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Life on the Sea

Twice in my life I have been on a cruise. Both times were on the dime of my sugar-grand-momma. Both times were awesome. Very awesome. What can be better than sailing the open sea, not getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle, eating a lot and eating some more. It’s been 20 years since I last went, but I can still feel the rocking of the boat. (By the way, I still have my Cabana-wear for any sugar-grand-mommas that would like to take me on another cruise.)

I think I just got lost in thought on an endless buffet. Where was I going with this? Oh yes, I remember! Taking a cruise. I learned a lot of lessons on those cruises, number one being that I am super white and 3 layers of sunscreen (SPF 5000) is not too much. Here are some others…

Turning left on a ski-do
While docked in Cozumel, Mexico my dad afforded each of us children a choice of one activity. I chose to take my sister out on a jet ski. I was not old enough yet to drive a car in the US, but my dad agreed to let me drive my sister and I to our watery deaths out in the Gulf of Mexico. After giving us brief instructions, I raced out to open sea, only to realize that I couldn’t turn left. (Years and experience have taught me that I could, but choppy waters made it a tad difficult.) I mentioned my inability to turn left to my sister, which caused her to sink her nails into my skin while screaming that she was too young to die. So now my arms hurt, I couldn’t hear and I couldn’t turn left. Once my head cleared from the pain, it occurred to me that this was not a one-way gulf. So I made a right turn.

Sometimes life (and ministry) is like that. For whatever reason, one direction will prove to be difficult, if not impossible. We may want to turn left. We may be used to turning left. But perhaps God wants us to turn right.

Balancing Buffet Plates
Nobody wants a cruise to end, unless they were on the Titanic, but it’s probably better for our health that they do end. (Again, not for those on the Titanic.) After all, how long can you continuously eat at buffets and play shuffleboard? Even though walking can be good exercise, I’m not sure the boats are big enough to walk off each meal before the next one comes. Sure, they have exercise rooms and lots of activities, but I didn’t want to be late for any of those buffets.

The predicament is finding balance. That is true in the real world as well. We do need to eat (spiritual food as well) but the reason we eat is important. We eat to have energy to go and do. That’s true in our spiritual lives as well. We can digest sermon and lesson and study one after another. But if we do not use this energy (knowledge) to serve, then we are on a continuous buffet schedule. It might taste good, but what good does that do anyone else?

Waves can be rocky
Anyone who has been on a boat of any size can tell you that sometimes they rock. Thankfully they are normally like a Weeble (who wobbles but doesn’t fall down). Yet they can still cause some discomfort and sometimes causes some of that yummy buffet food to be re-gifted.

Again, life mirrors the cruise life in this way. Sometimes we want the world to stop spinning so we can get off. But just as our bodies adjust to a gentle, though constant, rocking, so also our spirits can adjust to whatever comes our way in life. Part of that is our trust that God is greater than anything this world can throw our way.

So as we cruise on ahead, keep your balance, adjust for opportunities and don’t be afraid of new directions. Oh, and don’t forget to bring some sunscreen.

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