5 MAUI Vacation Ideas

Recently, I gave someone vacation ideas for their first trip to Maui. So I got to thinking...Why not share them with you too! There really are so many great ideas to share and sites to see, that I can't possibly include all of them in one post...So...this will be the first of (well...I don't know how many ;)...I've provided some helpful links to some websites (just click anywhere you see red :).

I will admit, I've been blessed to go to Maui more than once. This was yet another answered prayer, and I feel very fortunate and blessed to have been there. The weather was beautiful, the palm trees so perfect, I felt like I was on a movie set! Let me say, my first trip to Maui was the first time I'd ever seen a real, live, palm tree! I just love palm trees :) 

 
   





To start off, I absolutely loved the whale watching boat trip! If you decide to go to Maui during whale season (whales have been seen Sept/Oct through early May, but peak times are from Dec/Jan-March), you have to do a whale watching trip! We really enjoyed the whale watch through a company called Maui Adventure Cruises. You can sit on the sides of the boat once you get out to your destination, so you are close to the water…The whale watch trip lasts about 2-3 hours. On one of our trips, our boat was "mugged" by 3 whales! It was awesome! They swam around and under the boat! The guides told us this had never even happened to them before! 

We also did the dolphin Lanai landing trip through this same company. First off, they brought us out to an area where it was calm enough to go out and snorkel; then on our way to Lanai, we saw hundreds of spinner dolphins alongside and under the boat; and lastly stopped at the island of Lanai. It was about a 7 hour round trip and they provide beverages and a nice picnic lunch. 

Another must while you are there is traveling the Road to Hana. This is an all-day event of driving, with many stops along the way to do some hiking to see different waterfalls. Depending on the amount of rain they’ve had, they may or may not be flowing…You can even pack and bring your own lunch to stop at one of the waterfalls and enjoy a scenic lunch.

 

 

At the end of the Road to Hana trip, you’ll come to the O'heo Gulch Pools (a.k.a. Seven Sacred Pools). There is a nice hiking trail called The Pipiwai Trail. The trail is located above the Seven Sacred Pools. It is 4 miles round trip and takes approximately 2 1/2 - 5 hours to hike depending on how fast you hike and how many stops you take looking at all of the beauty that surrounds you! You will reach the final destination at Waimoku Falls, which flows 400-feet down a sheer lava rock wall. 

 

My last suggestion for this blog post is taking a drive up to Mt. Haleakala. We got up early and drove to see the sunrise too, but you do have to get up pretty early to do that, and even wear winter gear! It is pretty cold at the top of the mountain...It's best to do the sunrise the first or second day of your vacation, as you are not yet acclimated to the new time change. If you choose to wait and drive there during the day though, it's not quite as cold and you don't necessarily need to bring any winter gear.  

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

One book I would recommend purchasing is called Maui Revealed. It includes numerous ideas and a detailed description of the Road to Hana trip, providing stopping points for various hikes and featured waterfalls. This way, you'll be sure not to miss any!

Of course, there are many really nice beaches there! (I'll cover those in another blog)...I hope you find this information helpful…You will absolutely love it there!

CHER-Life and live WELL \o/  

Cheryll   

YOU are Beautiful!

The life God has planned for you, for me, is so much more beautiful than the life we could EVER imagine or ever plan on our own. I’m learning this as I watch God’s hand at work in my own life. His Word says that He can do “exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever think, ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20)! So today, as I pondered on some of my past life choices (which I try not to do too often), I realized I was living, but not enjoying my life, and I had little to no peace. This is SO different from my life today, and it only happened when I surrendered control over my life to God. 

Am I living perfectly? No, and I never will. But I am, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, trying to live in obedience to what God’s Word says. His Word is here to help guide us in our everyday lives, to provide healthy boundaries in our relationships, to help keep us on the right path, on a path of righteousness. It teaches us how to treat and love others with a right, pure heart! 

Do you have someone in your life today who loves you right where you are, for who you are, faults and all? Take a moment and think on that...

Now take that thought and “hopefully” the good feelings you have right now and multiply them more times than you can count! That is how much God loves you, right where you are at…Right now…Today! Human faults and all! It took me a long time to really understand and “get this”, and that's because many of us equate the way God must love us to the way we've been loved or treated by the people in our lives, because that is all we know…To me, God's love was (and at times still is) unimaginable…How could God love me after everything I’ve done, after turning my back on Him, after rejecting Him? 

But the more I’ve studied God’s Word and what He really thinks about me, the more I am able to accept His love for me. And once I was able to accept His love for me, a love He gives to us freely, a love we do not have to work for, I was able to start to love who He created me to be…faults and all! I’m not saying we should be in love with ourselves in a “look at me” kind of way, but in a healthy, God-kind of way. HE LOVES YOU! GOD LOVES YOU! BEAUTIFUL YOU! His Son Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand interceding on your behalf because He knows how difficult this life can be…Jesus came not to “destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56). That’s how much we are loved! 

Today I am so overwhelmed with His love that I want to share it with the world! I want everyone to know and experience this kind of love…If you struggle with insecurity, low self-esteem, and even self-hatred or dislike, turn it over to God. Ask for His forgiveness for feeling this way. We should not hate what God created…God’s creation is good, pleasurable, lovely…

Someone once told me that “God does not create junk!” For years I struggled with low self-esteem and self-hatred… I’m not saying I still don’t struggle with this at times, but they aren’t daily struggles anymore, and they don’t last as long. I can honestly say, I no longer have any self-hatred…

The sooner you start to realize your value, that you ARE valuable because God created you and He says you are valuable, the sooner you can truly begin to enjoy your life the way God intended…Your value doesn’t come from other people or from the distortion of the media, but from who you are in Christ. One thing I'm learning, is not to compare myself with other women. This is who I am, this is how God created me to look, act, think, and talk! I am unique and so are you :)

Let God turn your world upside down in the greatest, most unimaginable kind of way! Once you get the TRUTH into your mind, heart, soul, and spirit, you will be free to serve and love others the way God intended…and truly enjoy your life! 

CHER-Life and live WELL \o/

 

Cheryll  

What is YOUR Purpose?

Do you ever wonder, “What is my purpose in this life?” Do ever feel like, "There has to be more than this?" This is something I have been meditating on and praying about for a while now. When God thought of you and of me, even before we were formed in our mother's wombs, He designed us for good works and for a purpose in this life. Unfortunately, many of us will never fulfill those purposes for many different reasons. It could be out of the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone and what you know, a feeling of complacency, living a life that pleases the world instead of the things of God, the fear of the unknown, and on and on the list will go. 

Do you notice a pattern here? FEAR! Fear is a word that is not from God, but from the enemy. The enemy would like nothing more than to keep you and me from fulfilling the will of God. Fear keeps us in bondage, paralyzed, unable to think or take action. I’ve been hearing God recently, telling me it’s time to “Step out”...But my response was, “But step out where, and do what?” Have you been hearing God speak those same words to you? 

During one of my morning Bible studies, a verse was presented that confirmed what God was telling me:

Matthew 9:35-38 (Amplified) “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and every weakness and infirmity.When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered (harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless), like sheep without a shepherd.Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.

Verse 38 is a “WOW” verse for me! God wants “force out and thrust laborers” out into the world to help others in need. I have come to realize that I am one who needs to be “forced out”! Forced out of my comfort zone, forced out of my fears of failure, forced out of the fear of the unknown!

Take some time to pray and ask God to show you what your purpose is in this life. He is faithful and true to His word and He will show you...I don’t believe we were put here to serve ourselves and our fleshly, worldly desires, but to serve and love others unconditionally. To serve and love others who are less fortunate than us. To think more highly of others than of ourselves....

Yes, God does want us to enjoy this life, the life He gave us, the life He sent His son Jesus as a sacrifice for us, to save us...and I do believe He wants to bless our lives! But, those are the “bonuses” of this life, they should not be our reason for living. We should live our lives in a way that we give without expecting in return…And by humbly living this way, God will bless you in ways you can never, ever, imagine!

Here is a great book to help you get started (along with your daily Bible studies): The Purpose Driven Life. I am praying for you, and for God's divine direction in each and every one of your lives!