Aloha, dear Friends,
I know you
will want to share in our joy as my beloved wife Dayna turns 75 years old today...the
new 55 of course!
Your
prayers, smiles, hugs, encouragement, and financial support have given us great
joy for many years. We are exceedingly grateful to God and you.
She has surely
been the greatest treasure from God in my life and I praise the Lord for more
than 44 years of marital adventure, three sons and four grandchildren!! God is
so good.
Dayna flew
across the Pacific pond ahead of me so she could steal Melona bars from our
youngest grandson.
Not sure who
got it in the end.
Josiah and I
had the perfect plan to fly from Kona to Portland yesterday and join Dayna and
the family in Oregon for the big day. Well, “Many are the plans in the mind of
a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Proverbs 19.21). We
are still on the other side of the pond.
We sat
checked in and ready to board when that “Attention!” announcement came with
news of a 30-minute delay….and then a voice even more tentative announced it
would be 30 minutes more…45 minutes after that she simply said the flight was
cancelled. The pilots were sitting and waiting with us. But their crew had
gotten into a car accident and were unable to fly. I offered to hand out the
cookie and bottle of water, but I could not fit into the dress.
So, the
airlines have put us in a resort hotel one hour from home. We have spent a
couple hours checking on flights out of here and Honolulu. All flights today
are fully booked, and we are scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday August 15th
to finally cross the pond and extend our belated birthday wishes in person. But
tropical storm Lala aims for Hawaii too!
“I am God,
and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end
from the beginning… saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all
my purpose.’” (Isaiah 46:9–10).
That’s been
perfectly and comfortingly true for Dayna, me, and you for a long time – and
will be for eternity. No matter what side of the pond we are stuck on. We rest
secure in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My plan was
to get this overdue letter done as I flew across the pond and tell you about
some of the great things the Lord is doing here.
Let me just
bullet point and give more details when I share how Josiah and I finally do get
over to Oregon and join the family there.
Our
granddaughter Maylee is now a university graduate and a married woman! Pray for
her and her husband, Mark. We are asking the Lord to continue to bless and
guide her. We are very proud of the young woman she has become and trust God to
lead them in their future together.
Very
encouraging monthly Concerts of Prayer with our colleagues in Reclaim as we confess
that without Him, we can do nothing and celebrate that in Him we can do all
things!
Humble,
sincere, hugs, handshakes, and thanks as several of us from our Kalahikiola
Church walked around the post-event graduation celebrations and gave a Gospel
of John to all the Kohala High School graduates. 67 great kids to lift in your
prayers!
Anticipating
that we will get our Good News Club back on the campus of Kohala Elementary
School this year.
I had the
joy of preaching through Luke, Philippians, and Malachi on Sunday mornings and
teaching Revelation and Ecclesiastes on Wednesday nights to our dear family of
faith at Kalahikiola Church.
I have two
more books almost finished, hope to launch on Amazon in September. “The View
from Under the Bus – Hawaii” and “Preach Jesus from the Scriptures.”
“The lot is
cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16.33).
Many thanks for your prayers and kind words to our family. August 15 Josiah and I made the flight to Portland that we had waited two days for in Kona. It turned out to be one of the last flights out of that airport before Hurricane Lala hit! So, we got to the Oregon coast to join in the birthday celebrations. We fly back to the Big Island of Hawaii at the end of this week.
Thanks,
especially, for your prayers for the people of Hawaii. Hurricane Lala caused a
lot of damage. Many trees fell in Kohala and most of the people of our church
were without power and phone for several days. Kau, the south point of our
island, was hit especially hard. The people of the community have rallied
together to freely give to those in need…more storms are on the way!
With joy, hope, and trust in His sovereign providence,
Mark, for Dayna and the Blair
ohana
