No Car, No Apartment, No Problems

When the words, "Welcome to Hawaii" finally came out of our pilots mouth it finally felt real. We are really doing this. I couldn't wait for the over 100 people in front of us to get there carry on out of the overhead bins. I wanted to run off the plane. We walked off the plane to the smell of tropical flowers as several passengers were welcomed with fresh leis around their necks. The airport is partly open air and when we walked into one breezeway with giant trees all around us I felt butterflies, no this is not a vacation this is really our relocation can it be true? We arrived at our hotel 11 pm honolulu time which is 4 am nashville time. Grabbing our bags from the shuttle and checking into the hotel this late at night and sweating, it feels so good. So exhausted from a long day of travel, but overtaken by excitement and relief to have made it safely with no glitches. 
I am an early riser normally and it is really annoying to Landry especially on his off days when he can sleep in, but I shake him and wake him. I'm always excited to spend day time together since his work schedule usually allows for very little of that. So of course how could I sleep in when we have all day off together in Hawaii? Although I woke up a couple hours before I was able to convince Landry to arise around 7. We got ready put on shorts (which feels like a dream in January) and headed to find breakfast. We went down to the lobby and the hawaiian man behind the counter looked at us funny and said there is 2 gas stations walking distance and a wendys that opens up at 9 and handed us a tiny highlighted map. We headed out thinking he probably just doesn't understand how far we are willing to walk. As we left the hotel we realized we are in the middle of an industrial area and there is seriously no eating places anywhere close to us. Not having a car is really feeling tricky right now. We walked a couple miles just to make sure there are no options and then settled on a chevron gas station breakfast. Now the reality of this is no vacation really sets in. To our surprise we find 2 Jimmy Dean croissant sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches in the refrigerator and some mini blueberry muffins a water and some juice and we feel very satisfied. Head back to the hotel to immediately figure out how we will be transported to pick up our rental car at noon. Since we are already seeing the importance in transportation. We booked the rent a car 3.5 miles from our hotel because we considered that walking distance. Much to our surprise the front desk worker told us we could not walk there because the was a highway we would need to cross. Ouch! Did not plan on it, but we had to call a taxi and pay 30 bucks for 3 miles. We felt like we were 16 years old again getting the keys to our first car, when the enterprise worker handed over the keys! Yet another convenience I have taken for granted every day as I normally just hop in my car and go where ever I need to go. Lord, thank you for never making transportation a problem for me. We jumped in rolled the windows down and headed to Aloha Stadium to the swap meet aka trashy flea market. Landry and I both love to find cheap things that may be trash to others but treasure to us. There were booths set up in a circle all around the stadium. Our buying list consists of ugly brown plastic sandals for landry $5 bucks (not my chose of fashionable footwear but I am working on caring less about outward appearance and those sandals really tested me haha), mixed fruit bowl with pineapple, papaya, coconut, apples, and two mystery fruits that were very interesting, hawaiian bread stuffed with cheese and several meats, and a giant coconut filled with chilled coconut water(which neither of us liked and Landry embarrassingly offered it to strangers which promptly denied us). We plan on coming back as we saw several signs and decorations that will make our apartment feel beach worthy. Now the apartment search begins! We left feeling energized to find a place to live, but quickly were deflated. We first drove to Landrys new verizon home. It is in a really cute new outdoor shopping center, which definately excited me way more than Landry. There is a movie theater, a 24 hour fitness, ross, dry cleaners, craft store(which means trouble for me), food court, pier one and several more shops. Directly behind them are 2 large apartment towers how perfect, but no not really since here there are no offices to walk in and just say we are here to find and apartments. It is only through craigslist and other companies that sell them, which we quickly learned the hard way as we followed someone in the security gate. Next we went to several grocery stores(and yes there is a wal-mart right by Landrys work yay) searching for apartment guides and finally found one, but it was no help. There were few near the location we need and all way over our budget! We rushed back to our hotel to get ready for church and arrived 7 minutes early, but there was only one car in the parking lot we pulled back out to read the sign but we were right about the service time and pulled back in. Walking up to the buildings I started to feel nervous about being new and not knowing anyone. We have been so blessed with our congregation in Nashville and all the friends we've made. The first person we meet is the preacher which Landry had spoken with on the phone last week and he told us they operate on hawaiian time which is about 5 minutes late. Perfect! Landry and I are gonna fit in just right here since we usually are always 5 minutes late. People started arriving and we had a quick devotional inside the building with the doors open and a great breeze, reminding me of church camp days. We were introduced and were asked to stand up, which anyone who knows me knows I really don't like to do, but I survived. Then we headed off to class. Of course the lesson was on money, the thing that my mind has been filled with lately...will we have enough to survive, can I be happy living "simply", will I find a good paying job?? Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money, will not be satisfied with money...We discussed how the love for money and material blessings can never satisfy it only makes you crave it more. O so true I have seen this in my life so many times. Hello, wake up call. If I only buy this outfit I won't buy anymore new clothes for a while, but there is always some reason or justification in my head why I need something new even when I have a closet full. Thank you Lord for opening my blind eyes! Now the hard part is making a change. After class everyone came to meet us. My heart felt light again, how good it felt to already find new Christian friends. One couple in particular who have two children one graduated from Harding and one from Abilene really took us under their wing. She immediately gave me her telephone number and started trying to help me conquer our biggest problem now finding an apartment. She was telling me areas to look and not to look. Her and her husband invited us to dinner tomorrow night at a Mongolian restaurant. They are picking us up at our hotel. Wow there are no other people like God's people. I felt an instant connection just knowing we serve and love the same God. We left church and headed down to Waikiki because I wanted Landry to see all the street shops and walk on the beach since we hadn't even seen sand yet. We had fun, but were so exhausted from our long day we didn't stay long. God is watching over us and continually providing all we need. My prayer today is to let go of my cravings for security in money and possessions. I want to feel secure in Christ alone. Anywhere Jesus I can safely go. Anywhere, Anywhere fear I cannot know. Anywhere with Jesus will be home sweet home.