Okay so we have to go back and talk about the great "until we meet again" parties that we had with our incredible Maui family.  We had a wonderful evening with everyone in Kihei including a great potluck, a slideshow, fellowship time and a wonderful box decorated like an RV.

The next two Saturday's we went to 1000 peaks and had a campfire on the beach.  BBQ food, singing and guitar time as well as those beautiful Maui sunsets.  What an awesome time with everyone and we certainly appreciate how much love was shown to us as we departed. 

Brent sure does know how to make a good fire!  We were able to keep nice and warm on the beach when the temperature dropped below 80°.









Nothing like a little worship time around the fire with family.



We sure do miss everyone back in Hawaii and really miss the warm weather.  We have already driven through three separate snow flurries and we are still waiting on some cold weather boxes to arrive.

The drive from Las Vegas to Texas was really fun.  We had to go 1320 miles and had the Mini Cooper loaded to the gills.  3 suitcases, a guitar, a computer, projector screen, projector, video camera bag, camera bag, 2 pillows, and two humans.  It was a sight to see I can tell you that much.  We made it in 2.5 days and Toni had a great idea to stop at Cracker Barrel and rent an audio book.  Didn't even know you could do that but we did.  It took our mind off the endless lines in the road and the flat desert scenery that seemed to go on forever.
Fortunately the Mini was able to cruise full loaded at 85mph and still manage 34.89 mpg.  Thank you Lord for such a great car!

The scenery was actually quite beautiful at times and seeing the rain off in the distance was really spectacular.








Welcome to Texas, who knew it would take longer to go across Texas than it did to get there from Las Vegas?









Anyway we made it safe and sound here and Thanksgiving was a great celebration with family.  We certainly have a lot to be thankful for each and every day of our lives.  We thought that was even more true this year with the numerous surgeries and the cancer but each and every day we are truly blessed beyond anything we can imagine.  I have the most incredible wife imaginable and the road trip was a total blast with her.  Our journey is a joy knowing that God has a wonderful plan for us as we have sought Him and said yes to Him.

Every day Toni and I say how privileged we are to be working from the "road" and how great it is we can work together every day.  God is so good and He loves us all so much.  It is so easy to get distracted and focused on things that don't really matter.  It feels incredible to have very few "things" left in our world.  All our "worldly" possessions are in one little room here and can easily fit in the bed of a truck. 

Spend time reading God's word and treasure it in your heart.  Take time to invest in people around you today and in your relationship with the Father.  Nothing you are working towards outside those things will really matter on that final day you stand before Him.  I find the only thing I miss right now after departing from Maui is the dear friends that I have there.

Praying for you,
David & Toni

Aloha Friends,

Well all the preparing, packing, selling most of our possessions,  moving and saying our sad "aloha's" to our friends on Maui has led to week 1 of our RV adventure.

After picking up our car in San Diego, we drove to Henderson, NV where we were able to spend two nights with Mom/Mama Donna.  Then after picking up our rented RV, we drove to Pahrump, Nevada for our training with Fantasy RV Tours.  Over the pass it was snowing and today it is a gorgeous 40* here but raining. It's supposed to get down to 30* tonight so we are getting the full testing right off the bat on our first trip.

Fortunately, my wonderful, thoughtful mom had purchased EVERYTHING (Pots, pans, iron, ironing board, coffee maker, toaster, sheets, blankets, mop, bucket, trash cans, Kleenex, salt and pepper).  Okay I could seriously go on and on for 5 more paragraphs but what a blessing to not have to spend days trying to get all this stuff and rather focus on hanging out with my brother and his family for his and his son's birthdays.  The only items we had to pick up ourselves were cold  food items which were picked up at good old Wally World! 








This is our "camp" site which,  let me tell you, has us spoiled right from the get-go.  Hot tubs indoors and outdoors; sauna, Jacuzzi's, weight room, and bowling alley.  Check it out for yourself at
RV Resort & Spa We even have our own Cabana and gas grill for our individual spot.
















This is just way too cool.  Actually it is 30* outside and way too cold outside to use!















Hooking up was super easy. Actually it was very quick and so far everything has worked wonderfully.

We are so blessed to be out here on the road enjoying the adventure together.  The people could not be nicer and the trip so far has been uneventful and a blast.

Thank you to all who gave us such wonderful sendoffs. It makes us so happy to have such wonderful family in Maui and we miss each of you dearly.  We are praying for you guys and not a day goes by that we don't think of you and wish we could be sharing this with you personally.

Enjoy the journey with us through this blog.  We will do our best to post here as often as we can and please leave us notes here as well.  You can also friend Toni on FaceBook if you are on there.

Have a blessed day wherever you are and thank the Lord for the breath you just took.  Life is precious and God has a plan and a purpose for each of us.  Ask Him every day what that is for that day and just say "YES"!

In His Service,
David & Toni

YIKES, only 15 days until we depart Maui or our mainland adventure.  We will be working like crazy the next few weeks to get ready for the adventure but we wanted to give you a map link to track us when we are on the road. 

http://www.dabldodesigns.com/oldsite/adventure.php

Stay tuned as we will post here daily once we get on the road.  The View from where WE sit looks mighty grand!
Aloha for now.

Well yesterday we sent our first box via the slow boat back to the mainland.  We are diligently sorting through our "stuff" and sending home the absolutely must keep treasures and clothing that we might need later.  Then there is a pile to go to the thrift store, the consignment shop and finally all our craigslist/ebay stuff. 

We bought our airline tickets today, ONE WAY!  Yikes!  We were able to find an incredible deal on an RV to rent for the 2 weeks we are in training so that means we will be in the campground with the rest of the team and not miles away at a hotel.  We get to try out a class C to see how that would be to live in. 

Well if you are interested we have two pieces of art that we would like to sell before we leave.  You can check out our complete list at Click Here



That is all we have from where we sit today.

Well it has been 107 days since my last post and you see the title has changed.  The view from where WE sit is going to have a new perspective.  The WE being my wife and I and the perspective will be from the captains chairs of a recreational vehicle.

We have been hired by an RV tour company to do sales and computer stuff and we are moving from our home on Maui to the mainland U.S. in November.  Yes after 17 years on Maui, I am venturing off the rock.  We will be posting here are travels as we see God moving daily in our lives.  From my completed eye surgeries and a new bill of health to providing us with the means to fulfill the desires of our heart to travel and serve Him.  So many wonderful things have happened to make this dream a reality and it is all because He is good and He loves His children.

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to walk in obedience each step of the way as God leads, not jumping ahead nor lagging behind.  We are leaving church family behind that we have grown to love so deeply but we also know that God has already solidified those relationships and it is not good bye but aloha, for now.

Stay tuned as we share the ups and downs of selling everything we possess, moving, training, driving, visiting, working, camping, and finding just the right RV to live AND work in 24/7.  The good thing is I have a partner who I absolutely adore and enjoy every moment I can get with her.

I just wanted to thank each of you for your prayers for my eye surgery.  There is absolutely NO OTHER explanation for the way I feel and for my nearly pain-free recovery other than answered prayer.

I was at the Ala Moana mall eating Saimen literally 2.5 hours after being in the recovery room.  I walked from the hotel to the mall and scarfed down a big bowl of soup.  God is so good and so faithful and I wanted to share that with you today.  

I have gotten so complacent and I neglect to pray for people and situations or at least I used to.  Prayer is such a powerful gift that God has blessed us with and I am on the mend because of prayer and God's guiding hand upon the surgeon. 

Yes the fervent prayers of a righteous (person) can accomplish much! 

I heard today on the radio a wonderful analogy of our walk with the Lord, it goes something like this:
So many of us think that once we get saved we are put into a row boat and that we must strive in WORKS as we cross the sea of life.  However in fact Jesus puts us in a sailboat and the ONLY way we make it anywhere is with Him putting wind in the sail.  His Holy Spirit, His grace, not works so that no one can boast.  If you are striving today to please God with works or with checklists, give it up!  The only way you or I will get to where God wants us to be is to allow Him to fill our sails and guide us.  We were saved FOR good works not BY good works.

Are you doing things FOR God today that He called you to or are you doing things BY your efforts in an attempt to please God?

I heard a message yesterday that really struck a spot in my heart.  The message was about who are neighbor is so we can identify them and love them like ourselves. Mark 12:31.  The speaker said, "It's not who your neighbor is, it's about who you will be neighborly to today."  I had always taken it literally so that I could pat myself on the back for being nice to my neighbor next door and stepping over the guy two doors down. 

"Who are you being neighborly to today?"

 Do you cross the street when you see someone or some situation that you "might" have to get involved with, rather than staying the course and seeing if you can help?  What if today that was the very course, the very thing that God had placed before you?  What if that was your assignment for the day?  I believe that on judgment day we will stand before Jesus and He will take an account of not only the things we did but the assignments we missed.  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 

"Don't miss what God planned for you today."

As I walked around our church auditorium praying yesterday, God began revealing so much to me about my heart and I want to share with you so you too can examine where you are at.  I work full-time at a church and by default I felt that everything I did was for the church and therefore ministry.  The first thing that struck me was how many things I do in the flesh that will be simply burned up.  1 Corinthians 3:12-15
Second thing that struck me was how arrogant my heart was to think that if I didn't do something that it wouldn't get done.  Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing". John 15:5 
Wow, how many times have I done things apart from Christ, running on my own strength and direction all under the guise of ministry? 

Here is a question for you to ask God and yourself today, "If there were no tax benefits for tithing, would I do it?"  Yeah I had a radical conversation with God yesterday and today huh?  Ask God to reveal your true heart and see if there be any wicked way in you.  King David was taking a huge risk when he asked this of God, yet David is said to be a man after God's own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14

Where is your heart today?  Are you looking for ways to be neighborly to those that God places in your path or are you crossing the street and looking the other way?  What is your motive and motivation to serve the Lord?  Is it for recognition, pride, or position?  Who is doing the work of the Lord in your life?  Is it Christ working through you or are you out there striving and struggling to keep things afloat?

I have listed many questions today and I pray that you will take the time to truly ask the Lord to show you where you are at with these things.  Confess those things that you have carried on your own and ask the Lord to help you serve as Christ served, with a heart of compassion and pure love.

If our motives are anything but Christ-like then we are missing the whole purpose and the blessing!

I don't know about you but I had to really sit and think about this for a while.  I have run into so many people that say they are believers and according to a recent Gallup poll 46% of Americans say they are believers.  I doubt this number to be true and in fact I bet the number is much higher.  After all, Satan is a believer!  Yes that's right, James 2:19 says "You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder."

So many churches today are offering the "say the prayer and you too can be saved" without offering any counsel beyond the "fire insurance".  What does believing have to do with entering heaven?  Satan believes, do you think he will be there?  Absolutely not.  So what differentiates a believer from a follower?  After all what is a Christian?  It isn't being born in the United States, or having parents who are Christians, or even that you go to church every weekend.  Paul gives us a wonderful definition in Philippians 3 of what a Christian looks like:

"For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh"

He calls true Christians “the real circumcision”, i.e. the true covenant people of God. Then he gives three characteristics of Christians in verse 3. He says true Christians are those who:

1) Worship in the Spirit of God
2) Glory in Christ Jesus
3) And put no confidence in the flesh (or self)

Do those sound like things Satan is doing?  How about you?  Are these things definitions of your walk with Him?  Merely believing in Christ will not get you saved.  I am certainly not talking about works or trying to add to or take away from, I am simply asking us to examine our lives and truly ask yourself, "Am I a believer or a true follower of Jesus Christ?"  Following requires full trust in the one leading.  Following requires full submission to the one leading as well as the laws established by Him.  I did not say that we had to be perfect because we have all fallen short of these laws and that is what we call sin.  We do not become sinless once we begin following Christ, we however are given the ability to not stay in habitual sin through the Holy Spirit. 

Unfortunately many on that day of judgment will hear, "I never knew you, depart from Me."  Many will say, "but Lord I did all these things in Your name."  Will He say to you on that day, "well done good and faithful servant?"  Do you KNOW Him today or do you know OF Him?  There are eternal consequences to that  question.  To KNOW God is to have an intimate relationship with Him and live your life as a FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ not merely a believer in Him. 

Have you fully submitted your mind, your will and your emotions to God?  Are you diligently seeking after what He wants for your life or are you chasing the American dream in hopes of somehow being fulfilled? 

Ask God to reveal your true heart to you today and ask Him to reveal Himself to you as well.  He says that if anyone seeks Him they will find Him and if anyone asks Him to come into their lives He will enter them and make them a new creation.  But it doesn't stop there, you have been Born Again and at that very moment new life begins.  From that moment on you must follow Christ and grow in your knowledge of Him and become like Him. 

Where are you today?  Are you a believer or a follower? 

Today I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Born OK the first time." and I wanted to have one of those big L.E.D. signs on my bumper to tell him how wrong he was.  I actually felt myself getting all worked up and I wondered if anyone else has had these thoughts?  How many times have you thought or maybe even said, "Wait til they get to heaven then they will find out they were wrong!"

I have been so convicted in those times because if my heart was in the right place I would be heartbroken for those that are truly lost.  This poor man on the road didn't deserve my internal road rage, what he needed was a prayer sent to heaven on his behalf because of the eternal state that he is in.

It is true that he was born OK the first time and I am sure that many people you know have that same feeling, however Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  OK is not going to get us into heaven and it has nothing to do with anything that we accomplish while we are here either.  It says in Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast."

I would not want to serve a god that I was equal to or could somehow do anything to achieve entrance to heaven.  It is interesting to note that every “religion” has some sort of life after death or nirvana.  Some place that, through works, you can obtain this level of “heaven”. If you don't make it the first time you can "come back" and try again (works). It is wonderful to know that when Christ said He was the only way to the Father, that He was actually taking the weight of “works” off our shoulders.  Being “Born Again”, as the bumper sticker refers to as being born OK the first time, is about accepting that Jesus Christ paid that price once, for all.  We need to be Born Again, accept what Jesus did on our behalf, so that the sins that we are born into can be taken and nailed to the cross. What an awesome thing it is to know that I will one day stand before God and because of Jesus He will welcome me into His Kingdom for eternity.  It won’t be about a balance scale whether or not I have “done enough” or if I somehow was born OK the first time, second time or the fifth time.
 
I was in the doctor’s office today getting my eye pressure checked and while I was waiting I was looking at the amazing charts on the wall.  The detail of the human eye is absolute proof that a superior being (God) created everything.  How could a lens or the optic nerve evolve when it didn’t know why it was evolving or into what?  The human eye is so intricate and perfect that if one piece were missing the whole eye would not function.  This is called irreducible complexity if you care to look it up on your own.  It is absolutely fascinating how God designed such detail into His creation.  As Science “advances” they will only find more detail as God continues to reveal more and more.  DNA?  That is only a strand and when they dig deeper, DNA will have DNA and the complexities of the design will continue to shout the Glory of the Lord. 

Can you tell I am excited to be alive today?  You should be too!  I pray that wherever you are at this moment that you would sense God’s presence in your life and be aware of His infinite love for you.  Yes He loves you deeply; and no your circumstances are not an indicator of how He loves you, they are a result of a sin filled world.  You can know peace today that goes beyond comprehension.  You can know love today that is greater than anything you have experienced in the past.  Jesus gave His life willingly for you so that you might have a relationship with Him.  NOT religion, not works, but a true intimate relationship.

Do you know Him?  Not know of Him, but do you know Him?  

It’s been a month since I last wrote and I wish I could tell you I had a good reason. Truth be told I have had a bunch of things come from the Lord over the past month but I just didn’t know what to write.  As many of you know I have had a very difficult time with one of my eyes.  I have had two detached retinal surgeries in 8 months and the vision in that eye is about 5%.  Read on...

When the earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan this past week we had to quickly decide what to take from our home, get in one of our cars and drive to higher ground. I was paralyzed for several minutes as I couldn’t grab everything. I scrambled to back up my computer to external drives then realized I didn’t have the time. I grabbed my guitar, my cameras, unplugged the external drives with whatever was on them, passport, birth certificate, a change of clothes, an orange jacket, camo pants and stuffed it all into a backpack. I headed downstairs and my wife was packing food, water, toothbrushes, towels, pillows and clothing. She and I discussed my guitar and it’s “value” and I left it behind. We quickly went around the house and turned off all the power strips and I turned off all the electricity except for the fridge.  I am now so impressed with what my wife chose to get, the necessities of life and not the things that weigh you down.  Wisdom!

We packed the car, locked the doors (dead bolt too) and dove into traffic. Just about that time the first siren whaled, indicating the seriousness of our venture. Granted we had 5 hours before the first wave would strike but none-the-less the adrenaline was pumping.  Like the dead-bolt was going to stop the wave?

Fast forward 36 hours, the devastation to Japan was unprecedented, people were missing and presumed dead. The video footage was something that Hollywood could not have produced and yet there it was in near real time. My wife and I returned home to sand covering our street, a bit of debris along the curbs and maybe a dozen dead fish on the sidewalk. The house was completely intact and other than sweltering heat from the house being shut up, everything was fine.

I share this with you because in the days since all of this I have been really taken back by my attitude towards it all. God has been opening my eyes to a world I have truly not seen. Okay a world I have not cared to see but it has been there. A world seen through the eyes of the Lord which is a world dying for hope, for peace and for purpose.

I write all this to get to this point, God used an earthquake and tsunami this week to show me how ridiculous my focus has gotten. “Oh my gosh I cannot grab all my stuff now what do I do?” Those dear people in Japan had zero time to prepare and had no choice but to flee and unfortunately in some cases could not even do that. I have been such a type ‘A’ getter-done guy and I have been all about the task. I am grabbing things to “save” them and in the process I was curt to my wife and I had plenty to say to the tourists in their cars that were clogging the roadways on my way out of “my town.”

Father forgive me for being so foolish. Help me to see people the way you see them. Lord remind me to store up my treasure in Heaven and that the people around me are the only thing of true value besides my relationship with you.  I don't need earthly eyes to see the hurting or the needs of the people, I need to take the focus off of myself and listen to Your voice.  Father You bring hope, You are peace and You have a purpose for each one.  Help me to share that GREAT NEWS with everyone around me. 

I challenge you with this;
"If the task isn’t about people then rethink the task!"  "If your stuff has control of you then what do you have control of?" Take a moment every morning to see how much you can thank the Lord for just by what you see around you. How about starting with the fact that you are alive, that you can see and that He has given you another day.

Thank you for taking a little time out of your day to read these words. I want you to know that God has a wonderful plan for your life, that He loves you very much and that He desires a personal relationship with you. If you do not understand that or you do not know God like that I encourage you to find a church near you and seek Him out. Jeremiah 29:11-13 in the bible says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

With fresh eyes...