TITLE: Our Dreamy Paradise By Sherry Brock 08/27/15 |
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Oh, these are great! I thought as I flipped through the first few pictures of our week in Oahu.
My mind drifted back and I laughed a little as I thought about how the vacation started. Delayed on the plane for two hours and almost missing our connecting flight was not exactly the way to start a vacation. Thinking back though, I realized God had honored my prayers for the trip and not allowed our dream vacation to be delayed by a little ice on the wings. The rest of the trip had been, as my grand daughter would say, “dreamy”.
Taking a vacation together, just the two of us, was something we had planned for a while. However, I think we were both quite nervous about the whole thing. A whole week just the two of us alone for the first time in 35 years! What would we talk about? Would we just look at each other in bored awkward silence most of the time?
I shuffled through the pictures and was impressed by my own handiwork with the camera. It was a beautiful sunset over Waikiki Beach taken at the luau. That sunset was spectacular and the kiss we shared as the sun went down was no less so. Oh, yeah. We still had it! The next picture was of the two of us at the luau table with big smiles and floral leis around our necks. The drum beats of the music and the sway of the grass skirts filled my senses. It was just as if we were as young as those on the stage dancing and living out the passions of their heritage for the world to see. They were passionate about life and as we inhaled the food, the scents, and the culture we were passionate about our lives too. The life we, along with God, had built together.
The next set of pictures were of Pearl Harbor. Wow, what a great day. It was the only destination my husband had insisted on. Their was so much to see! It had taken all day, but we saw it all! The museum, the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the USS Bowfin Submarine. it was a day filled with amazement, tears, laughter, and fun. At the end of the day our legs ached and our head was full of historical facts, but our hearts were heavy with the magnitude of the place and the sacrifice of those honored on those shores. Every American should see it as least once. We talk often about that day, about how this life is short and about sacrifice, duty, and faith in our own lives.
My emotional response to our day at Pearl Harbor melted into pure joy as I flipped through the next group of pictures. Picture after picture of the two of us side by side holding hands or posed at a landmark, a beach, or tourist attraction on the North Shore of Oahu. Each and every sight had been slivers of color and beauty with a dash of Hawaiian hospitality. Of course the pictures did not reflect some of the not so dreamy moments, like dropping my shaved ice into my lap or missing the first tour bus. Even a “dreamy” paradise includes a little drama or hardship I thought as I moved to put the pictures away. Those incidents forced us to pull together in a strange place, work as a team, and provided lots of conversation. Of course and as always, the Lord helped us through it all.
As I returned the pictures to their wrapper a wave of nostalgia washed over me. We had the time of our lives on that trip. It really was a second honeymoon and a testament that our love and relationship was stronger than ever. Then my mind shifted to the plane ride home. The anticipation of home! We were anxious to see our kids and grand kids and return to our daily routines. Hawaii is wonderful, but there really is no place like home. Then it hit me! Home is really our “dreamy” paradise every single day. Whether its here on this earth or our home in heaven with the Father. “Thank you Lord”, I prayed as I turned to put up the groceries and start a dinner for two.
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