I'm a whale watcher

Aloha,
I was coming home today, driving from the West side of the island, with the biggest smile on my face. It was one of those smiles that I honestly couldn't wipe off my face, in fact, I couldn't help it. In spite of the tough circumstances that surround us, I was so happy and was feeling so blessed. Things have been tough, I won't lie, but God has truly given me His joy, and honestly I experience it the most being out in his creation and loving on people.

So that part about being in His creation: As most of you know, I have taken another part time job as a crew member for a whale watching and dolphin excursion boat. It's on the other side of the island, and is about 1 1/2 hr drive each direction. But it's so worth the 3 hour car ride. My "training" day we encountered many whales, as well as a pod of spinner dolphins with babies. It was incredible as they swam all around us, jumping and playing. My first real day of work, Valentine's Day, we again saw many more whales and actually were able to hear the whales singing through our boat. The captain, shown in the picture, allowed us (me included) to get into the water (and we are talking like depth of 300+ feet with whales 100 feet away from us) and put our heads under water so we can hear the whales singing. It was incredible. Today, another gorgeous day out on the water, we saw a whale breach 5 times. We believe the whales we were following were a group of males in pursuit of a female. All the activity from the whales was from the males competing for the female's attention. It was like the whale version of The Bachelorette. (ok bad joke, but I know you at least chuckled). The whales have been known to swim under the boat and come right up to the boat in a non-threatening sort of way. They too are curious. A fun fact about whales: The male whales sing but only in the winter birthing/mating months. And each year scientist believe they change their song. Whales from Hawaii, Baja, Mexico, and or Southern California all sing the same song. It's just another cool way to say, "Yep, there is a God and boy is He creative". How else could all the whales be singing the same song in so many different locations, it sure ain't evolution.
**I've posted pics of some of the whale sightings. Some pictures of the fluke (tail). Some are of the side pectoral fin. Some are of the head and some are just of the back of the body. I promise, I'll become a better whale photographer...first day... a little rough. There's also a picture of two puffer fish fighting. I know, they look dead because they are belly up. But we came across them and they were swimming toward each other. Suddenly they locked mouths and began "fighting" I guess? It was so crazy, but fun to watch pufferfish all blown up fighting out in the middle of no where by biting each other on their snouts??? Weird I know.
So what's the work part of my job since I don't just get paid to watch whales? Well we prep the boat in the morning, check guests in, interact with guests, offer them snacks and/or drinks during check in and throughout the 2 1/2 hr. boat ride, and scrub the boat at the end of the day. So yes, I do work too:)

About the loving people: First, we have had some cool opportunities just to get to hang with the students. David finishes his job at the end of February, but our hope is that the students will continue to know that we love them and will be there for them if they ever need us. Again, we had about 20 students over last Friday for Open House with a couple of first time faces. We had such a blast playing games, especially an intense round of Spoons. Just yesterday, we had two of our students come hang out with us late in the evening just to talk about life, get in the Word, and be encouraged. Praise God! We are realizing we don't need a "profession" to love on students. But we are continuing to pray God provides a solid job for David (we are looking into the idea of moving to Kona for the summer and pursuing some of the tourist jobs . Also I can pick up more hours on the boat and hopefully get really good at kite boarding).

Oh...and another cool thing. My boss, is a kiteboarder too (probably got that from the last blog) but he has invited the other 2 girls and their other halfs and a lot of the kiteboarding folks and their spouses on the boat this Friday for a sunset cruise and a evening/night whale watching experience. Can you watch whales at night? We'll see, but he has this cool light that illuminates the water all around us...it will be pretty coolio. God seems to be expanding our circle of influence on the other side of the island. My prayer is that one day all these folks will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and we'll be doing what we do (kiteboarding, whale watching)...for Jesus!.
Ok...back to loving people...Another cool people opportunity is getting to know a lot of the different types of people from all over the world. In my three days of working on the boat I've met people from China, Turkey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, Washington, California, and Arizona.

And what did we do for Valentine's Day? Well we used a gift card that was given to us back in November to go out to a very nice restaurant...I mean the dress up kine...where David claims he ate the best steak he has ever eaten in his life....:)

Well come one, come all! We have no idea how long we'll be here, but while we are here...come visit!

Aloha ke Akua,
Kelsey