On one of our most recent trips, my daughter saw a lady and decided she wanted to spend time with her. As we were all a part of the same excursion, I gave her the ok. I’ve also observed that she typically sees in others what most tend not to see. The lady had been traveling with her cousin, but they had chosen different excursions – so at that point she was alone. This lady willingly chose to spend the day being my daughter’s play mate.
The next day, I chose to be more intentional in my prayer after seeing the joy that we brought that one lady. I asked God to lead us to people with whom to show His love.
When we got off the ship, I had planned on just getting a boat to an island I’d been to before – to find out that I could have only booked it through the ship. No worries – I was pretty flexible with my day. Sun and beach would do the trick.
As I told the taxi service where I wanted to go, they told me I had to wait. No problem – I was already on island time. Within two minutes, they called me over and said there was a taxi headed to where I was going – it had two spots left. When we got in and started talking to the other passengers, one of the dads shared that they were spending the day at a resort on a day pass and I was welcome to join them. I quickly assessed and decided I didn’t have much to lose and decided to go.
Only God could have set up that appointment that day.
I quickly realized that it was the answer to my prayer – in the reverse. Here were two sets of families who were to be a blessing to me and my daughter. One of the moms shared stories with me as she answered questions that I had been asking God. She and I cried, had goosebumps and laughed at how God worked.
We spent a lovely day with them – then we separated to go to our respective ships as we weren’t even on the same cruise.
Sometimes we say prayers not knowing how God will answer. I’m learning that He has a way of answering far better than how we can think or imagine.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are a God who hears and answers our prayers. Thank you that you answer in ways that far exceed our thoughts. Thank you that you can send strangers to walk us through situations or questions that we may be facing. Father, help our hearts to be receptive to hearing in the different ways you choose to speak.