..maui..

the last day in maui..

we woke up at 4 am to go to see the sunrise at the top of haleakla volcano

6:30 am

6:32 am

6:33 am

this was the most breathtaking sunrise i have ever seen. the sun rose and it blinded you within a matter or minutes before you could not look at it any more.

after a wonderful visit and a 1 1/2 hr drive up the mountain and back down it was time to start packing up to head back home. we went to the beach one last time then headed to the airport after an unforgettable week!

..God is simply amazing..

..maui..

after a fun long day driving the road to hana and beyond we went out for a fun dinner at freds cafe.

it was a beautiful evening especially seeing the sunset.

on the next day susie soaked up the sun while i snorkeled. 

..it was the perfect day with no waves for me to snorkel and a bright sun for susie to tan..

vacation

ahh.. back home from a wonderful vacation. so i took susie to maui,hawaii for our one year anniversary this past week.

it was such a great trip. i did not do a ton of planning because i was not sure what the flights would look like or which destination to really go to. at the last minute (the night before) i booked everything.

we flew out sunday night to los angeles and then on to maui. when we arrived we got our rental car with a sweet sunroof since i did not meet the age requirements for the convertible this year..? anyways we headed to our hotel.

we stayed in kihei, maui right on the beach! i dont think it could have got any more perfect. the flights were great, the car was sweet, and the hotel was right on the beach. 

the first day we were there we settled into our room and then took a walk on the beach. there was really no one on the beach so we had fun taking pictures of the beautiful landscape and of course each other being silly. 

it was around 6 pm when we decided to venture out to find a place to eat. now i am sure that you know when you travel you pick up like twenty brochures when you go to the hotel or people hand them to you along the way. so i opened up a brochure and found a nice easy place to eat called maui tacos. we were not starving at this point so we split a mango chicken taco salad and boy i am glad we split it! it was huge and we still had to take it back to the room to finish later. 

after eating we HAD to go to get hawaiian shaved ice. now this shaved ice is nothing like you have ever had before unless you have been to hawaii. it is literally shaved not crushed and has the most delicious flavor to it. the popular thing to do is get scoops of ice cream on the bottom them the shaved ice with all the flavors like blue vanilla. coconut. pineapple. then a little sweet cream to go on the top. needless to say we had shaved ice everyday we were there.

the next day we were thinking we were going to go up the mountain to haleakala or "house of the rising sun" volcano to see the sun rise. which everyone says is breathtaking 

to be honest. what isnt breathtaking in hawaii?

instead of getting up at 4 am hawaii time which is 9 am est. we slept in a little longer and decided to take the..road to hana..

the road to hana is a 50 mile road that leads to a town called hana. it takes about 3 hours to get there without stopping on the way to see the beautiful sights.

if that doesnt tell you anything about the roads then you can see for yourself. 

the roads are the most curvy. windy. most beautiful roads i have ever been on.

we left at 8 am and arrived back at the hotel by 6 pm that night going around the island on roads past hana...the road the rental companies tell you not to take....

..it was the best decision we could have made..

we found out that others are rebels like us going on the unpaved roads. and those who traveled on those roads found out the real beauty of maui

maui is full of cliffs.    

waterfalls.

black sand beaches.

open fields. canyons. sugar cane.

pictures can only give a glimpse of what maui is really like. 

..by the end of the day we were beat..

l.o.v.e.

wow! it seems just like yesterday...

susie and i first met in fall of 2007. the beginning of our story is very funny..

my sophomore year of college i loved to workout. play basketball. run. play cards..

..so i was heading back to my dorm room after an awesome pick up game of basketball. when i got a text from some friends asking to play some cards. 

i went to the hilltop coffee shop to play a card game called .peanuts. there were a bunch of us playing a game of cards. now since i was just getting back from playing basketball i was pretty thirsty. 


i went up to the barista at the bar and asked for an ice water. i came back a few minutes later to get a refill when a girl said something to me...


now let me fill you in a little bit.. i was dressed in a red.nike. cut off sleeve t-shirt with shorts and a sweat band on..


okay now this girl is like. wow! that must be an intense game of cards you are playing.. i laughed and went back to play some cards.


when i got back to play cards i told all of my friends that a girl just hit on me and said that this must be an intense game of cards for me wearing what i was. we all laughed and then.. 


i told them to hurry up and help me finish this water so i could go get a refill. i went in quick and got a refill just to get a reaction. well i did and then she also said... o by the way. i wasnt flirting with you...i did catch her name though.


i went back to play cards that night and had a great time. after playing cards i went back to my dorm room where i got on facebook and checked out susies profile.


...that is where the story only begins!

 a couple weeks later we went to a large bonfire at this new kid in colleges house. my roommate and i hung out practically all the time and we met some cool people who were going to the bonfire.. so we thought we should go.. 

we had blast at the bonfire and a handful of us became really good friends..susie..me..

tom anderson..matt schlagheck..emily issacs.. we all started to hang out every chance we could get. for several months we would get tons of people to go and hang out with us but it seemed like the same five would always be apart of the large groups. as a few months rolled by i started to really fall for susie..


..it looks like we had the same feelings for each other..


this sunday we are celebrating our one year anniversary of being married! it has seriously been an amazing year with a pretty sweet journey we have been on. we have been able to travel a lot of fun places. work different jobs that have a lot of benefits from the ministry to cheap clothes and at delta airlines. we have experienced God so much in our first year of marriage. we have been blessed over and over again and continue to thank our families and God for such an awesome year. 


i honestly feel God has given me the perfect match. there is never a dull moment with each other.  we are adventurous. smart. lazy at times. fun. loving. caring. genuine. honest. faithful. & love God with all of our hearts!


..But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well...
                -matthew 6:33

... our love continues ...

..prayer..

as i went into delta to work this evening i thought it would be like any other night. i was excited to see what area i was working in and noticed that the night would be very easy.


as i was driving bags to the local belt i encountered someone i have not seen since last october. i hollered at richard and asked him how he was doing. it was kinda funny because he came over and started chatting with me thinking i was someone completely different.



richard said that he was not busy so i told him to ride with me for a minute while i deliver some bags. we starting chatting about life and some of the different things going on since it has been a while talking. to catch you up a little.  richard was struggling in his marriage when i last spoke with him.  


i asked him how things were going in his life and then he started to share. i noticed he was a little more sporadic than usual and i knew something was up. he said actually this week has been really tough for me.


richards wife left him this week. at that moment i was like what can i say or do? i began to think about this while driving around with him and said. i am not sure where you are in your faith at all but i know i talked to you some about how i believe that you should go to church or even counseling and read some books that could be helpful to your marriage. i told him the two books that i have enjoyed are love.dare. and the. five. love. languages.


he told me he was in the middle of the love.dare. book this week..


i said to him. how can i pray for you? 


my heart broke for richard tonight..


this is a man that tried..


this is a man who was doing anything to make his marriage work..


i saw through him tonight and noticed that he was broken..


tonight i feel that god honestly placed richard in my presence so i could pray for him. i havent seen this guy since october. i never work on saturday nights. he was free so i could drive him around and catch up with him. what was it that made this scenario so perfect..


i honestly believe that God tonight reached out to richard through me..


tonight i want to pray for this man and his wife. i ask for healing. for clarity. for forgiveness. for direction


romans 8:26 says. in the same way. the Spirit helps us in our weakness. we do not know what we ought to pray for. but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that cannot express words.  .niv.


the message paraphrase opens a new light as well. meanwhile. the moment we get tired in the waiting. God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. if we dont know how or what to pray. it doesnt matter. he does our praying in and for us. making prayer out of our wordless sighs. our aching groans. he knows us far better than we know ourselves. knows our pregnant condition. keeps us present before God. thats why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good..




i pray for richard tonight as he goes through a time of struggling with a lot of pain. tonight i remember why i continue to follow God and reach out to those he puts before me.






..our lives of love for God is worked into something good..

..slowing down..

so i have enjoyed this month because i have been able to slow down a little bit. my mom would always tell me to not burn my candle at both ends and i had a hard time not doing that. through high school i was involved in everything i could get my hands on and then on into college i was working 30 hours a week while doing 18 credit hours many semesters. i was comfortable with my busy lifestyle and always being on the go but this past year has been a lot different.

 i have held down two consistent jobs for almost 65 hours a week for about a year now while just starting out this whole marriage thing. i want to be a responsible.loving.husband but it is kind of hard when i am always working and taking on more task. this year.2011. i have been able to take a closer look at where my priorities are and see where it aligns with where God wants them to be.

 i have been trying to take more of an initiative to focus on what God wants for susie and i specifically. it has been a great year being married but i want continue that and slow down some.

..susie and i have enjoyed some down time this month..

taking scout on walks to the park

..i personally have enjoyed playing around with more creative photography..

light art photography

i really enjoyed playing around with my camera again last night. i havent done light writing for a few years so i had a lot of fun playing around while susie watched greys anatomy..

light art photography is simply changing the f/stop and playing around with a flashlight while the cameras exposure is a lot longer.

..needless to say i had a lot of fun..

one step at a time...

so today i have finally started a blog on here. at first i was unsure if i should even get one or if it was worth my time but i enjoy reading others and see what is going on in their life just through their blogs and pictures. 


there is a lot to take in from what people write and i enjoy that more and more everyday. i am at a new point in my life right now which is kind of why i titled it "one step at a time". i feel like i am in a good state right now knowing that God has many awesome plans for my family. it will be a year that susie and i have been married in 2 weeks. 


we are unsure of exactly where God is taking us next but personally i am pretty excited to see what God has planned for us. as of this weekend, i will be stepping away from my part-time position away from lifespring christian church as student minister to focus on whats next. i am excited to really take this one step at a time. i am still with delta airlines and want to continue on there until God places me somewhere where susie and i will be needed and used to potential doing what we absolutely love. 


i am going to take this time away from working in the church to being the church around the world. after this weekend i am going to take some time to celebrate our 1 year anniversary!!!, then i am going to take some time to continue to focus on my personal spiritual life and see what God wants to show me through books and sermons, and especially quiet time. 


i feel that with how busy my life has been i have not been able to slow down and truly focus on God. i have been able to serve, teach, pray, listen but it seems like i have been giving more away than i actually have to give. i have listened to many sermons and read several books over the past few months to bring my focus more narrow and on track with God. 


to be honest, i am extremely excited of all that i have heard and read through some faithful servants of God. it has lifted me up when i am down and made me rethink of what direction i am going. a big question i want to continue to focus on is "are you all in?"... this question makes me challenge myself to listen to God more and more each day


i am learning so much about myself and who God wants me to be. 


i have learned so much this past year about fun it is to be married and how much there really is to learn about yourself through the one who spends everyday with you


i honestly thank God day in and day out how much of a blessing susie is to me. she is patient with me, listens to me, cares for me, and continues to learn with me. i have learned a lot from susie and she continues to build me up and challenge me daily. 


susie is my backbone and she keeps me in line. if i can get things through my thick skull easier and not be stubborn susie may never get gray hair.. honestly i couldnt ask for a better wife




if you read this would you pray that i can continue to follow God's plan and keep him at the center of my life and marriage




..daily i want to strive to be a better husband and servant of God..