Last week I had the opportunity to go on a much needed vacation. I was setting sail to go on a week long cruise to the Keys and Bahamas. My goal was to get as much sun and rest as possible. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. As soon as we got to Florida, tropical storm Noel hit the Caribbean and it turned off cool and very windy. They did not cancel the cruise because they said they could keep us on the outskirts of it and yes they did but there was a price to pay. You see we may not have gotten the heart of the storm and rain but instead got high winds which caused massive waves. Which entail caused a VERY rocky boat.
The first night was horrible. It was a constant sway back and forth. Everyone was sick, including me. I prayed to God to make it stop and kept asking him why he would allow this to happen to me. For the past few years I have been battling problems with my stomach and now I get very motion sickness, so I was very leery of even going on this cruise. But everyone reassured me it would be alright. Boy, were they wrong. That night I told my mom, I did not care what they had to do to get me off that boat but I could not take a week of this. After a trip to the infirmary and a shot later, I was feeling some relief.
The next day was hell. It was an all day at sea and still very rocky. Everything I have ever heard about cruises was how wonderful, fun and relaxing they are and how they have all the stuff for you to do on the ship. Well they do, if you like gambling, drinking, partying in clubs and hearing dirty jokes from comedians. Unfortunately, I do not do any of those things, and to make it worse the wind was so strong you could not sit out on deck and the motion of the boat made it impossible for me to read anything. Before you think television, nope because we were limited to like 6 cannels and half of them were in Spanish. All I could do was ponder and pray one, why I was in this situation and two, how I could get out of this situation. My goal was too tough it out till Key West and hop a plane back home.
Wednesday we arrive in Key West. It was as beautiful as I hoped it would be. We had great weather and just turned out to be a wonderful day. We took a trolley ride around the city and saw some beautiful homes including Ernest Hemingway Home. It was one of my highlights just because I admire and like his writing. I could so see myself retiring there when I get older. The weather is perfect. The lowest record there is 46 and highest 94. I thought it would get a lot hotter but where the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean current meets it keeps the area very comfortable year around. After some shopping, I get back on the boat and find out our original destination to Nassau and Paradise Island has been cancelled and they are going to reroute us to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. At this point I was very disappointed one, because I have been to Freeport before and there is nothing there to see and two, because I had such a good time in Key West I decided to continue with the cruise and it was too late to get off the boat and book a plane ticket. So here I am, back on a rocking boat and heading to a destination I hated.
We arrive in Freeport and of course it is cloudy, and cool. They cancelled all water activities so all you could do was take this tour of the city. Well, there is nothing left of city. Since the island is flat and from past hurricanes, any historical landmarks or gardens have been destroyed or washed away. The tour was nothing but some commercial buildings they still have. Like the bank, courthouse, a school, a place like Home Depot, McDonald's, Subway, Burger King and a few local shops and churches. Yes, Subway and Burger King are highlights of the tour; I just did not throw that in there to be funny. They truly have nothing left. We then went to there market. It had changed since I had last been there. It use to be very open and now they have built some shelter and more permanent structures for people to stand under and protect there merchandise from the storms. My heart ached when I saw these people. They have nothing left for income except what they make and sell at the market. I wanted to buy something from everyone but it just wasn't possible. There number one source of income is tourism but because of all the past hurricanes, they have nothing left to show the tourist. They live in shacks or homes we would consider section 8 or projects. Leaving the island sadden me and made feel guilty for my previous complaining.
A few things happened to me on this trip. One, I got a little closer to God. Since I had no television, radio, couldn't read I found myself talking to him. I found a stillness I needed. Two, I found the purpose I was looking for on this trip. One was the stillness but the other was seeing the people on the island. You see without detours no one visits Freeport anymore. Everyone goes to Nassau or private islands where they can see dolphins and scuba and other hot attractions. So in the meantime these people suffer and have nowhere to go. These people definitely need missionary aid to help them not only rebuild their community but help rebuild their homes. Another cool thing happened and I call it my God Sighting of week. The whole week this guy from Russia and his mother kept running into us. I would just ignore them and let my parents deal with them. Well, dad kept telling me that every time he ran into Aidan (that was the guy's name) he was looking for me. Well one day I was sitting on this window seal looking out when he found me. I really didn't want to talk to him but I knew he was looking for me and I didn't want to be rude. At first our conversation was a bunch of small talk but then we got talking about religion. He told me he was Greek Orthodox in Russia but since he moved to Florida a few years ago he has not been going to church. He said he dated a girl who was Baptist and he went to her church a few times and it scared him and refused to go back. From what he told me I think she went to a very traditional southern Baptist church. I told him that all Baptist churches were not like that, there are different types and told him about my church. We talked about other churches that might would suit him better but the funny thing was I have never saw myself as a messenger of God only a follower. I have never felt comfortable talking to strangers and could never see myself witnessing to others. I have never believed in myself to ever think I could change a person. Yes, I read the Bible and other Christian books and go to church but that doesn't make me an expert on religion. Aidan is a pure example of someone lost and just needed someone to talk to. I'm really glad I took the time to stop and listen to him because today he sent me an email and told me he found a church to go to tomorrow. It just shows anyone can make a difference. Lastly, I thought I would come back and say this was the worst experience and trip of my life. Suprisingly, it was more of my most memorabable ones and I still came back feeling rested and fullfilled as I so hoped.
The first night was horrible. It was a constant sway back and forth. Everyone was sick, including me. I prayed to God to make it stop and kept asking him why he would allow this to happen to me. For the past few years I have been battling problems with my stomach and now I get very motion sickness, so I was very leery of even going on this cruise. But everyone reassured me it would be alright. Boy, were they wrong. That night I told my mom, I did not care what they had to do to get me off that boat but I could not take a week of this. After a trip to the infirmary and a shot later, I was feeling some relief.
The next day was hell. It was an all day at sea and still very rocky. Everything I have ever heard about cruises was how wonderful, fun and relaxing they are and how they have all the stuff for you to do on the ship. Well they do, if you like gambling, drinking, partying in clubs and hearing dirty jokes from comedians. Unfortunately, I do not do any of those things, and to make it worse the wind was so strong you could not sit out on deck and the motion of the boat made it impossible for me to read anything. Before you think television, nope because we were limited to like 6 cannels and half of them were in Spanish. All I could do was ponder and pray one, why I was in this situation and two, how I could get out of this situation. My goal was too tough it out till Key West and hop a plane back home.
Wednesday we arrive in Key West. It was as beautiful as I hoped it would be. We had great weather and just turned out to be a wonderful day. We took a trolley ride around the city and saw some beautiful homes including Ernest Hemingway Home. It was one of my highlights just because I admire and like his writing. I could so see myself retiring there when I get older. The weather is perfect. The lowest record there is 46 and highest 94. I thought it would get a lot hotter but where the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean current meets it keeps the area very comfortable year around. After some shopping, I get back on the boat and find out our original destination to Nassau and Paradise Island has been cancelled and they are going to reroute us to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. At this point I was very disappointed one, because I have been to Freeport before and there is nothing there to see and two, because I had such a good time in Key West I decided to continue with the cruise and it was too late to get off the boat and book a plane ticket. So here I am, back on a rocking boat and heading to a destination I hated.
We arrive in Freeport and of course it is cloudy, and cool. They cancelled all water activities so all you could do was take this tour of the city. Well, there is nothing left of city. Since the island is flat and from past hurricanes, any historical landmarks or gardens have been destroyed or washed away. The tour was nothing but some commercial buildings they still have. Like the bank, courthouse, a school, a place like Home Depot, McDonald's, Subway, Burger King and a few local shops and churches. Yes, Subway and Burger King are highlights of the tour; I just did not throw that in there to be funny. They truly have nothing left. We then went to there market. It had changed since I had last been there. It use to be very open and now they have built some shelter and more permanent structures for people to stand under and protect there merchandise from the storms. My heart ached when I saw these people. They have nothing left for income except what they make and sell at the market. I wanted to buy something from everyone but it just wasn't possible. There number one source of income is tourism but because of all the past hurricanes, they have nothing left to show the tourist. They live in shacks or homes we would consider section 8 or projects. Leaving the island sadden me and made feel guilty for my previous complaining.
A few things happened to me on this trip. One, I got a little closer to God. Since I had no television, radio, couldn't read I found myself talking to him. I found a stillness I needed. Two, I found the purpose I was looking for on this trip. One was the stillness but the other was seeing the people on the island. You see without detours no one visits Freeport anymore. Everyone goes to Nassau or private islands where they can see dolphins and scuba and other hot attractions. So in the meantime these people suffer and have nowhere to go. These people definitely need missionary aid to help them not only rebuild their community but help rebuild their homes. Another cool thing happened and I call it my God Sighting of week. The whole week this guy from Russia and his mother kept running into us. I would just ignore them and let my parents deal with them. Well, dad kept telling me that every time he ran into Aidan (that was the guy's name) he was looking for me. Well one day I was sitting on this window seal looking out when he found me. I really didn't want to talk to him but I knew he was looking for me and I didn't want to be rude. At first our conversation was a bunch of small talk but then we got talking about religion. He told me he was Greek Orthodox in Russia but since he moved to Florida a few years ago he has not been going to church. He said he dated a girl who was Baptist and he went to her church a few times and it scared him and refused to go back. From what he told me I think she went to a very traditional southern Baptist church. I told him that all Baptist churches were not like that, there are different types and told him about my church. We talked about other churches that might would suit him better but the funny thing was I have never saw myself as a messenger of God only a follower. I have never felt comfortable talking to strangers and could never see myself witnessing to others. I have never believed in myself to ever think I could change a person. Yes, I read the Bible and other Christian books and go to church but that doesn't make me an expert on religion. Aidan is a pure example of someone lost and just needed someone to talk to. I'm really glad I took the time to stop and listen to him because today he sent me an email and told me he found a church to go to tomorrow. It just shows anyone can make a difference. Lastly, I thought I would come back and say this was the worst experience and trip of my life. Suprisingly, it was more of my most memorabable ones and I still came back feeling rested and fullfilled as I so hoped.
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