Behold the Father's Love for Us

Today, on my way to work, I was reminded of 1 John 3, which says, "Behold, what manner of Love the Father has bestowed on us, that weshould be called Children of God!" I recently got into reading Our Daily Bread devotionals in the morning as I stop at the many traffic lights along my way to work, and this particular thought-provoker was from yesterday, May 15.

I started thinking about how to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48) -- my husband just LOVES to remind me of this verse every once in a while. We have been given the Love of Christ and we are called his Children! And what more could Love mean than to give your life for someone? It seems so simple to be able to just love others in the way Christ loves us every day, but for some reason, it can often feel like the toughest thing in the world. I have so many ugly moments of judgment, jealousy, hypocrisy, and just outright meanness. And yet I have somehow been given the greatest love in all the world. This is such a startling truth to me because I am among the most UN-deserving! This verse brings so much comfort to my heart and it eases my mind because sometimes, I just get plain sick of myself and all I want to do is bask in the glory of the Lord. It will truly be hHeaven when I no longer have to deal with the selfish thoughts in my head or the way I like to hear myself talk soemtimes and to be finally at rest with the child God has created me to be, without blemishes.

But, for now, I'm willing to wait and better myself along the way. Another verse my little devotional threw out at me this morning was, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I do hope." (Psalm 130:5) I love how when you come to the end of yourself, the only thing that can truly bring comfort is His Word.

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Just a little life update through pictures...this is what my weekend looked like. So blessed beyond measure, and surely positive that all this will be even more rich in Heaven!

April Showers Bring May....Showers? :)

Last I checked, the rainy season is supposed to be in the winter months in Hawaii! Instead, it's already May 7 and it's been raining non-stop for 2 days...and it's predicted to keep raining for 7 more days! Usually, the Hawaiian forecast isn't spot on, so I'm hoping this will not be the exception. We had some wicked thunderstorms at the end of April & beginning of May- which is so unlike Hawaii! I've got to admit, I absolutely love it. I miss my midwest thunderstorms!

Despite the downpours, thunder, lightning, and flooding, Pete and I managed to run a 5k today in Honolulu. We ran it in 30 minutes and felt good afterward! My legs were getting tired but my respiratory didn't seem to be affected so I guess I could have kept going...surprise to me! After our last race, which was a little over 8 miles, I got extremely ill with the stomach flu, which put me out of running (and exercising altogether) for a few weeks. I'm determined to head in a different direction this time. Today's race was so unique and so much fun- there were people dressed up as Bananas, and these Bananas were riding around on Segways, and were being chased by people in Gorilla suits. It was so crazy! It definitely kept us entertained as we ran!

This weekend has already been filled with so many fun events, and more to come! On Thursday night we had dinner with our friends Daniel & Laura, and I, Liz, triumphed as Victor in Settlers of Catan! Despite my surprise attack and ultimate defeat, we had such a great time with our friends- celebrating Cinco de Mayo by eating ono Mexican food and then talking it up into the evening. My poor husband is scheduled for overnights at the moment so when we all went to bed, he left for work. Poor guy. Today, after running our 5K in Town, we took a short, unintended nap. Pete hung out with our neighbor Dave and I ate lunch with my new and awesome friend named Julia and we both just relaxed and put our feet up for the afternoon. We then supported our amazing-creative cousin Rebecca at a Craft Fair in Lanikai and then I headed off to singing practice at church while Pete went surfing with Dave. Isn't this just the life? To top off what was already a perfect day, we feasted on homemade Zuppa Toscana soup with Adam & Ashley this evening while we talked about all of our exciting business ideas.

Speaking of which, if you haven't already checked out the latest business, go ahead! Go to www.Nuinani.com and see for yourself what we've been up to. I do the photography for the company as well as invest- because it's going to MAKE IT people! We have a good product and a hard working crew to back it up. We are pretty stoked about it!

Tomorrow being Mother's Day, of course we have plans! This girl is singing at both church services (good thing I like Pastor Perry's preaching- so much that I can hear it twice some Sundays!) and then we're celebrating Auntie Terri with a brunch at her home. It will be a day where I'll be wishing I could hang out with my own mom and grandma, letting them know how much they mean to me by taking them out to a lovely tropical lunch and just getting to spend time with them. My only reservation about living on an island this far away is the distance it puts between myself and those I love. If my mom happens to read this, I hope she knows I'll be thinking of her tomorrow and wishing I could be spending it with her! To top Sunday off, we're planning a BBQ at Julia & Ken's hale where we'll be grilling it up and spending our last night of the weekend just hanging out. Sounds like perfection to me!

So that's pretty much it in the lives of the Keizer Ohana.