Where's Rayelle: 2nd Entry from Kona, Hawaii

Hello everyone!  I'm very tired, it has been a day full of many activities :) but I wanted to share before I went to bed.  I enjoy reflecting on the days here so much, and every day seems to be more exciting and glorious than the last!  Today was our first day of class.  We have breakfast from 6:30-7:15am (each day includes fresh Hawaiian fruit... today was pineapple... yum!).  On Monday's we have group worship in the Ohana Court (ohana=family in Hawaiian) to start the day.  Then off to class, backpacks and all!  Our classroom is open air, which who wouldn't want that here! 

Today one of our main leaders, Aaron, shared some of his story and we talked about God's love for us.  We talked about how since birth we are compared to each other through height and weight percentiles, and later on in life we are compared to others by how we look and based on our performance in school, sports, and work.  We are trained in such a way that when God wants to tell us He loves us, we tend to think we need to perform a certain way for Him.  Compare this to the analogy of a man asking a woman to marry him.  The man plans out the whole event, is down on one knee and shares those word "I love you.  Will you marry me?"  The woman looks at him and says "I'll do your laundry for you, make dinner, change our babies diapers and clean the house."  What kind of a let down answer that would be!  When God tells us He loves us, He doesn't want to hear all the things we are going to do for Him.  He wants us to love Him, to say YES to the groom.  It was a great check for me today... and there is freedom that bursts forth through this.  We had an amazing prayer time too.  I had been asking God some specific questions about a "wall" up around me and His plans for me while I'm here and a leader prayed for me and to the very detail God spoke through her the answers I was seeking.  Praise Jesus! :)  And this is a time of infilling for me and a more intimate relationship with my Savior.

This is the class I'm doing and the detail with it :)

The remainder of the day was filled with great conversation over meals with people from my Call2All class and other classes, as well as some terrific games we played as a group.  Our leaders are doing a wonderful job having time for us to create "ohana".  We played the signs game (see the picture) and the "have you ever game".  I'm truly enjoying learning about my YWAM family with new surprises each day!  Our stories are so different, yet God's loved is woven in each of us, and brings us together as a beautiful tapestry. :)


Playing the Signs game



To finish off the day a group walked about a mile to the pier in Kona and we had a late night swim.  We actually jumped off the pier and swam to shore through the crystal clear water.  It was a refreshing way to end a day filled with joy and laughter.  I'm excited for a great night's rest and to see what tomorrow brings. :)

Aloha!