I got up and walked this morning. It was cloudy, but only dripped on me a little bit. It was nice to exercise and to have some quiet time. Quiet time is hard to come by when 4 of you are in a 1-bedroom condo. I spent 45 minutes or so walking up the coast. It troubles me how may homeless people I saw on the beach - more on that later.

We got up and went to church today. There are more churches here than I expected, including a surprising number of Seventh Day Adventist. Also, because of the Asian influence, there are a good number of Buddhist temples. Still, it' s surprising that none of the churches are that big. Instead, there are a large number of small churches. We looked for a Methodist church. This rapidly became confusing, because the only listing we could find was for a combination of United Methodist and Church of Christ. How does that work? I guess we'll never know.

We settled on Kauai Bible Church. It was a fun and interesting experience. Everyone was very welcoming. I suppose we ended up in the right place, because the pastor and his wife spent 20+ years at a church in north Garland before coming here. Not really sure how you go from pastoring a church in Garland, Texas, to pastoring a church in Kauai unless it is God's plan for you.

One of the things I really enjoyed was the music. They had a standard praise band, plus a small 'orchestra' - violin, cello, flute, saxophone, etc. - in this fairly small church. No a/c, but fans evenly spaced around the sanctuary plus the open doors and windows made it perfectly nice. The message concentrated on how God feeds people - physically and spiritually.

The congregation does an amazing work called "Church on the Beach" one Sunday each month. Poverty is on the rise as the economy is really hurting here. The schools are closing for "furlough" days because the money isn't there to pay the teachers. Church on the Beach has an average of over 300 attendees, with 10+ receiving Christ each time. They are distributing food, bicycles, sleeping bags, and other necessities. I pray that God continues to use this ministry to reach people who are hungry and hurting. Our thanks to the people of Kauai Bible Church for such a warm welcome.

For lunch, guess what the kids wanted for lunch? If you're a parent, I bet you guessed it. McDonald's and Burger King. Who chooses that on vacation? Anyway, Keith and I hit the drive thru, but then we went back into Kapa'a to TNT burgers for ourselves -a small shack on the side of the road. It was our kind of place. They actually grind their own steak into burgers. Plus, they are dog people. Check out the bottom of the menu.

In the afternoon it was pool time. Our intention was cook out by the pool, but it started pouring rain! Normally, when it rains here, it goes for a little while and then stops and clears up. Not this time. It poured for most of the night and into the next morning. So, we had hot dogs inside and played Uno until bedtime. That was fun, too.