stanton's blog (clever name huh?)

MY HEROES...

It's a day later and the tears still haven't stopped.

What a crazy whirl wind of emotion.

Last night I watched my brother Scott and his wife Keao handle with amazing grace and courage the passing of their second daughter. I know that they would both say that it is because of the Lord that they were able to handle this. (you can check out my brother's blog here for his take on the story http://pastorscottsthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/hope-deferred-makes-the-heart-sick/ )

I don't know if I would have been able to survive such a trying emotional time as they have had to go through.

I am proud to say that both of them still love the Lord. They are remaining true their faith in God in the midst of this storm.

I got to say good bye to my little precious feisty niece last night. I really thought that she was going to pull through. She was definitely surrounded by tons of people that loved her dearly. Tiny little princess that she was. :) Ah Astro, I wish I could have taken you surfing and been there to make up more nick names for ya then your pops did...like allie cat or allie gator. :)

I want to share with whoever may be reading this one memory from the crazy day that really sticks out in my mind...as Keao was holding Astro, talking to her and getting to hold her, I could hear her singing the chorus of a worship song to Astro...

"Lord your name, is higher than the heavens,

Lord your name is higher than all created things,

Higher than hope,

Higher than dreams

The name of the Lord"

That unwavering hope and trust in the Lord in spite of not understanding is why Scott and Keao are my heroes.

I don't know how people that don't know Jesus make it in this life when unforseen, unimaginable tragedy hits.

Thank you Scottie and Keao for sharing so much of who you are with the rest of us.

Love you.

Love you little Rory and Allie. Miss you both.

Be strong Slugger! I am rooting for you!

Love,

Uncle Stanton

NEW ZEALAND BOUND....

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woo hoooo! i am super amped to take my vacation! i take off tomorrow morning. as crazy as it sounds, the vacation excitement was sort of shoved to the wayside with all planning that i had to do for our easter services. easter was AWESOME by the way. we had a record number in attendance celebrating the resurrection of jesus! it was quite a party!

now, a week later, i am heading out to both new zealand and fiji. i get to go on this trip with two of my best buddies. we decided to really make this an adventure by renting a motorhome to stay in (the pics that i included are of what the motorhome is supposed to look like....we shall see though). as an added bonus, we also get to stop over in fiji on our way over to new zealand and plan on staying there for a day. all of the surfboards have been packed and the movies ripped and saved to our ipods. we are super amped to go!!! ( in t-minus 10 hours!!).

my friend tricia just asked me if i was excited to go to new zealand. i actually had to stop and think about my answer. i mean, i am excited to go to new zealand, but i think i am equally as excited to just be on a vacation...i mean, i don't really know what to expect. i have read about new zealand in a few guide books and been checking things out online. all that said, i am a little overwhelmed in trying to wrap my mind around all things that there are to do and experience in new zealand. it's not like going to cali, or washington or even japan...places i have already been to and sort of know what to expect and what to be excited for. it's really a brand new experience and i don't really know what to expect. i have this excitement in anticipation of what i KNOW will be a great experience with tons of fun for me and my friends, yet, i don't really know what to expect...

as i was thinking about this, i realized that this is sorta like us getting excited for heaven. i mean, we have read about hanging out with the big JC and celebrating there with our friends, but none of us REALLY know what to expect. it's gonna be beyond anything we can even think about! this scripture from 1 corinthians 2:9 comes to my mind....

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

and no mind has imagined

what God has prepared

for those who love him."

cool huh?

pray for our safety and for the Lord to bless our time! see you all in 2 weeks! aloha!

rob and rikki's wedding

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I was privileged to be a part of Rob and Rikki's wedding this past week. Rob is on staff with me and the College Pastor at Hope Chapel Kaneohe. Both Rob and Rikki came up through our youth group and I am stoked that God brought them together. Weddings can be stressful. There are TONS of things to organize and coordinate....not even adding in the personalities and opinions of everyone that is somehow involved. I have to admit, I was stressed out by parts of their wedding. Haha! Yet, everything came together and was perfect. The skies stayed sunny, but breezy so no one got too hot (it rained a little after during the reception...thank you God that held back the rain). Everyone was excited and running around with that added boost of energy that only comes out in these sort of special events.

The best part of the wedding for me was watching Rob's face when he finally got to see his bride. Everyone in the audience had stood up and watched as Rikki walked down the aisle. Rob had eyes only for her....and then he started to tear up and get emotional...and I don't find Rob to be an outwardly overly emotional guy.

It must be like how Jesus feels for us when he sees us, his bride....I imagine that He must be so stoked to finally see us come walking towards him. All that He lovingly sacrificed to get to this point in the relationship is worth it. It's crazy to think that isn't it? How much he loves us...watching my buddy Rob as the groom filled with love for his bride was a good reminder of how Jesus feels for us.

my 24-hour fitness donation

gym. ugh. what images or thoughts come to your mind when you hear the word gym? i can tell you that it is not one of my favorite past times to engage in. i love being active and living an active lifestyle so it comes as a complete shock to me that anyone would want to spend hours running on a piece of machinery that goes no where. i mean isn't that was hiking and surfing is for?

day after day, a good buddy of mine goes to the gym. he does his cardio and then works with weights. he is very disciplined in going. in fact, he dedicates several hours a day in the gym. because of that level of dedication, he is seeing results...in fact, i think he has lost close to 30 pounds in less than a year by being disciplined in working out. i recently went to the north shore with hiim. we spent some time looking for some new clothes because none of the old clothes fit him. in fact, the change is so dramatic that he kept grabbing sizes that didn't fit...things that were too large.

because many of my surfing friends are not in town right now, i thought i should start going to the gym with him. i mean, up to this point i have just been "donating" my money to 24-hour fitness. in simple terms, i pay for something that i don't use. so, once or twice a week i have been going to the gym. i don't like doing cardio so i meet up with him when he is finished and then we work on the weights. i grunt, push, pull and sweat like a pig to the point that i feel like my muscles are so fatigued that they don't work anymore. i leave sore the next day. due to my work schedule it never seems to work out for me to go every day to the gym...not that i am dying to anyways. some of you have even seen me there and looked at me in surprise. haha.

the pic at the start of this blog entry is from a time when we recently went hiking. i think i had my shirt off and put it back on before the pic. i mean who wants to have to be compared to the gym guy right? the sad thing is, even after a month of doing this i don't feel like i am seeing any results. why isn't by body changing?! i feel stiff and sore. i feel like i sweated and gave it 100% when i was working out. can't i at least see some definition to my muscles? sigh.

sadly, this is how many of us look at our relationship with God. we see other people that we admire or envy of their faith. what we fail to realize is how much dedication and devotion goes into their relationship with Christ. they spend time with Him. they wrestle and cry over things in their life that they want to make obedient to Him. they share a closeness with Him because of the time spent with Him. just cause I go to the gym and read muscle magazines doesn't mean that my body will change. in the same way, just going to church, minichurch and reading christian books and the bible doesn't mean that your spiritual man will change. the book of james tell us we have to be DO-ers of the word not just hear-ers.

one of the other pastors on our staff recently stated that going deep with Christ means being obedient to Him. often times people want OTHERS to take them deep with Jesus...really the responsibility is on OURSELVES.

just like going to the gym with dedication shapes and affects the physical body, a relationship with Jesus should also affect you. it should be something that other people can see. this little lesson is one that i had to be reminded of. i should be willing to dive into my relationship with the creator of the universe with as much fervor as i have in lifting weights (when I go). i should be willing to do the work in order to get the results i want.

i'm willing. are you?

family party

Yesterday I got to celebrate my good friend Sam's birthday. The cool part was though was that a few of us were invited to his family's home in Kahaluu to celebrate his birthday with them. Of course, as usual, when you walk into someone else's home there is a weird sort of tension or awkwardness .... everyone there is totally comfortable and loose since they are in the comfort of their own home. But because we were invited over, the family welcomed us and we got a chance to eat some amazing food; steak, salmon, chicken, pasta salad, home made cake and frosting...YUM!!

We were also privy to the inside jokes and raw candidness that you can only have when you are around family. It was really cool to be a part of the genuine interactions that you take part in when you are in the family. I mean we even made it into some "family" photos. Haha. :)

As I was reflecting on that this morning, I was struck with how cool it is that Jesus invites us to become members of HIS family. We get to take part in all that He has...the good food, the amazing interactions, the genuine and real relationships. We were once separated from Him, but He made possible for us to become a part of His family by welcoming us in.

During this season leading up to Easter, I once again am reminded of the tremendous amount it cost Him while I get the benefits for free. Amazing His love for me. Amazing His love for you.

Stairway to Heaven

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We woke up early this past weekend to make the trek up the Stairway to Heaven in Kaneohe. This was the second time I did this hike. The first time was over a year ago and a miserable experience. Hahaha. I can thankfully say that I am now more in shape and was able to have fun! It's funny how God speaks to me through these random outdoor adventures. One would definitely say that creation itself does reveal how glorious and creative God is.

The biggest thing that I felt like I was shown this past weekend was how important it is to keep things in perspective. When you start off on the hike you can't even see the finishing point. You just know you have to go UP! Some parts of the up were just vertical...like a ladder. It is so easy to focus in on the immediate moment, the strain of muscles, the sweat, and stair after stair after never ending stair....that you lose sight of where you are going...especially when you start off in the darkness.

I feel that way sometimes, overwhelmed, tired and in the dark. I lose sight of the fun factor in the adventure God has in store for me. I just feel like all I can do is put one step in front of the other. At times I want to quit. It's so important to keep moving and trusting in Him...even if it is only one step at a time.

Especially when you reach the rest station! Once you hit that first platform to rest at, you get a glimpse of the amazing surroundings. You see how breath taking creation is and feel inspired. From the first rest station you get to see further up along the trail and see the top.

God so often meets me at those "rest stations" in my life. It allows me a chance to re-gain my perspective. He shows me how far I have come and gives me a focus as to where I am going. I look around and get a chance to be re-inspired by Him cause I am not focusing only on the one step ahead of me. All of the persistence and hard work begins to pay off.

Although there were a few more rest stations to stop at along the hike before reaching the top of mountain, I can say that I had a lot of fun....although I was a sweaty pig, embarking on this with my buddies was a great experience. From the very top you could see so much of the island...the windward and the town side.

After the hike we couldn't stop talking about.

The Lord showed me stuff about that too --> If I was so willing to share with others how great and amazing the hike was, I should be willing to share about Him. I mean He created the creation right? Haha. I feel like other people want to check out the hike based on the stories that we shared from this past weekend. It made them curious about it. Others were a little fearful about making the entire journey because it might be too difficult for them.

In the same way, I hope that I make other curious about God. I hope that I make people want to check Jesus out...and offer encouragement to those that might want to find out more but are a little afraid that they aren't ready yet for it....or prepared enough for it...or good enough for it.

Jesus is way cool.

bullfrogs and butterflies

isnt it random how God works things out? we prayed earlier this weekend for God given opportunities to meet and talk to people. tonight some random opportunities floated my way. i got a random knock on my door this evening and opened it to find a fella from our minichurch out there. he was in the area and decided to stop in. in general, i can't say that i am overly fond of unexpected guests...especially when i am already in my pajamas for the night...haha, but i invited him in. he is a fella who has been around christianity a lot but is now discovering for himself what it means to him personally. i just got to listen to his heart as he shared some of life's frustrations and disappointments. at the very end he shared some of his very real struggles...and i got the opportunity to remind him that Jesus is the only answer. Jesus is the only one who can really change our lives and rescue us from our struggles when we surrender to Him.

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HELLO BLOG WORLD!

What up? This is my introduction to the world of blogging. I know many of you can't believe that it has taken me so long to do it. I hope you enjoy the random thoughts, pics and musings that may be coming your way via this blog.

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