Play Across the Ocean

It’s 8:26 PM at the time I’m writing, but it feels like the afternoon to me right now. I’m still on Hawaiian time. Yesterday my family got back from an almost two week trip to the island of Maui, and it was incredible.

Last December we had been trying to figure out a way to let our kids take their first airplane ride, and we discovered that plane tickets to Maui were about the same price as anywhere else in the states. We took the plunge. Of course, we couldn’t do a trip to Hawaii the normal way, so we packed our bags with a tent, sleeping pads, freeze dried food, and all our other supplies to create one of the best camping trips we have ever been on.

And boy, did we play in God’s beautiful world. Here’s a little bit of what it looked like.

For the last two weeks we have beheld the glory and handiwork of the Lord. We pitched our tent in campsites by the bluest oceans I’ve ever seen. We snorkeled into a huge underwater world of fish and coral forests. We swam next to sea turtles and watched them gracefully move in the water. We tasted delicious foods like huli huli chicken, mochi, guava, mangoes fresh from the campground orchard, and the best shave ice I’ve ever had. (I even tried raw fish and liked it!) I finished two thrilling books on the plane rides, and went to sleep with the roar of the ocean. We were surrounded by at least 100 spinner dolphins on a boat ride and watched the sun rise at 10,000 feet on a volcano. Through it all we saw the greater glory of the one whose beauty it all points to.

We hiked trails through bamboo forests and to breathtaking views. We spent most days diving face first into the water snorkeling and kicking through the water with our fins. On Mother’s Day I swam in a gorgeous waterfall and we went on to swim in two other waterfalls. We crawled over volcanic rocks and explored tide pools. I may have been a bit sweaty, a little burnt, and I’m sure my hair looked crazy- but boy was I so glad to use and move with the body God gave me.

To cut down on costs we decided to freeze dry many of our meals at home and bring them along with us in our checked baggage. They made it through TSA unharmed, and we had food to eat! This was a great way to eat, as all we had to do was heat up water on our Jettboil and dinner was ready. We had spaghetti, chicken pot pie, carmelized onion and chicken orzo, hamburgers, pork and rice, tomato soup, and biscuits and gravy- to name a few.

We bought a couple audio guides from The Shaka Guide as we drove the Road to Hana. This stretch of road travels along the eastern side of the island. It contains over 600 curves in its 60 miles. While on the road we learned a lot of history of the island and the mythology of the Hawaiian people.

When we stopped to get some banana bread from a famous stop on the Road to Hana, the girl working at Aunty Sandy’s commented on my walkie talkie. She was really interested and said she really loves radios and walkie talkies (on that side of the island, they have limited cell service). I thought it was really funny how our hobbies and interests can unite us in the most surprising places.

Maui is filled with chickens. They run around everywhere. A campground we stayed at had hens and their little chicks running all around. They are walking around restaurants, in parking lots, and just on the road. Of course, there are also roosters. Our first night in our tent wasn’t very long as we were woken up by roosters at 3 AM. And guess what? Roosters don’t just crow once. They do it constantly. I may not have been keeping these particular chickens, but we did feel as if they became our little animals as the days went on. I even got a hat to remember our love/hate relationship with the roosters :).

Of course, I also became a herald with every photo sent along to family and friends back home, and even with this newsletter for you. Because beauty, joy, and delight wasn’t meant to stay isolated. It was meant to be shared.

Now we are back home with a lot of laundry, but also full hearts of gratefulness. What a kind God who gives us a beautiful world to play within.

And since we are ONE DAY away from book release, we had to have a little bit of fun in Hawaii with my book. (Watch until the end to find out how it didn’t go as planned! :) )

Thanks for reading, see you all on LAUNCH DAY! :)