Everything Happens for a Reason
Everything happens for a reason and often you don’t get to know why things are not working according to ‘your plan’ until sometime later.
Stephanie and I had plans to take a two-day trip to Long Beach Island New Jersey to spend the week with her family who were gathered at a rented beach house. We would be 10 minutes away in a marina where I could work part of the time doing final prep for Dream Business Academy San Diego.
As the week progressed we saw that the weekend weather would suck so we decided to do the two-day trip in one long day on Friday.
Our planned departure of 7:30 am was delayed by two hours but we still thought we could safely make it to Beach Haven before dark. When we pulled into Cape May NJ for some fuel and a pee break for Blue, the skies opened up and we tied up in a torrential down pour. All of our weather and marine apps were saying the thunderstorms would not let up, making the final 3 hours of the journey in the Atlantic Ocean not safe.
Our decision was to stay the night and reassess the situation in the morning.
We woke at 5:30 am hoping for the good news of a 3 hour ‘early morning’ window in which to make the final leg of the trip. However, what we heard was that later in the week tropical storm Florence ‘could’ impact the coast and even if it doesn’t, the seas would be rough. And once again, we would need to travel in the Atlantic just to get to the Delaware Bay, which can also feel like an ocean.
Friday morning, I admit to being ticked off that our planned departure was two hours late. I was also less than thrilled that crazy thunderstorms rolled in just as we entered Cape May, making our final leg of the journey not possible. Things were just not going to according to ‘my’ plan.
At my young age of 60, I have come to appreciate that clarity often comes from a good night’s sleep. I now realize that God did not want us to make it to Beach Haven on Friday. Getting home on time would not be possible with predicted seas of 7-10’ off the Jersey coast. I believe it was at this point when I said in my best Clint Eastwood voice, “A man has got to know his limitations.”
Together, Stephanie and I concluded that our Floating Home would be much safer in our protected home port on the Northern Chesapeake Bay than tied to a dock on the Jersey coast. We departed at 6:30 am and pulled into our marina at 10:45 am in the rain.
We experienced 3-4’ seas on the Delaware Bay and were grateful when we turned onto the C&D Canal and the waters calmed.
As we motored up the C&D Canal, I told her I enjoyed our 8-hour round trip for dinner at The Lobster House.
This morning I am ever so grateful that God always has a plan and He is always faithful.