I have been wanting to record a video to update our friends and family about our beloved Maui, however I have been unable to get myself to do it so I will write. Dad always loved my writing so I guess this is appropriate.
August 8th, 2023. It was a normal day for us. You see we had left Maui in May for our #sollarssummershenanigans so we were in Colorado. It was our sons birthday so always a day for celebration. We had received information that our home in Lahaina Maui, Hawaii was without power. We knew there was a brush fire east of town but saw news they had it contained and out. I had talked to my girlfriend on island that afternoon. We connected to just catch up from us being off island. She said the winds were crazy.
Hurricane Dora was passing 500 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. Hurricane force winds were reaching the islands.
Later in our evening, we received a text from our friend staying in our ohana (cottage). He sent a video of the crazy winds that broke our plumeria trees and blowing shingles off the roof. The video showed smoke in the distance and our neighbor lady saying they may have to evacuate. The next video we got was of dark smoke very close to the neighborhood with our friend saying he could hear explosions. Then nothing, no more texts, no more videos. We retreated to the news to get our information. We saw pictures of power lines and trees down all over the island. And then picture and videos of all the fires sparking because of the downed lines. "Hurricane Fire" they call it. We prayed our neighbors and our home were safe. It was not looking good from the information we were seeing from local news sources.
You see with the power outages from early in the day, the community was without cell service. The 911 system was down. There was no siren warning sounded. With the winds, the fire was moving a mile a minute. Sparks from downed lines and winds blowing flames and sparks, fire was everywhere. Traffic was chaos with those trying to outrun the fire, not knowing how close it was until they saw flames. For many it was too late.
Late Tuesday night we heard from our landlords (who live in the main house on the property). They had left earlier in the day to drive to the other side of the island to pick up other family members at the airport. They left the dogs at home. They were stuck in the car in the Target parking lot because the roads were closed. We had word that all our neighbors escaped and got the dogs. We knew all of our people had evacuated.
Wednesday we were seeing more videos and pictures of the mass destruction. The first aerial photos/videos started coming out and we studied it, replayed it, screenshot it so we could enlarge it. We could tell the house at the beginning of the driveway was still standing and we could tell the homes across the drive were gone but we couldn’t tell if ours was still standing. We were in disbelief with the amount of loss and devastation as we watched the videos and looked at images. The grief started to hit as we realized the life we had, and the community we had would never be the same.
Wednesday night we got the call….
Our home was still standing. Along with 4 others on our side of the driveway. 5 others on the opposite side of the driveway were gone. One of our neighbors had been able to sneak in to check on things. As relieved as we were we were overcome with sadness for our neighbors and guilt for being happy about our home surviving.
Thursday we were able to help coordinate getting our landlord over to Lahaina via boat and he was able to get to the house, get some valuables and take some footage. The trees on the backside of our ohana were singed. There is a small section of the outside of the ohana that is singed but no damage inside. The photo is unbelievable and hard to grasp how our place did not burn. Trees a few feet from the house and buildings 100 ft from our places that are nothing but ashes. We have always said our place is a slice of heaven. Well you see it is only by the grace of God and the fact that my angel is a firefighter. There is a firefighter in heaven that was protecting our home on August 8th (dad was a firefighter for 30 years!)
We have been humbled by the people who carry the burden of our heavy hearts. Those who have reached out to check on us and offering or have donated to help support our people and community. Mahalo to each of you.
We are in contact with friends on the island. I will tell you it is uglier than the news will ever tell you. The area where our home is locked down and cannot be accessed. There is no power, the air is unsafe, there is no water, no cell/communications. It is uninhabitable and will be for some time. The horror stories are mixed with the heroic stories. We will focus on the good that is being done by those surviving, volunteering and donating.
We went to church Sunday with Shad’s brother. I needed to find comfort in our Lord. I needed to stand in worship and be surrounded by a building and people that was a presence of His love. I had a message to hear.
In a time where our minds wander and start to question how God can allow such destruction and loss, we stood in worship and sang “All my life you have been faithful, All my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” Tears streamed down my face as I found myself singing the words “I love your voice, you have led me through the fire”. Those words cut deep into my soul.
As the second song, Christ be Magnified began, a video of the ocean was displayed on the screen. We sang of His creation and I read the words “...if it puts me in the fire I will rejoice cause You’re there, too” displayed on the screen. Shad whispered to me, "the video of the ocean is comforting".
As the pastor stood up to begin his message this photo came on the screen.
"RESILIENCE- how Jesus meets us when we need Him most"
WOW!
The message: The single most important thing about us is what comes to mind when we think about God. A big part of who we are is how we believe in God. Our vision of God needs to elevate our soul. My soul has needed elevated this week. The pastor spoke about how God shows up for us in a season of discouragement . God showed up for us this last week.
“Your ability to bounce back when life knocks you down…Your emotional resilience is rooted in your vision of God”
The message was from Psalm 145 that lays before us a vision of God that gives us resilience.
As we closed in prayer Shad nudges me and points to the man standing in front of us. He is wearing an aloha shirt, filled with Hawaiian flowers. The church was filled with Maui vibes.
We were comforted by the vibes, the love and the message that in time of need (loss and destruction) gives opportunity for good and stories of miracles. It gives us a chance to Praise our Lord for all our blessings. It is a time when we can share God's love through our love and support to others. Our resilience can be a witness of our faith.
(If you are interested in listening to the sermon and a great message, please visit https://www.youtube.com/live/IbVqxeSbe5w?feature=share)
We are blessed we are safe and together. We are blessed to have our needs met. To quote my friend Zanna, "there is always magic in the messy". We have been overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts. We are exhausted. We are so sad to think about the beauty and history of our town and island that is gone forever. We are comforted by our amazing memories from a magical place we call home. It will take a long time for the shock to wear off. We now live a life where we will navigate the grief for the rest of our days. We will continue to count our blessings. There is a lot to process and way too soon to make any type of decision about our future.
We will be patient and let the ashes settle while we pray for direction on how we can minister to our community and our island. In the meantime, we are checking on our friends on island and connecting people with resources and information. We pray that our home that is standing will be a beacon of light and a vision of hope for survival.
For those of you that have asked how you can support. We will be waiting for a bit to get a better understating of what the people close to us will need. This is going to be a very long road. If you would like to help immediately, the following list of people closest to us that have set up opportunities for support. As more come up I will be posting on my Facebook account.
Our landlords have been dear friends of ours for 10+ years. They have beyond blessed us by sharing their home with us and giving us the opportunity to enjoy Maui life as we do. They have many friends that have blessed their life who are in need. We would love to support people that have blessed the friends that have blessed us:
- Friends Lyndsey Miller/Jon Wheeler and their boys Maverick/Evan. they are truly “give the shirts off their backs” kind of people. They lost their home, ALL of their belongings and one of their cars and who knows what their future holds. Venmo: @LyndseyMillerMaui. https://www.gofundme.com/f/lahaina-fire-relief-for-lyndsey-jon-and-2-boys?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer
- Jorge and his family lost everything. This sweet family are near and dear to the whole neighborhood. https://gofund.me/be9f6844
- Harvest at Kumulani Chapel has set up a Maui Relief Fund that will support the impacted congregation. There are MANY. https://harvest.org
- Crystal a youth church leader. Just the sweetest young woman who would do anything for the kids. Her and her husband lost everything. https://gofund.me/0708dc81
- Albion Soccer. The neighbor kids were involved with the Maui Albion Soccer club and one of the soccer families housed our neighbors when they were stuck away from home during the fire. Many Albion families lost everything. https://gofund.me/8209d25b
Jessica Pickering and Maui Diving. This is our local dive shop in Lahaina who lost the shop and many employees that lost their homes.
Choice Health Bar, our favorite place to eat on the island. Many memories made here as we shared a meal with friends and family. A wonderful community business and many employees that lost everything. We have been very blessed by their manager, Jake.
Heather and family is a lady that I got to know through a women’s group I was involved with. She lives across Front Street from us so we see her often at our beach. She was off island at the time of the fire and did not know if her husband and son survived. She was finally able to get word they escaped but their home and car is a total loss. She is able to bring suitcases of supplies with her when she flies home to be reunited with them today. Her family also attends Harvest at Kumulani Chapel. Venmo: @Heather-Ganis
Michelle Trent - a scuba diving friend and worked at Choice for a while. She is a sweet soul that lost her home.
Please keep praying!
Maui nō ka ‘oi, Hawaiian for “Maui is the best,”
*photo are from the last couple of nights and mornings before we left Maui.
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