Category Archives: Parenting

Nelson’s journal 4/26/22  

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The ongoing sleeping/eating challenges with Will are here pre-empted by Nelson’s health issues and his escalating pain. Sadly, the medical community is still focused on it being a problem with his thyroid gland. If only that had been true….

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April 26, 2022 

My sickness still rages on in the form of a really intense dry cough and pain in my whole chest, top to bottom. Mostly that’s it, aside from being pretty tired all the time. I feel like I could lie down and sleep anytime, even right after getting up and drinking coffee. Even coffee has lost its luster, so to speak. Hard to swallow.

Right now I’m listening to Will scream it out in the next room. We had a really nice morning together so far, but it goes south whenever it’s time to eat or sleep. Once we get to that point, I try to feed him, which increases his irritation, then eventually swaddle him and cuddle him to sleep.

But once he’s in the crying mode with me, he’s not going to settle, so there’s just one other option. That’s to try to get him comfortable and put him in the crib. Then it’s up to him. After that, it’s usually complaining-crying until he goes into full “billy-goat” screaming mode. Right now, I’d say there’s a 10% chance he goes to sleep, but usually Mama will awake and rescue him. She has what he wants and can usually calm him, unlike what I can do.

I’m proud of him though. We visited the doc first time yesterday, and he came in at 90% for his age in weight and height. Doc said he looks and sounds great. We have our issues, but Annso is the eternal optimist, and that’s our saving grace most of the time. Attitude is everything.

There is a picture on the wall from Samuel that says, “For this child I have prayed.” It’s a great reminder about the miracle he is. I’m excited that he keeps growing and even though people say, “Don’t wish the time away or rush through it,” I’m not much into the newborn stage, I have to say. He’s adorable, but there are so many times when I have nothing more I can do and it’s just screaming, which has all this failure and guilt attached to it for me.

I try not to over-think it and just be thankful for who he is and what we have. I’m excited that at some point, maybe I’ll be healthy again and be able to lick this Thyroid thing, even if that means getting it removed. I don’t want to lose my voice box or any other disaster that might happen in a surgery. I wonder, does it shrink down if they just “kill it” like they talk about doing?

All I know is, this is no kind of life I live now. No exercise, very little joy because of the constant pain and fatigue of the whole thing. I know what it must feel like to be 90 years old. Super tired and lots of pain in the body all over the place.

 

But I’m excited about our trip to the mainland to camp our way across the US in our RV, the one we don’t yet have. I’m working on Ebay and Cragslist to see if I can’t get a good one.  

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 “The God of all comfort comforts us in all our troubles.” (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Nelson’s journal 4/19/22

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Through the laptop keyboard Nelson wonders what it’s like to be “good salt and a bright light” in the kingdom of God. He also wonders if it’s possible to schedule a one month old child. On top of all that, he’s thinking about moving a short distance away from the crowd of Kokua Crew workers. That way his family would be slightly less around-the-clock available.

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April 19, 2022    

I just got Will back to sleep. 5:45am. We’re trying to get him on these morning and afternoon schedules. But he’s barely 1 month old, so we are told to let it slide (as if we have a choice), but you can push pretty hard for what you want.

I’ve come so close to moving to Kama Aina Hale [a neighboring subdivision that would put a short distance between Nelson’s family and the big Kokua Crew], but never really got around to it. Maybe when we get back from our Summer trip we can move over there and be less bound [24/7] to Kokua Crew. It would be nice to be involved in a different way than the way we are now.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

Am I a light of the world? Is that how someone would describe me? Is the light of Jesus shining off me? Is he shining through most Christians (or people who claim to be)?

I’m reading the book, Hawaii by James Michner, and most of the missionaries’ kids became greedy and got involved in business and getting as much land as possible, not to mention that it belonged to the Hawaiian people. It eroded their own character, going after the money like they did.

They were no different than their pagan counterparts. And if they are not different, then are they even Christians in anything more than word? Are we anything more than that? I think we are. At least my wife is. We pray. We seek you, Lord, but are we after the money too? Do we act honestly all the time? Do we let money get out in front of doing the right thing?

Jesus says, we are the salt of the earth but that it’s possible to “loose your saltiness” and become worthless. “You are the light of the world.” Would he call me the light of the world? What am I doing that would set me apart from the darkness of the world and say I am the light or I am the salt?

It’s not by works lest any man should boast, but there should be signs of being a Christian for sure. How does a person lose their saltiness? They probably fall asleep spiritually and just cool off. That’s the biggest danger over a big fall I think, getting comfortable and lazy, not knowing anything is even wrong and being worthless in the kingdom of God.

How does a person avoid that? Fasting maybe? This comes right after the Beatitudes. Jesus describes a Christian in that progression we are familiar with, then reminds us not to “loose our saltiness.” I pray for a tender heart and to be more kind, etc. I’m not sure having a child does that. I love him but don’t have a problem letting him cry it out. It’s what works, and I’m for good results.

The last thing I want is a soft, high maintenance kid who expects everything brought to him on a sliver platter. Does that sound like compassion? Does it sound like love? I hope so. Here I am, missing the Tuesday night meeting to watch him, which has been a challenge. Annso is at the meeting. It’s one of my dreams about having children, not having to go to meetings if at all possible.

I always envied Ad Curington [brother-in-law], who would be watching a few kids while the rest of us got dressed up and went out to a formality. I thought, “What a smart man. How did he line it up like that for himself?” Now I have that too. 😉 Now I’m a “smart man.”

Finally caught up on my to-do list. It’s nice to sit here in the quiet. Had another batch of blood work done today to check in about my thyroid and see where I’m at. I’ve had more blood taken in the last couple months than in the whole of my life combined before that. It’s been a season of sickness mixed with fatherhood. So far, the whole time I have been a father, I’ve been pretty sick feeling. It was almost seamless, the transition.

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“Do not be discouraged. The Lord your God will be with you.” (Joshua 1:9)

Nelson’s journal 4/18/22  

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Nelson is feeling better about what has been diagnosed as a thyroid problem, assuming that it’s gradually healing. Little Will is doing better with his eating and sleeping, too, and Nelson’s pastoring ministry has ended honorably. Things are looking up.

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April 18, 2022    

Finished things up at Little Red Church for good yesterday for the Easter Service. We had about 90 people including the Kokua Crew, so it was a pretty good sized group. Bob Duffer brought the word, and the Micronesians stood up front. I prayed for them to usher in their season at the place [The Little Red Church]. Hard to believe they’ve had the property the whole time and didn’t do this sooner.

My Thyroid issue seems to be calming down and my levels are lower, at least they feel lower. I have hardly any energy and no more rapid heart rate. I wonder what my fate is with this whole thing. Will it go back to normal?

I always liked my metabolism and normal mode of operation. It’s hard not to take a couple naps per day on days like this. I just feel so lethargic.

The baby Will is growing and doing really good being just over a month old now. We’ve gotten better at feeding and sleeping him, so that’s encouraging. Still gets up a couple times in the night, but we don’t mind.

It’s hard being in ministry. Just today, I asked a guy to leave the Hale Ola property who sort of just came out of nowhere as a self-proclaimed fix-it man, asking for all these favors and making the Kokua Crew nervous.

People get mixed up about what YWAM is and think that because they were once here, they can just show up and pick up where they left off. I felt sorry for him, being an old guy and all, no doubt a Christian, but a dinosaur who doesn’t fit into the world of today.

Not that I really do either.

But a guy like that who flies in and wanders around begging for favors is about as close to homeless as you can get, without actually being that. I’m sure it’s not the first time he got asked to leave a place for similar behavior. He also invited himself to stand up in front of our group at devotions and share, and I let him do it. Poor guy.

I’m grateful for how things went to close the church down and pass it along to the next people. I’m glad it was a church moving in instead of just us closing it. Thank you for the 6 years I was there. I pray for direction going forward in another season or tenure at another church or whatever you have Lord. I pray we can see what it is you have and not miss it.

I’m thankful for our son and how healthy he is. I’m thankful for the light he is in our lives and how you didn’t have us deal with not having children, which it looked for a while like it was a possibility.

I pray for our Summer plans to travel in a camper and see more of the country as a family. I pray for the right RV, something we can resell or use later. Thank you that you haven’t given us riches so far to distract us from you and serving here. Thank you that we are still able to do it.

I pray for our Kokua Crew and their lives, that they would be protected from lies and comparison. I pray for Judy’s speech tomorrow and that her words would have an impact on the girls especially.

I pray for continuing upward progress in my health and with the Thyroid problem that came out of nowhere. I pray that you would heal me completely and that I wouldn’t need meds going forward or surgery or anything permanent. You can do it.

I pray for eventually a pill-free life without meds and just a healthy routine of good food and exercise. Thank you that this has kept me at home with time to spend on our little guy and being together as we get started [as a family]. You are so good to us, giving us insured health care here in Hawaii. What a blessing. Amen.

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“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:15)