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.

Hiking, Teaching and everything in Between

Hi Everyone,
It has been a couple weeks since I, Kara, have blogged so I thought I would update you all. 2 weekends ago we went on a hike to Bird Island which is a nature preserve area. I had no idea that you could go on a hike there since it is protected, but a girl that has lived here for awhile showed us the way. We met a couple through the church, Brian and Rachel and then Jen from church came too and we spent the day hiking. The best part about hiking in Saipan is you always end up getting to go swimming. We hiked down to the bottom and there were parts that we held onto a rope while slipping in the mud. At the bottom you can see a beautiful view of bird island which you can not see from where the tourist section is. We went climbing around and then started snorkeling. We ended up seeing a shark in the water, it was a small one and harmless to us, but so neat to see. It was great getting to see some beautiful fish too. We had a lot of fun that day. Then at night we went to a housewarming party for people from the church. They just bought a house and we wanted to get to know more people in the church so we went. It was a fun night of talking and playing with their puppies. The puppies are "booney" puppies which means that they were found and nobody wanted them.
This past week of school has been a lot of parent conferences due to progress reports. You definitely see parents true colors when you meet them for a conference. I had some good ones and bad ones and some in between. It was stressful though knowing I would have to be prepared daily for what they could say. Nevertheless I have learned a lot and it has made me even better with conflict. I do have grace with my 1st graders and I accept late work so that way they can practice what they need to for the test.
This past weekend we went out to dinner at an italian place called Shenanigans. It was pretty good and then we went to the I Love Saipan store and were tourists for the night. It was fun buying souvenirs and talking about presents we should get later on for family and friends. Then since I have netflix now I invited the girl teachers Anna and Amanda over for a movie night, The Back Up Plan which I had already seen, but enjoy it!
Then on saturday grant and i had a date for the day and we went to wing beach where we snorkeled around. You can go right up to the reef and snorkel so it is pretty easy to do. We saw some huge fish and just enjoyed each others company. Then at night we went to Solomon and Jill's house to get to know them better and had fun talking to them. Then Jill said that she was having contractions and needed to go the hospital. I had told her awhile ago that I love to babysit and could sometime. I had no idea it would be right then:) So Grant and said yes to staying with their two boys and their puppies and had no idea how long the night would be. I fell asleep after watching the puppies and then Grant stayed up till 2:30 when Solomon came back. The baby was a healthy one and they named him Niko Takota. So now they have 3 boys. They were really appreciative of us staying and we really did not mind it at all and had some fun while we were there. We wanted to show them what being a Christian is all about and that is helping others when they are in need.
Yesterday was sunday and I chatted with my family in the morning which was so nice. It was a Husker day and so we chatted after the game. It was funny to see myself on the big screen. Having skype is so nice, because you feel as though you can still see your loved ones. Then we went to church and then to Bobby Cadillac's which is a pizza place in town. I invited some new friends of ours and had a great time there. I had not gone out for pizza since I have been here so it was about time. Then we headed to the beach with some friends and just chilled out in the water.
School and teaching has been getting easier and I have a new system of discipline where if a student talks they go stand by the wall. It is working like magic and I am able to get through the material with less interruptions. They still are only 5-6 so it is not perfect, but a lot better. I am so glad to be making new friends and seeing more of the island every week. It is a tiny island and we get to go for free since we have local ids. I also am enjoying going to bible studies here and getting to know more people in the church.This next weekend we are going to Managaha which is an island off of Saipan.So more to come then.