The Joy of Giving

Last year we began a new tradition. Unpacking our attic, dusting off scarcely used presents and shipping them off to Goodwill just before we moved to Hawai'i challenged us to completely rethink the way we give gifts. Why do we give "a little something" just so that it can be opened now and dusted later? Why not instead give memories or a service that is desired but unaffordable? So, Jon took us out for ice cream, Laura took us out to a Christmas play, Lydia bought us a movie for movie night, you get the idea. This year, the Three Muskateers (Daniel, Lydia and Jonathan) pooled their money and took the whole family to see Tangled (I highly recommend it). For us, seeing a movie is an unaffordable luxury so this was a real treat. Dave and I still bought gifts for our children and we still filled their stockings, but with more intention towards simplicity. We also gave our kids a pretty cool memory, designing and blowing their own glass ornament. Island Glass Works is a local glass blowing business that combines chemistry, physics and art in one of a kind creations. Here are some of our memories.

First they gather the glass from the bottom of this oven.

Then they add color to the glass using glass shards.

Then they add air. We blew our ornaments through a straw.

They shaped it using tools that have not changed in 4,000 years.

All glass appears to be red when it is first out of the fire.

You begin to see the true colors as it cools.

Now that was a fun gift!

Merry Christmas from the Collins Clan!

Mele Kalikimaka

June '09 - We had one 20 foot shipping container in which to stuff our furniture, clothes, pantry and other treasured possessions. We sold most of our possessions just to fit the most important things into our container. Our packing friends were coming in 20 minutes and we still had not made our way into the attic to pull out the 4 extra large storage bins of Christmas ornaments, trinkets and treasures. No longer able to delay, we sat down and tried to think logically about very sentimental traditions. I didn't want to spend our holidays hanging snowmen everywhere, lamenting over Christmas past. Frosty wouldn't be coming to Hawai'i. We also had come to realize how unnecessary all of our decorations were and how distracting they had become. So, we left alot of our traditions in the attic, along with the Christmas tree. There was simply no room, not in the container and not in our tiny house without a basement or attic (we are all pretty violently allergic to cut evergreens). We decided to plan on getting a palm tree instead.

Last Christmas - We opened the one average size bin of Christmas treasures, we discovered that we had left some important things behind. The stockings...two boxes of ornaments...our candle nativity...our wooden nativitity...and regardless of what anyone said, we all missed our tree. We tried to make the best of it. We tried to tell ourselves that we weren't as sad as we really were but the reality was that we were heartbroken. The children had been given ornaments each year, with their name and date proudly written on each one. When it became obvious that we couldn't hang their ornaments, the children never complained (which made it worse). We discovered that palm trees, though fast becoming a favorite species of mine, are unaffordable and not nearly as practical for hanging ornaments. We bought a Charlie Brown Norfolk pine and discovered that, while fulfilling a need for greenery, their branches are useless for hanging ornaments. We made the best of our Christmas last year, missing family, missing friends, missing our own traditions. On December 26th, I turned the house as quickly back to normal as possible so that I could forget how painful it had been. I knew that God had called us here to Hawai'i, but did it have to feel so foreign, so different from all that we had known before?

This year, we bought a tree, fully lit and tall enough to reach the beams in our little house. We played music and the children hung all of their ornaments on the tree, and none of the branches wilted. For the first time in all of our Christmases, I did not have to secretly rearrange their ornaments to make them look better. The very first ornaments I was given, made by my brother David's fiance in 1987, now graced our Hawai'i home. Each of the children's kindergarten pictures, stars and yes, snowmen were proudly hung with care. During my visit back to the mainland in June, I canvased the attic for the missing stockings, my quilted tree skirt, our wooden nativity from Israel and even the nativity windmill from Holland. (I ended up not being able to fit it in my bag so I asked, okay forced, Laura to carry it on her way home. She said the pilot had to put it next to him because there was no room on the plane. How appropriate.) Nonetheless, these treasures donned our home this year. The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care. The shutters were dressed in leis and the train made its way proudly around our brightly lit tree. It felt like Christmas.

As I contemplated my own heart and expectations of Christmas, I thought alot about how it must have felt for the Hawaiians of old to embrace the dramatic changes in their culture. In the early 1800's, when missionaries shared the good news of Jesus' birth, life and resurrection with them, the Hawaiians believed quickly and embraced their new faith whole heartedly. How incredible it must have been for them to literally be living in a stone age culture, with no metal tools or objects whatsoever, and suddenly encounter modern Western culture. So eager were the Hawaiians to show their acceptance of modernity, that Iolani Palace, the home of Hawai'i's monarchy, had electricity before the White House. The capacity of the Hawaiian people to adapt to a new culture was astounding. But many have come to question the amount of cultural changes that were made. It was the custom of the time among Western missionaries to encourage the growth of Western culture in the new converts to the faith. When the Hawaiians wanted to know how to be like these wonderful missionaries, they were encouraged to dress like Westerners and to put aside their hula and other traditions. The Hawaiian culture changed so much that by the time of Hawai'i's annexation to the U.S. in 1895, it had become forbidden to speak the Hawaiian languge. Many portraits of the monarchy of that time offer few visible signs of Hawaiian culture.

Thankfully, it is no longer forbidden to speak Hawaiian and it is no longer taboo to dance hula. In fact, many churches sing hymns in Hawaiian. Our own church sang one of the verses to Silent Night in this beautiful language. Many churches celebrate and illustrate stories and songs with hula. Thankfully, it is no longer required of Hawaiians to choose between the culture and traditions that represent who they really are as a people, and their faith in the One who came to redeem them. Having lost a tiny bit of my own culture in coming here, I have a better understanding of the pain it must have caused my Hawaiian brothers and sisters in the faith. My prayer and hope for this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific is that its people will continue to understand ways that God has revealed Himself to them in their culture and their history so that they may proclaim His goodness to their children and their children's children. That would be Christmas everyday.

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever..." Deuteronomy 29:29

Thanksgiving Sunrise

We met at the bottom of the hill of Kakapu lighthouse at 5:30 a.m. and hiked for 30 minutes up the paved path with only the light of the moon and a few flashlights. Venus, Orion and the Seven Sisters observed from above the mountains while we enjoyed the ocean winds and worked our way to the top. From the summit we could see the same beautiful coastal road we traveled in the dark. Our friends, the Wilks, provided yummy burritos when we made it back to the bottom after wishing dozens of other sunrise hikers a Happy Thanksgiving. I think we have discovered a new tradition to bring in the holidays here in Hawai'i.

This month, my third graders studied the 7 major biomes of the earth. As we celebrated Thanksgiving in our own classroom, I read to them "Over the river and through the woods" and asked them what biome was reflected. They recognized the deciduous forests descriptions and tried to sympathize with the difficulty of breezes that sting the nose and bite the toes. I read this poem to challenge them to appreciate their own colors and culture because there is a sense that the holiday isn't real unless the leaves have fallen and the weather is cold. I can honestly say that I have not seen a single maple, oak or sycamore tree here in Hawai'i, yet all the stores, classrooms and lobbies are covered with silk replicas of their leaves. I asked my students if not having those trees or experiences makes our holiday less real...they weren't sure. The association with fall colors and leaves and harvest is a good one, but not the only one. Surely the most important association with this holiday is thankfulness. In that light, we each held three kukui nuts (in abundant supply on our island and often used in making leis) and filled a glass bowl (that we watched being made at a field trip to a glassblowing shop) as 23 children counted their blessings. Another thanksgiving tradition to continue. We also discussed our own version of that popular thanksgiving poem.

Over the ocean and through the canal to Tutu's house we go

The crew knows the way to carry the canoe through the blue ocean foam

Over the mountains and through the Pali oh how the Trade Winds blow

The rains come down and rainbows abound as over the hills we go....

Happy Thanksgiving from the lovely Pacific....

Veteran's Day : A Rest from Work

Our school closed for Veteran's Day last Thursday so the family went for a road trip towards the North Shore, where the waves can reach as high as 40 feet in the Winter. We came upon this park. Its name means a rest from work.

What a joy it was to soak in the sunshine and hear the waves. Dave and Lydia and Daniel waded out to a small island and walked around. Laura, Shawn and Jonathan climbed the foundation of an old building. And I sat still, something I don't do very often.


It's hard to believe our life in Hawai'i has only been a little over a year. The changes in our school have been quite substantial. Very few schools actually navigate successfully through the waters of changing to a Classical and Christian curriculum, but Trinity is doing just that. Our teachers are writing jingles, songs, chants and rhymes to help our grammar school students memorize. Our secondary teachers are challenging, debating and focusing. All this in just a few years. God is clearly at work in every detail and we are constantly humbled to see His loving and firm hand guiding the work here. I was recently asked to take on the role of Curriculum Instructor, coming alongside the teachers as an administrative support and I am excited by the opportunity to serve the Lord and the school in this way. I'll still be teaching third graders, but this gives me an opportunity to have an impact on other students as well.

The challenge for me and for Dave is to remember to rest from work from time to time. There is so much to do and we often find ourselves stretched too far, forgetting that "graveyards are full of indispensible people." So, I'm thankful for the rest on Thursday...and for the Veterans who gave me the freedom to work, and to rest.

What I Can and Can't Do

I can be a faithful teacher and a faithful mom at the same time.
I can't try to be Wonder Woman.

I can work and still enjoy making meals for my family.
I can't try to be Martha Stewart.

I can keep an orderly home.
I can't try to do it all myself.

I can live with less.
I can't try to have it all.

I can use the Internet to help me stay organized.
I can't stay organized if I am distracted by surfing the net.

I can do all that I am supposed to do.
I can't lose my focus.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

I marvel that the Lord of all left the throne, endured poverty and shame for 33 years, died for all and returned to that throne considering His work done (He sat down). That Lord is my Lord. He began the work that I take part in as a Christian. His kingdom is my focus. By His grace I can accomplish His calling. But I must fix my eyes. Ever try balancing without finding a focal point? "Let us fix our eyes"...

Along the way

The first time Dave and I hiked Olomana was in 2008, the summer that we visited Hawaii. I didn't make it to the top. That was before I knew about my heart condition, before the medication, before the recovery. So, yesterday's summit was invigorating and encouraging. You can see by the final view that the hours of pushing and pulling and laboring up the mountain are completely justified. The doubts, frustration and even fear are completely lost in the euphoria of "We made it!" So many times in my life as a Christian I've felt like I've been hiking up a mountain...will those ropes hold? Can I make it any further? Should I take the narrow path or the wider path? What is it about us that longs to see the big picture, the view from above? If only we could know the outcome of our paths before we begin...

But we were made to walk by faith; to look around us and see not rubble and dirt but paths and challenges. We were made to test the ropes. The creeds that define our faith do not bind us...they hold us. We can trust them not because they are ancient or because they are familiar, but because they are true. "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth"....There is a Creator; microbiology affirms that. "I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord." Take the narrow path; go the higher ground.He really is who He said He was. "He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified , died and was buried;" Don't look at the crags in the rocks and wonder if they'll collapse, seek the opportunities in grabbing hold and hanging on. Keep pressing on, keep believing in what is true. When you reach the top, you will see..." The third day He rose again from the dead." At that point the clarity of vision will sharpen you to see that what you thought was an obstacle, was really an opportunity. What you saw as impossible was in fact possible. "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty." Each step of our lives is a step of faith in something...but what? Ourselves? The economy? The government?

When this hike is over, what's next? "I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." The difference between Jesus Christ and every other leader in history is one thing: an empty tomb, a body that was never found...for 2010 years. That causes me to turn my head...and walk by faith.

And So It Begins...

Our school has been in session for 7 weeks now. The marathon of juggling motherhood, teaching and teacher training has begun. I didn't think that this year could possibly be harder but it is. However, I know that I'm right where I belong. I love this island, its history, its culture and its people. Over the summer I worked on a curriculum that begins with what our students know and draws ever broadening circles outward, allowing students to make connections so that school feels less like a compilation of subjects and more like an unfolding story. I am most excited about our science curriculum. The focus is what students living in Hawai'i know...ocean, volcanoes, mountains and geckos....and only about 4 mammals. But by starting with what they know and teaching the history behind the science, our students will not view science as an isolated body of facts. They will learn the story of the discoveries behind the periodic table as it unfolded in history so that they will have a solid understanding of the facts. They will study the plants and animals of our island (my class is studying fish), learning the English, Latin and Hawaiian names for each. My hope for our students is that they see the world with clearer vision and curiosity. Curiosity is the greatest scientific skill of all.