wait and sea

Ahem. I am very overdue on a blog post. Instead of apologizing a thousand times, like I want to do, I'll jump right into it. A lot has happened over the summer!

My 24th Birthday

-The lovely ladies of my life on Maui-

For my birthday this year, I was completely and utterly blessed to get to spend the evening with some amazing women. Each one of these women means so much to me, and I was filled to the brim with encouragement after some quality time with them. Food. Laughter. Tears. Truth about God and His love for us. It was a birthday to remember! Also, Jill's daughter made the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had in my life. Legendary. I am so thankful to call these women my friends :)

Camp Mokulei'a

-Kayak Attack!-

One of my dearest friends, Leslie, asked me to help serve at the WyldLife island wide camp on the North Shore of Oahu in July. WyldLife is the junior high version of YoungLife. So basically, I got to hang out with some pretty cool junior highers for a week. My job was sports tech, which included a lot of four square games, picking up dodgeballs, playing knock out, and making sure no one got a black eye with a frisbee. I was also recruited to help lifeguard and, an added bonus, take all of the girl groups out on kayak adventures! (I'm the one in the yellow kayak in the photo!) Some highlights were: Men In Black alien combat training. We flipped off the lights, turned on the dubstep music and strobe lights, and shot q-tips through straws at each other. I took some insane hits to my eyeballs and jugular. Fierce. Ketchup, shaving cream, and baking powder wars. Messssssssyyy. Working the snack bar with Leslie and Jenna. Convincing an entire pool of kids to make a whirl pool. All kinds of water fights. Singing songs. Talking about Jesus. Learning about Jesus. I was an innocent bystander in what turned from lighthearted beach games into me having a squid tentacle swiped through my open mouth. Ick. Salty. Cruising with the sweetest junior high kids. High ropes course and zipline. Blessed with new friends. Solid conversation. I got to fall asleep every night with the sound of waves lapping against the shore, less than twenty feet from my bed. Breezy beach winds flowing through our open windows. Learned how to play the ukulele. I was feeling pretty burned out from doubling up on jobs--as awesome as they both are. I spent a lot of time reading out of John. Here is my favorite passage of the week:

"The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into the neighborhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

the one-of-a-kind glory,

like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

true from start to finish."

John 1:9-14 (Message)

I learned so much about myself at my week of camp. I had some quality quiet times with the King. On an ordinary green bench. Lanky legs draped over the sides. Hair whipping in the wind. Bible pages flapping. LOVING every second. The rhythm of the waves resetting the rhythm of my heart. Tapping my toes to the tunes of His love and grace. Overall, camp was AWESOME :)

Christy and Orin's Wedding

-Christy and I at her Bachelorette Party-

Christy is one of my best friends and I was STOKED to be able to go and celebrate with her and her family. I had never met Orin, only heard wonderful things, and he is all that I heard and more! I spent some quality time with her family and really enjoyed getting to meet Christy's other close friends. Even though this was my second trip to Canada, I still get such a kick out of how similar, and yet how different Canada is from the States. And how hilariously different Hawaii is from the rest of the States. I had known weddings were a lot of work. But seriously, weddings are a lot of work! It was worth it. Christy was a stunning bride. The wedding went smoothly. The weather cooperated. I can't wait to see all the photos! I loved staying up late and giggling with Christy, talking about how great Orin is and all the wedding details we were excited about. I'm honored to have been a part of her special day and I'm looking forward to the adventures God has in store for the wonderful Mr. and Mrs. Saunders :)

The Boyfriend

-Eric and I Upcountry-

Flashback to Camp Mokulei'a. While I was there, a friend of mine (notorious for set ups) told me one of the leaders from Oahu had gone to K-State. I was skeptical. Another K-Stater in Hawaii? Semi-unbelievable. I made a point to figure out who he was that day. Tall. Handsome. Really good with kids. Hmm. The next day he came over and talked to me and the conversation went a little like this: "K-State? No way. You lived where? This is crazy!! I know him too!! How did we never meet?" (I was exclaiming all of my statements, blown away by the fact that we had so many things, places, friends in common. He played it calm and collected) After our first conversation, I began to do some information gathering about this guy. I mean, I didn't go to a camp bursting full of junior high kids to pick up a boyfriend. I was a little unprepared :)

Throughout the week, Eric and I would bump into each other. He would come and chat with me while I lifeguarded. I watched him play basketball with his campers. Interact with other leaders. Our notorious set up friend (along with the encouragement of the one and only Leslie) pulled me aside and told me that I really just needed to know one thing about Eric. "Risa, he is super adventurous and has a pure heart of gold." I wanted to see if that were true about Eric. So far everything I had seen of him was pretty legit.

The most popular song of the week was Call Me Maybe. The day before camp ended, Eric got in line at the snack bar when I was working, with a bunch of his campers behind him. He waited in line and when he got there he asked me for my number. All his campers were pretty impressed. "That's all you have to do?! Just ask her for it?" Smile. So my response to him was "So here's my number, call me maybe?" 

And he did call me. And ask me out on a date. I was staying in Waikiki for the weekend with some friends. So Saturday he picked me up in his classy convertible and we explored Oahu together. Minor detail, we live on different islands, so we are doing the long-distance gig for now. The past couple months have been filled with lots of phone calls, texts, letters, packages, and skype hang outs. I've gotten to visit him, and he has gotten to come over and experience the awesomeness of Maui with me. I like where it is going. We are both pretty excited to see what God has in store for our relationship. I'm discovering that Eric does have an adventurous heart of gold and I'm really thankful to have him in my life!

In case all of my photos and stories didn't entertain you.....

DOLPHIN SIGHTING! At work!! My favorite!!!!!! EEEEEEeeEeEEEeEeeEEEeeee!!

In Him,
Risa