Seaside Kauai

by Kim - 9:55 PM

Some of you who are reading this for the first time will be wondering..."What the HECK! Hawaii!!!". So we thought we would write out the story. The one that God has given...the one that we are starting to call our own. It's unfolded in the choppy way that most stories do. And if we were asked to write it out I don't think we could have come up with the all the parts, but God has and we are trusting Him in ways that we didn't know we would be having to. So here I go...

December 2011: We start the month off with an unexpected trip to Maui. Jeff is asked to marry a friend from Seaside and our whole family is invited for an all expense paid 6 day vacation. The wedding was beautiful (how could it not be in such a beautiful place) and God also allows those who came to grow in friendship and to share life in deep ways. It became evident to us midway through that it was much more than just a vacation but a time to be able to share life with some folks that we would have otherwise missed. For that we were thankful. The day after the wedding I woke up in the hotel, checked Facebook on my phone and grief stricken fell to floor. Our hearts shattered as we learned that our dear best friend's husband had suddenly died of heart failure at 46. Life from then on was different. As we headed home we began the process of grieving. I cried every day for over a week. And I still cry...it was hard. We went to the Celebration of Doug Kuhn's life that next week and worshiped Jesus because we all knew that he was home. But his life, now not here on earth, became a part of our story in a new way and we would both say, in many ways, affected all that would happen next. Once home Jeff started to talk to me about feeling led to do something different, he didn't know what yet, but He could sense God moving in his heart. I listened and we prayed. We started the conversation quickly at that point with the other Elders at our church to pray and walk with us in what this would mean.
Christmas...New years...

January 2012: This month I would be going to Kauai for the month with my dad and the boys, Jeff would be joining us for the last two weeks. Still praying and seeking we started to wonder why I was there for a month. We had this vacation planned for almost a year and it was only by the blessing of a family at Seaside that we were able to stay for such a long period of time. They own a timeshare complex and gave us the "family" price :) Usually we go to Maui each year for 2 weeks, this year we found ourselves on a new Island and for longer then we ever imagined. Must have been the Holy Spirit but we started to think that God was telling us something that we didn't really think could ever happen. While in Kauai we prayed, read God's word and got a sweet tan. Once Jeff arrived and we were together the space between wondering and knowing began to close. We started to see that God wanted us in Kauai. While there we also met a family who had us over for dinner and was able to hear from them a bit of the spiritual needs of the Island and the people. God's way of maybe speaking to us??? Around this time another family from Seaside, Christian and Michelle Brooks, joined us in Kauai. They were also one of the families that was at the wedding in Maui with us. Funny thing about this is that while in Maui Chris jokingly said to Jeff, "Hey...if you ever wanna start a church in Hawaii...I'll totally do it with you!" And for some reason that stuck in the back of Jeff's heart. And while we were in process, before we even knew what or how or where God would call us, Jeff had gone back to Chris and said, "Hey would you pray about what you said in Maui..." Chris said he would. So they, in total faith, joined us on the tail end of the Kauai trip to also pray and see if God might be calling them as well. He was...and they are coming! And so is my dad. My dad, Rick, loves the idea of always being where we are so he can be close to his grand-kids...and we wouldn't want to go without him.

Michelle & Christian

February 2012: So we get back from Kauai February 14th and know for sure that we are suppose to do some sort of community/church plant. We share with the other Elders and start the conversation of what this would look like for Seaside to seed a community there. After a few weeks of conversations and prayer, Jeff and the Elders new it was time to tell the community group leaders and then tell the rest of the body.

My dad Rick & Silas!

March 2012: Around the first week of March we tell the community group leaders the story of how we feel called to seed a Seaside community in Kauai. From there Jeff visits with each of the community groups to share with the core families the changes that Seaside with go through over the next year. The goal is to allow for a healthy transition for everyone involved and for the Adams to finish well the work that He called us to here in Bremerton and for that to happen we are not planning on making the move till early 2013.
Let me also share that these are only snip-its of what has happened. God has been so faithful to continue to confirm and uphold us in all of this. There is so much still to work through over the next few months. Here are just a few things you could be praying for us about:

1. Baby #4 is due in April. Please pray for a safe and healthy birth and for our family as we grow.
2. Timing for our house to sell
3. Transition for the Elders over the next months.
4. For Eric, Abby, Chris, and Myra. We are sad to leave our precious family that we have shared this work with over the last years. Prayers just for all of us as we transition and grow in the how God would show us.