blessings

one of the big reasons for our most recent hawaii trip was to get Saraya baptized.  we wanted to have a traditional hawaiian blessing in the ocean.  unfortunately, it rained pretty heavily just before we arrived and that meant the water was not a good place to put a young person with an impressionable immune system in.  that's ok though because we were still able to have the blessing at the ocean using some salt water the minister had reserved just for cases like this.

there are a few reasons we wanted to have her blessed in hawaii.  that's where we met and got married so it is a very special place for us both.  the minister that performed the blessing was Butch Helemano.  a true Kahuna, Butch is a very well-known and respected man and we felt privileged that he wanted to conduct the ceremony for us.  (he's made cameos in a movies and tv shows about hawaii, usually playing a priest - check it out here, and is also a popular reggae artist).  Butch explained that ancient hawaiians believed that life entered the body through the big toe and exited the body through our tear duct.  mahele means to share and aloha is from two words alo (meaning face to face) and ha (meaning breath of life).  as part of her ho'omaika'i ( blessing ), we each honi (kiss noses) and share the breath of life.  he then dipped her toe in the salt water, applied salt water to her face, and then poured the water over her head as he chanted blessings.

it was a beautiful ceremony and we are so pleased that we could share it with our little love.  afterwards, we sat on the beach and reflected for a bit.  i think she was pleased too!