of them). While they were in here, I blew my nose. Peter and another girl stopped what they were doing and looked up at me with a look of confusion/disbelief. Then Peter said, "Auntie, you sound like our pencil sharpener."
Oh Peter...

-Jeni (I want to sign my name so that you don't think that one of Jaime's highschoolers are saying these silly, silly things. I mean to think, that I could blow my nose loud enough for it to sound like a pencil sharpener. Now that would just be embarrassing.)

But he called ME stupid

A lot of funny things have happened to me during my 3 years of teaching. Probably the all time funniest happened last week.

I have a little boy named Peter who is full of energy. He is the typical "boy". Very hands on and physical.

On the way to lunch 5 boys (Peter included) got in trouble. I had to leave them in front of our school office by themselves while I ran in to get something. I came out to find one of my sweethearts, Kaleo, hunched over crying hysterically. One of the other boys told me that Peter had punched him in the stomach. Peter instantly started crying but managed to muffle out, "But he called me stupid!" I explained how we don't hit when others call us names and that he would have to go talk to the principal. Oh man, he went crazy, crying up a storm... He cryed for the next 5 minutes and kept saying, "But he called me stupid!" over and over. Finally in my sternest voice I leaned over so my face was right in front of his and said, "Peter, it doesn't matter that he called you stupid. Is he in trouble right now? No. You are. Because you hit him." He looked me in the eye and in a clear and frustrated voice he said, "BUT TEACHER, he called you stupid!"

My natural instinct was to hug him, thank him, and ask him why he didn't clock the little punk in the kisser. But I fought the temptation, mustered up my dignity and said, "Peter, it doesn't matter WHAT he called me, you can't hit people."

Funny huh? Yeah, kind of.
Jeni

Mike Moore

On September 27th Mike joined Jesus in heaven. As sad as it is to know that I will never again see him at church or at their home, it's amazing to think of him with Jesus. He loved Him with all of his heart. He loved to read His Word. It's awesome to know that he is completly healed, probably dancing around his Savior or sitting at His feet listening to stories from the Bible.

For those of you who never met Mike, let me tell you a little bit about him. He was Josh's baseball coach for many years. Loved baseball. Loved coaching his sons' teams. Six years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and was given months to live. Pastor Perry went to pray with him in the hospital and Mike ended up entrusting his life to Jesus. From then on he was a changed man. He still loved baseball but coached for the glory of God. From what I saw, his desire was to bring glory to God through everything he did. Throughout his illness he would write updates on his health. In these emails he would thank God for the colon cancer, knowing that it was the way that he came to know Him. In fact, I just found an article from the Lodi Newspaper about Mentors. Mike was one of the mentors featured.

"I thank God for my colon cancer. It changed me and I think I'm really making an eternal difference now. I pray everyday that God will put me in a place where I can be of some assistance to somebody and show them the joy that I have," he said.

Our world is full of sickness, pain, and evil. What do people need these days? Hope. Mike found his hope and strength in Jesus. I'm thankful for his life, for his trials, his pain, and his love for Jesus. Knowing that God used all of those things to draw people to Him. When I think of how many people will be in heaven because of Mike Moore, I get goosebumps.

Mike will be missed. But there is comfort in knowing that he is in a better place and that he is completly healed.

"For I consider the sufferings of this present time NOT WORTHY
to be compared with the glories that shall be revealed in us."
Romans 8:18

His Eye is on the Sparrow

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body,
what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his
stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass
of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the
oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father
knows that you need all these things. But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:25-34



Lyrics to "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

Why should I feel discouraged
Why should the shadows come
Why should my heart feel lonely
And long for heaven and home
When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches over me
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me

His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
I know He watches
Me