Merry Christmas from Hawaii {greetings, photos, and a note to read before the New Year!}

Merry Christmas — or Mele Kalikimaka, as we say in Hawaii — from our home to yours…

I hope you are having a wonderful, peaceful (we can try!) hope-filled Christmas season.  I love to imagine where each of you are and what Christmas looks like in your world.  I know (from taking an unofficial Facebook poll) that many of you will have a white Christmas this year, and our family is totally jealous really happy for you. It’s summertime for my southern hemisphere readers, so your Christmas might look a little like ours.  Wherever you are, and whatever the weather, I pray you are filled with joy as you celebrate Christmas.

I could not be more grateful for this season in my family’s life.  My son Josiah is home from his first semester at college. (for some reason I have always imagined my first son coming home from college for the firs time! And it’s all that I had hoped it would be!) My parents are on island with us, and though Dave will work every day of the holiday (darn), we’ve been doing this doctor-life thing for a while now, and know how to make the best of the time he is with us.  🙂  I do not take any of this for granted.

I know that this season can be really hard for a lot of people for a variety of reasons, and if you are not feeling so merry right now, I am praying for you.  I hope you can find encouragement in the real Good News of Christmas, which C.S. Lewis stated so well:

“The Son of God became a man, to enable men to become sons of God.”

What a profound concept!  No gift could ever compare.  May we take time to ponder what this means afresh in this season.

Our holiday will be spent between time at the beach (the waves are great, and it seems extra beautiful this time of the year!) and up the hill in our cozy home.  (It’s colder up here, dipping into the upper 50’s some nights! And while that may not sound *cold* to you, considering we do not have heaters, you can imagine the thrill of donning our winter socks and snuggling up with extra blankets!)

Since we haven’t taken a family photo yet, I’m hoping to tackle that and have one in my New Year’s post coming soon.

And…SPEAKING OF THE NEW YEAR’S POST, I want to make sure to give you a head’s up on that…because that post will have some exciting news about new things I’ll be doing in 2019, as well as a special announcement for those of you with health and fitness goals on your mind for the new year!

**Since I’m blogging less frequently these days, be sure to SUBSCRIBE so that you don’t miss this one or other posts!

I’ll leave you with some photos from the past few weeks here in Hawaii.  A virtual vacation, in case you could use some tropical warmth right about now.  (If you follow me on Instagram, some of these will be familiar.)

And keep in mind:  Though these pictures show a sunny, dreamy Hawaii, we’ve actually had our fair share of heavy rain, wind, and stormy waters lately.  (hopefully that helps a little?)

^A Hawaiian “White Christmas.” 😉

Our big-wave-surfing, big-bearded, big-hearted Pastor (Tripp Turner) surfing Waimea with Luke, just hours after preaching on a Sunday.  (If you happen to be on island for Christmas, you can find us at The Mission North Shore church.)

^^For months now my son Jonah, 17, has been dreaming about starting a new beach Bible study.  This month he officially kicked off the “Boardriders Bible Club”, a weekly Bible study for surfers and beach lovers to gather for a short message, snacks and time to play in the water.  (Mom heart = Full.)

^^Levi and the next generation of trouble makers surfers.
*Great capture by Emily Turner. (the bearded, surfing, Pastor’s wife 😉 )

What Luke’s been up to. ^^  (hehe, see the pun? 🙂 )

Another #hawaiiansunset.  Because #nevertoomany.

Josiah’s first morning back home. ^ Bedhead, skateboards, and brother happiness…

And for those of you who have asked about his time so far at Westmont:  Josiah had the most incredible first semester at school — Everything we dreamed it would be and more.  He made the best friends. Loved his classes.  Surfed a ton. Grew spiritually.  And, even with a heavy load, he took home a 3.925 GPA at the end!  **Considering the last “real class” (outside of homeschooling) he attended was 1st grade, haha, we are incredibly relieved and happy with how well he managed in school.
(Not bragging, but totally bragging. 🙂 )

OK, now– go do Christmas!  Enjoy every minute.  Hug your family.  Lower your expectations.  Worship the King.  Eat some fudge.  Laugh hard.  Find time to be quiet.  And when it’s all done, stop back here to get excited with me about an even better New Year ahead!

XO
Mon