Sunsets and Views

Aloha!

So I have spent one full day in Hawaii so far. In case you didn't know I am on Oahu at Waikiki! I am 5 hours difference in time from Texas and the views here are AMAZING!!!

So because Adam and Laura are here for a month it was cheaper for them to get a condo than to pay for a hotel. Let me rephrase that.... it is cheaper for the Army to pay for a condo for the month than for them to pay for a hotel! The Army gave us a pretty sweet spot!

Well Adam just happened to find this amazing condo! It is right and I mean right smack dab on the beach! It is amazing. The condo doesn't have ac but it truly doesn't need it. They have this huge window that stays open 24/7 and fans going in the room. So needless to say I am going to miss the sound of the ocean all day long. It has been my favorite thing sitting in a chair right by the window just looking out. My bed is also right by the window so i get the best sounds of the waves. I don't mind waking up in the middle of the night hearing them!

Here is the view of the private beach for the condo.



I have been waking up between 5:15 and 5:30. It is really neat because when I wake up it is still dark outside but within a matter of 10 minutes everything becomes alive. Seriously. This morning at 530 it was just barely light enough to see and I saw the first surfer go out. Crazy. within a matter of minutes there were 8 of them out in the water right in front of the condo.

anyways... back to the topic at hand. Yesterday mid morning I looked out the window and this is what I saw!



It was a complete rainbow! such a sweet reminder of God's promise and I got to enjoy it because I was being still!

Here is another picture that I had from yesterday from my window! Laura and I were just talking about sailing and how we would love to go sailing sometime and I saw this really cool sailboat. it was picturesque.




Yesterday wasn't too eventful. We just hung out in the morning. Around noon I went down to the beach and stayed till about 3. (praise the Lord Laura had spf 70 because I would have FRIED if I wore the spf 30 i brought! ha) When we came back in we got ready and went on a long walk to a market that is a few miles down the road from our condo. It was HOT but fun seeing all the different things. We got back, cooled off, made dinner and then began to watch the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. Since Adam was on call last night we made it a fun girls day!

About thirty minutes into the movie I began to notice some change outside and we paused the movie and grabbed our cameras! (Laura loves photography just as much as me) You ready to see this? I am going to show you a series of the pictures!

This was in the very beginning of the sunset. I thought this was gorgeous!



Wait it gets better. Same sunset.



During this whole time I am singing "sunrise, sunset" from fiddler on the roof and thinking how much Jess would love this. So I texted her a picture and then took this one!



Within a matter of 10 minutes the sun was gone. I will leave you with one last shot from the sunset!



Jess, I hope you enjoyed these pictures! :)

Aloha! Tomorrow I will post about Laura and my adventure we are taking today!

Hawaii: First Class Style

(does this picture make anyone else think of the Pixar short film with the clouds?)


ALOHA!!

Ok so my brother is in the Army right? He was given orders (by his request) to be stationed in Hawaii for a month so that he could do a rotation with orthopedics at Tripler Army Base. Rough life I know!

Anyways, Adam and Laura invited me to join them for a week in Honolulu for this occasion. I had a free place to stay and the flight would be easy to get thanks to me dad who travels every week. Needless to say I struggled deciding whether I would join them or not! :)

When my dad was booking the flight with his reward points the Lord did this really sweet and special thing. At the time he was booking the first class seats were worth less reward points then the coach class seats. So it was a better deal for my dad to get the first class tickets then the coach. Can you believe that? This is insane.

I have been really hesitant and almost ashamed to tell people where I was going and how I was getting there for a while. Well my flight left yesterday and can I tell you how spoiled first class flyers are? First off at check in I was helped immediately. My luggage got a priority sticker which means when I land it is one of the first suitcases to come out. I didn't have to wait in that awful long line for security because I was flying first class. I got to board the plane first. When I got to my seat this is what I saw.




I had my own nice pillow and sweet quilt. I had all the space I wanted. My chair FULLY reclined. I was overwhelmed. This was awesome! The flight attendant I met while I was waiting in the gate and she knew me by name the entire trip. It was pretty special. So right after I was seated they came around with beverages while we were waiting for everyone else to board and get situated. They also brought a menu of what we would be eating. Can I show you how awesome this was? prepare yourselves....



So we started off with mixed nuts and dried fruit. I know this is nothing really special but oh it was. It was warm and they tasted so good!



Next was a really good salad! They also gave me a glass of wine to go with the meal.



Then I had Salmon and asparagus. Now I normally don't gravitate towards seafood but I couldn't help myself. Why get pasta when you could enjoy something fancy and really this was a once in a lifetime thing. I may never get to do this again... so I went for the Salmon and it was AMAZING!!! Who new airplane food could taste so good!



To finish this meal off I had a hot fudge sunday and some coffee.

So what did I tell you? Pretty special huh? Oh wait.. but before we landed in hawaii I was given this..



Fruit and cheese and crackers! ha.

So my food was pretty neat! Did I mention that the seats fully recline? I have never slept better on a plane than I did on the way over here... and just in case you don't believe me I took a picture of the guy sitting next to me sleeping! haha. I know a little creepy but I wanted proof of how it actually reclines!




So that is my adventure thus far! I can't wait to enjoy the beach today. Mahalo ( thanks) for reading... until next time, Aloha!

New Adventures

So I really haven't done this whole blogging bit in a long time! I have always kept up with everyone else's blogs but when it actually came to writing mine I had no desire. But I am going to try again! We will see how long this lasts! :)

I just recently, as in yesterday, moved into my own place. It has been a rush of emotions. One part of me really loves being able to have my own place and decorate really cute without having to ask permission from other people. One the other hand I will miss having my amazing roommate, I am solely responsible for payments (those nice rents where you get to split the cost in fourths), I am nervous that my old habit of isolation will kick into high gear.

So the bad out weighs the good right? Nope. To tell you the truth this is one of the scariest decisions I have had to make. I know this is exactly where I am suppose to be. I have only been here two days and I know this is my home. It feels like home. I am trusting the Lord will provide a job ( did I mention I don't have one?), I am trusting that he is going to protect me, and take care of me. I am obeying where the Lord has called me so I know that in the end this will definitely be the BEST thing for me. In Romans 8:28 it say "and we know that for those who love God, all things work together, for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

I might not see the results now. It might be way down the road till I see why the Lord has called me to live by myself. It might be tomorrow when I find out why I am suppose to, but I am completely confident there is where the Lord has me.

Is it scary...yes.

Is it challenging... yes.

Am I going to have to trust that the Lord is going to have to take care of me.... yes.

Have I already been scary by my coatrack thinking it was a person who broke in my house... yes. (its true... twice within a matter of 5 minutes. So I moved it! )

Will God take care of me... MOST DEFINITELY!


So needless to say this is a gift! I want to be joyful in it! And it just means you all need to come and hang out at my place! :)

This is AMAZING!!

Okay so I took this from my friends Website but you have to go and check this out. It is so funny!

Sweet Sweat!

What is this thing?

Well I am going to tell you!

It is the machine that I love best! It is the machine that I actually look forward to using! It is the machine that research says will help with many things in my life by just using it! It is an elliptical. It does amazing things.

I HATE running! I always have. But I Love this! This thing gives you the running motion without all the aches and pains and crunching of the bones as running does! ( maybe a little dramatic) Whats great is it gets your heart rate up too! Depending on how much you actually challenge and push yourself you can get a great cardio with this sucker!

So I joined a gym.

This is new and crazy! I have always danced growing up, so I was never around a gym, I was in a studio. But now that I don't dance any more have haven't for a few years I needed to get back into some sort of physical activity. I do miss dancing ALOT and I have been saying for about a year that I want to dance again and that day might come but not right now.

The Lord has been laying on my heart that I need to be more active for a while and I would walk around my neighborhood , but that was only once in a blue moon! So through pray and questions i joined Gold's.

I was very intimidated walking into this place for the first time, but I did it. I faced that fear that was holding me back from doing it. Even better I got a student discount! WHOOP! Thank you Texas A&M!

I thankfully have a partner to go with. My roomie Jessica has a membership there and we are keeping each other accountable in this and pushing one another. It has been great. I have been a member for a week and have gone 5 times now. That is huge! I am actually enjoying it too. Not only is it going to keep me more healthy but it is going to give me more energy.

Our bodies are to be temples. We are also called to not be lazy. I have been lazy and i have not treated my body as a temple in a while. The Lord has gotten a hold of me and I am excited about what this is going to bring.

Yay for Golds, yay for lifting weights and biking and ellipticals! Praise the Lord for clearly convicting me in this! I am excited to see how this will effect my future! :)

Where My Heart Is

I have to be completely honest. I MISS ZAMBIA. Seriously I was talking to this girl at church the other day who I just met who did camp LIFE and is going back this summer and I started crying in front of her. I was so excited she was able to go back but I was so sad that I won't be able to do the same thing. I don't really cry in public like that, but I so long to be there that I am excited that people get to go back and continue to love on these kids.

I wish right now more than anything that I could hop on a plane and go see my girls. If it weren't for the 3000 some odd dollar plane ticket I would probably book right now.

I miss the transformation of their lives.

I miss their joy.

I miss there voices.

I miss their aroma (which is big because it not always pleasant. :P)

I miss their huge smiles.

I miss them wanting to hold your hand everywhere.

More than anything, I want to feel like my life has a huge purpose. I am not saying that my life doesn't have purpose here because it definitely does, but I see more of the results there. Not sure why God did it that way, but he did.

I want to know what they have been doing, what they have been learning, what is new in their lives. I want to see their beautiful faces and hold them.

My prayers and thoughts for the past few weeks have been Zambia. Why is that? I know the Lord lays things on our hearts, but this has been so strong.

I want to go back this summer and I know that I cannot and it is really hurting me. A piece of my heart was left with these girls in Zambia and I want to join it again. I want to be in this place again. But why has the Lord laid these girls on my heart so much the past few weeks?

The only thing that I can come up is they need your prayers. They need my prayers. So I am asking you to pray for my girls. It is the rainy season right now in Zambia so pray for health and safety and that ultimately that they will come to know the Lord.

You can also help and support a child. I know I have talked about this before, but not enough. I want my girls safe and I know the Lord will protect and comfort those he loves, but he allows us to financially help as well. It is only 36 dollars a month, seriously not that big of a deal. I thought it would be hard but I hate to say it but I don't notice when it is gone. These children need help. They need food, shelter, clothing, medical assistance, love and so much more. If you go to this website https://fathersheart.legacymissions.org/
under Ambassador search you will type in my name (Becca Hines) and my girls will come up. Pray over who you want to sponsor. Then do it.

Pray for my girls. Pray for their lives. Pray for transformation in Zambia, and pray for souls to be won for the Lord.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

I have been meditating on this verse over the past few weeks and let me tell you it has not been easy. Words can hurt people so much.

They pierce the heart.

They can affect your witness.

They can affect people around you.

They can affect your personal relationship with Christ.

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

The Lord has been refining me. He has been teaching me and he has been challenging things in my life. There have been several instances this week where I have failed. I was not lifting up people with my words. But I praise the Lord that the second I said something hurtful or wrong He convicted me of it. What is even a bigger praise I sucked up my pride and apologized.

That is huge. First of all recognizing it but then considering others better than myself and apologizing for it. This is an area in my life that the Lord will continue to work on me in my life. As my mom has told me "it is not what I say but how I say it." I don't want that to be the case.

I want to be a woman who builds up people. Not destroy. Psalm 14:1-3 says "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.2He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him.3 A fool's talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them."

I want the cycle of being careless with words to stop with me. I don't want my sin to affect those that are close to me. I don't want my words to hurt others.

Then this weekend at church Allen talked about Philippians 2 and what really spoke to me was verse 14. You ready for this? "Do all things without grumbling or questioning."

Ugh... i fail again.

Do ALL things.

Not just some things.

You can't complain about headaches, you cant complain about dishes, or laundry that is piled up.

We are to not complain about ANYTHING. Now if thats not convicting I don't know what is.

I realized how much I complain. This is NOT ok. We are commanded to not complain. It is not a suggestion. There are no loopholes. You cant work around the system.

Our words are so important. What comes out of our mouth should be of the Lord. So that means no complaining, no coarse joking, we are to be edifying. We are to be listening to the Lord and patiently waiting for what He has to say.

I will continue to ask to Lord to show me and to help my words be pleasing to him!

Just some food for thought!