Infamous Boat Ride to Corozal Town (7/20/2008)

The Boat Ride from San Pedro

I cannot leave this day without reminiscing about the infamous boat ride from San Pedro to Corozal. Many of you reading this know how thrifty (basically miserly and downright cheap-skates) that Jennifer and I are. So I chose to take the 2-hour boat ride with Wes, Presh and Melanie on Sunday. It saved me $35 over the 15-minute plane ride for $60. After 2 hours into it, our SS crew was re-thinking our decision.

I was expecting a nice, leisurely ride across the bay and enjoy the scenery and the "relaxation". The other three had taken the boat to San Pedro on Friday, and they said what a smooth, relaxing ride it was. So I expected the same. The storm that was in front of us churned the water and sent our boat everywhere. Many times we thought the boat was going to flip over, and it was obvious that we "Americans" were the only ones on the boat that were unsettled with the whole situation and thought we were "done for"!!

After two hours into the trip, I switched seats to look towards the back of the boat, and I caught the faces of those from Corozal, and they were not affected at all. So that told me that we were pretty safe - or that if anything happened, we were relaxed up until that point.

Then I caught the faces of the prettiest little Belizean girls in the back. Neither of them were over two years old. Were they crying? Were they hanging on their mother's necks screaming for the boat to stop? Peacefully no. They were sitting up in the window, watching the water go by, and waving and smiling to me and others on the boat.

If there was ever a picture of "childlike faith"", it rung true to me on that boat ride. I realized that the faces of those two little Belizean girls are exactly what Our Father wants us to rest in - His love, support and assurance that all is well with Him. But instead of relying on His hands to protect us, we think we can control any situation on our own. Then what happens when the boat sends us all over the water - unsettling. That is what so many of us have settled on in our lives. We have to get back to childlike faith and rest in Him.

BTW - If the four of us ever get the chance again to choose between the boat and the plane, we may be a little looser with our fingers of that extra $35 and take to the skies!!!

His Servant!
Mark