My family and I recently got back from a trip to Hawaii for a family reunion on the Lind side. I had never thought about going to Hawaii. I had joked that I thought you had to win the prize puzzle on Wheel of Fortune to get there.
The trip was incredible. I was able to see majestic yet lush mountains, come within feet of enormous green sea turtles on Poipu Beach, see waterfalls out of a dream, soak in the beauty of Waimea Canyon, snorkel and see colorful fish up close that seemed to come from the imagination of a girl with a 64 count box of crayons.
The trip also included time with family to reconnect and enjoy one another. We had time to eat, talk and hear stories of the last Hawaiian reunion 30 years prior.
Hawaii is called paradise by many and it almost is, but it isn't.
Our five year-old Gideon complained of nauseousness while leaving the canyon, but he didn't throw up. Later that night on our way to get dinner he puked in the Jeep we rented. We all drove back to our place and he and I stayed there while the rest got some dinner. I thought he might be car sick. He wasn't. He threw up over and over the rest of that night until after midnight. He and I shared a master room with a bathroom and he was in the bathroom every fifteen minutes or so until a little after the witching hour.
The next, and thankfully last, one to get the stomach bug was our two year-old Faith.
As I rubbed Gideon's back that night in the bathroom while he leaned over the toilet I was reminded that even our "paradise" in tainted by sin.
Don't get me wrong, Hawaii is amazing. I had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have gone there with my family. Yet even in "paradise" sin corrupts. Gideon and Faith puke, the sun burns (believe my red belly, it does), and time in paradise expires and a plane awaits to take you home and you come back exhausted.
I loved our once-in-a-lifetime trip. I am deeply thankful for those that helped make it possible. I will always treasure the memories and photos I have. And I am glad for the truth that landed on me that the paradise awaiting me is far better than even Hawaii.
"And He said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" -Jesus to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43
"Then I saw and new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:1-4
If you every get the chance to visit Hawaii, I say go. More importantly, you have a chance to know you'll be in the ultimate paradise of the New Heaven and New Earth, place your trust in Jesus and get the assurance of paradise today.
No comments:
Post a Comment