Why We Came

There are lots of reasons we chose to come to Hawaii. We have been talking about and praying about  when would be the right time for Seth to take leave from Microsoft, and how we would do it, and then what would we do. It has been on our minds since the Project began. (We refer to Seth's health issues as The Project. It makes it easier for us to address it for some reason.) But with the weather so cold in Seattle and it affecting his muscles, we started thinking about taking action. And there as a serveral other factors as well that pushed us in this direction. Then we came to Hawaii in December on a family trip with Seth's siblings. It was awesome. The weather was warm, the water was warm, and lifestlye was slow. "Hawaii time" as they call it, is very real. Sometimes it can work against you, but when comes to slowing life down, its awesome. Seth had a good friend and mentor that had taught at BYUH, so he called him and asked how he could get involved. Two hours later Seth was sitting in the Presidents of the University's office. He asked if he could come do service for the University and possible volunteer teach as well. Of coarse they said yes! Who wouldn't want Seth?- and for free too. Seth and I came home from Hawaii and stewed over this decision to take leave for 6 months and come back to Hawaii. We finally told our kids, and they were on board (with some small reservations). So we pulled the plug. Seth told work and took his vacation leave to be followed by his medical leave. We pulled the kids out of school, sold our two cars, packed up our house, but left it emaculately staged (due to the help of many many good friends), and packed our 9 bags and got a plane. We didn't have a house to live in or a car to drive. Just our little family and a whole lot of faith. I just started to crying as I a reread this part- maybe because it sounds so crazy. But mostly because I am grateful for the strength we had to be brave and follow the promptings that we knew were right for our family. So when I see this picture below of Seth's name tag, I smile. It was this opportunity for him that help us make this decision and gave us purpose to be here.