Israel - 1 week out

It is surreal to think that in 1 week, Brandi and I will be in Israel, on our way to see the Holy Land, where Jesus walked and where many followed over 2000+ years ago.  As we celebrated Resurrection Sunday (Easter),Good Friday and Holy week last week, I am in awe of what God has done, is doing and continues to do in my life.

It has been 10+ months since Lori went home to be with Jesus.  Time sure has flown by.  As I continue to get my bearings on being a widow, on doing things on my own, on being a single father to an adult daughter, on fulfilling my calling as a pastor, shepherd and working citizen...the one constant has been God's grace, mercy and love through it all.  Along with our church ohana and blood ohana supporting us and loving us through it all - it has been a great season for me.

My health is getting better after not taking physical care of myself through the last few months of Lori's battle and the months thereafter.  My relationship with Brandi continues to grow...being a Father is so much different than being a Mother.  My ministry at our great church is getting healthier as we continue to relate and help each other to live out our mission statement at New Hope Aloha Pau'ole:

     WE ARE COMMITTED TO LOVING GOD AND ADVANCING HIS KINGDOM BY LOVING PEOPLE TO A PLACE OF FREEDOM.  

In the midst of all the challenges, chaos, tears and the gamut of so much emotions over the last 3.5 years since Lori's diagnosis back in October 2012, God's joy, strength, courage, endurance, perseverance, hope and promises has been so present.  Regardless of the challenges or setbacks that have occurred or continue to occur, my hope does not rest in the outcomes of those situations...it rests in that God has a plan in store for me for His good and His glory.  As I continue to value each and every person who I come into contact with as God values them and loves them, I continue to grow in His glory.  It has been a great journey so far.

I have asked myself this question - What am I expecting in this 2 week trip to Israel?

The answer as of now is - I am unsure...but whatever it is, God will reveal what He needs me to see and hear and implement in my life.  In preparing for the trip by reading the study guide, it is amazing to see how history of the past, will be so present when we visit.

I plan to post updates and pics as we go along and hope I can share with you all (whoever may read this) what God is trying to reveal to me through His eyes.

We leave on Sunday and will be in New York for a day and a half and then spend 1 day traveling and 10 days in Israel.  We then return to New York for 2 days before we come back home.  I have never been to New York before, Brandi has been there 2x...so I am excited to see the Big Apple.

Asking for your prayers and God's covering as we make this pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Love you all and update you soon!!
  

6 weeks out - Destination: Israel

Well its been almost 60 days since my last post (January 3) and today marks 6 weeks (42 days) before Brandi and I depart for a 2 week trip, of which 10 of those days will be in Israel visiting the Holy Land with a tour group led by Pastor David Stoker, a family friend who is now a pastor in 

Napa, CA.  

This amazing adventure, call it a pilgrimage....is a direct benefit from what occurred 9 months ago...Lori's graduation to heaven.

Wow 9 months....major transitions for me, for Brandi and for many others. The grieving process is ongoing but as told by many who have been through this and have experience in helping others thru this...it does get better every day. There is great hope and huge promises in the plans that God has in store for me and for Brandi.

I continue to see the goodness and joy of the Lord of the life altering event the day Lori went home to Jesus...I never foresaw nor planned to be a widow at the age of 47...never could have imagined that road bump....but God had something bigger in store for me and for Brandi and I see it daily....new relationships being created, existing relationships that are being made healthier and stronger, and broken relationships being restored.

Lori desired for Brandi and I to take a trip together at some point in time after her passing. One that could be a time where we would spend time together in joy and adventure, but also share our story as a family. Brandi and I had hope to go to Japan during the winter season, but due to schedule conflicts we were unable. We had look to going with New Hope Oahu and the Footsteps of Paul later this year..but then God opened up this opportunity to travel with a family we met through our Westmont College Ohana. We first met Andrew Stoker as a bright eyed motivated 10th grader at Punahou at various college fairs back in 2008, wanting to get into Westmont because of a relationship he had with a good friend name Reyn Halford who is the same age as Brandi and also attended and graduated from Westmont. David and Monica Stoker participated as local parents in our Alumni Relations events hosted by Westmont here on Oahu and Lori and Monica had some common interest working with the disadvantaged. The Stokers are such good people. A few years back, David was called to Pastor a First Pres church in Napa and he and Monica relocated. In October or so, David posted a flyer on FB that he was hosting his 6 trip to Israel and looking for people to go. I talked to Brandi and we prayed on it and felt the Lord confirming that this was the trip to take.

Visiting the birthplace and death and resurrection of Jesus...to see the history and real live places and events that occurred over 2000+ years ago...it was something that we felt blessed and led to do.  

9 months seems so long ago and yet so recent...I still see her smile and hear her laugh at times...I miss her a lot..but life goes on and God is not done with me yet or Brandi.  This past Friday, we were blessed to attend the Hillsong United Concert.  God showed me what it is like to be in His presence..continuous worship, exalting and praising Him among the brethren...when in His presence there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more discomfort..just ultimate joy.  And that is where Lori and many others who went before her are...because of their faith in Jesus.  

We can have that same joy here on earth...when we connect to God daily..when we seek Him in all of our ways and give thanks and worship who He is.  People 2000+ years ago got to see God in the form of man, through His Son Jesus who emptied Himself to come to earth to re-connect us to the Father.  

I am so looking forward to this trip...looking forward to spending time with Brandi...looking forward to what God is going to show me during this visit of what He did for me 2000+ years ago and what He has in store moving forward.  We plan to take some of Lori's ashes with us and at the appropriate time, spread it somewhere so she will be a part of us on this trip.  

I ask for your prayers for the weeks to come...as I truly believe there will be much spiritual warfare leading up the trip. And I also will ask for your prayers during the trip for Brandi, me and the group.  We trust that God's plan is sovereign and predestined for His glory and His good.  

In the meantime, just know that Brandi and I love you all...for your love, support, hugs, words of encouragement, prayers and just for being who you all are.  

26 years of love and friendship, does not disappear or become less than..in 9 months...God blessed me with the love of Lori and I will be forever grateful.  

Love you all and keep you posted.

God bless

Sean

Not a resolution - but my vision for 2016

The Bible says in Proverbs 29:

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.   Proverbs 29:18 KJV

A vision for ones life is very important.  Vision is defined as an imagined
idea or a goal toward which one aspires.  But having a vision, a Godly
vision, a strategic vision for me in 2016 is one I desire.  A vision that God
has His hands in, one that will glorify Him and bring Him the honor and
allow me to grow in Him.  A resolution tends to fall apart or become 
ineffective based on circumstances..but a vision when committed to and
devoted to will provide hope and clear direction.  So this is my vision, 
put to paper for 2016.  I pray that God be glorified as I seek Him in 
all things. 


Vision for 2016                         1/2/16

Life scripture

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

Character :  what character of God do I want to work on by glorifying God in 2016?

I desire to love people the way God loves people....with unconditional love with no strings attached...I want to see people the way God sees them and love them regardless of what they have or don't have.  I want to just love the the way God loves them and give them grace and compassion regardless if it benefits me or not....regardless if I gain something for  it...regardless if they hurt me or invalidate me or devalue who I am...I want to love them with agape love...selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love...the kind of love Jesus has for me.

Skill: what do you want to learn or develop in 2016 that will help you to glorify God in your life?

A disciple is a follower a learner....so if my desire is to continually be a disciple of Christ and in addition to following Christ I want to learn more about Jesus and the things he cared for. I will do that by reading...by learning...I will read a book a month and will start with the books on my galaxy...I will write a blog on them and let people know what I've learned and pass on the joy of Jesus in my life

Goals:  what do you want to accomplish in 2016 that will bring God all the glory?

¹² All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ Food is for the stomach and the  stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.¹⁸ Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1  Corinthians 6:12-20

To honor God by honoring the body He gave me that is my goal for 2016 along with working on my character and my skill.

In August 2012 I weighed in at 380lbs...a plate lunch away from 4 bills.  I committed myself to losing weight in my own strength and for my own reasons under my own discipline..by the end of 2013, I had gotten to 295...the lightest I had been since my mid 20s....but it was for all the wrong reasons and done on my own strength with my own reward systems.  Battling with Lori thru her cancer fight in 2014 and 2015 has taken its toll...I'm hovering at 330lbs, body sore and just feeling unhealthy.  Stress eating, clothes tight and feeling like a failure...I'm have not honored God in my health...yeah I work out a lot...but I eat like a pig....I have sinned against my own body by making food my god...by running to the comfort of food and not running to God...there were times in the weight loss of 2013 that I thought I was running to God...but as I look back...I was running to my own self control..relying on my own strength and not God's strength...I remember times being jealous of guys who I knew that were on the same plan as me, the Dr. Suh plan..just kept losing and losing and maintaining...and me going the other way and justifying it by using Lori’s cancer battle as an excuse....time for no more excuses...time to honor God in my body and hold fast to His promises...even now...thinking about this I am wondering what I am eating for lunch...lol...the addictive nature of food...I am a food addict...and only through God’s grace, mercy and strength will I be able to honor Him and my temple He gave to me. 

Prayer

Father, I commit these things to you today Lord that I put to paper for 2016.  These are not resolutions, these are the things that I truly believe that You have placed on my heart.  To love you and to love people, to learn more about Your Son and pass on His joy to all those willing to listen and to get my temple back in line with the way you designed me to be.  Lord, there will be many other lessons and trials in 2016, and I will face them in Your strength with Your grace and in Your timing…but for now, these are the 3 that I am asking You Father, to help me walk through and into daily.  Father, to You be the glory in all of this and may people see Your wondrous, awesome and sovereign nature.  I love you God and to You be the glory!