Reality finally slaps me in the face...in a good way

A lot has happened in the past few weeks. I had allowed myself to be ignorant to the reality of the lost and brokenness out here. A couple of weekends ago I went on the YL leadership weekend on the north shore. I wanted to not only be around people my age, but also learn about YL out here and what it looks like, how it is structured, etc. To say things are different would be an understatement. A high schooler's basic need is the same: to feel loved and accepted, however the daily reality and struggles that kids face in their journey to find acceptance are very different from what I'm used to in the south. When I would think about someone growing up in Hawaii, my naive self would immediately think "like omg, how awesome would that be? Surrounded by beaches, summer weather year round...rough life." Well for many of the local kids it is pretty rough. I took for granted the parental involvement we have in Cola YL and even at times wondered why more people didn't step up. On Oahu, many of the parents are addicted to drugs, etc and have already checked out. There are high school kids who have grown up on the island their entire life yet have never seen the ocean. After school for many kids it is then about what gang you are a part of (who has your back) and protecting your "territory" (various parks, neighborhoods, etc). My heart just broke and I yearn for these kids to know the perfect love of a perfect Father. There was no doubt that God wanted me to be involved in YL out here, but I didn't feel as though it was by taking on a role of a leader again--at least not at this time. From the wisdom of Carrie (I'll try not to go on again about how awesome the Elliotts are, but they are in the process of adopting 2 boys from Africa, check out www.carrieelliott.blogspot.com to read some more about their journey and adoption in general) I am now volunteering administratively to help the area director, since he is the only staff person for the island and it is a lot for him and his wonderful wife to do. Right now the big thing is the main fundraiser for the year--the banquet. As mentioned earlier, parental involvement isn't as "easy" to recruit as back home, and YL is starting to try and build a name for itself in the community. Please pray for the YL Oahu Banquet on Thursday, Oct. 22. Pray for not only that money will be raised, but also for potential committee members, and other interest in involvement from adults in the community.

In other news, I finally bought Julia. Julia is a 1999 Land Rover Discovery II. She needs some TLC, but she is wonderful. We're going to pick up Megan from the airport in a couple of hours--Jules is real pumped, mainly because right now she just loves driving around as we get to know each other.

I gave surfing another shot. I was almost stuck with the board that dominated me before, but I asked for another one. I'll get a chance to even the score with my arch enemy of surfboards, but I needed to build up some confidence beforehand. I can get up and ride the waves, so now the next step is being able to read the waves and catch one without any help. There are two girls, Heather and Christine, who go out almost weekly by where I live so I'll get some more practice. I think there are pictures of me somewhere, I'll just have to find out where.

Booked my flight to come home to welcome my niece, Stella Carter Dean into this world before Thanksgiving. I'll be in Cola Nov. 27-Dec. 1. Feel free to find me a free ticket to the Carolina/Clemson game.

Okay, time to finishing cleaning up/organizing so Megan has somewhere to put her stuff! Be on the lookout for an update from her soon!