This past week, my family and I took our sailboat around our home waters of Cape Cod. We sailed from our home-port of Falmouth to Chatham, then to Nantucket Island and from there to Martha’s Vineyard until we made our way back home. We stayed local this year because of coronavirus, but at the same time, it was great to visit places I have not visited in quite some time.
Traveling in a sailboat, you are at the mercy of God: The wind, currents, waves and tide are just a few things that you cannot control and they can either help you or halt you in your journey. On our first leg of the trip toward Chatham, all the conditions were in our favor: the prevailing wind and waves pushed while the current carried us toward our destination. Sometimes, everything goes as planned, and it is obvious that this was the direction you were meant to go. But other times, it is not as clear which direction you should go: Sailing from Nantucket to Edgartown we fought a ripping current and strong headwinds as we made our final leg to our destination. My dad, an experienced sailor, described how sometimes you need to change your course because sometimes you are not making any headway fighting the mighty ocean. Thankfully, that was not the case this time. We started our engine and powered through the conditions and quickly made it into Edgartown harbor.
So I began to wonder, in our own lives, when do should we start our own engine and power through difficult times and when should we turn downwind and sail for another harbor? This is when we turn to our compass, God, who will guide us to not only a safe harbor, but our harbor: the place where we were meant to be. But we are also confronted with conditions, which can sometimes be from God, or they can be placed on us by others, the key being to differentiate the two. We do this by praying, asking our trusted family and friends for guidance and searching within ourselves if this is God’s will. It is worthy to note that like any compass, it is only a guide, not an autopilot. In our life we must make the conscious decision to trust in God and His plan for us and have faith that it is truly is what is best for us.
This is how I feel about this mission trip: our world has been thrown into disarray with coronavirus, but our God is still guiding us to do His work in Central America. After meeting many of my squad mates that will join me on this mission for the first time virtually yesterday, I realized that God had truly brought us together. Everyone had different journeys to where we are now, but we are all anchored in the harbor of our Semesters Mission to Central America. Our voyage will not be easy, but I am confident that with God as our compass, an our squad as our convoy, we will confront any storm together.
