Disability Imagination

continuation from Part One: Disability Ministry with InterVarsity and Part Two: Disability Justice and Theology

Some ways I've been looking at the world differently.  

1. God created people with disabilities on purpose as part of human diversity. Disabilities reflect the glory and beauty of God.
2. A common secular disability justice view: My body/disability isn't the problem. Inaccessibility is the problem. For example: a staircase without a ramp or elevator is the problem. Lack of listening or caring is the problem. 
3. We need to listen to and learn from disabled people who are willing to share. They have a view of the world and a voice that shares God’s truth that we often overlook. (And not as “inspirational overcoming” stories.)
4. Building the world for disabled people benefits everyone. There’s even a term for it: the Curb Cut effect. (Curb cuts were made for wheelchairs, but they help carts and strollers too. Disability designs help people who are temporarily disabled due to injuries, and they help people even in a moment of situational distraction! (More history on this 99% Invisible podcast episode.)

Ira, Joan and Ginger in an audio recording space

Disability Justice & Disability Theology

...continuation from  "Disability Ministry with InterVarsity"

Access had a book club this spring, and read  "My Body is Not a Prayer Request" by Dr. Amy Kenny.  She was interviewed by Brandi Miller on the podcast, "Reclaiming my Theology" I've also been reading "Disabling Mission, Enabling Witness" after hearing the author Benjamin T. Conner speak at Urbana. I want to share some extensive quotes from both books.

I highly recommend both- Dr. Amy shares deep personal experiences and convictions from her own life and Bible perspectives as disabled person.  Dr. Conner shares from deep research, many scholarly writings, and the positives and negatives of Christian missionary work.

Image description: book cover, a wheelchair is covered in flowers of all colors with a yellow background. Bold white text on top reads: "My Body is Not a Prayer Request."

Quotes from the first chapter

"I wish I was whole in their minds- enough to exist without needing a prayerful remedy to cast out my 'demons,' a full human who has something to offer other than a miraculous narrative. I wish I could be more than my diagnosis, more than a problem in need of fixing, as if my disability is only valuable if converted into a cure. I wish prayerful perpetrators were free from the lie that I am worth less simply because my body works differently. In each of these encounters, I come away feeling like my stomach has just dropped out on a roller coaster. I am confused by the way people interpret my disability as in need of "fixing" without knowing anything else about me. I am troubled that my body becomes public property they feel they have the right to control. I am indignant that this takes place under the veil of Jesus-following, as though they are the bouncers to God's table. I am hurt that I must justify my own existence at church.

"Belonging shouldn't have the admission price of assimilation."

Disability Ministry with Access InterVarsity

Access InterVarsity is an accessible and disability inclusive space for all to belong, grow closer to Jesus and use their God-given gifts. Learn more about Access with this great video from 2020: 

Urbana '22 Resources

This year, InterVarsity had our national missions conference with around 5,000 college students in Indianapolis, IN. After two years of online Zoom meetings with the national Access InterVarsity team, we finally got to meet our friends in person! We were especially joyful to spend time with Deb, who runs Access and has been mentoring us in many ways. 

Ginger, Deb and Ira, arms wrapped across shoulders and grinning at the camera. 

Dining Room Renovation

Our dining room was part of the first addition to the house, approximately 1902. It has wood trim in an Arts and Crafts style, and did not appear to have any updates in the last 100+ years. The room had water damage under the windows, crackling along the woodwork, and a century of scratches on the plaster walls. 

The previous owners had every room tested for lead content, and the dining room was particularly toxic.

We found one reason why: the wood trim was not stained and varnished, as one would think at first glance. Instead, it had been painted with a faux-finish, meant to imitate wood. This alarmed Stephen, because it seemed like a probable sign that the wood underneath was not high quality and wouldn’t take stain well. 

We attempted to do some research on faux-finishes- is it something we could replicate ourselves? What would it cost to hire someone to do? We kept hitting dead ends. Stephen finally decided he would stick to the stain and varnish plan. 

Deconstruction

The first job was removing all of the woodwork. This was pretty fun, though startling to find how many pieces there were. Nearly 300 linear feet of woodwork in all. I labeled the back of each piece with a sharpie marker so we’d be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again someday. (North Window, Right jamb for example). Also, the quantity and size of nails used to attach the original trim was staggering, at least 150 nails had to be carefully removed to begin refinishing. 

Walls/Ceiling

We hired someone! 

This is unusual for us. Stephen has done some plasterwork himself, but wanted a professional finish. Having all the woodwork removed made for easy access to our walls and ceiling. Vincent supervised Quality Control to ensure the walls were finished to his specification. 

After the plasterers finished, the room was so dusty. I gently brushed the dust off with a broom. Vincent was enamored with the process. He kept grabbing brooms and rubbing the walls for weeks. Or, if a broom wasn’t available, a spatula or any tool would do.

Then I primed and painted the walls cream to match the kitchen.

Floor

We weren’t planning on refinishing the floor. But… we had our first small disaster. While we were out of town, an irrigation sprinkler was bumped and sprayed the (unsealed) windows for 10+ days. The windows were only covered by plastic and tape, and our 100 year old wood floor got soaked. It already had a hard life, but now it was even worse. Stephen then rented a floor sander to strip and refinish the hardwood floors as well.

During the same time, Stephen removed the cast iron radiator. He sealed the supply and return pipes with rubber plugs that could be tightened by thumb screws. During the day, we turned off the heat, removing the pressure. But in the evening, we wanted the heat back on as the nights were getting colder in the Fall. 

The pressure built up, and the rubber plug burst open! Fortunately, we were in the next room. I grabbed the shopvac to start sucking up water that quickly began flooding the room, and Stephen ran to the basement to turn off the system. The floor didn’t sustain new damage since we were quick. But Stephen applied a bunch of clamps and set a motion-activated camera to watch the plug. We slept a bit anxiously - but, had no further problems with it. 

Stephen wheeled the 300lb+ radiator outside to pressure wash and refinish it. The first paint color “bronze” we picked was too dark, basically black. We tried again with gold, hoping to match Stephen’s restored antique chandelier. We loved it! We were so happy to reinstall it after Stephen stained and varnished the floor.

Sanding

We started the project while the weather was still warm. Stephen bought a planer on craigslist and started sanding in the front yard. All the flat pieces could be sent through the planer to shave off layers of varnish and paint down to bare wood.

Multi-faced pieces took more work. Stephen slowly worked through the layers using a palm sander and  sanding by hand.

Finally, some pieces couldn’t be removed- two fixed window sashes had to be refinished in place. Stephen estimates every surface was sanded seven times to get to bare stainable wood.

Varnishing

The trim took much more work than the floor, of course. Stephen initially treated the freshly sanded wood with a mahogany stain and varnished it using his paint gun for an exceptionally smooth finish. 

Initially he wasn’t satisfied with the results of the stain: the wood had a dramatic two-tone grain. He wanted the color to be more uniform. Next, he used a tinted varnish to darken the overall color of the wood and we were surprised to find out it had a reddish tone. But, the finished product was beautiful and had a furniture-grade finish. Suddenly, the old wood looked like it had come clean out of the factory.

Retrimming the Room

Reinstalling the wood was a fun and satisfying finale. 

We recorded the process for another Youtube video. We had recently purchased a new-to-us dining table, sticking with the Arts and Crafts style and matching the china cabinet we’d recently found. Stephen finished just in time for Christmas dinner in our new dining room. 

Stephen refinished his antique chandelier in 2020. He made this excellent video of the process:

Finished

Birth Story

content note: pain, blood, tearing, peeing, organs. It's pretty mild for a birth story. 

Wednesday, February 19th, 2020

1:30 am 

I woke up with contractions. When I had gone to bed the night before (skipping band rehearsal!), I had felt… strange. But our advice about childbirth was to get as much rest as possible while you still could, so I had ignored it. 

I used “The Bump” app contraction timer. Here’s what it looks like: 

It seemed like there was already a regular and close pattern. 

2:30 am

I woke up Stephen. I took a bath. We called Kay, the nurse-midwife. She wanted us to wait a little longer.

3:30 am

Kay called again. We updated her on my contractions.

She said to come to the Birthing Inn at 5 am. Stephen did some last minute house-cleaning. He had already deep-cleaned the whole house and trimmed the whole yard because we’d had a house appraisal on Tuesday! I had the nursery in order too. (mostly.)

5:30 am

Driving to the Inn, my contractions slowed a bit. We arrived at the Inn. We were first; another family arrived 10 minutes later. So we claimed room #1 with the best tub. Angie (midwife apprentice) and Kay were organizing our rooms with various supplies and plain sheets for the bed. 

6:00 am 

We texted our family to let them know. Then we took a few “before” photos.

After this, timing got… blurry. I can remember things better by topic than by timing.

Contractions

At the beginning, they felt manageable. Using the timer was fun and easy. I could tell myself, “it’s only 30 seconds” and “now you get a two minute break!” But as the day progressed, I felt less control with timing. Especially when I was tired, I would fall asleep in between contractions, which led to the feeling that it was one long, never ending contraction with NO breaks. (Stephen said it appeared that way too, so maybe it wasn’t just me.)

Positions

I hung out on a birthing ball, kneeling by the bedside, laying on my side in bed, and spent time in the shower and the tub. There was a grab-bar over the bathroom door, but I forgot about it.

I preferred kneeling. Late in labor, they pulled out a special inflatable pillow so I could kneel on the bed. I didn’t like the position as much, but it must have been okay since I passed out several times on it. 

Temperature

I got a lot of heats and chills. I wasn’t expecting that, and it was unpleasant. I kept taking my bathrobe on and off. The shower did not help. 

Stephen

Putting pressure on the base of my spine during contractions was the BEST THING EVER. Honestly, the only relief for most of the day. He also remembered to make me drink little sips of water periodically (water bottle with straw.) We brought some snacks, but I wasn’t interested. Stephen was helpful- he would remember to put down a pillow for me. I wasn’t aware of knee pain at the time, but it probably saved me a lot of pain for the next day. He also kept a positive attitude. 

Dilation

The midwives didn’t check dilation as much as movie doctors. They had mentioned it wasn’t the primary way of seeing how things are going. I know once in the morning they said 4 cm, and once in the afternoon they said 7 cm. (Who knows when.)

Mucus plug and water break

Again, different than TV childbirth. I had a long wait. Kay said not to worry about it. Late in labor, I spent some time in the tub, and that’s when the plug came out. My water broke later while I was lying in bed, with maybe two phases of gushing. 

Communication

This was the most difficult part. I felt like I was on an alien planet and couldn’t speak language. Our birth class teacher had mentioned this, but she was only talking about how you feel during contractions. She made it sound magical, like being “in the zone.” I thought it would be like when you are super focused on a project, or when I ran races as a teen. 

It was not. 

It was really hard. Hard for Stephen too.

I would ask for pressure! and higher! or sometimes for water. But I couldn’t say, “Do the midwives think it’s okay that my water hasn’t broken yet, and is that a sign that we are still super-far from the end?” or ask, “If I try to take a nap, will that slow down the whole process?”

Pain Management and Medication

I had a little nausea, but it wasn’t a big issue. They handed me a bucket in case I needed to throw up. I wanted to hide it and not think about that! Angie also gave me a cloth soaked in certain oils (peppermint?) for nausea. At first it smelled nice, then I made Stephen toss it when it became too strong. 

The midwives used blood pressure monitor throughout the day. A midwife would hold the monitor to my belly before, during, and after a contraction, to make sure he was reacting well. I guess it was never a problem. They also used the cuff once after delivery. I never had any monitors attached to me, so I always had freedom to move around. 

Each contraction, I would try to relax and let it flow through me, rather than tensing up. As they got worse, when I would tense by accident, I felt like it would pause, frozen in my midsection until I could relax enough to release it. 

Melanie had advised me (back in July when she didn’t know I was pregnant!) not to think of them as “contractions” but as “expansions.” Opening you up. I tried to think of that.

But it got harder and harder, trying to relax piece by piece, slowly. 

Being in the tub was a low point in the day. Kay had given me instructions for being in the tub but I couldn’t understand or remember.  I tried to just keep moving around. 

I decided to ask for painkillers. (The Inn is not set up for epidurals. I think I would have asked for an epidural if it were an option.) I must have said something to Stephen, so he asked for me. Getting out of the tub seemed like a huge undertaking.

Then I lay on the bed on my side for a while. Kay came with meds. One homeopathic pill for under the tongue (I forgot to tell her I’m not into fake medicine, but too late for that now. Sugar pill placebo I guess) then she also gave me a shot in the arm. It was something mild, equivalent of ibuprofen. 

Kay said the painkillers were the same level as taking a few ibuprofen. Maybe she was worried I felt guilty about it. I don’t! Although I’m glad I didn’t have the epidural option, for reasons I’ll mention later.

Stephen said I was more relaxed then. I don’t specifically remember. I slept a little. I never put clothes back on after the tub.

When my water broke on the bed, I was covered up so no one could see. I kept reminding myself that I needed to tell someone, but the contractions seemed endless.

“I’ll tell someone after the next contraction,” I thought, over and over. Maybe 15 minutes later, I told Stephen. 

Birth

Another low point was really, really needing to pee. Every time I would stand or switch positions, it would trigger a contraction. Again, it seemed to take a mammoth effort to stand and walk to the toilet.

On the toilet, the contractions suddenly got worse. I started crying and yelling. And I couldn’t even relax a moment to pee! Stephen seemed panicked and came to hold my hand. 

Angie said something —  I don’t remember what — but that these contractions were a good sign. It was transitional labor with the urge to push.

I gave up trying to pee and knelt by the bed again. At some point, I peed on the floor by accident. I was mortified, but no one seemed to notice, and there was a towel within reach. 

We could hear the women in room #2 grunting and crying out. I sort of appreciated that as it gave me permission to be noisy too 

Kay was helping her deliver, so Angie took over with me. Someone else helped as well - our midwives had called in reinforcements because three of their clients were delivering on the same day. (I didn’t get the names of the other midwives.) I was laying on my side on the bed, and I felt a little surprised to suddenly being receiving attention. Finally, something was happening! Angie lifted and bent my leg, and encouraged me to hold it up under my thigh like that.

Pushing! Contractions continued to come in waves. But trying to push through each contraction (rather than attempting to relax) was so much more gratifying. I made a lot of weird noises. Mostly “aaaughhhh” in the grunting range, mixed in with some high notes. I said, “no” a few times.

This started to feel long as well. I couldn’t tell if I was making progress or not. I had a mental picture that baby was bearing down, but then sliding back up after each wave of contractions ended. (That’s not what happens, it was just my brain being a jerk.) 

I was never instructed when to push or to breathe. My understanding of this if that pushing is a natural reaction to the strong contractions of late labor. If I’d had an epidural, I wouldn’t be able to feel the contractions. Again, at my low point, I would have wanted an epidural, so I’m not bragging about skipping it! And I only labored for 13 hours… some people go for days.

Angie asked if I wanted to switch positions. I tried hands and knees for a while. (I was never on my back during delivery.) But, I returned to laying on my side soon.

I started getting mad that he didn’t come. I push as hard as I could. Then, Angie said she could see him - a hairy head! A few minutes later, she took my hand and let me touch his head. It felt squishy. 

Stephen says that changed things. It wasn’t long after that I pushed baby out. Everything suddenly seemed fast. There was a gush of water around him. Angie said his arm came out with his head. She rubbed him down with a towel as she placed him on my chest.

Still Wednesday, 2:39 pm

He seemed so big! I couldn’t believe he’d been inside me. I may have cried a little. We just lay there a long time. I couldn’t see him that well, finally laying flat on my back. Stephen snapped a few photos. 

I had some tearing, so Kay and Angie prepped to stitch me up. We passed the baby over to Stephen (who removed his shirt too.) I scootched to the edge of the bed, like a obgyn exam. I’d been sitting on disposable mats which were soaked with blood and other juices. (They look exactly like giant puppy pads.)

They used a needle to inject painkiller in various places around my vulva… not at all around the perineum, where I more expected tearing. Apparently, you can tear sideways or up-ways as well. Ow.  The needle was tiny and not too painful. Kay was teaching Angie, but then #2 needed her, so Kay decided to finish up herself faster.

They rubbed hard on my tummy to help my uterus contract. That was uncomfortable, but honestly no pain bothered me any more. And they gave me a shot of pitodin in my leg to make the uterus eject clots. I also had to push to deliver the placenta, but it took little effort.

Stephen says I got my lucidity back immediately after delivery. He thought it was weird to suddenly hear my complimenting Angie on her cute t-shirt. (I swear I couldn’t even read it before. It had pretty flowers and said, “Birth is hard, darling, but you are strong.)

I wanted to say more, and show some thanks to the midwives. I couldn’t believe it was finally over.

Then we had a long time to cuddle. Stephen lay in bed with us. I didn’t want to sit up or do anything.

Stephen eventually left to get us snacks. We had forgotten our leftovers in the fridge, and only had wheat-thins and fruit leather in the go-bag. 

Room #2 had delivered less than 20 minutes ahead of us. They had a plethora of family members in the waiting room, and were apparently breaking out the champagne! That sounded stressful to us… we were glad no one was waiting nearby. 

Stephen got raisin bran, almond milk, almonds, doritos, and granola bars. The go-bag had my favorite teas as well. 

Re-energized, I took a shower. I bled on the floor. Then I got to put on an adult diaper, which felt more dignified than continuing to bleed all over the pads on the bed. 

Our little guy had his cord clamped after all the blood finished pumping to him. Stephen and I both declined to cut it. 

I tried to breast-feed, but he was only half interested. Angie gave me better instructions later: turn him horizontal. Tickle with nipple. One hand under his head, and one hand to adjust breast. Wait for him to open wide, then press his head against my chest. When he latches, make sure his lips flange out. If painful, break the suction with my finger tip and start over. It shouldn’t hurt! (Discomfort yes, pain no.)

We texted photos to the families. They were eager to hear stats - but we didn’t have them yet. (We reassured the family the stats wouldn’t change in an hour or two.)

The midwives took his stats in our room, mostly in bed. Height: 21” Head 13.5” Weight 7 lbs 9 oz

They’d put him in a receiving blanket. After he’d poo’d a little on it, we got out the cloth diapers I’d both. A midwife showed me how to snap the buttons into shape for newborn size. 

Angie brought the placenta for inspection since I’d wanted to see it. (We declined to take it home.) She had to check it to be sure all of it came out: left behind bits in the uterus cause problems!

It was bigger than I’d expected. It looked like steak (or rather the size of three steaks). It was connected to the uterine wall and leaves a wound behind. (That’s why I continued bleeding for two weeks, like a looooong period)

We saw the two sides; the rough wall side and the smooth toward fetus side, membrances, and cord. It was like a science class demonstration. 

We began to wrap up. Stephen got the carseat inside to warm up and got advice on its use. We dressed him in his “Welcome Jellybean” outfit. (Jellybean was his fetus nickname ever since he was bean-sized.) They made him an Inn birth certificate and stamped his footprints on it.

 

Then we got his (real) name on the board! We’d been watching that board for months, looking forward to being on it. 

Room #3 got a baby around 8:30 pm, so the time (but no name yet) was on the board with our selfie. 

We went home about six hours after delivery. (The midwives were left with the mess!) It all feels like a bit of a dream now, like the stork just brought him.

(I wrote this within weeks of giving birth so I could remember details; it just took a long time to share it.)

HI: Oahu Daily Life

Kailua

Since we were working at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, we chose to live in the nearby town of Kailua. Downtown Kailua was all brand-new, in a way that almost looked suspicious. 

fancy condo complex that takes up several blocks by downtown

I especially noticed a housing complex that reminded me about something that had happened near Texas Tech when we were students. A big housing complex right near the center of the action means that something else had to be torn down first.

In Lubbock, there was a large neighborhood just across the street from campus. It was called North Overton. A local real estate mogul named McDougal was in the process of buying up the entire neighborhood. It was an impoverished community, and he largely purchased from landlords rather than homeowners. At that time (around 2006), one could rent a home in North Overton for $500 a month or sometimes less. McD's new plans included huge apartment complexes targeted at Texas Tech students, and single family homes that would be selling for $250k-$350k in a couple years. McD once referred to this as "affordable." 

As architecture students, we had some knowledge of gentrification. While researching, it made us wonder- where did all the old tenants go? What happens when the cheapest rent in town isn't available anymore? Years later (2018), I told this story to Moani, a Hawai'i InterVarsity staff leader. "What did the students do? Was there a protest?" she wondered. 

I felt so ashamed to say, "No." No one cared. I did write a paper about it at the time, and most of our friends mocked McD. He built a larger-than-life statue of himself in the courtyard of the new apartment complexes, one arm gesturing out toward the rest of the neighborhood. We'd pose like him and sarcastically say, "All of this... will be bulldozed." Stephen was especially sad about historical homes that were knocked down. Savvy professors noted the cheap construction style of the new apartment, and students who lived there agreed that the walls were pretty thin. I remember a friend paid $1200 for a two-bedroom apartment. At the time, my housemate and I were splitting $550 for a two-bedroom duplex. So there was a stark difference in pricing. 

College students, in our time, did not protest. We witnessed protests when we went abroad- French separatists in Quebec, and students angry about tuition hikes in Puebla, Mexico. But not American students. 

While I was learning about Hawaii's history from InterVarsity, Stephen was doing his own research. 75% of Kailua had recently been purchased by a single family, the Alexander Baldwin Company. 

 

Museum tour accolades

They had purchased it from another set of families, Castle and Cooke. Both of these were part of the third-generation missionary families who over threw the monarchy of Hawai'i. They took the power away from the native people -- and they still have it! 

Alexander Baldwin also owned Matson for many years,
which has a monopoly in shipping in and out of Hawaii. 

Tour of the original missionary family homes on Maui

Music

Our first year, I joined the Honolulu Wind Ensemble. It's the largest community band I've been part of. We mostly performed at malls!

Ala Moana Mall - Centerstage Concert

Here's a video of that concert.

Sonoe, one of our ISM students and I were in band together. For most concerts, Aloha is proper concert-wear.

with Sonoe

Oahu adventures: we went to a wonderful outdoor concert by Jack Johnson. We've been fans since college, but never would have planned to be on the same island.

Emergency!

2018 was a dramatic year for Hawai'i. On January 13th, at 8 am we received this frightening text. 

Seek shelter? We had no idea what we could do. (Mandy wisely researched this later: here's the correct option.) The whole situation felt unreal to us- we weren't even that scared. We made our morning tea and coffee, told each other, "I love you. Thanks for giving me a good life!"

Constant updating of news sites seemed to indicate it was a mistake. And 38 minutes later, we received a follow up alert.

Stephen wasn't at work that Saturday, but some of our co-workers are crew were on the job site. The safety  team had to remind everyone to come down safely from the building. Don't jump! They shut the site down. Our superintendent Brian drove home to be with his wife. Susan our QC decided to stay on base instead; several military families were evacuating to underground bunkers. She noticed there were no supplies in the bunkers, but multiple families brought their pets along. She thought the dogs were going to start looking tasty after a couple days!

A family in our neighborhood did know a safe place to evacuate. We chatted with neighbor Greg who was timing everything. He said there's only 15 minutes to get to safety after a missile alert. He always has an emergency bag ready to go! But he was slowed by his older parents who were trying to pack up their cats and kitty litter. They had a key, or a code to get into an old water tank in the neighborhood. It did take them more than 15 minutes, but they got inside. This cut off their cell phone service. They did have a wind up radio that eventually told them it was safe to leave.

Our backdoor neighbors were both Marine pilots. It crossed our minds that they should have been alerted and racing off to the base if it had been a real emergency.

2018 was also the year Kilauea started erupting, and Hurricane Lane hit the coast. These did not have a personal impact on us, but everyone had disaster related conversations.

Church

We were part of Emmanuel Episcopal Church.

Bishop's Committee- Lay leadership team

I volunteered with the lay leadership team, which gave me an educational look into how churches are run. My favorite job was being a reader of scripture or weekly prayers. I also took home and hand-washed communion towels each week- a boring but necessary task. 

Fundraising for Chocolate Extravaganza with Caroline and Jessie

Our priest Father Christopher left Hawai'i in 2018, and the congregation hired supply clergy each week during the search for a new part time leader. We enjoyed visits from Canon Frank Chun, who read the gospel message from Da Jesus Book, a pidgin translation of the New Testament. Chun was a consultant on the text, which came out in 2001. The Old Testament will be completed in 2020. 

This week’s gospel reading from Da Jesus Book: Mark 10:35-45. “Whoeva like be da leada guy, he gotta be da helpa guy first.”

Palm Sunday service

Jane, Caroline and I with Presiding Bishop Curry at the Renewal 2019 conference

I played horn at church for our final week. I also got to open the service many weeks by playing the pu (conch shell) with three notes. We practiced some other local traditions: singing the dosology in Hawaiian, praying The Queen's Prayer during a certain season, and listing Hawaiian queens and kings with the the saints.

Father Christopher sent us Psalm 46 as a reminder during the challenging year of 2018.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea; Though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble at its tumult. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold....

Friends

We did a lot of socializing with our Absher coworkers.

Our favorite times in Waikiki generally involve a trip to the Blue Note Hawaii. We went to a few comedy shows and saw live music by Willie K and Kahulanui, a Big Band / Island fusion group. 

Mason, our head carpenter, hosted an amazing BBQ at his house. He's a local who worked for Absher last time they were on the islands, so the team was eager to re-hire him.

Celso & Mason

with Huong and her daughter Lily

Brian and his wife Diane came with us from Washington to Hawai'i. First they lived in Kaneohe by the base, but later moved to a high rise condo in Waikiki! (Normally the traffic is bad, but since Brian came to work by 5 am, he was fine.) They had fun exploring all the best places to eat, and always had great plans.

Lava cafe with Diane

A good bye party; Celso (Safety), Ginger, David (Quality Control), Huong & Nick (Assistant Superintendent), Steve (Quality Control), Brian & Diane (Superintendent), and Brady (Nick's son).