Roosters

We recently had the opportunity to go to Hawaii with my family. My Dad had business in Honolulu, and took my siblings and my family along. We also spent a few days before the workshop he was speaking at in Kauai, sight seeing. It was a trip we'd been looking forward too all winter. It gave us something to get excited about, something to work towards. And boy, the islands did not disappoint.

Molly had a few things she wanted to do, her "bucket list" for the trip. And we were able to check them all off!  She wanted to drink out of a coconut with a straw:

                                              

See a waterfall:  

Meet a Hula girl:

And build a sandcastle:

We did LOTS more. I was surprised and a little embarrassed as I realized I took over 150 pictures! But there was so much to see, so much I wanted to capture. And after all I've been through, I know how special it is to have pictures to look back on. I uploaded many of the photos onto Facebook, so you can see all of them all if you want. But the high lights:

We visited a coffee plantation and a pineapple plantation...

We went to Luau, took a Hula lesson, and made Lei's.

We saw Waimea Canyon, Spouting Horn blow hole, and the famous North Shore of Oahu. 

Josh and I went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial one afternoon.

And of course we took in the absolutely beautiful sights. Beaches and mountains and canyons and sunrises and sets. God's glory was on full display--and it was magnificent.

It was an amazing trip, yet Drew's absence was still felt in this mother's heart.

The wonder in Molly's eyes, and the joy in her squeals made me wish she had another child to share it with.

The "boy stuff", like the off-roading we did in the jeeps on the way to one secluded beach--it would have given him such a thrill!  And after watching Drew with the princesses in Disney World, I know the Hula girls would have caused him to turn on the charm for sure!

But I know as glorious as Hawaii was, and as much fun as Drew would have had there with us, where he is even more glorious and fun. All that Molly loved, the awe and joy she felt, is a mere shadow of what he IS experiencing right now.  It's really mind-blowing, isn't it?  And those thoughts are what didn't let the longing, the heartache of his absence, ruin our trip by distracting me from the present.

And maybe Drew really was with us in Hawaii after all...

I use voice text a lot. As much as I talk and as slow as I text, its so much easier for me to communicate. But, as anyone who uses voice text a lot knows, it messes up words sometimes (a lot of the time if you talk fast like me). You have to go back and correct a lot. During treatment, as a friend would ask for updates, I'd tell her how "Drewster" was doing. Well, voice text always transcribed it as "rooster". I missed it enough times that I stopped correcting it, and my friend and I lovingly referred to Drew as "Rooster" from then on out. Its kind of our thing, our inside joke that no one else really knows about.

Flash forward to now. If you've ever been to Hawaii, and the island of Kauai in particular, you know there are chickens running loose all over. We saw our first one as we walked out of the airport, right by baggage claim. 

And throughout the vacation, they were everywhere; in the trees at the beach, alongside the road, at your feet trying to get crumbs from your road-side fish taco. And once we got out of Honolulu, we saw them on Oahu as well. My family teased me about how crazy they drove me, and how jumpy I was around them! They seemed to pick on me the most. I couldn't get away from them.

On the plane ride home, I was texting a different friend about the chickens, and casually called them roosters--since many of them were indeed roosters and they were the most note worthy since they were the biggest and loudest. And in that moment it hit me--the symbolism, the connection. Of course! Roosters. I couldn't help but tear up when I saw it looking back. They were there with me the whole time--from start to finish. With me on the beach, and in the maze at the pineapple plantation. Along all the roadsides and by the pool at the first resort. I got goosebumps when I thought of all the times during the trip that a rooster was a part of the memory, butting his way in.

Now I know chickens have been running loose on Kauai for a long time. And they are around everyone whether they have a connection to them or not. But I DO have a connection, a "thing" with them. A rooster means something to me, and it's not just a coincidence they were always around me. I don't know what to believe about signs from Heaven, but the moment it "dawned on me" about the roosters, I know it was the Lord's whisper to me. His gentle reminders, His comforting grace. Through wild roosters...God's funny sometimes! Reminding me that Drew's still with me. Wherever I go on earth--even across the ocean to Hawaii--he'll always right there with me somehow, trotting along and bobbing his head.

I left Hawaii so thankful. Thankful for my parent's gift to us in the trip. Thankful for all we were able to see, do, and eat! Thankful for the time with family, the memories made. Thankful for the tastes of Heaven we got as we saw, felt and touched an Earthy paradise. And thankful, even if it still hurt not to have both my babies with me, that my Drew gets to be in a place that's even more amazing than Hawaii...