Category Archives: God’s timing

Nelson’s Journal, 2/22/22

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When a couple is expecting a new baby, the thought process is like a see-saw—up and down. Once the baby comes, will all our current freedoms evaporate? Or will it add lots of fun to our lives? Should we hurry to make changes before we can’t anymore?

Nelson was ruminating on this in early February. With the baby’s due date only a month away, he wondered how soon he should make the decision to stay close to Ann Sophie till the baby came. But that was just one unknown on a list of many, so he focused instead on meeting the goal of this one day.

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February 2, 2022

I have a hypothetical job as an electrician, starting May 1, with some other stuff starting anytime Tim (the electrician) gets a permit. Hard to imagine doing something like that as it’s been a while since I had a job like that, probably since 1999 or so.

Lots of self employment work since then, but not working for the man, other than for DY at Sawyer Hardware and Lumber. But that place is now a thing of the past. We are just doing what we feel led to do, not really having a long term plan, as so many things are unknown and so often change as we go.

I don’t know what it will be like to have a little baby and to try and raise a child, to get fully into doing that. I imagine it will be fun. I don’t think it will be too hard, to be honest. I look forward to it. Why change careers at the same time, or shortly after? It has to do with slowing down.

I was thinking of trying to convince Tim to let me work 4, 10 hour days instead of 5, 8 hour days. That way I would have 1 day completely open in addition to the weekend, because there is still church.

IMG_0117.jpgAt 5pm I passed the truck inspection, got it insured, and even got new license plates for it. That was my goal, other than getting it down into Waipio Valley. I am debating going this weekend with Bates and Jake, maybe taking a group down there with a van. I don’t know. There’s always the slight chance Annso could go into labor and that would be terrible to miss. I wonder if it’s worth taking a chance on that. But once the baby comes, there will be no more chances for stuff like that.

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“The wisdom from above is…. open to reason.” (James 3:17)

Nelson’s Journal, 1/31/22

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About two years after the start of the pandemic, Hawaii is still dominated by Covid rules, actually establishing more and more of them. Since Nelson and Ann Sophie live in Kona, on the big island of Hawaii, they are subject to all of them.

In Nelson’s way of thinking, after being compliant with a long list of pandemic regulations blanketing the entire ministry and scores of young people needing to be quarantined as they arrived on the island (a logistical nightmare), he seemed to reach his limit. Mandatory weekly Covid tests for the whole gang had become debilitating, with government vans invading the campus, checking on compliancy. To Nelson it seemed like they were in a foreign land, not the United States of America.

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January 31, 2022

“The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” is a book I’m reading that Annso gave me for my birthday. It’s almost prophetic that she gave it to me. She is that for me, in a way, and much more, with a baby on the way.

It’s the last day of January 2022. The date sounds fictional. We are making decisions based on vaccine mandates and dodging this and that new rule.

I got fined $250 for bringing a group up Mauna Loa (Long Mountain volcano) on the wrong date, because I supposedly put everyone’s life in danger having that many people in a cabin who could have been wiped out by the ruthless killer, the Omicron variant of the sinister Corona virus (with a 99.9% survival rate). It’s, “Don’t think. Just obey.”

The book is like medicine to me in a way, giving me an excuse or authorizing a break from the high speed pace of the campus and Kokua Crew. Been working to imagine a 7-3 job training as an electrician. I don’t know where it will end up, and it’s hard to imagine working any job for 3 years—especially for another person.

The book says that slowing down can look a lot like failure. Interesting. There sure is a lot of ego wrapped up in moving fast and doing a lot and letting people see you do a lot.

Lord, thank you for leading us. I pray for the courage to carry it out and the wisdom to avoid costly failures that don’t cost only me, but my family, too. Thank you for the encouragement to overcome at least some of the ego that keeps us running so hard for so long. Thank you for your grace and mercy to see me through, despite myself.

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“It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of toil.“ (Psalm 127:2)

Nelson’s Journal, 1/28/22

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Nelson continues his fast-paced work with YWAM where no two days are alike, while pondering what life would be like with a 9:00-5:00 job. Would he feel tied down? Would it mean putting permanent roots down in far-away Hawaii? Could he successfully become an electrician? Would this be the best for his family?

While searching for answers, he journaled a prayer, asking God what he should do.

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January 28, 2022

I am super grateful for what you, Lord, have brought us through last year. I read 2 books, the American Pilgrim and the Bitcoin Standard. Annso and I have the best marriage I could imagine. She has the best views on most things, and we think of one mind on many things.

She bought for me the book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. I listened to the podcast of it a while back, and there’s probably no book that could apply to me more. I am trying and seeing if a job for Tim [electrician] will work. Might be a step in the right direction.

Our time in Kokua Crew is coming to an end I feel. There is so much hurry and urgency, which is good for a season, but, like many things, it’s not meant to last a lifetime.

Lord, I pray you would show me the way today, the way to speak to Tim about the potential job, that I can really act and pray like it’s totally up to you and I don’t have a horse in the race. I only want what’s the best for my family and where you are leading.

Thank you for leading us so well up until this point. You know my desire to have a trade and something I am really good at, something with a certification that I really know and people are willing to pay me to do.

I’m starting to read the book Annso gave me, and it talks about a fork in the road, taking the one less traveled. He brings his core leadership into a room and says, “I resign.”

For me, with YWAM, with Kokua Crew, and grounds, it’s the right move. Not sure about working as an electrician, but it seems to be the right way… less spotlight, less meetings. Resignation sounds good, actually.

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“Be transformed…that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)