Taking the Proverbial Plunge

I was about 23... My boyfriend and I were driving through a state park in Wisconsin and we saw these young guys jumping the cliffs. All of a sudden I just had an incredible desire to jump!So I asked my boyfriend to park the car and  I said "I have to jump!" Before he could say anything I was out of the car and began running up the cliff.. Sounds of people whistling,yelling, and cheering mixed with extremely loud punk rock music filled the air. I finally reached the crag in the rock that all of these punk rock kids were on.. I watched a few jump and then one of them asked me" Have you ever done this before?" I just shook my head "no"All at once they began to yell instructions at me " Don't stand on the edge.. just walk up to it and jump." "Keep your arms right next to your body" " Just stay stick straight until you hit the water." {My boyfriend had made it up to the crag and actually went before me.. His landing was not too pretty but I knew that I had to go next} I took in everything they had to say.. took a deep breath and began to walk to the edge.. I hesitated and then jumped..while screaming as loud as I possibly could. I remember that I kept thinking that I was going to hit the water at "anytime soon".. but instead I could actually feel the wind current under me.. and then I finally felt myself pierce through the water... I popped back up to the surface and all the punk rockers were yelling and cheering for me>. My boyfriend and I just couldn't believe that we had jumped the 75 foot cliff. We climbed out of the river and got back in the car soaking wet.. we had no towels and just had to drip dry while driving back to Minneapolis. About an hour after our jump I was so overwhelmed with adrenaline that I was talking non stop and I distinctly remember telling Jason that I felt like I could get out and run the 45 minutes home. I was hooked on cliff jumping and did it as much as possible.. until one day  I went with another group of friends and jumped wrong. I landed like I was sitting down.. I immediately felt something in my clavicle area... I tried lying down on the rocks to gain some relief but then realized that I could not pull myself back up with out sharp pains in my clavicle area. when I finally went to the doctor he told me that i I had strained my clavicle bone and that i would not be able to lift anything over my head for at least 6 weeks.. and that I would have to have someone around to help me get up and lay down for that same amount of time.I had to quit my catering  and waitressing jobs.. It sucked... But this is growing up.. Knowing that every risk we take can come with triumphs and yet can just as easily bring with it tragic defeats. I believe that though we can have a thousand triumphs  if we have hundreds of defeats we remember that pain of disappointment, loss, or perhaps rejection first and foremost. This is what causes us to take the safest route more then not as we get older in life.. not because this is what we desire but to simply escape any unnecessary pain. But I see so many people begin to lose passion and love for life.. instead they escape into books,movies,social networking, drinking.. even food. Yet I can see in their eyes that they are thirsting for more out of life.. thirsting to feel the passions they once felt.. thirsting to be able to dream vividly and experience new places in their heart and mind... thirsting to be able to touch that deep place with hope and joy.

I am on the proverbial edge again.. and I have hesitated.. but now am ready to jump. Here on the Honolulu base we are blessed to run a school called the SBSCC ( school of Biblical Foundations Core Course) This is a three month course that teaches the inductive study method .  I  believe that this course will not only grow my own understanding of the word but will also benefit the students that I disciple and teach in the future. I also know that this school will open more doors to teaching. Both Bryan and I believe that this is the best time for me to be a part of this school as we are hoping that next year at this time, when the course is offered again,we will be pregnant or will have a baby in our arms.The jumping off the cliff comes in two ways.. first is family time. Bryan will have to become the main giver to Kieva for the next three months as this course is known for its crazy amounts of study hours.. many days being 10 to 12 hours. The second is monetarily. The school is 3100.00 dollars in itself.. but even before that we need to pay 1300.00 of debt to the base. This must be paid by April 7th in order for me to do the school... So here I go ajumpin.. I am asking every person that reads this to consider becoming a part of our support team. We have about 400.00 a month in support but we have double that in bills a month. Phones. car insurance, staff fees, etc I am also asking you to consider supporting us in this schooling endeavor. Bryan will be the Head of maintenance and our transportation guy on base this coming quarter. He continues to minister to the young men on base that have had hard backgrounds. One just left for his outreach and I know that my husband's discipleship was part of the ingredients that helped this young man get to the place that he could be successful on outreach  for the Lord. We continue to pour into young people's lives and train young people to carry the love of God through classic ministry of preaching and teaching, through serving and building projects, and through friendship to places that many would never desire to go. we just sent teams to the jungles of Brazil, Borneo, and Mongolia! We want you to be a part of this exciting ministry and this exciting equipping time for our family.

If you would like to support us in anyway please facebook me or email me or call me and I can not only give you more information but can answer any questions you might have. Here's to jumping off that cliff!

Maria & Bryan Daughtry

2707 Hipawai Place

Honolulu. HI 96822

Kieva in his volleyball class

Sea Glass, Tsunami's, and Such

Some people call it Mermaid Tears... most of us know it as Sea Glass. Whatever the name, it's beautiful. I remember being a kid and visiting my cousins in Michigan. I had grown up in Illinois and only understood landlocked life. When we arrived at their home I saw jars and jars filled up with these beautiful rocks.. they had to explain to me that it was actually glass from the river. It was love at first sight. Then I went home and forgot all about them. Fast forward to my early twenties and me moving to Maui. I rediscovered my love for sea glass again. Somedays I would spend hours hunting at the beach for those perfect looking pieces. Sea glass actually brings a feeling of serenity to me.. and I believe it's not only their beauty but because of the what they represent. Here they are, broken pieces of glass, with the sharpest of edges, ugly and insignificant. Then they are rolled around in the ocean, thrown against the sand, sea shells, and reefs,again and again until one day the ocean carries them to the shore and they are "ready". They are smooth, have rounded edges,and the beauty has been brought out of them.    

Then with some help from an artist they are made to be adorned and shown off. This is so our life in Christ. Whether we know it or not we come to Him a broken people.. broken ideas of value, self, destiny,and even broken ideas about Him. We walk through this life in a world full of pain, injustice, disease and heartbreak. Yet if we allow His love to overwhelm us and overtake us He will soften our hard edges, and that undying, unconditional love will draw out that inner beauty that He knows is there. He understands our beauty and value from the beginning because He wove us together in our mother's womb's and formed our intermost beings. He calls  us precious and valued.I so love what the ocean does to these pieces of glass.. but the strength of the sea can cause so much devestation as well.

 Of course I am speaking about the tsunami in Japan. Watching the horrific footage brought tears to my eyes and an ache in my heart. It has caused me to think about the Tsunami relief work we did in Sri Lanka.. the people who were still in complete shock and complete devestation a week after their island had been hit. They recalled stories to us of fighting the currents to get to their loved ones bodies that were stuck under water. They showed us where houses once stood and huts stood but now was miles of flat sandy beach. I just remember the sadness in their eyes.. and I see that look in the eyes of the japanese... I wish I could fly over there today... hug someone, hold a hand, play with the children, bring some sort of relief to the deep set devestation they are going through. Lord please hear their cry, send the aid, the relief, send someone with laughter in their pocket and comfort in their shoulders... It's hard at times to talk about normal things when I know that even at this moment thousands are at their lowest in life and in devestation...wierd to go on facebook and see a post about the tsunami and then the next post about food, or fun, or silliness. This is a strange time we live in.. when we can know and see it all but still cannot touch in the places that need touch and comfort.

 Yet our lives go on too...

 I am now the Pastoral Director of the base.. It sounds too puffy to me.. haha But I do love all that it includes; overseeing worship and intercession times for the base, bringing about prayer intiatives here, I also have the privelage of overseeing the growth groups here.. the mission statement for this role is "To encourage spiritual well being and continued growth at personal and corporate levels." So official!  I am still overseeing our kids club and the boutique... I will be praying about the timing of handing those things over or keeping them on the agenda. 

Both Bryan and I are also exploring the idea of me speaking more and traveling more. I know I am called to the church body, I am called to stir the church and  be a reminder of the beauty of our salvation and to bring prophetic ministry. So we will be praying about what that looks like.. If you think that you would ever be interested in me coming to your women's group. college group, or church please let me know.

Bryan continues to be a sounding board for many.. and a speaker of love and forgiveness. He is still helping out the  base in any way that he can. He has now taken on the responsibilities of all our transportation matters on the base as well as heading up his landscaping team.

Kieva is on spring break and is cherishing every bit of it. He makes sure to ask me every morning if he has the day off! Such is this life...full of happiness, sadness, new adventures, and constant reminders that we are not in control.. Lord be with us.