Aloha!

  We live for Landry's off days here in Hawaii. Landry works crazy retail hours, which include late nights sometimes and pretty much every weekend since those are his best hours to get sells. When we lived in Nashville I went part time after we had been married a couple months just so we could actually see each other during the day. It was one of the best decisions we made. I worked 10 less hours a week but we gained so much more time together. We tried to plan it and get almost every off day off together. So pretty much all week long we would plan as to what we were going to do on our off day.
It is the same way here, but our adventures are a little more exciting! I am currently still unemployed which is another story for another blog coming soon, but that means I am counting down all the time for the next day that Landry is off with me!
  Last Thursday was Landry's day off and we took surf lessons!!! We absolutely loved it!!! We bought a groupon for a two hour lesson but somehow they accidentally over booked it. There was supposed to be 4 people with the 1 instructor but we ended up having 6. So 2 people were gonna have to wait on the beach for an hour and a half and then go. Landry and I gladly volunteered! We surely didn't mind sitting on the beach on a beautiful, sunny day and plus that meant a private lesson. Which normally would be outrageously expensive here, but we only paid 35 bucks for 2 hours(man do we love groupons). The instructor holds the back of your board and tells you when to start paddling and when to stand up and also gives you a huge push which really helps out. But we were just catching a wave paddling back in and catching another one over and over again since it was just the two of us. I am afraid this whole surfing thing could be addicting. Do I really need to get a job here?? Unfortunately, yes! We are planning on renting some surf boards next week and giving it a go on our own. The rentals are only around 7-10 dollars an hour so its not too bad.
  So, what else has been going on in our lives?? Well we have now been here almost two months which is a little crazy. But it is starting to feel more like home. We have a bunch of miss match furniture all donated to us from people at church, which is a huge answered prayer. We really didn't want to buy a bunch of furniture that we are gonna have to try to sell before we leave and lose a bunch of money on probably. But God has continually been faithful to us! We did buy two pieces of furniture from salvation army, a desk for my sewing machine and craft supplies. Which I am currently painting bright, beachy colors to hide the ugliness haha. Also we got a tv last week, we still don't have cable but we just have been streaming netflix which is good enough for us. So our tiny 515 square foot apartment is not fancy by any means, but it is home. We are taking things day by day and trying to enjoy the simple life. No kids, no house, no huge responsibilities just the two of us enjoying each other and enjoying life.
  Another new thing for us is helping with the youth group at our church here. Most of our friends know that Landry had an interview with a church in Columbia, TN about 6 months ago for a youth ministry position. Obviously it didn't work out for us, but our pray was for whatever God wanted to happen to happen. So we were dissapointed but we knew God's plan is always better than our plan. Then we began praying hard for this Hawaii thing to work out and when it did we knew God's plans were way different than what we thought they were going to be in Columbia. As I have said before the church we attend here is 95% military families. Which also means it is continually changing families move every couple of years and new families come. Well along with that Elders, Deacons and other vital members have to move and be replaced. A lot of people from church are leaving this summer and new positions are needing to be filled. So we have been asked to start helping with the youth group now and if things go good take it over this summer. God is so good. His plans are ALWAYS better than ours. It is so difficult to see when you want your plan and you want it now. But I trust in him and I know that he always leads me to where he needs me to be in his time. He has proven this to me time and time again yet still my faith is weak and sometimes I try to do things on my own.

My prayer today is a prayer for trust and greater faith in my Creator. He created all things and has a purpose for my life. Most days I feel clueless as to what his plan for me is, especially as a struggle to find the job I want here. I pray that I can completely trust that he has a plan for me. Lord, help me to remember that it is less about me and more about you!
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know that plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for GOOD and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who LOVE GOD ALL THINGS Work Together for GOOD.