Vacation Disappointment – Part Two

(and how God teaches lessons even on vacation)

We were so excited. We had booked a shark diving adventure, and the day for it had finally arrived. The bags had been packed the night before, and I was ready to walk out the door with my kids and my friend’s oldest daughter. I decided to quickly check my e-mail before we headed to Starbucks.

There it was.

An e-mail stating that shark diving was canceled for the day.

Noooooooo!

I really hate that feeling when you can see your whole day shatter in your brain. Our poor friend. Not only did her exciting plans fall through for which she had got up early, but now she had to go to school.

We only had a couple of days left in our trip, and the schedule online looked very full. I finally got through to the company, and they were able to fit us in at the earliest time of 0700 the next morning. We were hopeful that it would work out, but we were still left with a day to fill.

I really hate days like that. Days when I have a plan and then everything falls apart. Naturally, I started complaining. Since God is Lord of the weather, my complaints were immediately directed His way. I reminded Him just how much I hate when a plan doesn’t work out. He pointed out that basically what I mean is that I hate when things do not go my way. I tried responding with, “Ok. That doesn’t sound so great, but couldn’t you at least let something go my way?”

Have to be honest.

Even I heard how bad that one sounded.

God immediately pointed out the obvious:

I     WAS  IN HAWAII!!!!

For four years, I had tried to get the kids and myself there. For four years, plans continually fell apart. For four years, I had simply asked for the pleasure of being able to set foot on one of the islands.

I had already forgotten. I had already stopped being thankful. I had become like the Israelites in the wilderness and only saw reasons for complaint.

If it isn’t obvious, I apologized. I prayed for a better mindset, and I went and enjoyed a great day with the kids in Hawaii.

The next day? Well, the next day, I got to swim with sharks!