Rope

A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength (i.e. it can be used for pulling, but not pushing). Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly constructed cord, line, string, and twine. (wikipdedia)


Reading that definition relate it to your relationships.  Beautiful.  God has intertwined us together.  We TOGETHER are rope, not made for pushing but pulling each other through and through.  We are thicker and stronger together.  God revealed this to me before Phil and I were married : )  Due to recent events it has reappeared in my mind.  Recent events, hm.  Well, let's see where do I begin....


What a month it has been for us Leitners.  Have I told you today that God is faithful? : ) Because He is.  It has been a month of visitors!  Our first visitors this month were Liz, Blake, and Kai (and Kamalani in Lizzie's tummy) Mokiao. Our second visitor, a tsunami.  Boy howdy, if Liz and Blake only knew the adventure we had before us!  Liz and I have always had a friendship full of adventure.  You see, life with Liz is so lovely.  She can make the simplest things so special.  I have learned so much through our friendship especially the numerous times we have lived with each other.  She is my sister in Christ and to me we are related.  I love her so dearly.  When she married Blake the first Hawaiian adventure began.  I should say when she started dating Blake, poor guy didn't know what he was in for, haha.  I'll never forget driving to Colorado Springs from Kansas City to Mole and Kristen's wedding with Blake in the back seat.  We sang the whole way.  Liz and I, not Blake.  Somewhere along the state line the keys got locked in the car, 11pm.  Anyways, always an adventure with us.  


They flew in and Iggy man and I drove to town to pick them up.  SO EXCITED!  It was quite relaxing b/c we could just hang out and catch up.  They've been here so many times together.  This is Blake's home, of course.  We decided to call it a night after a great day of catching up.  We were in bed maybe an hour when the sirens went off and police came (with a bull horn mind you) and evacuated us out of our house.  We live right on the water so we are a direct tsunami target...eek.  Now, tornadoes we are used to but common tsunami?  To make a long story short...not in my nature, sorry Phil...we stayed inland at a friends house.  We went to bed around 2 and woke about 7.  Oahu was fine.  Our house is fine. The kids were all fine.  Iggy slept the entire time, ha.  We all went home and got showered, visited with Aubrey (Clair) for a bit then it was time to head back to town.  The Mokiao's hopped a plane for the Big Island to see Blake's fam.  At least I got my Spruill for a little bit : )  Much needed time with my wonderful friends.  Did I mention Kai is a little stud???!!!!  He was great the whole time.


A few days after our tsunami scare my parents and Noah flew in.  YAY!  They were able to spend six glorious days with us.  There's just something about your family being near.  What a carefree fun week.  We took them to the North Shore and saw 15-20 foot waves!  We drove along the coastline down to Diamond Head and to Honolulu.  We spent a day at Waikiki.  We also had some very much appreciated trips to Wal Mart and Target : )  Iggy definitely got some grandparent spoiling.  Noah had some surfing lessons from Phil.  Daddy, also, took a turn surfing in Hawaii both short and long boards.  Our final day we hiked to a waterfall where they shot LOST.  Just as we didn't think we could go any further we started to hear the water rushing down the mountainside and the brisk cool air.  We ALL made it up.  Iggy strapped to me for most of the time then Daddy took over.  What a workout carrying an extra twenty pounds!  Makes me remember what pregnancy was like : )  Needless to say I cannot come up with the words of how great it was to have my family here with us.  My dad also hooked us up with wireless internet and Macgyver'd our tv to actually pick up around 20 channels for free!  So now we can update more often b/c we have internet!


As soon as my parents left Iggy started crawling, is cutting two teeth on the bottom row, and started saying Mama!  Thanks to facetime on our phones they've got to witness it : )  I also started training at a job, just 4-8 hours per week to help bring in some money for rent.  It's a very small jewelry/home decor local stuff called Sand People.  My parents also blessed Phil with a planer so he is working on some pieces of furniture to sell.  Please pray for our finances, family, and outreach here in Hawaii whenever you think of us.  We are doing well but still miss home so much.  What amazing friends and family we have, thank you God.  Keep you guys updated, lots of love!