just another day in paradise...

Hello friends and family back,

It has been a very busy week here. Where do I begin? Well I'll first share about our little excursion yesterday with our friends Art and Dick. First, these men's wives were so gracious in allowing us to use their kayaks. Ok, well, shucks I already told you the excursion...WE WENT KAYAKING! Up rivers to view waterfalls, battling waves and wind in Hilo bay, and relaxing in the midst of a beautiful pond/river our 3.5 mile kayaking trip lasted about 4 hours. Before you become overly jealous, please let me describe the pain I now feel in my arms, neck, abs, and back. It's amazing that when you are having fun you don't think about what your body is going through. My upper body has never seen a mile of any sort of physical activity, let alone 3. 5 miles. It all began last night, my arms ached and tingled, I couldn't even lift my arm over my head without feeling excruciating pain. Today, not as bad as yesterday, but I still feel it. But was it worth it? YES!

Well an update on me and my job situation. I may have a new postion as a PA opening up starting Monday. I've left it up to the Lord for him to open this door or close it. It will still be through my agency but under a different department. My pay decreases because it has less demands than a PP job, but my hours would increase. So we'll see. He knows best.

David is staying very busy. He is working on a Family Movie night, Service Projects, superbowl game party, and a Valentine's Day fundraising dinner. But besides the programs, he more importantly is working on hearing from the Lord in his relationship series of "Me and My..." . Both he and I have had a few opportunities to follow up with specific students encouraging them, challenging them, in their relationships. We are also going through the book Secondhand Jesus which is bringing out some great discussion in Mana Akua.

We are still working on a Colorado trip with our students, any advice or help, please send it our way. God knows who is suppose to go and what is suppose to happen. Our challenge is to help these students fundraise.

Also, I'll be in Colorado Feb 15-21 for a Bridal shower and a Baby shower...this summer will be busy:)

Also, David and I were looking at a house a long time ago. We called on it and an offer had already been made. For some reason, I really felt like this was suppose to be our house. Well, it just went back on the market because it fell out of escrow...so pray that if this is suppose to be our home, despite us not knowing what we are doing, God would open doors and close doors.

Well that's all for now folks! Send emails our way...and we love mail:)

kelsey.poole09@yahoo.com david.poole09@gmail.com

1044 Komohana St

Hilo, HI 96720

David and Kelsey

2010 pictures...finally

All these pictures are thanks to Haley:) My personal favorite...is the picture of David and Andrew trying to crack open the coconut. We actually witnessed this nearly impossible event...but they ended up conquering the coconut! congratulations boys!

New Year in progress

Howdy friends and family on the cold cold mainland (however i hear it's warming up)

Just a bit of an update from Hilo. Well the last of the company is gone for a while. My Uncle Dave, Aunt Susan, Haley, and her fiancee Andrew were here from Saturday-Tuesday AM. We had such a great time with them. We went to the beach, snorkeling, waterfalls, great ocean sites, dolphin watching, boogie boarding, and ate great food (you know you want to come)! Wow, who knew you could do all that in just a few days. David was able to take his day off on Monday, so we were able to spend some more time with them. Haley is getting married in June, so a lot of our conversations were based on the wedding...oh exciting times! I, however, did not have to take the day off, in fact, since Friday my client went missing. I showed up to work Friday and found out he didn't catch the bus. Monday...same thing. So after a lot of phone calls, rumors, and disappointment, I found out my client's father moved to the mainland without telling me, the school, or my agency. Not sure what to think about the whole situation, but right now I don't have a consistent job. But you know what, I was reading the book of Colossians today where Paul talks about learning to be content no matter the situation or circumstance. So that's where the Lord continues to lead us...into opportunties where we, no matter the circumstance, can learn to be content. Last night I prayed that I would get a sub opportunity today. At 8am, I still hadn't gotten a phone call from anyone saying they needed a sub, so I went into work with David thinking that maybe tomorrow. But sure enough 9:15 I got a call from my supervisor saying someone needed a sub! So I was able to work today and have a job lined up for Thursday. So I'm sure these next couple weeks will be watching God provide day by day! It's a good reminder to take nothing for granted.

Other good news today, David is officially a licensed missionary church pastor. His certificate and card came today. So you may now officially call him Pastor David Allen Poole. Sounds official? That was a huge answer to prayer and blessing to us. David made a comment that he was glad they confirmed the calling he already knew about:) My husband...:)

Well once life gets back on track again, we'll post some pics...hang tight we'll get them up soon.

Advancing His Kingdom,

Kelsey

first week into a new year...a new decade

Can you believe it is already 2010? It seems like just yesterday I was planning a wedding, now here I am 157 days into marriage (no I didn't do the math, and I'm not counting, that number is thanks to facebook). It still is pretty unbelievable we have entered a new decade. David and I had a great New Years, not overly exciting, but memorable. We had a few different options for parties, but in the end it ended up being the two of us and Trevor. For a while Trevor read, and David and I discussed and wrote our New Year goals/resolutions. Then we took time for all 3 of us to pray and make this new year Christ-centered and focused. I will say that David made a personal resolution to give me a foot rub once a day. Jealous? Well, he is 3/5, but you know what, I'm still honored that he'd be so bold as to rub my feet...daily for that matter. Yes, I do have an awesome husband.
Well, my folks took off Sunday. Sunday wasn't much of a vacation for them though. David and I were at the church until 1:30am (David put in a 17hour day on Sat) renovating the upstairs...its in progress, but looking good, we then launched our first Fuel service of the year, followed by our Jr/Sr/College small group, then a Parent Meeting, and a Parent Conference which were well attended by our youth and parents. So after a restful vacation, we sent my parents off exhausted and needing rest. We'll plan better next time mom and dad, sorry:( But we really had a great time with them. David and I enjoyed a week of mostly vacation, a little bit of work on the Kona side. We were able to hike some of the Waipio Valley, just think Pikes Peak incline Hawaiian style), snorkel, whale watch, kayak, lava watching and enjoying a lot of time in the sun. We also ate lots of food, training for half -marathon here I come!!
Our next round of guests are my Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan and Haley and her fiance Andrew. They come this Saturday. We are looking forward to having them here, and to finally catching up on wedding plans for Haley.
Well David's been working, and I start work tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing my client, but anticipate a lot of work is ahead. It's amazing what is lost in a 2.5 week time span. Oh well, I'm thankful for a job, that's for sure.
What can you be praying for? David and I and our marriage. With busyness, expectations, and such we need to continue to make time for one another and cultivating our marriage. So please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are so excited for what God is doing, but we never want to lose site of one another in the process.
With that, God has given me a specific vision for something this year. As a dreamer and visionary, I'm excited to take it and run. But God needs to prepare the way. So I'm just looking to him on his timing.
Relationships in the youth ministry! We want to go deeper and get to know the students even better!
Youth leaders, we need more youth leaders to pour into our students...anyone? You could be an answer to our prayer!

Well more to come...what were your new year resolutions...we would like to hear from you?
kelsey.poole09@yahoo.com

Aloha from Hawaii,
Kelsey

pics to come