If I can't have snow, give me sand!

I've been so busy over the last two weeks that I'm trying to hurry and catch up!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, filled with relaxation, delicious food and lots of love!

This is the first Christmas away from my family, so I was definitely sad to not join in our Christmas traditions. But the beaches and golf courses in San Diego isn’t anything to be sad about, no matter the time of year!

Christmas Eve we drove to Lake Forest, CA to hear the most AMAZING preacher, Rick Warren. I’ve written multiple posts about how Rick Warren has changed my life, so it was such a blessing to hear him in person on Christmas Eve!

Driving through Saddleback was like driving on a college campus. But navigating was pretty easy because we pretty much just followed traffic.

 Before I got out of the car I had to remind myself that I was going to church, not a concert. I couldn't go crazy wild and scream when Pastor Rick came out on stage, and I couldn't cheer for an encore afterwards. Turns out that both of those things required all of my self control.

Walking up to the worship center we saw that the kids had a play area with fake snow and sledding. 

With Christmas lights everywhere, we walked up to the worship center, which was beautifully decorated. 

I nearly hyperventilated as I walked into the worship center. It was really big, seating 1,900 people.

The service began and worship was beautiful, bringing tears to my eyes multiple times. 

Then...

Pastor Rick came out! I grabbed my husband's knee and squealed, as I again reminded myself that I couldn't act like I as at a concert. You'd judge me if I posted all of the iPhone burst shots I took of him.

His message was perfect, as always. 

At the end, the worship team came back out as we sang Silent Night, which is my favorite Christmas song! Then I noticed Pastor Rick pointed to the big window at the side of the sanctuary, so I glanced over and noticed they had fake snow falling outside the building... so precious :)

I may or may not have cried when it was over.

Since it was Christmas Eve we couldn't find a place to eat... until we came across the California staple.

In-N-Out Burger. We have one about 3 miles from where I live, but when in Cali...

Since we were traveling and staying at a hotel, I mentioned to the hubs that this would be my first Christmas without a tree on Christmas morning. But Christmas morning I woke up to my present under the tree.

Seriously, how sweet is he? 

I FaceTimed with my family, 

then drank my annual Starbucks in front of the fireplace (ahem... TV).

The hubs gave me the BEST photo album of my marathon photos! I definitely cried when I opened this.

Then drank mimosas while watching "It's a Wonderful Life," my all-time favorite Christmas movie.

I may have sent my Christmas card out a little late this year...

Then we headed to a nearby golf course.

It may have been Southern California, but it was COLD and I only lasted 6 holes, so I became the official photographer of the round.

It was SUPER cold as the sun began to set, but God painted a beautiful sunset.

This is the view of the ocean from the golf course.

Then we had dinner at a restaurant on the resort's property.

It was a Christmas to remember, that's for sure! I felt so blessed, especially being able to see Rick Warren speak in person. When I was first diagnosed with MS I started to think of all the things I hoped to accomplish while I was still in good health. Hearing Rick speak was one of them. I feel so blessed.

I hope your Christmas was as blessed as mine!

Throw Off Everything that Hinders

What holds you back from accomplishing your goals and dreams?

Not enough time?

Not enough money?

Holding on to the past?

Low self-esteem?

No motivation?

No support?

Too distracted?

Too stressed?

Too tired?

An illness?

Fill in the blank with your excuse here _________ .

The list of excuses and reasons is endless. But life happens. 

Money gets tight. The car needs fixed. Kids get sick. Clothes get tighter. Your friends back out at the last minute. You're pulled in too many directions.

You can't wait until life is perfect before you start accomplishing your dreams. If you wait until everything is perfect, it will never happen.

But I've got GREAT news for you!

Hebrews 12:1 - 2 says, 
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith"

So what does this mean for us and our goals, our lives, our futures in Jesus, for His glory?

Who tends to know you the best? The people you're around the most - friends, family, kids, coworkers, etc. These people likely see you at your best and your worst. When you've had ample time to fix your hair and makeup in the morning or when you've been up all night with a sick kid and have dark circles under your eyes. Which means they see you in your best moods and your worst moods. Maybe you've just received an unexpected compliment or maybe you've just caught the raw end of a deal. Let's consider these people your "clouds of witnesses." They see you for who you are, not who you pretend to be. 

Which means they they can also witness when Jesus radically changes your heart. 

Throw off everything that hinders, no matter the excuse or burden! Give it to Jesus!

But what does that mean? And how do you do it?

To turn something over to Jesus means to whole heartedly hand it over to Him by praying something like, "Dear Jesus, you understand the desires of my heart and you know how {insert hindrance} is keeping me from concentrating on living for your will and glory. Please help me with this burden so I can keep by heart fixed only on you. Help me to redirect my thoughts to you and your grace when I feel the burden start to take hold of me again, and help me to find peace in the fact that you're holding on to this burden for me, and nothing is too big for you."

So cast your burdens on Jesus (Psalm 55:22) and throw off everything that hinders you to run with perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on Jesus!

You may be saying, I don't run. I can't run. I'm never running. I'll never run. Thankfully that's not exactly what it means :) You won't have to pass a fitness test to get into heaven :)

To "run with perseverance" means to passionately strive towards your goal, letting nothing slow you down, discourage you or stop you from achieving your dreams! Disclaimer: if your dream is a fitness goal that is beyond your current comfort level, consult a professional before training! If you need a fitness professional, feel free to contact me! 

Passionately strive towards your goal for God's glory and run the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

What is considered the "race"? It's the journey, the road, that leads you towards your goal--hopefully one that can show the goodness and glory of the Lord!

Let's visualize for a second. What is your goal? Or in this case, what is your "race"? What's something that you've always wanted to do but haven't had that chance due to the abundance of reasons? Maybe it's something fitness-related like running a 5k. Maybe it's something domestic like taking a cooking class. Maybe it's something extreme like skydiving. Or maybe it's something physical like losing a certain amount of weight.

Now take time to really imagine and remember everything that has hindered you from achieving this goal.

Now imagine the feeling you'll have as you run with perseverance to the finish line of the goal! Imagine the feeling as you take that jump from an airplane, as you taste the new dish you learned to cook, as you step on the scale and see you've reached our goal weight, as you cross the finish line after running a 5k! Achieving a Godly goal allows us to feel God's love and goodness in a way that is unfamiliar on a daily basis! The pride you feel in giving Him the glory is like a child knowing they've made their parents proud, no matter what the accomplishment was.


God is good! His glory is good! And His plan for your life is good! You can fully live in that goodness if you learn to be surrounded by a cloud of witnesses as you throw off everything that hinders and run the race He's laid out for your life!

What Made the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon So Special...

My dad has been a major inspiration in my running. Years ago, before a wife and children, my dad used to run 5 miles a day. As I was growing up, he often talked about when he used to run. So in college when I began running, my goal was to be able to run 5 miles just like my dad was able to.

I began running, and while it was a long journey, I eventually made it to 5 miles. It was a sweet thought thinking about how I would have been able to keep up with my dad's distance had we been able to run together back in the day.

My dad began running again about a year ago, building back up to his 5 miles a day. When we were vacationing in Hawaii, my dad, my husband and I went for a run. I mentioned to my dad that we should run a half marathon together and he instantly agreed. I mentioned how the Rock 'N' Roll series in Dallas was supposed to be a fun race with a good course, lots of crowd support, and live bands along the route.

We signed up for the RNR shortly after Hawaii and dedicated months to all of the training and preparation that goes along with such an event.

Finally, the race weekend arrived!

We strolled down the red carpet to pick up our packets at the expo. 

Then the night before the race, we prepared and gathered all of our race-day gear, including putting our bibs on our shirts to save time.

5:00am came quickly, but the family was up and at 'em to get ready to catch the DART to transport us down to Fair Park, to the starting line.

My family took their first DART ride, and they looked so cute I just had to take a picture to remember the historical moment.

We lined up in our designated corral soon after we arrived. 

We were slightly nervous about the race being so big, but once the race began the atmosphere was so fun and relaxed that we forgot about the thousands of people who were running around us.

The race seemed to fly by! Especially when you're having so much fun you're able to dance while running. If that's not talent, I don't know what is.

Dad and I talked most of the last mile, which was nice. We'd both been listening to our music up until then, but the last mile we shared motivations, scriptures, and the poem "If" which unfortunately made the last mile go by too quickly. But made the race even more special.

The finish line came too soon, but it was joyous!

We basked in the half marathon endorphins for the rest of the day with the rest of the family! Please note how my mom, sister, brother and husband all wore the most thoughtful shirts created with love by my mom, to show their support for us. Which were also orange for Multiple Sclerosis Awareness month :)

It was such a wonderful day, filled with celebrations and love! We're already planning our next half together -- this time we'll take it back to Hawaii!

Does God Care What Food I Eat?

I've recently made major changes to my diet (more on that later) in order to benefit my body and much of the motivation came from this question, "Does God care what food I eat?" After research and sermons, I determined the answer. 

YES! God does care!

Here's why.

The Lord created your body and your soul to do His work. When you put things in your body that aren't beneficial, your body slowly begins to break down and cannot function the way it was created.

So many people have such long-standing bad habits that they've lost touch with what's beneficial and what's not. 

Here's a reality check. For the first time in history, as many people are dying of malnutrition and starvation as are dying from overweight-related issues.

What does that mean? It means the for every child that dies of starvation and lack of food, one person dies from a preventable disease such as heart disease or diabetes.

Let me put it this way. For the first time ever, 1.1 BILLION people don't have enough access to food, while 1.1 BILLION people have too much access to food, leading to preventable diseases.

When I first heard this statistic, I knew I had to make a change in my own life, then hopefully help others by setting an example of a healthy lifestyle.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says, "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." What does this mean when it comes to taking care of our bodies? 

Everything is permissible:
Everything is allowable, meaning God doesn't demand, "You must eat this!" or "Don't eat this!" because God doesn't control us in anything. When He created Adam and Eve, He also created freedom of choice. This means that while He may speak to our hearts about what to do and what not to do, it's ultimately our decision to listen and act. When we act according to His will, He is pleased. When we don't, He extends us grace and promises to make good for those who love Him and are called to His purpose. Therefore, everything is permissible, but...

Not everything is beneficial:
Just because we have free will doesn't mean that the choices we make are good and valuable for our lives. This applies to areas outside of health and wellness too, but for our sake, we'll stick with diet. While God doesn't demand us to stay away from sugar, alcohol, fried foods, etc. it doesn't mean that consuming these items benefits our bodies.

When we consume something that is unhealthy, there is a major reaction deep in our bodies. Sugar, for example, has zero nutritional value. It adds nothing beneficial. In fact, it's incredibly reactive in your body. Sugar is known to cause cancer and premature aging. The reaction your body has when you consume sugar is the same reaction if you were to shoot heroine. When you eat sugar, the sugar triggers the release of opioids just as it does when someone does a drug. These opioids are associated with positive and happy feelings.

You may not believe me, which is fine. But think about it this way.  Your body craves what you give it. Your body is so used to the effect sugar causes that you crave it. If you tried to stop, you'd likely experience withdrawal symptoms such as a headache, shaking, agitation. What do drug addicts experience with their drug? They crave it. They too experience withdrawals symptoms. Why do drug addicts increase their drug dose or frequency? Their bodies get used to it, just as your does with sugar. 

Rick Warren has a fantastic two-part series on this exact topic (part 1 and part 2). It touched my heart so deeply and radically changed my lifestyle. The following text in gray are my are my notes from his sermon.

1 Corinthians 6:15;19 - 20 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?" "Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

God expects you to manage your body
"Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?"
God expects you to take care of the blessings He's given you. Your money, your car, your kids, your house, your personality and gifts, your body, among countless other things. He created your body to give you the ability to do His work. Your body is a gift from God and He's loaned it to you for the years you are on earth.

Your body is God's property
It's not your's because you didn't create it. You use it while you're on earth, then it stays on earth when you die. If you borrow your friend's car, you wouldn't do something that would damage the tires, you wouldn't put on excess miles, and you wouldn't fill the gas tank with the wrong gasoline type. So why do you do things to damage the biggest tool that enables you to do God's work?

My body is connected to the body of Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in my body
"Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" If you saw someone vandalizing a temple, a church, a synagogue or other place of worship, you would know it was wrong and you'd likely call the police. So why do you damage your body by unhealthy eating habits?

Jesus bought my body on the cross
"You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." If you want to know how much you're worth and how much Jesus loves you, look at the cross. With outstretched arms and nail-pierced hands, Jesus said, this is how much I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I'd rather die than live without you. I came all the way from Heaven to do this for you.

Making major lifestyle changes, like eating foods that are beneficial for you verses foods that hurt your body can be a drastic change, but it is SO worth it. Your body truly does crave what you give it, so after a couple of days or weeks without sugar, fried foods, or whatever your unhealthy weakness is, it really does get much better. Your body will start functioning better, you'll start feeling better, and your body will become a true example of the Lord's temple.

For more information, listen to Rick Warren's podcasts on God's Prescription for a Healthy Life or pick up a copy of The Daniel Plan, also by Rick Warren. More on The Daniel Plan soon :)

Exhausted.

I’ve been on the road for the last week. And I’m exhausted.

Last Friday morning, Luke and I went out of town to visit his family for the weekend. We came back home Sunday evening with enough time for me to unpack and repack for a four-day business trip to Austin. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m on the road between Austin and Dallas returning home. And I’m exhausted.

I’ve always been a routine-oriented person, but it’s never been more apparent than within the last six months of my life. When I set a schedule for myself, I stick to it. But for the last week, that’s been anything but the case. The last week has been great, don’t get me wrong. From visiting with family to learning great ideas for work, the last week has been very productive and valuable. But I’m exhausted.

It probably didn’t help that I stayed up until 2:30am on Tuesday night (actually, early Wednesday morning) exploring the town of Austin (ahem, 6^th Street and Coyote Ugly. Hey, when in Austin…) 

but after over 10 hours of sleep last night, I’m still so tired. In fact, this morning I slept in until 8:30, laid in bed until 9:00, got ready for the day, then fell back asleep in the chair in my hotel room.

When my bed was actually this close.

I was just too exhausted to move.

Unfortunately, fatigue is one of the major signs and symptoms of MS. But it’s not a fatigue like most others get. In addition to being tired, my limbs feel like they’re being held down with weights, my torso has a lead vest and my knees don’t want to help me climb the stairs because I’m so tired.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this tired. I’m even mentally tired. Besides sitting in meetings for several hours over the last few days, I’ve been reading The Daniel Plan which has a very dense section over food.

It is really helpful in explaining how to choose real and healthy foods over conveniently processed, packaged foods, but because of my MS, I’ve been reading it differently than I would have if I was a regular reader looking for advice and help on creating a healthier lifestyle.

The book mentions how a laundry list of chronic (long-lasting) illnesses and diseases can be prevented largely because of what foods we eat. Illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, organ function, etc. The list goes on and on. Since Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder, I was intrigued when I read that things like gluten can actually make my symptoms worse. Click here to read how gluten can affect those without Celiac Disease (a gluten-intolerant autoimmune disorder.)

In short, gluten can cause a slow-developing intolerance in a person’s body, leading to chronic diseases, some of which are listed in the previous paragraph. I’ve tried to be really proactive in managing my MS since I was diagnosed, so upon reading that gluten can cause or make MS symptoms worse, I began researching and reaching out to my small circle of MSers asking their take on gluten.

I feel like I’m tackling a beast. Reading about a gluten-free lifestyle is daunting, let alone actually living one. Gluten is in almost every bread product, in addition to several packaged or packet foods and soups. Thank goodness for fruits and vegetables because nearly everything else that I eat contains gluten. The saying, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” definitely applies to this situation.

So between traveling, conferences, exploring the late-night scene and researching an entire nutritional lifestyle, yeah, I think it’s okay for me to be a little tired. I will likely try the The Daniel Plan's detox plan to see if I have a gluten-intolerance and will take it from there.

If you live a g-free lifestyle, or attempted to, especially if you also have MS, please let me know about your experience. Did you feel a difference? How long have you been (or were you) gluten-free? How did you make the switch to a gluten-free diet? And anything else you want to tell me.

For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite parts of The Daniel Plan so far:

"Everything is Permissible..."

God has been working wonders in my life lately and I'm so thankful I'm finally in the position to share with you (meaning that I finally have a working computer at home, so hellooooo having more time to blog!)

(Almost) every morning, I listen to Rick Warren's daily podcasts called "Daily Hope." His sermons are broken up into 25-minute podcasts, which is short enough to listen to on my commute to work, but his messages are so incredibly deep. He is blessed with the ability to take dense content of the Bible, break it into bullet points, and clearly explain the depths of each verse. He's incredible. Please, please, download the Podcast app, or listen to him here.

I've always admired Rick Warren for his bravery in unapologetically living the life the Lord designed for us to live. So, shortly after I was diagnosed with MS, my sister told that he had a sermon on Daily Hope called "How to Get Through What You're Going Through" that she really enjoyed and thought I would too. Yearning for guidance on my new journey I jumped at the opportunity to download the three-part series.

Absolutely life changing.

After the first part of the sermon, I was hooked and downloaded all of the other previous podcasts as well as subscribed so the new podcasts would download automatically each day. 

I'm currently listening to Rick's (we're basically on a first-name basis) podcast series on the Daniel Plan - a revolutionary plan that encompasses faith, focus, friends, fitness and food into a healthy lifestyle. 

Get this!

For the first time in history, by the end of the century, as many people will die from malnutrition as weight-related issues such as diabetes and heart disease.  This is an insane statistic! It's so incredibly sad that while 1.1 billion people are dying of lack of food, 1.1 billion people are dying because they consume too much food!

Think about that for a second. I'll wait.

Now then, several months ago, I had a hit a point of low self-esteem because I ate too much and was uncomfortable. I came to the hard realization that I am so abundantly blessed and I have too  much money and too much access to food that allowed me to overeat. Then I thought of the little girl Luke and I sponsor (through Compassion International) in Burkina Faso whose family of seven lives on the equivalent of $12 a month.

$12 a month. In the US, people don't think twice for paying $12 for one meal!

And here I was miserable because I ate too much food, that probably wasn't very nutritious. Fast forward to last week when I was listening to Rick's sermon on God's Prescription for a Health (click for Part 1 and Part 2) and he said something that struck me to the core:

I began to wonder what I do, specifically what I eat, that isn't beneficial. I opened a can of worms.

Automatically these things came flying into my head:

• Diet Coke
• Candy
• Cookies
• Cookie dough
• Margaritas
• Chips

and the list has continued to grow. And sure, in moderation the above things are not bad (they are permissible) but they don't do anything for me. In fact, they tend to make me irritated because of the sugar rush and crash.

Then Rick said something that made me want to fall to my knees in repentance: 

God created my body. Jesus died for my body. God's spirit lives in my body. I'm connected to Christ's body. One day, God's going to resurrect my body. I'm expected to take care of my body.

I decided right then that I was going to look further into the Daniel Plan.

When creating the Daniel Plan, Rick Warren consulted Dr. Oz (from TV!), and best-selling authors Dr. Amen and Dr. Hyman to create this amazing and uplifting plan for others to see how the five elements (faith, food, fitness, focus, friends) play a significant role in being wholly healthy. I can't wait to dive further into the program!

I have so much to say because the Lord is working so quickly in my life, so stay tuned to the blog for my journey through the Daniel Plan, and to see how the Lord continues to work in my life!



Kristen

Flashback Friday: Maui

While I was taking a blog hiatus a lot of awesome things happened, which leads me to a new (and hopefully reoccurring) theme: Flashback Friday (original name, I know).

Let's start with June. 

Luke was a groomsman in one of his friend's weddings which was in Maui. Not a bad excuse to go to Hawaii, right? Be prepared for pictures.


Because Luke travels so often, we were able to fly first class all the way to Hawaii-- all 8 hours of it. I'll spare you the pictures of our multi-course meals and free adult beverages. So alas, we arrived! 

This was one of my first views from the plane.

And we experienced Hawaii the way young, childless adults should experience Hawaii--via jeep! Which means I saw Maui like this. 

My model-esque hair

Don't worry. I eventually smartened up and wore my hair in a ponytail in the car. Anyway, we arrived at a beautiful hotel and found this to be the view from our room. 

Hotel on the left, beach on the right. It was amazing. While we were there, we found out that Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler shot the movie "Just Go With It" at our hotel. I sat in the same spot as Jennifer Aniston, which I think is pretty awesome!

Since we were there for a wedding, we settled into our hotel and headed to the rehearsal! Hawaii has the most eclectic group of plants and trees I've ever seen! Here is my favorite tree that was found all over the island.

We had only been Hawaii a few hours before coming to the realization that it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world. And the wedding was to be held on a private beach. How much more perfect could it be? Here's a view of the ocean from the private beach.

After the rehearsal, we saw a stand on the side of the road selling fresh pineapples and coconuts. You know what happened next... 

I actually don't like coconut, so I was holding this for Luke while he drove :) We bought a pineapple too, but I really think it had spiders all over it. Some things just aren't meant to be bought and consumed from a stand on the side of the road. 

So the next day, the bride and groom had a snorkeling trip planned for us. Luke and I had only been snorkeling one time before, so we were excited to go again! We boarded the catamaran and headed out to our first snorkeling spot. On the way, we stopped by an area that often has sea turtles! *Pause the story for a second* I love turtles, and actually have a pet box turtle, so to see a sea turtle was amazing! I'm pretty sure I cried. *Story continues* The turtles were pretty fast and sneaky, so they were hard to get a picture of. They are massive, but still fairly easy to miss if you aren't looking at the right place at the right time. In the picture below, if you were to fold the picture in half, the turtle's shell is right above the halfway line. It's smooth and looks like a rock.

Snorkeling stop #1. We got into the water and I barely stuck my head in the water and see this...

Amazingly clear water, and the sweetest, friendliest fish! They really did like to swim right next to you. Also notice in the picture (and in the next picture) how you can see the sea floor. We were still a LONG way from the sea floor (remember, because I barely had my face in the water) yet you can clearly see the details of the sea floor.  I'm so thankful we bought an underwater camera to capture these moments. *Pausing story again* When we were on our honeymoon, we went snorkeling and had an amazing time! While we were snorkeling, I kept thinking about how everything we know about our world has been altered. Buildings have been built, roads have been created, plants have been torn down or planted, etc. But the ocean is still the same as when God created it. He put the water into motion and it's still moving today. He created the ecosystem, and they're still surviving today. It's so peaceful to watch the fish in their environment. So when we found out we would be snorkeling, we bought a nice underwater camera so we could capture the moment :)

After we snorkeled at this spot, we moved to another spot on the island. Unfortunately, I got a tad sea sick, so I skipped that location. 

That evening, we had the rehearsal dinner, where I ate fish for the first time. Ironic that after snorkeling with the fish, I wanted to eat one, but when in Rome... I had the most amazing macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi. It was to die for. Now I eat Mahi Mahi at least once a week.

The next day, aka Ross and Nikki's wedding day, we spent the morning swimming in the ocean and in the hotel pools. 

Then, the moment we were all waiting for... the wedding! Seriously, how AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL is this picture?!

The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt. It was a perfect reflection of them as a couple.

Then Luke and I took a few pictures before the reception got underway!

As beautiful as the scenery looks, the pictures don't do it justice.

Here's another picture from the wedding site

And how amazingly beautiful is this cake with the sun behind it?

I couldn't get enough of the sunset and the beautiful ocean view accented with wedding decorations. 

The next day, Luke and I set out on a traditional Maui-tourist adventure called the Road to Hana. We stopped at Willie Nelson's restaurant and had breakfast... 

Yes, we split that pancake and still couldn't finish it. It was over twice the size of my face.

On Maui, there's one main road that goes all around the island. Hana is a town on Maui. So tourists drive on this main road and stop at certain mile markers to see different sites. Some mile markers are waterfalls, some are beautiful views of the ocean, etc.

Part of the road

One of the stops on the road was a botanical arboretum where you can see where they shot the opening scene of Jurassic Park.

The little mountain below is part of the opening scene of Jurassic Park.

While walking through the arboretum we noticed a waterfall at a distance. So we decided to get back in the car and drive to the waterfall.

We hiked down to the waterfall and jumped in! It was COLD, but we didn't care. We were swimming in the pool of a waterfall! I'll spare you the pictures of us swimming, but this is how clear the water was.

We continued on the Road to Hana and saw even more beautiful sites. I came to the conclusion that when driving, you have about 3 seconds to capture a picture before your scenery totally changes. Whether that means you go from an open view of the ocean to dense trees obstructing your view, or from a straight part of the road to a curve in the road, you have about 3 seconds to capture the picture or else it's gone. So we pulled on the side of the road to get this panoramic.

After a long day of driving around the island, we ate a great dinner at a restaurant on the hotel's property--Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (who-moo-who-moo-new-kew-new-kew-a-pu-a-a). Look it up on dictionary.com and the computer will say it to you :)

How incredible is that sunset? We are so blessed! :)

The next day was our last on the island. We breakfast at one of our new favorite restaurants, Maui Tacos. 

Seriously, if you're ever near a Maui Taco, you HAVE to eat there! Your life will be made!

Then we drove around to look at the scenery one last time and ate at the AMAZING restaurant, Mama's Fish House, where I had Mahi Mahi again :)

We flew back to DFW through the night. This was the last Hawaiian sunset I saw over Maui.

God is so good! Hawaii was so incredible. I miss it so much. The Lord was so apparent throughout the island. It's amazing to think how He loved us so much that he could make something so beautiful just to make us happy. It made me think of what Heaven will be like. Accounts from books like "Heaven is For Real" and "90 Minutes in Heaven" tell us that we've never seen the colors that exist in Heaven. That colors are so bright and vibrant that our world cannot contain them. Why? Because as powerful as the earth's sun is, in Heaven, The Lord is the source of light, so we'll see all colors according to His light. From what I've read, we don't even have words to describe the beauty of Heaven. Literally. Words do not exist for what Heaven contains! Why? Because our earthly selves weren't made to comprehend it. Even our imaginations fall short of the details of Heaven.

It just makes me happy and excited. Going to Maui was truly a blessing because it was a spiritual experience for me. I feel closer to God for having seen a fraction of His capabilities. And why would He create something like this? To show us that He loves us. I could go on for days.

Kristen

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." CS Lewis