I was praying about what to write about this week and the Lord put this on my heart. Just thinking about this trip reminds me of so many great and amazing things that the Lord has done for me!
Going to Hawaii had been on my bucket list for years. I first thought of going in 2011 when I was a travel nurse. At the time, I had just lost almost everything I owned and had come from living in Transitional Living. The Lord blessed me with a travel job and my first assignment was in Houston, TX. My next assignment was going to be Hawaii. I could have had the whole trip paid for and I could have lived there for several months while working. But at the time, the thing I needed the most was stability. I didn't have that and I really felt like the right decision to make was to remain in Houston, so that's what I did, passing up my opportunity to go to Hawaii.
During this time in my life, I was totally broke and owed over $50,000 for things I was behind on. I remember thinking I may never get to Hawaii, but I still felt like stability was more important. I gave my thoughts of Hawaii to the Lord and went on with my life.
Last summer, some of my husband's family were going and we all decided to go together. There was 8 of us and the trip was utterly amazing! The weather was perfect, the views were breathtaking and unlike anything I had ever seen. And I got to experience the trip with a family that God blessed me with. People that enjoy being around me. This is something that I haven't always gotten to enjoy in life. God remembered my desire to go and I believe He made it happen. I could go on and on about all the things that made this trip an absolute gift from the Lord, but the most important part to me is that He remembered. Even when I forgot, He didn't.
The other part of the trip that I felt the Lord wanted me to write about is this. We went on several hikes while on the island, but then we went on THE hike. For some reason, I thought this was a short hike to the top. It wasn't. Honestly, I wouldn't have gone if I would have known how hard the climb would be for me. My husband was recording video of our trip and he got video of my face after I had just started the climb. I have to say that my facial expression is HILARIOUS! So pained and I was already breathing heavy, and I had just started. Ha! I forgot to mention that all of my husband's family were athlete's and apparently in much better shape than me! They seemed to climb with ease. Not me! My legs were jelly and all the muscles in my legs were ON FIRE!
I kept going because, remember, I thought this was a short climb to the top. I kept thinking, the top is right there and I would get to that place and find that wasn't the top at all. My sister n law had to even pull me up in several areas as my poor legs couldn't take much more! I hurt and kept thinking I couldn't go on, but I am so glad I did!
The views from the top are in the pictures. It was absolutely breathtaking and words can't describe it. Just standing there was surreal. It's like all the cares of the world disappeared.
To climb or not to climb. The moral of the story is this. I wouldn't have gone on that hike if I knew how hard the climb was going to be. If I didn't go, I never would have enjoyed that breathtaking view. This moment ended up being my favorite part of the trip. Not the climb! Haha! But the view. I thought to myself that I almost missed the best part because I almost quit! God knows me and I think that's why I had the crazy thought that this was a short, easy climb. He knew I wouldn't go if I knew how much it would hurt and how tired I would be.
Maybe that's why God doesn't always show us what's coming. Maybe He can't tell us everything or we wouldn't go. We wouldn't climb towards our healing. We wouldn't climb towards freedom. I think we would fixate on what we were going to lose or the pain we would feel and that would prevent us from enjoying the beauty of what was to come.
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