Benaiah’s Hero
In recent weeks we have seen Steve McNair, Michael Jackson, and Auturo Gotti pass away. As these people have left our earth they have left behind thousands and maybe even millions of people who 
viewed these men as their heros. The influence that these men had in their lives was enormous. As I watched millions of people worship these men I started to think.
Benaiah will come into this world in about 10 weeks.
In the context of human influences I want to be the man that is Ben’s greatest influence. When Ben looks for influence I hope that he will choose to look at my life as a model. I hope that my life will be worth modeling. I hope that he will learn from both my victories as well as my failures. I hope that Ben will look at me because I worthy of looking at, and not because I told him to. I hope that Ben sees Jesus as he looks at my life.
I am pretty sure that I will not be a professional football player, a rock star, or a professional boxer. I will however be my son’s greatest influence.
July
Here is a snap shot into life with the Tokushige’s this past week. Summer is always pretty dope in Hawaii.
Hot date with the wife at therapy. Taco Tuesdays.
Turned 28. Outback with the fam. Lobster and steak combo.
Family baby shower. Appreciate big time family support as we get ready for Ben. Much mahalo to mom for planning this.
July 4th in Saint Louis Heights. Good time catching up with some friends from high school. Gotta love food, fireworks, and friends.
Day after 4th of July BBQ with one of my good friends family and the doggies. love pit bulls.
Life is about the people we live it with. Liz and I are blessed to be able to do life with a bunch of people from all over the world. Missing our fam in the PH, but enjoying our time with peeps in Hawaii.
b-day download
Birthdays are one of few times each year that people begin to think about their lives. I am 28 today and thought I would post some of the stuff I got in my head.
-the summer of 1999 I chose to begin to walk with Jesus.
-10 years and I am still passionately in love.
-realizing everyday how great my wife really is.
-1st birthday back in Hawaii in 2 years
-glad I get to spend time with family
-super appreciative for a supportive family that is behind Liz and I 100%
-miss good friends and family in the PH.
-a good friend from Myanmar called at 4am. Missed the call but appreciated the thought.
-appreciate all the people who wished me a happy birthday.
-cant believe that I will be a dad in a few months.
-cant wait to meet Ben.
-excited to see what God has in store for us as a family.
-praying that God will give me the grace to be a great father.
-positive that God will use us in Hawaii. Still trying to process the how part.
-uncertainty definitely pushes me to faith.
-appreciate the wife for being patient as we walk through a bunch of transitions in our life.
-outback for dinner tonight. Gotta love a good steak.
ben’s 1st home vid
I am looking to add video to this blog.
Gonna launch video on this site with Ben‘s 1st home video.
This video was taken at 20 weeks.
24 weeks
The wifey is now 24 weeks pregnant. In just about 3 months we will be parents.
Here are some of my thoughts:
-it seems like Liz’s tummy is growing every day
-I am hoping that I will be a good father
-we try to go swimming at the beach a few times a week
-super grateful that I have a family that is fully supportive
-I give the wife credit for having to deal with having to use the bathroom every 5 minutes
-glad that we were able to make the trip from PH to Hi without any problems
click here to read about our 24th week.
Please keep Liz and Ben in your prayers:
-Ben to be in the right position
-full term baby
-normal healthy baby
-normal delivery
-painless child birth
Happy Mothers Day
This year mothers day has me looking towards the future. Liz is about 4 months away from being a mother. As I think about it I am convinced that she will make a great mother.
Here are my thoughts on why she will make a great mother:
-she has an incredible relationship with Jesus.
-she is a great cook.
-she is full of wisdom.
-she is selfless
-she is considerate
-she is super hard working.
-she is a teacher. (as she explains her plans for educating our children I must say that I am totally impressed)
-she is humble.
I probably could go on forever.
Baby you are a great wife, and I am convinced that you will make a great mother. Thank you for being you.
Benaiah Tokushige
The wifey blogged about this yesterday.
Liz is now 20 weeks pregnant and after an ultrasound yesterday we found that our son is healthy and normal.
I read a pretty cool book around the time that Liz got pregnant and found a name in there that caught our attention.
As Ben’s entry into the world gets closer we are definitely getting more excited. Children are definitely a blessing from Jesus.
Pacquiao
Here are my thoughts:
-Pacquiao is 2 fast.
-Pacquiao is 2 strong.
-gotta love the wifey for joining me to watch the fight.
-i am gonna miss watching the fights on the big screen
-maybe someone will hook us up with tickets for the next fight in vegas
-Filipinos are definitely passionate people
-As time passes I am starting to love this country more and more.
-I am amazed at how 1 man can inspire so many people
-What Pacquiao is doing is absolutely unexplainable.
-Pacquiao vs PBF????????
the wifey
Had a great time last night chillin with one of my favorite couples in the world.
As usual Rob asked a very insightful question.
What is it about Liz that I love?
His question got me thinking…… I love the wifey because….
-she is super loyal
-she is mature and handles conflict calmly
-i know she loves me for who i am
-she is a great cook
-she is definitely a hottie
-she is carrying our future baby
-she said yes
-she has a great sense of humor
-we can chill without saying anything and enjoy each others company
-she has a heart for Jesus
-she is willing to follow me even if I dont always know what i am doing
-she is super smart
I think I could go on forever with this list, but to sum it up here is my last reason…
i love her because i love her.
week in Baguio
We are spending the week in Baguio with Liz’s family. Time away from the business of MM is great.
Here is a recap of our trip so far:
-super good to have some time to catch up on some reading and writing
-a bunch of traffic on the way here. Took us 6 hours.
-attended a great wedding. I am always encouraged to see young couples with the faith to trust God financially and get married. Congrats Zach and Rinka
-I will actually miss the cultural experience of flushing the toilet with a pail of water and showering with water from the timba using the tabo.
-I love the weather here in Baguio. The heat in Manila was getting a little out of control.
-roosters were crowing at 3am. Ha. Gotta love life in the country.
-Victory Baguio is a great growing church. Props to Ptr Julius and the team.
-Mother Bessie is the epitome of what it means to serve.
-Dinner tonight with some of Liz’s aunty’s and uncles
13 weeks
Each week our baby is growing at an incredible rate. I am totally blown away as I think of how God forms life. There is so much stuff that has to happen for life to form, and God thought through every detail.
Here is what is happening this week:
-Baby has fingerprints
-veins and organs are clearly visible
-Baby weighs about an ounce
-Baby is about 3 inches long
We made it through the 1st trimester and have only 6 months to go.
On Becoming Baby Wise
Started a new book today. “On Becoming Baby Wise”
This is supposed to be the prequel to “Baby Wise”
So far so good. Got me thinking about priorities and the amount of leadership that is involved in leading a family. As much as I work to be a good leader at work, if I can not hold it down at home what I do at work is meaningless.
Here are some thoughts from the book.
“Great marriages produce great parents.”
Here are 5 ideas that we will attempt to implement into our family:
1. Life will not stop once baby comes.
2. Date the wifey.
3. Continue loving gestures we enjoyed before baby.
4. Spend time with friends.
5. Take time each day to unwind and discuss the days events without baby interrupting.
10 weeks
Yesterday we went to the doctor and got to see something pretty cool. We got the first picture of baby Tokushige. 
Most books say that the first 2 months of the pregnancy are the most critical as it is in this phase that there is the highest potential for something going wrong.
After looking at this ultrasound the doctor was able to tell us that Liz is 10 weeks pregnant and everything seems to be good so far. All of the blood tests show that the baby and Liz is totally normal.
I can’t believe I will be a father in just 7 more months. Ha. This is pretty crazy.
Tagaytay
About 2 hours out of Manila is a spot called Tagaytay.
The wife has been talking about getting some fresh air since we got back to Manila. A good friend of ours offered us an opportunity to check out a rest house. A wise man once said “a happy wife is a happy life” Listening to these words of wisdom we were on our way to Tagaytay.
Here is a recap of our getaway:
food:
-Carlo’s pizza
-RSM: crispy pata, shrimp sinigang, beef kaldereta
-Breakfast at Antonios (kind of tough to get to but definitely worth it)
thoughts:
-I need to do stuff like this more often
-God blessed me with a wife and I have to appreciate her more
-Life is to short to be busy with work 24/7 and not enjoy it.
-I need to believe God for a rest house on the North Shore.
-Liz and I are blessed.
-marriage is about serving till I cant serve anymore then serving some more.
-I really do love my wife.
Yes
Hot date with the wifey tonight. We watched YesMan.
Movie was pretty funny. Here are a few thoughts:
-You gotta love the price of movies in Manila.
-Why is Jim Carey the same guy in every movie? I guess he found something that works and stuck with it. Kind makes me think about the idea behind focus.
-I wonder if I say yes enough.
-More than saying yes I wonder if I have a heart that says yes.
I think all leaders have to have a heart that says yes. The faith to believe anything is possible. There are a lot of people who talk about faith all the time, but when it comes time to do something they all disappear. People give up even before they tried.
I hope that I never become one of these people that internally say no to everything because of fear.
Obedience
Life is full of decisions. 
As my wife and I walk through difficult decisions I am glad that we both understand the basis for making good decisions.
We both realize, although we sometimes forget that good decisions are based on obedience to God.
We are currently in a place where we are weighing out priorities, thinking about pros and cons, and trying our best to make a critical decision. As we think about the decision more and more we realize there is only 1 factor that really matters.
This one factor is obedience.
