Nelson’s Journal, 1/31/22

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Margaret

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

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Margaret

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)

Nelson’s Journal, Entry #3

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Margaret

When Nelson died seven weeks ago, one of the gifts that came to his wife Ann Sophie was ownership of his journals. He journaled faithfully throughout his adult life, often working out problems with words on paper, committing them to God as he went along.

A few years ago he switched to journaling on his computer, and it’s these entries Ann Sophie and I have been looking at recently. Nelson never made his journal public, but as we’ve been reading them, we’re learning how he coped with his lung cancer diagnosis. How does it feel to be told you have Stage 4 cancer? How do you cope in the days and months that follow? How do you bear this heavy burden, day after day?

As Nelson tapped out his thoughts each morning, usually at around 5:00 AM, he wrote words that might help us all—should we ever hear a similar diagnosis while sitting in a doctor’s office. The entries are a combination of feelings, scriptures, and prayers.

In our recent blogs we posted Nelson’s thoughts from the day he heard he had cancer, and the day following that (5/10 & 5/12, 2022). Our plan is to back up into January, before cancer, and move through his his last year, posting entries every few days. Maybe he’ll show all of us how best to respond to the shocking news of lethal disease, and what to do next.

January 19, 2022

“Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” (Psalm 25)

Lord, you have really done this for me. Seeing a domestic violence thing in the paper the other day reminded me of where I would be if you hadn’t stepped in and offered me a way out of drinking, and then offered me a way out of a bad relationship. It’s real.

You really do the things you promise in the Bible. Thank you for answering my prayers. I will bank on the promises in the verses above. You have forgotten the sins of my youth, taught me the way to go, pardoned my guilt even in sin after the start of the sober years. And now you have given me offspring.

To see them inherit the land would be amazing and a total miracle. Thank you for little Willard Nelson Nyman who is soon coming into the world. Thank you for what is in a name.

Thank you for Papa [Willard Nathan Nyman] and what he taught me and how in sharing my testimony with the grounds team at Denny’s, I was able to refer to his words about not making decisions only for money. I pray for integrity with money. I can see the temptation to want more than I need, but I do have a family now and don’t want to sell us short. Please show me how to lead them. I know you will.

Should we buy something in Michigan to prepare to move there, or just wait? You know the future, Lord, and know what will happen. I pray for wisdom to know what is wrong and what’s right.

“Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.” (Psalm 25:12)