Check it.

I can't believe it's up and going! I'm stoked to finally see the blog ready for the web. I can't wait to see more of the potential this blog will have. Make sure you follow us on the blog and give us your feedback! I'll be updating more about this later for sure. I'm just stoked to see what God will do with this blog and the opportunities it will bring. I'm stoked for the potential to see it launched into the international outreaches and my hope is to be the one to pioneer that. Take a look and let me know what you think.

OUR BLOG (click it)

A love like his

A love like his. Today I understood Christ's love for me in a whole new light. 

Lately I have been missing my niece Taylor so much. Lately it has physically hurt to see her grow up through pictures, through Skype, through messages and texts. It has always been tough being away but this week has been the worse. I think of her little face, her blue eyes and the way her hair grew as she got older. I see her little nose and her lips so tiny. I miss her toes and her fingers and seeing her Mom, my sister, paint them pink just like Mommy. I think of her high pitched voice and her little stuffed "Emy" she takes everywhere. I even miss the faces she makes when she isn't happy, the frown of her brow, the sass in her words. I see her everywhere, I miss her all the time and I just wish I could hold her. I just want to love her, to have her fall asleep on my shoulder, to have her crawl into my lap - anything to have her near. No matter if she in return gives nothing, as most children never do, I will love on her anyways.

What does this have to do with anything? Because the amount of love I have for this baby girl, the things I know about her and the way I will love her no matter what. The way she makes me smile and warms my heart when she simply looks as me. The moment she crawls into my lap and how loved that makes me feel. The precious times she falls asleep in my arms and how I'll let her stay there as long as she wants. All of this love compares in fractions to the love God has on me as his daughter. All of this is a tangible love that I can see to realize how little I understand God's love for me. For I know God is just waiting for me to crawl into his lap, all he wants is for me to fall asleep on his shoulder, grab his hand and walk with him down to the beach. He knows more than my features, he knows my heart and my future. A love like his is a love that forever gives no matter what is given in return.

Beyond Blessed.

First off Happy Birthday Mom! I wish I could be there for all of the fun tonight but I have you here with me today.

Keeping updated is going to be the hardest thing for me in this new season at STN. I know the reason it is going to be hard is because I am no longer just an intern going here there and having to soak it all up but having no real responsibilities. Life changes. Now I am doing the leadership school thing, helping our surf outreach and helping out media team (loads of work) but loving it.

Just the other day The Eddie was supposed to go on and if you don't know what that is, look it up -- it's a big deal. So with the need to be there super early because of the surf traffic a few of us camped over night to beat the traffic and just get out in God's creation. It was amazing. I can't even explain it. God totally knows how to romance me - it was a tough weekend for me and this was the best present ever.A night under the stars (even if it did rain). Honestly.. we camped on top of these boulders that were right next to the pounding 20ft waves.. it was crazy. The Eddie ended up getting canceled because the surf wasn't big enough but it was well worth the time in God's grace of letting us have the camp site.

  

Staying the night under the stars with Viktor and Janelle.

   

Just a small amount of the 100s of people on the side of the raod with us.

Our leadership school just got back from an epic adventure on the central part of the island. It was a fun hike in, camp and hike out two day bucket of fun. It was a legit bonding trip that was dubbed the practice adventure for our big hike we do in about a month.

 

All of the SLS'ers - aka the Dream Team

 

The look from half way up

 

Yup.. it really is this amazing. God.. seriously!

 

Sunset at the top... can our creator be any more epic? 

 

DINNER! Soups on! :) 

This trip was amazing, our team got to bond and see just how epic this year is going to be. God blessed with me a refreshing night in the woods - I needed it and God knew it :) Blessed am I! Both the Eddie and camping in one week... I about lost it in blessing :)

What to even start with

So as of late things haven't gotten any "slower". I'm just starting to realize how to manage it all. It's sort of like having a full time job, being in school, volunteering part time and living with 70 other people each day. Well it's actually exactly like that.

Last week on Tuesday we had our Feeding The Hungry outreach partnered with our Ulupono outreach (children's outreach). We also were getting taped during this whole adventure to be shown on the Sony Open Golf Tour. Friends of Hawaii Charities and Sony had given us a grant to further our Ulupono outreach and to my understanding this was part of giving us some credit. It was such a crazy day. As SLS we usually wouldn't do FTH but we were stoked to step up and I mean come on.. it was the day the TV was there :) ha! But honestly it was epic, I loved it (just like being an intern).

 

John and Janelle and I loaded the car up and went over to John's apartment near by and blessed the families over in his neighborhood. It was super hard seeing the families over there and the hurt in that apartment. So hard to hear the words said and the families being torn in front of your eyes but I was happy to be a blessing with food in a place that was oh no not great.

 Ummm... yeah talk about too much bread and not enough time outside of my bread box area....

 

This is the little girl that helped me the whole day. She was so epic. At the end of the day she comes over to me and goes "Julie I'm sorry I couldn't help you at the end of the day, I had to go to tutoring." What a gem!

All in all a good time with Feeding The Hungry and having time to love on the Ulupono kids.

STN Happenings....

I know I've been super slow at making any progress on this blog, but who would have thought -- I'm crazy busy! So far we have barely scratched the surface with "busyness" and I'm swamped. So let me do a quick catch up on my time here, my job here and my future here.

So I got here and it was time to say goodbye before I could even manage a hello. I flew back a few days early to be bale to catch some quality time with Tiffany and send her off to Sri Lanka. Hard? Beyond! Once Tiff left it was time to take a moment and realize what has happened in my life for the last four months. The three month internship was crazy, the one month in the Middle East was life changing and now I'm back here for at least a year commitment. So with the few days I had before the SLS (Surfer's Leadership School) started up. God had me and had me tight and I just sat and listened, it was good for me - tough but good!

After a few days of process/silent/solo/thinking it was time to embrace that STN was now filling with new faces and more people to meet. We have so many new interns and they are all ready to see what STN is all about. Be praying for them for sure, pray that they are sponges and are ready to seek our Father. SLS is epic and I am going to be stretched in so many directions. We are going through two books, multiple packets, loads of teachings, seminars, and outreaches. We will do teachings ourselves to the interns, plan days within our SLS group and have a two week adventure trip. So without rambling too much about that SLS will be amazing and hard.. amazingly hard!

Once I started to get settled in it was New Years! New Years was epic. We headed over to the Diamond Head area and went to the salt water pools after a little dinner adventure. This was the first New Years in a long time that I wasn't home for the swim and I was not super happy about it but this trumps it all by far! It was so much fun. A few of us just clustered together and traveled to these salt water pools. They were epic, it was dark, big surf, scary wall walking and swimming! Good times watching the fire works and stars and realizing the blessings I am poured over with.

Okay so now that you get that SLS is going to rock my socks and that this year is going to be fully committed to see God's guidance. Let me tell you a little about my job here. So I am working in the media department. Within the media department it is my job to .. guess what... launch our blog! Could you think of a better job? Ha! I think not. So keep your eyes out for our new blog. I'll for sure be sending a link on this to make sure you guys get to follow our STN happening as well. I will also be doing a newsletter that is more directed to needs, prayers and what not soon. The newsletter will be more straight forward and less wordy with what I am up to and more of what I am "doing". So I'm stoked again for that. For the followers that want more of a direct message.

And here is a little story to end the post with.

 

So I'm not even sure how to begin explaining how I have a car, other than my best friend of all times (Tiff + family) blessed me with a car. Straight up.. Merry Christmas blessed me. I honestly can't see it as my car yet so until I do ... it won't sink all the way in. But anyways that's not the point. The point is this (in short story terms). We were in the car. The car got a flat. We were at the airport. We were in the median, trying not to get squished. 

 

( this was our view for two hours....)

Renee ran her friend to the gate. We were stuck. We didn't have a spare. We called the tow truck. We waited. For two hours. The wrong truck came. We waited for the next one. We got picked up. He was Egyptian. We spoke Arabic. We haggled. We got it cheaper. The next morning we got a new tire. It was cheap. We asked for a spare. They gave it to us for free. Our car has new shoes now and we are all happy. 

So with the shortest way of telling you all of the crazy story that happened the other night. God is so good, we were blessed over and over again that night. If the tire would have blown anywhere else it would have been bad news. The guy totally hooked us up with the fee and Renee and I had a blast doing it all.

I feel as if there is way more to tell since well I haven't been up to date on this at all but non of it really matters as long as you understand this.

Being here is amazing, it's impossible, it's wonderful, it's challenging and it's most of all a blessing. I know that God has me here for a reason and I am committed and excited to search that reason out. I am enjoying being in community because it stretches me in ways that I never imagines, I love working with people and serving our community and I am beyond overwhelmed with the job of going international with part of my year here. So join me in prayer that God will continue to rock my world and show me things according to his path.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

This is my verse for the year.

Be Still.

"Be still and know that I am God."

My heart is heavy, my mind is foggy and my body is adjusting to this new found life. The girl I left in Oregon resembles not to the woman I found in Hawaii. The changes, the experiences, the memories and the redefinition of all things these past few months all came to a crashing realization these past few days. It's 2011 and this year is going to be different. This year is declared for God and many more to come, this year I am starting a life of missions in a new place and knowing that it will take me to many more nations. With this calling on my life I know that where God guides he does provide and with that knowledge I must trust in it's truth. I have recently returned from traveling to 5 nations, 4 states, and being on 7 different flights all in the last month. I have landed in Hawaii where I must now call home. I have committed at least one year to serving at Surfing The Nations and have taken ownership of traveling to Sri Lanka for at least one month this year. I was in the Middle East for the month of December and the sights I've seen, the places I've been, the hearts I've heard, the faces I've met and the changes in me that have happened all come to a boiling roar as I sit here in full surrender of my life. These last two weeks I have returned from a foreign country, had to say goodbye to my friends and family, moved to a new home and sent off my very best friend to move full time with her family to Sri Lanka. It's been a week of brokenness, blessings and building. I am excited for this adventure that God is taking me on and I know I have been called to be at Surfing The Nations and with that knowledge I must trust, thrive and surrender to my Father.

Starting tomorrow my time at Surfing The Nations officially begins. Leadership school is for the next three months and within that I will be guided through a path of learning how to be a better leader within what ever missions field God guides me to. With teachings, studies and outreaches these next three months will guide my ability to find myself as a leader and how to better lead as well as submit. After the three months are finished I will be here for the next nine months as volunteer staff. Within these next nine months the pages are blank and the pen is only in the hand of the ultimate author of my life. I am excited to see what God will provide in this next year and the journey he will take me on.

This next year I am praying for the financial and spiritual support from those who have been called to support. God instilled in me a peace of coming back in January and having to raise support from the islands, rather than being home I know will be a challenge but one that requires me to live the trust I have in my Father rather than just believe it can be done.

With a piece of my heart I leave this message in hopes you will partner with me either in spiritual or financial support. God has shown me his direction for now and I pray that within this year I will begin to be able to read the words he writes upon my blank pages. I pray that with each day I turn the page to hear the next epic line he has yet to write and as I close one chapter, another begins with new direction, new hope, new passions and an everlasting theme of following his and only His will.

With all my love,
Julie