Hawaii

Kimberly and I were blessed with an opportunity to spend 12 days in Hawaii recently to celebrate her birthday and our 14th wedding anniversary. Before heading out there, we were under some notion that Hawaii was not really a christian state because we had always heard about the worshiping of different gods. The god of volcanoes, weather etc. Anyway, the first day we were there, we went on a tour of Hilo on the island of Hawaii. Our tour guide was a natural born Hawaiian named Jarret. He was great! He was knowledgeable, kind and very funny. In fact, most of the time he would tell a joke and be laughing at his own joke while he was telling it. One of the jokes was about the meanings behind how Hawaiians were flowers in their hair. If you wear it on the left side it means that you are taken. If you wear it on the right side, it means that you are looking. If you wear it in back, it means to follow me. If you wear on top, it means that you are confused. But if you wear it on the right and left sides it means that you are trying to trade up. We thought that was funny!

It was close to the end of the bus tour we were on, when Jarret asks the bus if we would like to listen to Hawaiian music or hear a couple of stories about Hawaii. Of course, we all wanted to hear the stories! He went on to tell us about the real way that Hawaii became a state. He said that in 1900 there was a princess that ruled over Hawaii and she believed in many different gods until someone from America came over to Hawaii and taught her about "the one true God that sent his son to die for our sins". When Jarret said that, the bus erupted with applause! It was incredible! He went on to say that when the people of Hawaii noticed that she was breaking the old god's rules and was not punished for it, then the rest of the Hawaiian people started to break away and become Christians as well. But, not all of the Hawaiian people totally understood this and felt that it was a way to break any rule and law that they wanted without consequence. This caused a lot of kaos on the islands which resulted in the islands reaching out to the U.S. and our military to try to restore order in their country. That was the start of the U.S. absorbing the islands into a U.S. territory in a very friendly, non-hostile manor. I have not researched this out, but it was a VERY cool story!

We ended up having a great time in Hawaii and highly recommend taking a trip out there if you can handle to 9 hour flight. We went to the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Kaua'i and Maui. My favorite was the big island, known as Hawaii, and the Kona coast. The big island has the active volcanoes. We actually got to go down into the crater of one of them, Mt. Kilauea, where there was steam coming up out of the ground. Also on Kona, we took a tour of the coast which we saw dolphins. On each island, the scenery is amazing! From waterfalls, mountain peaks and valleys to rainforest and white sand beaches. I even hiked behind a waterfall and was able to take a picture. On Oahu, we only visited Honolulu. I guess it was nice in the sense that we can say that we have been there, but we would not want to go back to there. It was like someone took part of Chicago or LA and put it onto a beach. It really was different from the rest of the trip which was rich with tradition and culture. On Maui, I went kiking through the rainforest while Kimberly found out there was a Tiffany Jewelers on the island and decided to see how different it was from the one in Chicago. On Kaua'i, we went on a tour called Hollywood in Hawaii which we got to see where different movies were made such as Jarrasic Park, Blue Hawaii and Honeymoon in Vegas. After the tour, we went to a Luau where there were people dancing with fire. TOTALLY COOL! On each island there are coutless beaches and they are all public by state law. Other than Honolulu, the state has a law that no building can be built higher than a coconut tree which is about 4 stories high. Here are some photos. I hope that you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them. We took several hundred photos.

I can't get this song out of my head!

There is this song I just cannot get out of my head! Fortunately I really like it. It is the new Matchbox 20 song, How far we've come. If you have not heard it yet, or watched the video then click this link www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlqfpPf_EO0 and it should take you to youtube to watch the video. I looked up the words to the song and it was interesting. I found this webpage where it posted the words and then there were posts debating about what the song meant. I think the beauty of most music, cinema and art is that is holds a different meaning to people depending on what is going on in their life right now and where there focus is at. When I hear this song, I hear someone that is self reflecting on their life, someone that is confused and searching for meaning. Maybe a spiritual rebirth. I read a lot of posts stating that it was about global warming or literaly about the end of times. I think it is more about the end of his world as he knew it and the start of a new life full of motivation and determination. At least that's what I would like to think. Anyway, this song has been on my mind now for about a week. I just keep listening to it over and over in my car. Here are the lyrics:

Waking up at the start of the end of the world

But it's feeling just like every other morning before

Now I wonder what my life is gonna mean if it's gone

The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour if that

Started staring at the passengers waiving goodbye

Can you tell me what was really special about me all this time

(chorus)

But I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh Well, I guess we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come, Let's see how far we've come

I believe it all is coming to an end

Oh well, I guess we're gonna pretend

Let's see how far we've come, Let's see how far we've come

*

I think it turned 10 o'clock but I don't really know

I can't remember caring for an hour or so

Started crying and I couldn't stop myself

I started running but there's nowhere to run to

I sat down on the street, took a look at myself

Said where you going man you know the world is heading for hell

Say your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to

(chorus)

It's gone gone baby its all gone

There's no one on the corner and there's no one at home

It was cool cool it was just all cool

Now it's over for me and it's over for you

It's gone gone baby its all gone

There's no one on the corner and there's no one at home

It was cool cool it was just all cool

Now it's over for me and it's over for you

(chorus)

Inspired

Isn't it a cool thing to be inspired? Isn't even cooler to be inspired for God? Sometimes, I can't help but to look back at where I was 3,4,5,6 years ago at what inspired me then and compare it to what inspires me today and I am absolutely amazed at the transformation that has taken place within me since I have become a believer. I used to be so power driven. Everything was about status and money. Today, it is mostly about how I can leverage my skills and abilities to help others. Don't get me wrong, I still want to make money. In fact I still want to make a lot of money. But it is different now. It used to be that I would think of all of the things that I would like to own. Now it is more of the thought, look at all the cool things I could do for others if I made this amount or that amount. A couple of weeks ago at Granger Community Church I sat through what seems to have become an annual film festival. This is where other churches send in video clips for different series that they are promoting at their church and our church watches them and votes on our favorites. There was one in particular that really inspired me and I just can't get it out of my mind. This church found out about a guy that is a waiter at one of the local restaurants in that area that really needed money in a bad way. They got to know the guy and his story and left him a $1,000 tip. How cool would it be to be able to totally rock someones world like that, but with no fan fare for yourself. No look at what I did type of thing. Just to reach out to someone and let them know that someone cares about them at a time when they probably feel that nobody does. Not just to tell someone that they matter to God, but to show them that they matter. And, it does not have to be with money either. I just used that as an example. Sometimes it is just being able to be there for someone or offering a word of encouragement at exactly the right time. I can't tell you how many times someone has stepped up and done that for me without even knowing that I needed it so badly at that moment. It just makes me all the more inspired to do the same for others. I just keep praying for the wisdom to be able to spot the needs of others and be able to show compassion and generosity at their time of need. Isn't it cool to be inspired? Isn't it even cooler to be inspired for God?

My First Post

I'm a big baseball fan so I guess my first blog post might as well be about baseball to go with the current poll that I have. Who will win this years World Series? I will not say who I feel is going to win, because I do not want to sway any votes for the very few people that will actually read this blog or vote in the poll.Plus, I could really care less since the Tigers are sitting at home watching. But please feel free to vote if you are reading this. Anyway, I am a huge Detroit Tigers fan. They just picked up the option on future hall of fame catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodgriguez. I thought this was a good move. They really did not have much of a choice. I think that one of the big focus points of any off season moves will be to find a future catcher to replace him.



What do you think of MLB's advertising slogan for this years playoffs? In case you have not heard it, it is "You're a Fan, Watch like one!" I don't know about you, but I really don't like that slogan. If MLB can make the games entertaining, then I'll make sure I'm watching. One way that I think MLB could make the games more entertaining would be to have umpire cams. A small, light weight camera that would fit on the hat that the umps wear. It would really bring fans into the game so that we could see what is going on out on the field. The umps would never go for it though because it would be viewed as trying to catch the umps making mistakes. Another idea, would be to put microphones in the bases and at home plate. Kind of a sounds of the game type of thing. There was an article I read on CBS sportsline today about improving MLB telecasts. One of the interesting ideas the author had was to put a camera high and straight above home plate. I thought that was a great idea as well. Maybe then there would not be as controversial of a call at the plate like there was in the one game playoff with the Rockies and Padres. Of course, you would have to have instant replay as well.....which I am in favor of too.

Well, I guess that is it for today. South Park just came on and I see they are now ripping on my boy Bono. That is just soooo wrong to do what they are doing to Bono right now. That's just wrong.......Funny, but wrong.