Sometimes I feel a lot like Gilligan.
It was suppose to be only a three hour tour. Instead it became a three year ordeal. Three years ago, my wife and our three girls, my wife’s parents, two of her sisters and their husbands, and some of my daughters cousins, all took a Baja cruise together. It was a wonderful yet fateful voyage. The cruise was a blast, but only a few days after the trip, my marriage ship hit an iceberg and never recovered.
It seems like yesterday, but the past three years have gone slowly and have been anything but a pleasure cruise.
Tomorrow my daughters and I are headed back to California for another cruise. We will all miss Nancie. She has been a good wife and mother, but her ship sailed three years ago and it has not ever come back.
So this trip, if only symbolically, will be the beginning of a new voyage and future for me. I have faith and trust that God will help me find ways to make this life time voyage a better experience for me and for the girls. Of course there will still be struggles and trials, they are a part of life, but as the old saying goes “smooth sailing never a strong sailor makes”.
Sometimes we just need to pull into a port and take time to think. Time in the center of the whale did Jonah some good. Time in the center of my situation also helped me get a better perspective.
The time in your whale may only be 3 days, or maybe even just three hours, but if, like me, the time period to contemplate where you were and where you are going takes longer, (for me, 3 years and counting), the Lord provides a great deal of help and insight into what you need to do to change. His perfect plan is full of ways to remodel your soul from the ground up.
So now begins the journey. Farewell past! Bon voyage to what was and what might have been. Let’s start sailing towards a better tomorrow, and that ship is leaving NOW!
(Speaking of oceans and boating, here are some reposts of several poems I wrote that make reference to boats, oceans etc.)
A Beacon from the Shore
by Kelly Silvester
When life gets oh so busy that you don't have time to think
And life's demands so hectic that you'll either swim or sink
Stop and take a moment and assess the course you're on
And maybe then you'll realize where others have gone wrong.
Life's full of sea fairing sailors who set sail without a map
And rush about the ocean seeking whatever they can catch.
Oh some return successful with their vessels filled with gold
But most get lost and shipwrecked from the storms and wind and cold.
But there are lights that can be seen even in the darkest night
That keep a sailor safe and sure and provide a guidling light.
A lighthouse sends a warning of the dangers found below
But also gives the sailor a hopeful way back home.
See although it isn't flashy there's another light inside
At the center of the beacon that really is the guide.
And if the weary sailor keeps his eye upon that light
The light will never fail him and he'll make it back alright.
It doesn't take a lighthouse to be a shinning light
I know of one wise sailor who has guided all his life.
My grandpa was always by my side through all the thick and thin
He was a light, an anchor even when I didn't win.
And although he wasn't flashy his light was sure and true
And he'll always go on guiding until we make it through.
So when life gets oh so busy that you don't have time to think
And life's demand so hectic, you'll either swim or sink.
Stop and take a moment and find that light once more
For you'll never ever perish with a beacon from the shore.
Priceless Gifts from the Sea
by Kelly Silvester
Some set sail on an ocean of words
And cast their nets to the sea.
But the soft soaked sand of a tide bound beach
Is the best searching place for me.
Some find success with their nets and their hooks
Along with their rig and their gear.
But I find truth from the simplest sounds
Of shells held close to my ear.
Although the size of their catch is great
And a fine purse they'll get for their trade.
The pile of mine wouldn't earn me a dime
But I'm not finding shells to get paid.
The worth of a truth isn't found in its price
Whatever the market may be.
Truths are like treasures we find on a shore
They are priceless gifts from the sea.
Someday Isle
by Kelly Silvester
I charted a ship to Someday Isle
and dreamed of a glorious paradise sun.
I set my sails high and manned the wheel
I hoped for a fast wind and a strong run.
I’d heard of the treasures on Someday Isle
and dreamed of great riches and fame.
So I sold all I had for my boat and supplies
but I knew all my wealth I’d regain.
The voyage was rugged, the waves were quite rough
and at times I thought all was lost.
But I held on to that wheel and forged on ahead
“I’ll make it, regardless the cost”
One day I spotted dry land close ahead,
So I set my sails high once more.
I didn’t steer clear, enough of the reef
and I crashed far from the shore.
I’m stranded here now on Someday Isle
with no hope of rescue in sight.
But someday, I’ll make it back home to the shore
and tell of my terrible plight.
Life is a voyage of jewels and success
the foolish sailor will say.
But I realize the real jewel now
is the time that I spend with today!
It was suppose to be only a three hour tour. Instead it became a three year ordeal. Three years ago, my wife and our three girls, my wife’s parents, two of her sisters and their husbands, and some of my daughters cousins, all took a Baja cruise together. It was a wonderful yet fateful voyage. The cruise was a blast, but only a few days after the trip, my marriage ship hit an iceberg and never recovered.
It seems like yesterday, but the past three years have gone slowly and have been anything but a pleasure cruise.
Tomorrow my daughters and I are headed back to California for another cruise. We will all miss Nancie. She has been a good wife and mother, but her ship sailed three years ago and it has not ever come back.
So this trip, if only symbolically, will be the beginning of a new voyage and future for me. I have faith and trust that God will help me find ways to make this life time voyage a better experience for me and for the girls. Of course there will still be struggles and trials, they are a part of life, but as the old saying goes “smooth sailing never a strong sailor makes”.
Sometimes we just need to pull into a port and take time to think. Time in the center of the whale did Jonah some good. Time in the center of my situation also helped me get a better perspective.
The time in your whale may only be 3 days, or maybe even just three hours, but if, like me, the time period to contemplate where you were and where you are going takes longer, (for me, 3 years and counting), the Lord provides a great deal of help and insight into what you need to do to change. His perfect plan is full of ways to remodel your soul from the ground up.
So now begins the journey. Farewell past! Bon voyage to what was and what might have been. Let’s start sailing towards a better tomorrow, and that ship is leaving NOW!
(Speaking of oceans and boating, here are some reposts of several poems I wrote that make reference to boats, oceans etc.)
A Beacon from the Shore
by Kelly Silvester
When life gets oh so busy that you don't have time to think
And life's demands so hectic that you'll either swim or sink
Stop and take a moment and assess the course you're on
And maybe then you'll realize where others have gone wrong.
Life's full of sea fairing sailors who set sail without a map
And rush about the ocean seeking whatever they can catch.
Oh some return successful with their vessels filled with gold
But most get lost and shipwrecked from the storms and wind and cold.
But there are lights that can be seen even in the darkest night
That keep a sailor safe and sure and provide a guidling light.
A lighthouse sends a warning of the dangers found below
But also gives the sailor a hopeful way back home.
See although it isn't flashy there's another light inside
At the center of the beacon that really is the guide.
And if the weary sailor keeps his eye upon that light
The light will never fail him and he'll make it back alright.
It doesn't take a lighthouse to be a shinning light
I know of one wise sailor who has guided all his life.
My grandpa was always by my side through all the thick and thin
He was a light, an anchor even when I didn't win.
And although he wasn't flashy his light was sure and true
And he'll always go on guiding until we make it through.
So when life gets oh so busy that you don't have time to think
And life's demand so hectic, you'll either swim or sink.
Stop and take a moment and find that light once more
For you'll never ever perish with a beacon from the shore.
Priceless Gifts from the Sea
by Kelly Silvester
Some set sail on an ocean of words
And cast their nets to the sea.
But the soft soaked sand of a tide bound beach
Is the best searching place for me.
Some find success with their nets and their hooks
Along with their rig and their gear.
But I find truth from the simplest sounds
Of shells held close to my ear.
Although the size of their catch is great
And a fine purse they'll get for their trade.
The pile of mine wouldn't earn me a dime
But I'm not finding shells to get paid.
The worth of a truth isn't found in its price
Whatever the market may be.
Truths are like treasures we find on a shore
They are priceless gifts from the sea.
Someday Isle
by Kelly Silvester
I charted a ship to Someday Isle
and dreamed of a glorious paradise sun.
I set my sails high and manned the wheel
I hoped for a fast wind and a strong run.
I’d heard of the treasures on Someday Isle
and dreamed of great riches and fame.
So I sold all I had for my boat and supplies
but I knew all my wealth I’d regain.
The voyage was rugged, the waves were quite rough
and at times I thought all was lost.
But I held on to that wheel and forged on ahead
“I’ll make it, regardless the cost”
One day I spotted dry land close ahead,
So I set my sails high once more.
I didn’t steer clear, enough of the reef
and I crashed far from the shore.
I’m stranded here now on Someday Isle
with no hope of rescue in sight.
But someday, I’ll make it back home to the shore
and tell of my terrible plight.
Life is a voyage of jewels and success
the foolish sailor will say.
But I realize the real jewel now
is the time that I spend with today!
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