All three children gathered around me as we swam in the sea. The water there is amazing, to say the least — warm, blue-green and clear. Put on a snorkeling mask and you see yellow, bright blue and orange fish.
The air is balmy, and the palm trees really do sway in the wind. It is paradise. We then proceeded to the water slides, which went from moderate to terrifying. Each child wanted a trip down them with mom.
So it sounds like a dream, right? It was. Until the day we were supposed to leave. We couldn’t. The airport shut down and we were stuck: Hurricane Irene was on its way.
I was filled with dread, as I never would have expected to put my children in this type of situation. In addition, I missed my entire caseload of patients that week and it was difficult to make many phone calls out.
Each guest was allowed 15 minutes on the library computer. Between email and texting, I tried to inform my family that we were stuck in the Bahamas due to the hurricane. I felt pretty trapped.
Why does God allow this type of thing to happen? I know this is a small incident in the grander scheme of things. But I thought of how I could have booked our trip the week before — or even after. We had an incredibly difficult summer due to many factors. Why this?
But as I sat the second day of the storm, against hotel advice, in front of a huge window at the end of our hotel hall, alone, watching the storm, I wrote many thoughts, prayers and even poetry. It was quiet except for the wind. I wrote with a creativity lost since my graduate school days.
I looked at God’s power to stir or still the storm. I realized he had the power to do so in my life as well. If I listened and obeyed, the outcome would be much different than if I went my own way.
