High in the Sky!

On Saturday, Feb 18, 5 of my girl friends and I went parasailing! It was the last thing to do on my Saipan bucket list. (trust me I will still enjoy the last 3 months of my time here)  We went through the company B- Sea Sunsports  http://b-sea.com/en/marine_sports/ and were able to get the local discount on the price.  It was fun getting to ride in the speed boat and to enjoy the beautiful day! We could not have asked for better weather! Each of us had around 8 min to be 40 feet in the air. When you first start you get strapped and hooked in and then you are ready to go, from there you stand in the back and then they bring you straight up. It was so amazing to be able to see the beauty of Saipan from the sky! It was neat to be able to see Managaha from up high, which is something I have wanted to see.  I had a really great time being in the sky, it was very peaceful and I did end up taking my camera up there so it was neat to be able to share the view that I got to experience. I was not scared at all and had a blast being able to fly for a bit. Then they slowly bring you down, dip you in the water, and then bring you back up one more time before lowering you back into the boat. It was fun to be able to watch my friends go up in the air and to have fun hanging out in the boat, listening to the island music. All of us talked about how we wish that we had a boat, because that would make Saipan even more fun.

Taking a picture of myself while parasailing!

Looking at the water below.

The view of the boat from up high.

Managaha!

Me chillin in the air!

Me in the air!

Amy getting excited to go!

Here we go!

Lynette, Rachel, and Anna telling what order they were going.

Rachel in the air.

The whole group: Lynette, Becky, Me, Rachel, Anna, and Amy.

Amy and I on the boat.

Rachel and Anna on the boat.

Getting ready to go!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day, Anna getting nervous about going and Becky in the background in the sky!

Anna and Becky on the boat.

One of the guides took this artistic shot.

It was one of the best Saturdays ever of being in Saipan! It was a wonderful experience I was able to share with my friends!  I would recommend parasailing to anyone who has an adventurous side!
-Kara-

Huge Walk the Length of Saipan Trek

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

            I needed to write again, but I swear this is not an addiction.  What I will say is that if I didn’t write about the hike I did this past weekend I forget the feeling of what I had seen and done.  I promise I won’t write as much as last time haha

            This past weekend I used Martin Luther King Day (which we had off from school) to take part in a hike thought up by Dan K. from church.  The hike was partaken by Dan, myself, John J., and Pastor Dickerman from Saipan Community Church.  Our hike was one to be remembered and enjoyed until we got home and stopped moving around.  All four of us go to Saipan Community Church and it was a great time to talk about life, passions, and of course God.  Armed with nothing but water, salty snacks, and our cameras we set out on an ambitious hike. Dan later calculated (using Google) that our hike had been roughly 17 miles.  We met at American Memorial Park and carpooled together up to Wing Beach (many thanks to John’s wife who drove us there!).  From Wing Beach, we decided to walk the entire length down to Garapan (Micro Beach) and then all the way to Pacific Islands Club Resort.  Our plan was to walk as much of the beach as we could and only go up to road ways when we could advance no further on foot.  We saw many great sites some of which I will explain below the pictures I decide to post.  Along the hike, some of my memorable moments included: A stretch of beach that had a lot of large Conical Shells buried in the sand and we decided to see who could find the biggest one (either pastor or myself claimed the prize there), the two moments we were almost chased by a pack of boonie dogs (island strays), and seeing WWII structures I had never seen along the ocean front.  I hope you enjoy the pictures below… remember to click on the picture if you want to see it a bit larger.

Sincerely, Grant

p.s. At the end of the hike, I was not too worse for wear, however, I developed scab marks around my ankles that look like ligature marks.  This was because I had walked in the water a little with my sandals.  When my feet got wet, the straps on my sandals were able to dig in and rub more.  I feel like there is no perfect shoe for an adventure like this, but just thought I would share a helpful hint.

This is Dan, our group leader, taking a nice photo at the southern end of Wing Beach early that morning.  He wanted to do this hike because he is leaving to work in the missions field elsewhere and would like to keep some photo memories of Saipan. Although, he is not lacking for any pictures as Dan is an avid photographer.

All three of the guys in the foreground you can see John on the left and Pastor Dickermen on the right.  In the background, John is reviewing a photo of The Palms resort that is closed but still beautiful.

A chair sunk in to the sand well past Pao Pao Beach.  It was very unique to photograph with no seat and yet overlooking the ocean with a shadow being cast.  If this doesn't speak to someone living in Saipan, I do not know what will...

A dead crab I found on the beach.  I'm not sure what kind this is because it is not an ocean crab it is some other species.  It is too dark to be a strawberry crab... make a baby coconut crab? hmmm (I really don't know)

A picture of a really cool turtle on an abandoned building along the shore.  The message being positive I thought it made for a great photo.

This is a sign we noticed in an area known as the Lower Base of Saipan.  It is the same area where the Tasi Boat leaves for Managaha and where the Dept. of Nat. Resources is on Saipan.  Illiteracy is a big problem among locals.  My prayer is that more and more English teachers will flood the island to help those who need help.

A beautiful picture of Managaha in the distance.

Really cute boonie puppies that we found in some plants along the walk way that leads to the Natl. Guard base on Saipan. Boonie puppies are often abandoned by people, their mother's, or are lead away from their mother by a father.... they then are killed by other male strays, adopted by sympathetic locals, or die of malnutrition.  These will last another day as Pastor Greg gave them some granola bar.

Old growth tress on their last leg and covered in jungle vine and moss making it look like a tropical rainforest.

 I hope you enjoyed the pictures there were many more, but I thought these were some of the most interesting of the trip.

Saipan Time is (Guam Time):

Learning about God, Marriage, and Saipan

Dear Friends, Family, and Followers:
There is a lot to talk about in this blog, but I will try and keep it as focused as possible. I have had many different things come up that I have learned about God and we had our science fair at our school this past week.
Thing learned about God #1: There are many ways to help the poor people around us and sometimes arguments between married couples come from such uses of money and or criticism. As some of you know it is my desire to someday become a pastor or chaplain. While on Saipan I have given money to two poor individuals the one I gave money to the other day outside of Bobby Cadillac’s Pizza parlor was probably the most interesting because it started a dialogue between my wife and I on the use of money and charity. The situation went down as follows: The man called me friend and asked if I could help him and I told I was going in to eat soon but perhaps could help afterward. After eating he came and asked me while Kara, myself, and our two friends were leaving (very audacious). Kara went to the car as I talked with the man as our friends left in a hurry. I asked the man what I could do to help him and he said three dollars, but eyeing the five in my wallet said five dollars. Now taking into account that I didn’t let my right know what my left hand was doing I pulled out five dollars. Before you think about how I shouldn’t do this, realize that the five dollars I gave was out of my own tutoring money (even though in marriage money is shared between spouses, at least in our case). My wife was upset about my charity because she felt that I critique her when she spends money and that besides buying food or clothing for the man would have been different because you can see the use of it. In the end I agreed that next time I would buy him food or clothing instead as a compromise, but before I let this quip drop I need to share something I feel the spirit of God is leading me to say about this dialogue.
First, I could not help but feel a little like the man in the parable Jesus spoke about the workmen who were paid by the field owner the same amount as those who were hired later in the day (Matthew 20:1-16). In the parable the owner asks the men why they are arguing with him about what they agreed to previously and the owner says that his money is his to do with as he pleases. I mention this little story of our experience not because I believe myself to “be” the owner in the story as was intended by the parable but because I think there is an interesting parallel to discussion about finances in marriage to be thought about. Second, like the poor and diseased in the Bible when a poor person sees what you have of course they will want it. Third, I am not going to say that we should all just go give money, food, or clothing to those who need it all the time…Rather I would like people to take giving the poor money as a trust in God’s hand. Every time I give a poor person anything I let them know by holding their hand and looking them in the eye that they are blessed and to thank Jesus for the gift they receive. I ask them to make good use of it because if they do not it will be used as a testimony against them because God has given them the money (his money) through me. So, whatever that man uses it for I will go on faith that God will bless or punish his actions. Forth and lastly, I feel that my debate with my wife was a good one, but that we as a couple need to consider how much money was actually talked about here. I have only given $8.00 to the poor in Saipan. That day I also spent $40 in gas, $20 for lunch and dinner with Kara, and $20 on a shirt for KJ at Managaha’s gift shop (since she doesn’t have any “Saipan shirts”) totaling $80 on self next to nil on others…just a thought.
Today, I also started The Truth Project during Bible study this Sunday morning. It was very interesting to hear Dr. Del Tackett speak about truth. If you want to know more about him and his mission his website is http://deltackett.com/ . There is also a facebook group dedicated to discussion of The Truth Project. The main thing I am dwelling on from the first session is the talk about how the definition of insanity is not simply a loss of grip on reality, but rather to a Christian it is the loss of grip on the reality of what God has envisioned and created and is the abandon of that truth into following lies of the world. It is a really deep topic, but one of many covered in this first session I will let you know more about that later.
I hope you enjoy the blog and the musings on life and the Christian faith.

Yours, Grant

Description of pictures:

1. Is of the seen from my lounge chair at Managaha where some locals had laid anchor (almost looks like a picture from a Corona commercial)
2. is of the sunset I took the other day after talking to God about my dialogue with my wife. I like it not because it is the most beautiful but because the cloud in front looks like a dolphin in the air.
3. Picture of the sign outside of Kara's favorite store "Yello Mango" that says "smoodie" instead of "smoothie" haha
4. Picture of the Bobby Cadillac's entrance the scene of my story as you will. Enjoy.

Managaha and other ramblings about Saipan

I have had a few more thoughts since the last time I blogged, so here I am back to give you some more, but not in a mean, threatening, I’m gonna smash your face, sort of way. I like to share with you some more about the topics Kara and I have been learning in Bible study, things about Managaha (which we recently visited), and of course random things about Saipan.
Bible study has been a wonderful time for Kara and I as we get to know other young couples and have pot luck dinner with them. Lately, we have been going through a video series with a speaker named Andy Stanley and his series called, “The Best Question Ever.” Normally, I do not like reading from a little booklet and watching video as programs like this can be very entertaining but not go very deep into the word, but this series is different. The humor from the video helps me to relax at the end of a long day of teaching and to think about the greater perspective of God in relation to my life. On Sunday, I attend a Bible study that probes the word more deeply than this study, but during the week I enjoy listening to Andy Stanley and what he is going to teach me about God that night. This past Tuesday he talked about how we spend our time and how to use it wisely. This opened up a new way of looking at many of the Bible verses that play a key role in my life. The thing that hit me most was when he talked about how the “important arenas” of life can only be enjoyed if we invest our time into them and by being involved in those important arenas thus making mini-deposits into things that last such as kids, family, marriage, etc. If we choose the “petty arenas” in life to spend the majority of time like going to the bar after work, setting something up we never use, or looking a websites etc (the list is infinite) we simply would not be able to give an account of what we did and the value we would ascribe to those petty arenas could not be tallied. The important arenas that we should spend our time in can easily be tallied because you see the result i.e.) working out produces a fit body over time, money matures over time, and our marriage improves the more we invest in our spouse w/ quality time etc. Just thought I would share those thoughts, it really made me think of my friends and family and how if we make poor time investments we often try and make it up like missing a work out day and working out the next twice as hard only to end up sick and sore… Something to think about... this can be explained in the verse Ephesians 5:15 if you let the message of the verse permeate your mind for a while.
Earlier in the week we also went to Managaha, which is a small island located off the main island by a 15minute ferry boat ride (which is free if you’re a local). On the island is great snorkeling as there is a “no fish” zone around the island which has contributed to a beautiful abundance of life some have said is even more beautiful than the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia. The picture on our blog is of a statue dedicated to a Carolinian Chief named Aghurubw who sailed from the Caroline Islands in 1815 to ask Governor Medinilla’s (Governor of the Marianas Islands) permission to resettle his people on the island of Saipan after their island was destroyed by a major typhoon. His grave is located on this small island of Managaha. We visited Managaha with our friends Brian, Rachel, and Jen. It was a wonderful and relaxing day.
Other random information about Saipan I have learned recently is as follows: At Bible study the other night I tried a piece of fruit called “Sour Sop.” I didn’t take a picture of it, but it is a tasty fruit that when it is soft and ripe enough to eat tastes like a stick of rhubarb with the sweetness of a Granny Smith apple…hard to describe. It was very soft and yummy, I would like to dip it in sugar next time to make it even more sweet! Also, Bird Island, which appears in one of our previous blog entries is also called, “Isleta Maigo Fahang” in the Chamorro language indigenous to the island and it means “Island of the Sleeping Seabirds.”
Well that is all for now. Kara has said she would like to blog soon, but has yet to find time, until she writes next, have a great day. Sincerely, Grant