In December of 2019, my wife and I went on our second cruise. It was a great time to be together and spend some time relaxing from our typically busy lives. And although in a way, it was a break from our everyday lives, in all things, it was not a break from life.
While riding the bus from the airport to the ship on the first day of our journey, we met a man and his wife who were from Philadelphia. The conversation started out normal; favorite football teams, what we were looking forward to on the cruise, and so on, but by the end of it, God had opened a great door for encouragement. As it turns out, this man was actually the music director at his church, and we were able to encourage one another in our faith. Fortunately, it was 2019 and I was able to get his number. I can only pray that we will continue to be a blessing to each other.
One great thing about cruises (at least the one that we were on), is that you get to eat meals with other passengers. Now for those of you who don’t know me, I am not shy about my faith, but I also don’t make a habit of forcing it on people. I start by developing some sort of relationship first, and the meals on the cruise were a great place to start that. During one of those meals we ate with two ladies, best friends since they were young, who were celebrating one of their 50th birthdays. Randomly, two days after we ate with them, one of them stopped my wife and asked her what religion we were. We didn’t even talk about what we believe during that meal, but God was able to open the door for opportunities with something as simple as a habit of praying before every meal.
To me, the most encouraging encounter that we had was with a newly married couple from Arkansas. They sat next to us in one of those love and marriage shows, and my wife and I had the privilege of talking to them after. We continued into a 30 minute conversation in which we talked about our lives, marriage, and of course my job came up. When I first mentioned that I was basically a youth pastor, they didn’t seem to give much of a response, and through the natural course of the conversation I started talking to a brother-in-law of theirs who had joined in the discussion.
A few moments later, I was sharply pulled back into the conversation the couple was having with my wife, as I overheard my wife talking about the other ministries we’re involved with namely, Dare Ministries. This couple looked like they were 10 years old on Christmas morning, because they too wanted to start a ministry! His idea was to use his experience with motor bikes and reach young men in his area with “bikes, boys, and Bibles.” I was able to spend about 10 minutes sharing about my experience, and again we were able to swap contact information.
My wife and I had a wonderful time on our vacation. But one of the things I was reminded of on this trip is that we will never be on vacation from reaching others, because that is what we are called to do with our lives, not just my job. I have countless stories of opportunities that God has put into my life in many different settings. But even while resting in the middle of the ocean, we have divine opportunities. I encourage you, whether you are on a cruise ship, or waiting in line for a happy meal, in all things, consider the people around you, and the opportunity that you have to be a light in their life.
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