2 car pile up on the upcoming right lane...drive with caution

A night on the town spent ice skating.  Haven't been there in a long time, and still Ice Palace is a busy hangout spot for all the "cool kids." Imagine Nascar on the I-5 during 8AM peak rush hour.  Kids dodging in and out.  Speed skaters trying to zoom past you.  The random couple clothes-lines you with their hand-holding maneuver. Then there's that one girl who can't figure out the counter-clockwise pattern of skating, and BAM!!! A collision of massive proportions.  I couldn't believe it, but ice skating in Hawaii is a very popular sport, well at least popular enough to pack the ice rink full of hobby skaters.

Would I do it again? Of course.  I mean go ice skating, not run into an unsuspecting girl at full speed.  I'm not the best skater but at least better than most, which is an accomplishment for someone born and raised in Hawaii for sure.  That was one night won by spur of the moment plans.  Wish you could have been there...it was the awesomest (that one's for you Sherry).

Beach day with nothing to do

With the surf contest over I have had no plans to do anything on these couple of days off.  Waking up late in the day to catch up on some loss of sleep was first on the agenda.  Eating breakfast for the first time in a couple of weeks was nice.  Maybe even some surfing just for fun with no time to come in or time to finish.  Relaxing and resting.

And now that I have had this day all planned out (well un-planned out if you know what I mean) it turned out to be a great day.  Sleeping on the beach under the sun was awesome.  Barbequeing on the beach was awesome.  Surfing the south swell was awesome.  Hanging out with friends was awesome.  But really having to be nowhere with nothing to do was the greatest.

Lazy days and enjoying it with people I love.  Couldn't ask for more (maybe one more thing but that is another story).  Adventures in the sun to continue tomorrow.

Peace

Freedom Surf Contest

Work, work, work

I'm trying not to get bogged down by all the work, but the surf contest is this coming weekend.  Naturally, there are a lot of things that will cause me to work overtime.

Everything should go great...I am praying.  If you want to compete, get those entry forms in.  And if you longboard, you best be practicing cause I'm going to shred it up.  Yeah right.  It'll be good times for sure.

See you at Kuhio Beach park this Saturday and Sunday.  If you don't, you will miss out.  I know I wouldn't want to miss out on all of this.

Oh yeah...did I mention we are hosting the first Stand-Up Paddle division competition!!!


Peace

GFMB Premiere

Just finished cleaning up from our Hawaii premiere for Gum For My Boat.  We hosted this movie screening in our place at Surfing the Nations, and it was a packed house.  I'm so tired from all of the planning and working, but in the end everything was well worth it.

It's nice to see the end result of weeks of hard work, and to see that it was a success.  The night started off slow.  We waited around while the people started coming in the doors.  We had Bangladeshi curry, pastries, coffee, and chai tea...mmm good!  And if the food was not a hit we had a photo booth where people could take pictures that would be sent to the surf club in Bangladesh.  Thanks to the Media Ninjas, everything in that department was amazing.

The movie was screened and the band played on.  Arkeo brought the house down.  Thanks guys.

Okay now for some sleep...I heart sleep.

Until next time


Gum For My Boat: Surfing In Bangladesh Trailer from Jedidiah Clothing on Vimeo.

I Heart Sleep

Sometimes I sleep because I love it so much.  Naps in the middle of the day.  Sleeping in and staying in bed in the morning.  Going to bed early with nothing better to do.

Sometimes I sleep because I am so tired.  Almost like a passing out.  Comatose.  Fall on my pillow and out like a light.  It is in this state of sleep where I sleep talk.  I have even been known to sleep walk.  My phone has also been known to butt-dial people.  This state of sleep will most often end in the classic drool on pillow.

Then sometimes I sleep to pass the time.  Looking forward to the next day.  During sleep, time seems to fly by in the blink of an eye.  Lie in bed, fall asleep, wake up 8 hours later.  In these anticipated times of sleep I dream the most exciting dreams.  I always look forward to dreams like these where I can be somewhere I'd rather be.  Looking forward to the future.

Moral of the story:  Sam Loves Sleep
Goodnight

Into A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day...

"Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who preformed great exploits. ...He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ...He was held in greater honor than any of the thirty, ...and David put him in charge of his bodyguard." (2 Samuel 23:20-23)

Imagine facing a lion head on.  Imagine a 500 pound animal looking at you and the only thing it is thinking about is eating you.  Imagine now instead of running away you give chase.  Now this animal begins to run and you chase it into a pit.  This pit is not only the new home to a 500 pound man-eating animal and you, but is covered in snow causing the ground to give way and lose all traction.  This is the basis of a quick story most miss in the pages of the Bible.  I have been learning so much through this quick passage.

How many times do I turn the other way when challenges face me?  How many times do I choose to not take that leap of faith?  How many times do I regret not taking that risk?  When that lion comes face to face with me, I will chase it and take that risk.  Become a lion chaser.

Love is...

Patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not rude or self-seeking, blah, blah, blah...

Words are pretty and they often sound so good.  We can formulate sentences and thoughts that sound pleasing to other people.  We can remember scripture that tells us what love is, but what is true love?  How can I experience, share, give this love.  Where is the love?

In trying times I feel overwhelmed with emotions and wonder if these emotions are something from within or just a product of my surroundings.  Love can be downplayed so easily in our world through fleeting words and careless conversations.  If I can clarify things a little, I'm not sure anyone can completely express true love to another person.  I think love is something from above, God is love and to experience love is to experience his grace and power.

As mere humans, we can attempt to love people as God loves us, but in our faults we will often fail.  The only true way (as I am learning in the past couple of days) to love someone is to look at them through God's eyes.  See that person as God would, through the shortcomings and failures.  Only in this way can we even attempt to love in God's capacity.

Thanks for being faithful.  Thanks for sharing your heart.