Winter Camp!!!

2 days til Winter Camp!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!
sorry for the lack of blogging! Life has been BUSY lately- we leave on Friday morning for Camp Keanae for winter camp with the high school students this friday! I'm so STOKED!!! It's out by Hana- so lush, beautiful cliffs and ocean views await :) But what I'm most excited about is to spend time with the kids- laugh with them, play games, worship together and hopefully have heart to hearts- So if you guys could be praying this week and weekend for our time there that would be so wonderful!!!
prayer requests:
Strength and wisdom for both Brandon and I as we plan and prepare
No clicks! Kids would feel welcome and loved- make lifelong friends
The kids' hearts would be open and ready to draw near to the Lord- that this would be a weekend in their lives that's a turning point- salvation, encouragement, fall in love with Jesus and live for Him alone

Needs of kids:
~a lot of kids are coming who are lonely and don't have a close knit group of friends- fearful
~kids who are lukewarm- on the edge- could follow the Lord and be such amazing leaders in the church or could fall into the world
~a lot of new believers
~a lot of kids who come from broken homes or unsaved homes

Kids by name on my heart:
~Cassi: depressed, needs friends
~Shekinah: on the fence
~Makenze and Riley: so nervous, don't really know people outside of each other
~Kiana: not sure if she's saved, comes from really tough home

Thank you so much for your prayers!!! I can't wait to tell you all about it!!!!
Theme for camp: Loser's Win- Matt. 16:25 "For whoever would save his life for my sake will find it. "- Jesus

Personal level:
-i saw whales yesterday at Wailea flipping and waving to eachother!!! INCREDIBLE! They were just praising and delighting in their Creator!
-I caught my first gecko today for Brody- yes, Brandon has taught me well!!! haha I put it in a ziplock bag and laid it on Brandon's desk- he was quite excited- we decided it needs to be a requirement for Brandon's future interns "able to catch geckos" :)
-The Lord has been sifting me and changing me and teaching me- the past 7 or so days have been t-o-u-g-h and heartbreaking at times- however, I praise God for his wisdom and counsel- truly He disciplines us for our good- and I can honestly praise God in these little storms- I've been brought low, humbled, and more in love with Jesus than before. He is just drawing me nearer to Him- sweetly broken. And I praise Him for His grace washed over me, for His unending love, and for blessing me with my parents, Brandon and Amy, Risa, Stephanie Kim, and Jeff~ praise our sweet Lord for the body of Christ!!!

Blessings overflowing

today is one of the most beautiful days in maui yet! Just the right breeze with the beaming sun- God is so beautiful!

This morning we had our high school car wash to raise money for them to go to Winter Camp- it was a blast! It was so fun hanging out with the kids and serving together- and if you're a youth leader needing a fundraiser- shoots, car washes are the way to go! The kids that came earned almost all they needed! Praise the Lord! One girl named Kiana came- she has been coming the last month or so. She got kicked out of school and just started at Maui High. That same week she checked out Hope Chapel, hoping to meet a new crowd of friends to be with- please pray for her if you think of it. She is really sweet and teachable- I'm hoping I can get to know her and just love on her and that she comes to know Jesus. She definately comes from a difficult family life.

Yesterday morning I got to sleep in (fantastic!) and then had my green time at the church- I really am thankful for green time. I love being able to pray and think and worship- they added a couple of extra hours to all of our green times a week ago- and yes, the interns now have the privilege of cleaning all the bathrooms ;) On Monday I helped clean them with Steven and Glenn and make my life! It was so funny hearing them complain about the girl's bathrooms- apparently they're a lot worst than the guys, although I'm not so convinced. But the worst was the handicapped bathroom! We had to spray it down with deodarizing spray before we entered- whoo eee!

Tomorrow I'm having some girl's over for a girl's night! I can't tell you how much I love these kids- and how thankful I am that they want to spend time with me- what a joy and delight! I'm going to bake Chloe her birthday cake- confetti- I can't wait!

Also, on monday we interns are starting the P90X!!!! Whoot whoot!!! Watch out world...dad, soon I will be able to lift the same amount of weight as you! (just joking! only in my dreams)

Tonight Risa and I are going to make a hip hop video! haha We've been brainstorming gangsta' names all week...we realized you can just add "izzle" "money" and "dawg" to any initial and you're good to go!

Highlights of the week:
~sweet talks with Risa- how she makes me laugh!
~Michelle: what a cutie pie- I love spending time with her! I'm so thankful the Lord has put her in my life- she so loves our Lord and shines bright.
~walks in Wailea
~talks with mom- always an encouragement and so great to see God answering prayer
~OH!!! THE BEST ONE!!! NENE AND JON ARE HAVING A PRECIOUS BABY GIRL!!!!!!!
~Jeff: such a joy in my life; so thoughtful

I'm sorry...I am so lagging on this baby! haha, this morning Renee texted me "woman, it's sad when I'm blogging more than you! Get to work!!" SO, this is for you nene! ;)

I can't believe I've been back for 2 weeks! It feels like 2 months! One thing I have realized and I want to work on, is to just soak up my time in Maui- Risa and I walked the path in Wailea on Monday (through all the beaches by the hotels) and I realized I LIVE IN MAUI! AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! God is just amazes me with how He has poured His blessings on me- I love the beauty of Maui and so I really want to try and be outside more and explore! This morning I ran by Wailea- it really is my favorite place on Maui.

I am back in the swing of things, and am so excited for these next few months. I feel like the first 3 months I was here, I was getting acclaimated and getting to know the girls- but now I have a long stretch to really love on and pour myself out for these girls. And I'm so thankful God has given me specific girls to pursue- one being Michelle, a sophmore, who I ADORE! What a cutie pie. She's in my small group and I just love hanging out with her- she came with us interns on Sunday to Big Beach and we just sunbathed and talked. And last week I had her and Mackenze over for a REAL GIRL'S NIGHT! Risa was there too- we had pizza, junk food, games and a movie- love it!

I've been able to have a couple of coffee dates with some of the seniors, which has been such a blessing. I've realized that they are so busy, so any time I can just encourage and support them, I am so thankful for. And these women amaze me- how they love the Lord and are living lives that are set apart!

Small Group was good last night- I just love teaching the bible and praise the Lord that I get to! What a privilege- we talked about Noah and the flood- it was so cool- I was telling Jeff that I was teaching on the flood yesterday and right then he said it was raining in Oregon and there was a rainbow in the sky! God's promises still remain- how true and faithful He is!

Also, I am starting to think and pray through what to do next year- stay in Hawaii, or move home and maybe do seminary!? Risa and I were talking this morning, and we were just saying we just want to be together! Haha- Risa said this to chris today:
"I just want to be where alyssa is. It's like we're married, but we're not. It's like we're dating, but we're not. You know? We just want to be together- you know when you find that person that you just...connect with? " YES!

Oh and today risa and i went out to lunch and just talked- i love her so much. What a precious blessing she is in my life! God is so good to bless us with the body of Christ!

Upcoming events:
Youth Group tomorrow (I'm teaching next week!!!eeeee!)
Car Wash Saturday
Gettin' ready for Winter Camp in a couple of weeks!!!
Bachelor Monday's with the girlies
Beth Moore bible study on tuesdays
RENEE AND JON FIND OUT IF THEY'RE HAVING A BOY OR GIRL THIS WEEK!!!!!

Off to make car wash signs- love to you all!!!

HOME :)

As I write, I'm back in my office in beautiful Maui, but I wanted to catch you all up on my visit home! IT WAS WONDERFUL...
The highlight of my time home was seeing and spending time with my Mama and Pops and my sweet friends. Time went so fast, but I'm so thankful for the time I had. Mom and I got to have a couple of coffee dates- our favorite. I'm so thankful for her- I love her honesty with me and her encouragment and support. And what a servant she is! A couple of days she would just walk into my room and ask if I needed anything done for the day- amazing!
OH PS- Isn't she beautiful!? I was showing this picture to a few of the girls here and they were saying how beautiful my mom is- one of the girl's said she looks like a supermodel and I said "I know! Sometimes I catch myself just staring at my mom, hoping that I will look as beautiful as she does when I'm her age!"
My parents got us all tickets to go see White Christmas at the Fifth Avenue for Christmas! We went to Duke's for dinner before, and then enjoyed the play together- although it wasn't nearly as good as the movie. But I did love the tap dancing! I love this photo of you poppi! My dad and I also got to go on a coffee date- I'm so thankful for his wisdom and guidance!
Christmas day was so wonderful- really one of the best ever! We opened presents in the morning and then went for walk- it was so sunny! Then we went over to the Tief's for dinner- family friends of ours. Wally and Maryanna were there, who really are such a joy to my heart! We played catch phrase- and the kids won! Haha Then afterwards my parents and Jeff and I went to look at lights and watched Elf- really it was such a blessing to rejoice in the Savior coming to live among us- Immanuel- with family and friends.

Nene and Jon came up to visit too- it was so sweet to visit with them and see Ne's cute belly- they find out in a couple of weeks if they're having a boy or girl!!! eeee!!!! They are going to be wonderful parents- so nurturing and loving. I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew!

My mama and I got to visit with Cait and her mama for lunch one day too- we stayed there for 3 hours! haha It was soooooooo good to see them and just catch up on what God has been doing in all of our lives these past few months.

Oh, and this is Jeff (for those without facebook! ;) He is such a blessing to me and I praise the Lord for putting him into my life! He's back in Oregon at Pacific University now- but it was so sweet to see him while we were both home. His team has a tournament in Honolulu in February, so we can't wait to see each other then!