Category Archives: God’s timing

Nelson’s journal 3/26/22

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In the 13 days since Nelson last wrote in his journal, their baby had finally arrived. Though Ann Sophie labored hard for many hours in their apartment, assisted by two midwives, in the end it was a race to the hospital at midnight to make it happen. And Nelson “forcefully insisted” he be at Ann Sophie’s side through the emergency C-section, despite Covid rules.

 They named their little boy Willard Nelson Nyman—after his father Nelson, his grandfather Willard Nathan Nyman, and his great grandfather, Willard Nelson Nyman. It was exciting to see how they honored three generations with their name choice. They’ll call him Will.

The name Willard means “strong desire,” and their prayer was for little Will to have a strong desire for the Lord.

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March 26, 2022     

Day 12 of life with Little Will. We have John Hartley back with us. I’ll help him change the serpentine belt on his Jeep later this morning.

It’s really cool to have a son. Something I wrote off as probably not happening because it was too late, and because I messed up my life too much to get a woman young enough to bear children, or even be interested. God, you are so good to us.

You have put me into a place I could never have imagined. You have given me a girl beyond my dreams and a son. The Kokua Crew we have is amazing and the job here is even more than I would have imagined. Thank you for everything and for the things I don’t even know about.

Thank you that Annso survived the birth in good shape. Thank you that Mom was able to come out here and get a list for her prayer journal and that she and Annso talked about everything. Thank you for my rock solid heritage.

I pray for the service tomorrow that we can have a good turnout and that you would be found at our church. I pray for Jimmy [intern] and my service at the church in these last 4 weeks.

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“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:7)        

Nelson’s journal 3/13/22    

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Nelson isn’t feeling like his regular self these days, and symptoms of “sickness,” as he calls it, seem to be increasing. The only thing to do is start visiting doctors to find out what’s wrong.

Baby is 11 days overdue, but that doesn’t seem worrisome.

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March 13, 2022    

I’ve had this sickness for the past couple weeks, and it doesn’t get any better. I stopped exercising altogether because I’m trying to listen to my body so it gets better. Not like anything I’ve had before. Just lingers on, lots of symptoms, just generally feel “sick.” Lots of aches and pains.

Maybe I have this sickness so I’ll spend more time here at the house with Mom and Annso, instead of working. It seems to be fairly spiritual. I did a bunch of blood work yesterday so we’ll see what comes back from the doc about that.

Anyway, I’m preaching next Sunday, and it’s probably going to be one of the last times. We will probably turn the church over to the people who own the property, which means we won’t even be going there anymore—not a partial thing, but nothing.

For some reason, I don’t have a problem with it and actually feel quite relieved, like there is a burden off my shoulders. I think Mom and Annso hold onto it more than I do. It’s been 6 years.

Mom is here for the birth of our little baby boy, but he’s taking his sweet time. Almost 2 weeks overdue. People ask constantly, but all we can tell them is “nothing yet.” It’s like we are celebrities and people are all over us about the details of our lives. But those same people are the ones who’ve given us so many gifts that we have no need whatsoever.

We haven’t spent anything at all on our baby except the fee for the midwife. Funny, the birth would have been free if we went to the hospital because we have the insurance that covers it. But we are doing it this way at home because we want it to be more peaceful. I’ve never been through it, but I’ll make an assessment once we’re on the other side of it.

Doors open and close. I was thinking I would work for Tim, the electrician, and preach at the church as a bi-vocational pastor, but now I’m leaning the other way and just going with the thing God seems to keep calling me back to, a full time YWAMer. Annso and I like “YWAM Days” and in that calling, you don’t have the “Sunday Scaries” as Klaus [brother] called them last night, where people dread going back to work for the week. I guess I should go with the thing I’ve always gone with. A job is always there and always waiting. I learned that with Tim. If you work hard, you have nothing to worry about. It will always be waiting for you.

Thank you Lord for the life we have here and for the baby boy who is about to be born. I pray against fear and sickness that tries to invade our lives constantly. Thank you for Mom being here and how we were able to hang out yesterday and shop and talk about stuff. I pray we can make the most of the 2 weeks we have here together.

I pray for the service this morning, that we can meet with you, praise you, worship you, and do the best we can at the end of the Little Red Church, as we know it, as it changes hands.

What is next? I pray for Hans [brother] as he is trying to make the decision about being a pastor or not. I pray you would show me what to do for him if there is anything you would like me to do in the way of encouragement or anything. Please direct our steps today. Amen.

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“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Nelson’s journal 3/10/22    

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As their overdue baby boy continues to stay snuggled within Ann Sophie, Nelson continues to struggle with the leap from YWAM work (no two days alike) to electrician work (all days much the same). He’s aching to make the right decision at this pivotal point in his life.

He still has 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 on his mind as a new day dawns, focusing on his dilemma by tapping out the pros and cons on his laptop…while staying close by, in case this might be the day he officially becomes a father.

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March 10, 2022 

From 2 Chronicles 16: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand… Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing…”

This passage might be applied to a person who is making a plan where his own idea or way out of a situation takes precedence over relying on God. I have this scenario set up to start working for Tim as a full time electrician instead of what we are now doing, which will include moving to Kama’aina Hale instead of Hale Ola (both on the Big Island of Hawaii).

Annso and I differentiate days from one another by whether they are “YWAM Days” or not. YWAM days are full and unpredictable. You don’t get paid and can’t amass a pile of treasure for yourself, but you have lots of people in your life, and it’s a little more complicated.

I look forward to the work of YWAM days and dread the regular working days. Working days are simple. You trade time for money and get a skill out of the deal. YWAM days are “Jack of all trades, master of none” kind-of-days. The working days are “master of one.” I’m just writing it out because it helps me process it, so I don’t make a mistake.

We have plenty of everything. We lack nothing. Mom came in last night. She’s here to meet our little guy when he comes. He’s already 8 days late and they’ll let him go until 2 weeks I think. I don’t mind how long he takes, just so he’s ok in there.

Mary Helen from church said her second born was 1 month overdue. Mom said last night that most of her friend Katey Warton’s babies were 10 month babies, too. So what do I know? All I want is a healthy baby. Everything else is ok.

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“When you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.” (2 Chronicles 16:8)