The most precious gifts come from unimaginable sacrifice.
Like waking up at 3:30 a.m.
Driving nearly straight up the side of a mountain.
Freezing your peas off while huddling tightly in a hotel blanket that just a few hours earlier you were picking off the bed with salad tongs.
Haleakala Crater is the highest point on the island of Maui, reaching almost two miles up in the sky. When we booked our first trip back to the Islands without kids, Pea Daddy had his heart set on surf lessons.
I had my heart set on watching the sunrise from the top of the world.
On Sunday morning, our car snaked up and down the mountain in the dark for what seemed like hours.
We sipped coffee and talked about our lives over the last eight years. The dreams we chased and those we let die. The triumphs and the tragedies. The ways we’ve changed and the ways we still hope to grow.
A single road sign lightened the mood as we reached the top, the bold words saying “NO LEFT TURN” and pointing directly right off the side of the mountain we’d just climbed.
We turned right, parked the car, and made our way to the edge of the crater.
Just in time.
Shivering in thin air.
Waiting.
Shuffling my feet in the gravel, not really going anywhere, just trying to stay warm.
Waiting.
Edging around other people, huddled in their own blankets, trying to find what would be my place.
Waiting.
And then it happened.
Warmth.
Grace.
Forgiveness.
Peace.
Acceptance.
Healing.
My heart was set on fire.
I felt so very small, but filled with Something so big.
Everyone who has ever felt broken–and we all have–deserves that kind of peace. To know that the climb, the shivering, the gravel shuffling and the search for your place will all be worth what is waiting on the other side of it.
The most precious gifts come from unimaginable sacrifice.
Somehow, even after returning home to dark, rainy skies, knowing this makes everything seems so much brighter.
Well, aloha.
I’m sorry I didn’t send you a postcard.
I didn’t find one that spoke to me. I was looking for something really sleazy, with six women lined up in different colored thongs saying “Flex on the Beach.” I know you love that kind of thing as much as I do.
I’m sorry I also didn’t bring you home a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.
We bought a Costco-sized box full at, where else—Costco, and then got to the airport and someone realized his suitcase was five pounds overweight because someone had to cart himself home a six-pack of Hawaiian root beer. (That he can buy at the Fred Meyer thirty minutes from our house.) Since chocolate goes down a lot easier than root beer, after some serious bag reorganization, some serious power eating went down.
Thank goodness I don’t have to appear on the back of a postcard anytime soon.
I did bring you a taste of Hawaii.
The six inches of rain we’ve had since we got home is making reentry into society, into January, and into making responsible beverage choices very difficult.
It was a day with no bikini. No booze. No Tebowing poolside after beating someone multiple times at pool H-O-R-S-E.
Yeah, he probably deserved that root beer. And I probably need this smoothie.
As do you.
Flex on the Beach Smoothie
Makes 1 large smoothie
- 1 c. coconut water
- 1/2 c. non-dairy milk (coconut or almond recommended)
- 1/2 c. frozen pineapple
- 1/2 c. frozen strawberries
- 1/2 c. frozen banana chunks
- 1/4 of a large avocado
- 2 t. coconut oil
- 1 T. chia seeds
- 1/4 t. vanilla extract
- 1/4 t. tumeric
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- dash of salt
- 1 T. vanilla protein powder (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and thick.
Well, that was relatively painless.
And totally and utterly delicious.
Even on the way out to pick up Gigi from school early due to the flooding evacuation.
That’s right. I slurped this down in the carpool lane in sweat pants and a rain parka.
Sexy.
It’s good to be home.
