View from the Sheraton, Kona side of Island -- UCC Pastor's Retreat
We bid goodbye to our guests (Linda Carroll, Bob & Myra Gaiser) the first part of the week -- we had had such a great time we hated to see them leave.
The joy of the week was attending the 2-day Hawaiian UCC pastor's retreat at the Sheraton Hotel on the Kona side of the Island. We had stayed there before, and loved the atmosphere. We were again able to see the manta rays at night from the hotel's patio, and then had lunch on that same "Manta Ray Bar & Grill Patio," the next day, listening to the ocean waves crash against the rocks below. I can't imagine a more idealic place for a gathering. Gorgeous! Lots of good food! We were treated well. And it was a good conference -- Rev. Lyle Weible, a retired UCC conference minister from Pennsylvania, led discussions about the gist of ministry: grit-grist-gristle. He outlined what he felt were the three main functions of the church: 1) to offer a faith to live by: 2) people to live with; (3) mission to live for. That was only one of the many insights and stories he shared. It was also good to meet other ministers and learn more about the churches and culture here. John was able to enjoy snorkeling nearby and reading by the pool--without rain! What a tough life!
We took the southern route back to Hilo to see more of the coffee farms and the Black Sand Beach. It was raining most of the way so we didn't explore that much.
John and I were the featured speaker's at our church's Senior Ministry program this week. We used the theme "God's Call and Our Response," giving them a little background about our work of ministry, and trying to elicit their ideas about their ministry as well.
We finally got a day of sun today at the end of the week -- enough to sit out in our back yard for a couple hours of reading. We have a nice view from there -- watched a cruise ship down in the harbor take off late in the afternoon.
I recently read that Hilo, HI is number one on the top 10 of the wettest cities in US as well as the city with the most days of rain! I can attest that we do get rain! But I also read in the local paper that Hilo is called the drunkest city in the US. That was a surprise because we haven't been that aware of people being drunk.
Saturday night we went to the restaurant at the Imiloa Science Museum & Planetarium for a crab legs buffet dinner. The crab legs were longer and skinnier than what we get in Bodega Bay, but once again ate way too much! John is faithful about going to the YMCA just down the road for exercise; I can't say that I've done a very good job of exercising--just a bit of walking won't do it, I'm afraid. Oh well--we're only in Hawaii for a short time. How much weight can I gain in just 3 months???
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