refining

Hello!

I think I'm struggling to want to blog recently because God has been doing a lot of refining in my life lately. So it's hard for me to write things out and share when I'm in the middle of processing, growing, and learning.

I've been reading through Psalm 119. A chunk of verses every day. Reading it, writing it out, then praying it in my own words. At first, it felt like it wasn't applying. It was routine. As I was praying or reading, they were just words on a page. As I've continued doing this same process every morning, I have been in awe at the way that God's Word is ALIVE! I went back and re-read previous verses and prayers and was shocked at things I had written down so flippantly that seemed earth shattering a mere week later! My heart is changing without me even noticing. And the coolest part is that Psalm 119 is ALL about God's Word, following it, and always choosing His Word over our feelings and emotions. Some of my favorite verses are these from the Message.

"I set your instructions to music and sing them as I walk this pilgrim way. I meditate on your name all night, God, treasuring your revelation, Oh God" Psalm 119:54-55

"And let me live whole and holy, soul and body so I can always walk with my head held high." Psalm 119:80

"In your great love revive me so I can alertly obey your every word." Psalm 119:88

I've just been really challenged to allow God to work on my heart and let His words transform my mind. And His words show me where I am going. They cast light onto my dark path. I am in this for the long run. When things fall apart, God stitches everything back together. He festoons us with His finest sayings. I want to learn. God's promises are mine FOREVER. What a gift! I'm overjoyed! My concentration is on obedience. And it always will be.

On another note :)
Some things on my summer list are:
1. Take test to get Kama'aina so that I can officially have proof that I'm a resident on Maui!
2. Buy soft top rack for our van so that paddle boarding can become a regular part of my routine.
3. Focus on the church body of Hope Chapel and meet their needs like Jesus would.
4. Continue to let God's Truth sink directly into my heart and transform me from the inside out!

Aloha,
Risa

adventures in hana, and beyond!

Christy and her parents picked me up at 7:30 and we headed to Paia to eat breakfast at Charley's (the place Willie Nelson owns!). Macadamia nut pancakes, french toast, home fries, and coffee. Drive on. Bamboo forest. Wicked. I love it in there. Huelo Lookout-kinda lame. Eucalyptus rainbow trees. Beauty. Kae'nae. Mango, banana, and guava. All growing on trees. Photos. Mango shaved ice. Owl City tunes. Ching's Pond. No jumping it today. Black Sand Beach. Names on the sand. Wainapanapa cave. Freeeezing water. Good talks with the Rendall rents. Turkey and lettuce sandwiches. Diet Coke. Hana. Cloudy. Hasegawa. Drive on.

Venus pools. We trek through the barbed wire and make our way down to the water. A woman follows us down to the cliffs and she's alone. A solo vacay. Ilsa (ill-sa) is her name. We try to convince her to jump off the biggest one. "Just doooo eeeeeeet! Gooooo!" She's hesitant. I ask her if she wants me to go first. Yep. Cliff edge of doom. Dominated it. Oh hey salt water in my nose. Ilsa takes a breath and follows me down. Christy jumps off a cliff too. Done. On to 7 pools. Very touristy. The fresh water is refreshing. Ilsa is there too. Warm black rocks + people watching= amazing. Time to embark on our way around the island. Longer than I remembered. But good. Beautiful drive home. Completely wiped out by the end.

My favorite memory from this past week was when the Rendall's invited us over for dinner on Sunday night. We had a delicious meal and then Steven busted out the guitar and we sang music from the 90s and Christy's dad got his little shakers out and we just had a blast singing and laughing. A quick swim in the pool and hot tub. Good conversation. God is so great.

My current music playlist this week: Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, Brandon Heath, Kari Jobe, and Album Leaf.

Love you all!

Risa

re-amped!

My page needed a facelift. And an update! It's been over a month!

Things I've learned in the past month:
-God loved us first.
-Making s'mores over a fire pit under the bright stars at Laperouse with friends is the ultimate way to spend an evening!
-Mind set on the Spirit= LIFE and PEACE.
-Being 22 is waaay cooler than being 21 :)
-My family on Maui was borderline EPIC!
-The sun rising from the top of Haleakala was stunning. Also, at 10,000 feet high, the frigid weather can be compared to a Canada winter!
-Having a good cry is always worth it. Vale a pena.
-If the West Maui Mountains are burning, don't drive to Lahaina. It took us over 4 hours to go around the west side of the island (the only way back to Kihei!) but we had a blast! And the sights weren't bad either :)
-Being a tourist on Maui is much much different than living and working on Maui.
-Arrested Development is the best show ever!
-Shaved ice from Local Boys is 38429 times better with ice cream.
-Flying to Oahu for a day to see Pearl Harbor, eat Baja Fish Tacos at Dukes, window shop expensive/high end stores, and ride in a limo is completely do-able :)
-The Lavender Farm Upcountry is the ideal place to mellow out and chill.
-Pens, in fact, can explode and get all over you. In church. And dye large chunks of your hair blue. So be careful!!
-Bocce Ball with family and friends on a summer's night will be a precious memory forever.
-My trust IS the Lord.

AGAPE.

Reese

almost summer :)

I am back from Brazil now, and jumping back into Maui life! It is such a good feeling to fly into Maui and call it home during this season of my life. I am truly thankful. And very stoked to be staying for another year as the worship intern at Hope Chapel!!

As for Brazil, it rocked my world. I learned a lot about God's heart for the nations and I asked Him to break my heart for what breaks His. He showed me some pretty miraculous things! So if you didn't get a chance to hear what we were doing down south, check out this blog!!

http://brazil2010mission.blogspot.com/

Right now, we are gearing up for summer. I am looking forward to an action packed next few months. My family is coming to visit the first week of June!! All of the interns are having the opportunity to have parents and family visit here in Maui. The junior hai and high school groups will be headed to Hume Lake in California for their summer camp. The children's ministry is bustling with activity for the summer as well. God is doing BIG things on this island!

I will update more soon :)

In Him,
Risa

-patience-

PATIENCE

Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience. Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.Patience.
Be Strong. Wait. Take Heart. Know. Remember the Promise.

It's amazing to me how fast insecurity and worry can creep in on a person. It's almost easier to worry about something than give it up to the Lord. My heart likes to be in control. And in charge.

In YOUR presence God, I'm completely satisfied.

Satisfaction. Where does it come from? The Lord. Find it only in Him. Fullness. Completion. Give it up. It's always in Him. Reliance. Complete surrender.

The absolute BEST things are worth waiting for.

Right when you have a worry that sneaks in, get rid of it! Recognize God's TRUTH in your life and dwell on that instead. Constant, continual action.

His peace and love surpass my understanding. Trust. Obedience. Faith.

God knows.

Risa.

intern retreat 2010!

It's so beautiful in Keanae. God's majestic ocean was my front porch. The interns piled into a 15 passenger van and wound our way around the winding road to Hana. We made many stops along the way. Here's a compacted version of our adventures:
DAY ONE:
Bamboo forest hike. Clambering through clanking bamboo trees. Sleeping grass that wilts when you touch it! Breath taking cliffs. Rainbow trees with colorful bark. Beautiful sights off another hike. The Keppler home. FOOD. Nap time. Awaken to another adventure calling our names. Rainy walk to where we took the junior hai girls. Jason fearlessly jumps in with his snorkel and blazes the trail down around the corner. He was also the first to demonstrate vine swinging on our 2nd hike of the morning. He is a stud! A group of us swam to the end of this fresh water lake right next to the ocean to a waterfall. It was beautiful! But freezing. We had to navigate our way around rocks and fight the shivers. More bonding time. Warm sweats. The weather on this side of the island is completely different than Kihei! Northface. Talking. Shrimp Scampi. It was UHmazing. Worship with Steven. Heart check questions. Next, an "aggressive and obnoxious" game of Craig! Which is a game that Craig, our head pastor, invented in which he makes up the rules. It was a blast! Hanging out with Janna, Craig, and Jason was so refreshing to my heart.

DAY TWO:
Equally amazing as day one. After my quiet time it starting to rain, so I came back and fell asleep to the lullaby of raindrops. We awoke again to sizzling sausage. And coffee, pancakes, and eggs. We packed up and busted out Beach Boys, the Beatles, and IZ for our drive to black sand beach. We climbed up in a cave that opened out right onto this gorgeous beach. Tons of pictures. We trekked back up and around to the Wainapanapa caves. Legend has it that a Hawaiian princess hid from her warrior prince in the cave. It was actually so cool. We jumped into the water and it was frigid! Then, the men led us into a dark and freezing cavern and we tried to find our way in a tunnel that was mostly underwater. I was able to swim through some of it. What an adventure! It was eery. After the frigid caves, Jake led our team to Hana. We wandered around a famous general store in town, Hasegawa. We drove by the house where Charles Lindberg lived before he died. (First man to fly across the Atlantic!) I loved hearing the stories of Jake and Craig. We planned on going to the 7 pools but it was too rainy. We made one final stop at mile marker 17 to jump off a cliff. Jason just pulled his shirt off, did a rebel yell and jumped right off the edge! Out of control! It's like 30 feet high, and you have to aim where you jump! So I'm watching the boys start to prepare to jump and even though it's raining and cold (and I feel like I could be sick with nervousness!) I'm unzipping my jacket to jump with them! I just walked up to the edge, looked back at the crowd of people collecting to watch, shoot the shaka, and leap off the cliff edge of doom. Trust, obedience, faith. Fearless. I jumped. It was such a thrill. God provided. My adrenaline was on full speed this weekend and I loved every second of it all! Back at the cabin, we showered and warmed back up. Steven and I jammed on the guitar, and I had some solid chats with the girls. Noopsing, Wrestle Mania 2010 ensued. Dinner. Craig made mouth watering prime rib. Worship. There is nothing like Your love. Prayer. Cool evening breeze. More deep heart questions. Fears. Regrets. Excitements. Funny stories. Then the most hilarious game of telephone pictionary happened. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! Playing that game with two pastors and a seminary grad was priceless! Sweet bedtime :)

DAY THREE:
I had my quiet time perched on a stone wall right on the edge of the ocean. The sun rose and colored the sky the most beautiful colors you could imagine. Breakfast. Magical mystery pancakes with m&ms and oreos. Janna's creation :) We cleaned the cabin like it was spring cleaning. Piled into our lovely van, and the sun was shining and wonderful! We pulled off on the side of the road at a seemingly random field, where Jason shimmied through the barbed wire and lead us on a path down towards the ocean. But it veered off and cleared into a GORGEOUS cove called Venus pools. The rocks were white washed and the water was the most stunning color. A group of locals was there and Jason, yet again, took off on the highest jump off the cliffs into the water. I like his style. We got a chance to take the leap of faith. I did quite a few different jumps. It's such a rush, I love it! We swam around for awhile, enjoying the sunshine. Next stop: 7 Pools. We ate a delicious lunch of snack food and leftovers at the campgrounds of the 7 pools park. Favorite. Our van wouldn't start, so we had someone help us. God provided. Back to the fun! It was pretty windy at the park. But the sun was perfect! It was quite the tourist attraction. Most of the other stuff we had done was off the grid. We explored the cold waters and climbed up to the top pool and swam right under a huge waterfall! Then, more jumping off cliffs :) Queen Rock and King Rock. Cannon ball challenge. Belly flop challenge. Goodbye beauty. Hello warm/dry clothes. Van restarted. Charles Lindberg's grave. History lesson. The adventure continues by driving all the way around the Haleakala side of the island. It was amazing. We drove right along the edge of the old volcanoe. The sights were incredible. Indescribable. Bonding. Stories. Sunset. Dropped Janna off Upcountry in Kula. Windows down, feet on the dash. Home.

"God is a safe place to hide,
ready to help when we need him.
We stand FEARLESS
at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains."
Ps 46

BE FEARLESS.

lana'i 2010!

Hello friends!

I am back from our island get away on Lana'i. The theme of the weekend was Encounters: Mapping your Spiritual Journey. It was a refreshing time for me, and I totally saw the Holy Spirit at work in a BIG way there! We were able to hear messages from other Rise Leaders, and break into small groups to share and discuss what we were learning. I just love the Lana'i beach next to our campground. It's probably my all time favorite beach. The dolphins are jumping almost every morning! Saturday night, we heard from Leslie about the parable of Jesus feeding the 5000. We were challenged to look at which person we related with: Philip, Andrew, or the boy that gave up his lunch. I felt like I really related with the little boy. He had his lunch to give up, even though he didn't know what Jesus was going to do with it. I feel like I have my passions and gifts, but I have no idea how God wants to use them. The best part is, that all I have to do is obey Him when He asks me to give them over, and He will do the rest!! Then Jesus multiplied his meager gift and it spread and grew!

Christy, Alyssa, and I wandered up to the Four Seasons and splurged on delicious virgin pina coladas. That was what made it seem like a true vacation! It was wonderful.

We had a bonfire with smores and reeses cups (so gooooood!) and made sure to avoid sitting in the grass. There are cockroaches EVERYWHERE at night. Creepy crawly and scary looking! Four of us girls were blessed with a huge tent so we were able to spread out and sleep well! I woke up the next morning, and Alyssa and I made french press coffee and headed to the beach to start off my morning with a quiet time. Rise brought paddle boards so it was cool to watch everyone paddle out in the early morning. I read in Romans 12. Embracing what God does for me is the best thing I can do for Him. Readily recognize what God is wanting from me and readily respond. God always brings out the best in me.

We spent a lot of time on the beach Sunday afternoon! I adored every minute of it! There were new faces on our trip so it was great getting to know everyone and laughing and having a good time. Here is a picture of everyone who came on this retreat:
There were quite a few couples (married and dating) and even 4 little kiddos and I really enjoyed having the family aspect of it all! We got drizzled on towards the end, but it felt great on all of our sunburns :)

Te trip home was choppy and rainy, but we got to see a baby whale breech a bunch of times and that made it worth it! I loved the weekend, but it was great to get back to Maui.

Love you all!

Risa