Spiritual Growth

To Grow: To become greater. 

Several months ago, my Dad came upon a small windfall of money. Instead of hoarding said money for himself (like I would do), he opted to give each of his 3 children an amount dedicated to spiritual growth. 

What is the best thing I can do to grow myself spiritually? What does that mean? These were questions I asked myself for several months after the money had been deposited into my account. 

Eventually we planned a trip to our favorite place, and it became clear to me that the best thing I could do to grow spiritually was to take some time for me on the beaches in Hawaii while watching the waves crash in. 

While were in Hawaii, we all grew. It wasn't just me but the gift from my father kept on giving as I watched my hubs and my baby girl grow spiritually also. It's hard to put into words what this felt like. But I will do my best to describe it here. 

A day in the life of the Nagles looks something like this: Wake up, get T her cereal, rush-rush-rush in the shower, rush to get ready, get dressed, feed pugsly, out the door, into the office by 8, busy-busy-busy in court or with clients all day, workout at lunch, rush to get back to work, scarf down lunch, back to work, busy-busy-busy again, oh crap! it's 5 - rush out the door, rush to get T from school, get home, make dinner, scarf it down, family time for a few hours, and then heads hit the pillow and we all slam into sleep until we repeat the day tomorrow.

A day in the life of the Nagles In Hawaii looks something like this: wake up, saunter down to get fresh-brewed, delicious Kona coffee and a muffin, sip our coffee slowly and watch Tatum meander around coming back for bites of her muffin here and there, a stretched out decision to take a walk down the beach before anyone else gets up, spend a couple hours on our bums watching the beautiful, pink and golden sun come up while sifting through the sand looking for seashells and other beach treasures, a stroll through the tide with our pants rolled up, slowly get our beach clothes on, saunter back to the beach for a day in the water, and sitting in the sand for several.straight.hours. before naptime, family nap for a few hours while listening to the waves crashing outside the window, wake up and head back to the beach whenever we darn well please, clean up and go to dinner, eat a wonderful dinner in the slowest amount of time possible followed by a delicious dessert, go back to the room, get comfy and slowly fall asleep to the waves crashing again.

Is it a wonder Hawaii filled our souls spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically?

The days in Hawaii are slow. They are dedicated to us, and only us. No family, no friends, no teachers, no coworkers, no clients, NO RULES. Just the 3 of us enjoying the company of each other and rarely saying "No" to anyone's ideas. The days are warm and sunny, and hearts become filled with warmth and sunshine. There are no arguments, there are no fits. All 3 of us are just happy, with love emanating around us. 

I sat on the rocks one morning by myself and watched the sun come up. That was my time to grow spiritually. I first arrived on the rock particularly annoyed that our 3 year old was on the trip with us and taking the romance out of our trip, particularly annoyed that I couldn't snorkel while holding my hubby's hand because our 3 year old didn't want to snorkel. But as I sat there and watched the sun come up, I journaled. And as I journaled, I realized just how ridiculous my annoyances were. Because you see, this trip would be our last of just us 3 before Baby 2 made us 4. And watching my hubs smile bigger than ever while teaching little miss T to snorkel filled my heart with gratitude that we were on this trip. Watching our 3 year old run as fast as she could up and down the beaches and play for hours in the sand and the sun filled my heart with gratitude. Watching us eat dinner as a family of 3 and feeling like I was on a date with BOTH of my two loves - that was spiritual growth. And it continued day in and day out, as long as I opened my eyes and looked for it.

We still talk about the small moments of this trip, as they filled us all with happiness. Little Miss T still talks about the things we forget, because to us they were nothing, but to her they were life changing. 

At first I thought spending the spiritual growth money on our Hawaii trip was sort of ridiculous, not special enough, and not big enough. But while I was there, journaling my blessings and the blessings of that trip, I realized Hawaii was just the place for the three of us to grow spiritually before becoming the four of us.

Thank you, Dad, for helping us grow each and every day - but especially, in Hawaii.