Surviving Hurricane Earl
This photo was taken about a week ago, when I was sitting blissfully on a damaged, slightly tilted dock in the Caribbean. Hurricane Earl had just swept through, leaving much of the island I was staying at in upheaval.
As many of you know, I took a trip to Belize this past week. Is it cheesy if I said it was unBelizeable...? Because truly, it was.
Because I ended up going alone.
That's right. I didn't go with friends, a group, or under any organization. It was me, my passport, and my two carry ons that hopped on that plane, with only faith and hope driving me towards my destination.
And it's the best decision I've ever made. I'm glad my friends bailed. I don't think this experience would be anywhere close to the same if I'd gone with a group. I never would've been so open to meeting new people, trying new experiences, and end up discovering a side of myself I didn't realize had been there all along. A bolder, more carefree, and fully alive version of myself.
However, all the glory goes to God for this trip. Honestly, the night before I left, I lay in the dark, anxieties and worries threatening to drown me. Was I really going to do this? Should I? Everything pointed towards me canceling the trip. From friends unable to make it, a tropical storm forming, and the threat of being stuck in Belize City (a city reknowned for its crime rates), I was crazy to push through with this, right?
Finally, I started praying. I gave over my desires to God, and that is when a calm certainty settled over me. I was going, and that was that. As long as I had trust in Him, He would provide. And you know what? He went above and beyond in doing so.
When I landed in Belize City, I tried rushing through customs only to find out I had missed the last flight out to Caye Caulker. It was all I could do to fight back the tears. It looked like I would be spending the night in the city alone.
Bless Maya Island Air though, because their employee took pity on me, offering to call a driver who would take me straight to a hotel and bring me back in the morning for the next flight. However, in the next ten minutes, right when the driver arrived, the same employee came running out.
"We may have gotten you a flight!"
My heart about exploded with relief. Somehow I knew that if I could just make it out to Caye Caulker, I would be alright. So God provided, and a plane that was going out to San Pedro (a neighboring island) made a special stop just for me!
So from missing my last flight out, surviving Hurricane Earl (that tropical storm formed into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday), and regaining power after just one day when I'd been told it would be a week, this trip was a powerful example to me of experiencing God's presence. I know I don't always "preach" on this blog, because that's not what the Dragonfruit Diaries is necessarily about. However, it is a huge part of me and what makes me who I am. So I hope you won't be annoyed and at least appreciate my stories that I share with you. Because that's what a diary is for, is it not? This space was once filled with so much of my personality and a peek inside my heart.
Lately, it's been a bit of a desert, and while nothing wrong with that, I'd like to take it back to when I could freely share my thoughts and stories.
So stay tuned for the next post. You'll probably be hearing quite a bit about Belize for a while and my incredible experience visiting a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea.
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