Sunday morning we awoke to pouring rain. And today it is also pouring rain. We have been told that this is the rainiest place on earth.
I believe it!
I also know why there are not nearly as many tourists on Kauai.
We arrived at church at 9AM and then realized that only visitors get there on time and the regulars arrive on 'island time.' Too funny!
It must be a bit of a challenge for the church to have Bethany attend there because they don't have a sign out front. You wouldn't know it was a church. Most visitors must be invited personally (I'm guessing??) As it was, there was one person who requested a photo with her afterwards.
It poured all through church which made a deafening roar. It was rather challenging for the pastor to be heard but the rain was kind of a neat sound. Bethany got caught in the deluge and came in with a shawl wrapped around her. She sat down between SaraGrace and Chloe and when she saw SaraGrace shivering, she draped her shawl around her. So sweet.
The church has lunch every week after services, so they invited us to stay. We met some really nice people and one family who is coming to Boston in July. It was fun to give them tips and invite them to our church!
Speaking of Boston...if you see any "Hope for Boston" t-shirts around town that are in the Red Sox Font, they are from Bethany's Foundation. I should have asked how we could buy some...didn't think of that at the time.
Jeff and Bethany's dad hung out and Jeff got the whole scoop about the movie and lots of details that I hope he will remember to tell me! Details are not his thing. Just sayin.' He did remember to tell me which actors were Christians--which was very cool! Dennis Quaid, Craig Nelson, Carrie Underwood and AnnaSophia Robb. The family who is coming to Boston told us what it was like the day Bethany got attacked and how the church got the urgent call...how all the church members dropped what they were doing and rushed to the hospital to pray and surround the family. Her dad really was about to undergo surgery with the same doctor who took care of Bethany.
Bethany's dad talked about how Paramount pictures made them an offer and when Bethany's mom started to read the script, she tore it up after 15 pages. Paramount couldn't believe that they walked away from the deal. They eventually connected with an investor who wanted to put out a family-friendly movie his daughters could go see. Bethany prayed for weeks about whether or not to move forward with a movie and finally felt that God wanted to use her story to reach others. I think she has given up a lot of freedom--but on the other hand she knows that God has given her a platform for Him.
It was fun to see Bethany in her normal surroundings at church--where she is just another regular person. I think fame must be very suffocating at times.
Since it was pouring, Bethany's mom was trying to help us figure out what to do all day. She and Bethany's texted Adam, Bethany's fiance, who lives on the south side of Kauai (about 90 min. away) and he said it was SUNNY over there. So we decided to take the kids to Poipu beach.
It's so odd how a big rain cloud is parked over most of the island but in the distance you can see blue sky. It's kind of like chasing a rainbow...you think the sky is going to part as you drive toward it but it's always just a bit out of reach. It rained all the way there until we were literally five minutes away. (I was sweating it out because the kids wanted to stay at the villa and swim in the pool, despite the rain and I thought it would be better to find some sun.) The pool isn't heated and although it's a warm rain, the air temperature is cool so the kids are always shivering violently when they swim.
You can see the rain in the background. It is like that all the time. Just a narrow section of the island that is sunny. I don't think we are going to drive 90 minutes every day to get there, so we are just going to have to have fun in the rain on our side of the island.
And literally...in two minutes of driving, we were in the rain again. It was the strangest thing.
But then...we saw a rainbow...
Nice!
It was a very memorable Mother's Day!! Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom, and I also think of all the mother's who birthed my precious kids. I hope they know that their children are treasured by a family in America.
Not sure what we will do today in the rain...we are trying to decide. But no matter how much it rains, it will not rain on our parade! We are so grateful for this vacation!!
