A TRIP OF MY LIFETIME

Scripture tells us that God will meet us where we are. He doesn’t expect us all to be on the same page. This “thing” called a Spiritual Journey comes in all shapes, sizes, lengths and depths. It grows over time and sometimes it even shrinks. It’s affected by life’s challenges, our own willingness and many times impeded by our selfish desires. We often think we can control it and very often we try. But wherever we are and no matter how long it’s taken us….or how long we’ve turned away……God WILL meet us WHEREVER we are.

I've been in just about every scenario mentioned above but consider this…..God meets us where we are….LITERALLY!  I SAW HIM! I FELT Him! I could SMELL Him. There isn't a sense that God gave me that was not heightened by my experience. I saw Him in the sunshine.  I felt Him gently touch my skin with the warm breeze. I could smell Him in the salty sea air. He dazzled me with the waters of the Caribbean. He awed me with the magnificence of a huge ship, created by human hands that He blessed with a God-given talent to design and build.

God was present….oh so present….in the smile on my husband’s face when served beautiful meals, in pictures taken and when he held my hand. God was available to move his heart when he said “maybe we can do this again next year”.  God showed up big time in all the wonderful conversations we had with “strangers” that weren’t strangers at all the next time we saw them around the ship. God was so apparent in the smiles on everyone’s faces…..and their relaxed carefree attitudes. God stopped by in the giggles of the little children, their happy, content parents and their proud smiles when people commented on how cute they were or how well behaved they were. God definitely moved my heart when I saw tiny two year old twin girls, Makenzie and Paige. I HAD to have conversation with their parents and remark how very cute they were!  I have a wise friend that said “you know God is in every sunrise and every sunset?”. She was right on the money. We made it a point to see each one!  I watched the sunrise as I worked out in the Shipshape Center each morning and watched it set (with my main man) after beautifully prepared and amazingly delicious meals were lovingly served to us each evening.

 I saw God each time we returned to our room and saw the special things our cabin attendant did for us and in the wonderful way he took care of us.  We were pampered and loved the entire time, not just by people, but by actions, circumstances, surroundings. God, in his infinite wisdom, orchestrated this entire trip.  Being invited to dinner by friends, wonderful conversation and then……THE INVITE! “Go on a cruise with us”. REALLY???? ……and the husband that said yes…..and how all the plans fell perfectly into place with a few minor glitches that simply could not steal our joy……Yes, God will meet you where you are AND God will meet you WHERE you are!! So incredibly blessed to have had this experience. It was absolutely God ordained! Praising Him who carried us safely and then gently deposited us back into reality.  

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen."

God REALLY does speak!

This morning as I sat down with a hot cup of tea, in the darkness, in the quiet, I felt ready to receive whatever message God was going to send my way. I am NEVER disappointed IF I can put aside all the thoughts in my mind to allow him access to me. Sometimes that is a hard feat as I often get in my own way as well! :-) I was reading in John 4 where Jesus talks to the Samaritan women at the well. She is amazed that he, a Jew, would even talk to her, a Samaritan......can you imagine being offered living water by Jesus himself?! 2000 years later he is still offering living water to all who believe that he is God's Son, the Messiah. Yep, it's that easy....

"He was chosen before the creation of the world, 
but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from 
the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and 
hope are in God."

Anyways, it came to me, like a lightening strike......I am leaving my cocoon, out of the VERY familiar into the VERY unfamiliar! I am going to have an opportunity that I haven't had in a very long time.....an opportunity to bust out of my very comfortable bubble and maybe, just maybe, impact others for Christ! I don't know what those opportunities will look like at this point but I've prayed that God will open my eyes to the needs of others....who knows, perhaps an elderly person in the airport or a mom with an unhappy baby on the airplane...... whether it is a warm smile, a kind word or a helping hand....these are all ways in which we can allow Christ's light to shine through us.  I am a willing vessel and I am excited to see how he might use me during this MUCH needed, MUCH anticipated trip.

All the glory and honor is his as without him I would have nothing and I would be nothing! There I'll rest...in Him...the One.....