Dressers and Hawaiian Prayers

Fixing up other people's trash was my round-trip ticket to the Island of paradise.  

At first, I even thought this dresser was hopeless and I have a high tolerance for trashy furniture, but that was  before I introduced it to my sander.

Before:

I peeled away the Barbie and Scooby-Doo stickers.  I sanded the sticky cough syrup out of the drawers.  A little Tiffany Blue paint and some butterfly fixtures made it fabulous!

After:

I also painted this beauty.  The turquoise blue knobs make this dresser a knock-out!

While in Hawaii, I had several special ah-ha moments, but I'd like to share one most meaningful.  

Although we experienced several days of rainy weather, we were able to do almost everything we wanted too.  

Most of the rain was more a mist and provided plenty of shade (no sunburns to report).  

My goal was to get in the ocean everyday.  Unfortunately, I missed a day, but for the most part, my mermaid appetite for ocean adventure was filled.  During almost every ocean swim, we would see turtles; sometimes one, sometimes several.  In addition, Chandler and I were always on the lookout for whales, but not just while we were in the ocean.  We drove to the North shore several times and since the drive is mostly coastal, we stayed on the lookout for whales.  

We stopped at  the scenic Stairway to Heaven, a giant ladder/staircase taking you up this glorious mountain.

From what I understand, it's not open to the public because people have fallen.

We saw China man's Hat.  

We stopped at Bubbie's ice cream shop. Yep, that pretty much sums up my philosophy of life.  

We saw all sorts of street signs we had a difficult time pronouncing.   

I teased the counselor, telling him I found this amazing dresser on craigslist-honolulu for $50.  "If I could just ship it home," I joked.  Actually, this dresser is sitting in the lobby of the Marriot Ko Olina resort and is probably worth thousands of dollars.  

We stopped at Pipeline, home of the Volcom surfing contest.

And not to forget our wonderful time at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

On every adventure when we could, we kept our eyes on the waves of the beautiful ocean, hoping for some sort of whale sighting.  Our hope was not just for whales, but throughout the week because of the gray skies, we also hoped for an Hawaii sunset.  On our last day there, we hadn't seen either.  I prayed our last day for a sunset to remember and God, in all his glory, painted the most beautiful sunset for us to share. 

The light seemed to kiss everyone and everything. 

After some photos of the sunset, Chandler came to me, hopeful yet realistic that we hadn't spotted any whales.  I told him I'd prayed for a sunset on our last day.  "Why don't you pray that we'll spot a whale," I suggested, reminding him God hear's even little prayers.  So, Chandler walked off into the distance and I watched as he bowed his head in prayer.  Then, with great faith he looked back out at sea.

I don't know if I've ever been more proud of him.  

It took about two minutes.  

"Mom, did you see that," Chandler said, ecstatic as a big spout of water shot up into the air.  Then, another and we watched as two whales rounded up, swimming just past the  beach.  A moment later and they spouted water again.  For several minutes we watched as they swam into the sunset.

I am most thankful how God teaches my son he can turn to Him; anytime, anywhere and that's how God answered our Hawaiian prayer - with kisses of sunlight and towering sprays of water.

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