I saw the movie ‘Heaven is For Real’ with my mom and
Grandmother on a quick trip to Napa, a couple of weeks ago. In this entire
process, it was the only two hours that I didn’t think about anything moving-related. Completely entertained, I let the story take me for a ride. Everyone
will get their own message from this movie, but the one thing that has since
resonated with me is that the images of God we’ve come to know are not actually
what God looks like. The God witnessed by this little boy, and confirmed by
others word-wide, are of a God with intense green eyes. For the last several
weeks, above any message that movie conveyed, I can’t seem to get the intense
look of God, as he stared at me across the theater, out of my mind.
I saw that same intensity in my husband’s eyes, only two
weeks later, and just three nights ago, when our Tribulation began.
We had been successfully led out of New York on Monday and
had begun our descent down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for Operation ‘Get Bob to his plane on Friday’. We had stops
planned in New Jersey, South Carolina, Daytona, and Fort Lauderdale before finally
arriving to the promise land (Bahamas) on Friday afternoon, 5/16. We had only
been in Daytona for 60-minutes, after driving over 1,000 miles, and had just arrived
at a pizza place to take a break from the long drive and catch up with friends
and family, when Travis stepped out to take a phone call. I noticed his normal
pacing in the parking lot but honestly didn’t think much of it. He came in,
said his hellos to friends at the table that we hadn’t seen since the wedding,
and slipped into the booth across from me. As the conversation started up
again, I glanced across the table and saw panic. Intense panic. Something wasn’t
right. I mouthed “what’s wrong?” He mouthed back “it’s really bad”.
The words and energy that continued in static movement around
us just seemed to add to the fog that I was in. I immediately asked for us to be excused and
Trav and I stepped outside. He told me that he had just received a phone call
from his new boss in the Bahamas, and was just advised that our Visas were “on-hold
due to a contractual dispute” between Trav’s hotel group and the Bahamian Developer,
BHD. Due to the dispute, all visas for this project were put on hold immediately
until a resolution was reached, if it could
be reached.
WAR…
They had no further information, as this new wrinkle had
literally just been revealed to everyone involved that very day, but they did know without a doubt that Travis and
I were not going to have our Visas cleared in time for our flights on Friday.
Our first thought was that we would go anyway, with just our passports, but
this was quickly shot down. Because we have one-way tickets and a private plane
for Bob, we have been flagged by
customs. Any arrival without proper paperwork would “result in our immediate
detainment”. How could this be happening? We walked back into the pizza place,
completely stunned, and took our place at the table. We didn’t take another
bite.
FAMINE…
How could this be happening? The skies grew dark gray and
rain the size of golf balls fell as the thunder cracked. One flash of
lightening and I watched our entire life’s hopes and dreams go up in smoke.
NATURAL DISASTERS…
My breakdown would rival any antichrist. I screamed and cried
and shortly after, my head started spinning as I cursed everyone and
everything. I cursed God for such blasphemous actions against my family. I
cursed Travis and anyone in my path for leading me to this moment. And then I
ran. I didn’t know where I was going. I had nowhere to go. We had nothing. I
was running, in the dark, with no direction. It was the most lost I have ever
been in my life.
Travis came to find me in the dark and the world stopped
burning for just a moment. We could only focus on what we needed to do right
now. There was no way we could focus on what any of this meant for our big picture. We had to cancel Bob’s
flight- heartbreaking. We had to cancel shipping our car the next day and
cancel Bob’s Vet appointment for his travel certificate. I had a commercial flight
and two hotel rooms to cancel last minute. With each phone call, our Armageddon
became more real.
After all the calls were made, we surrendered. Our NY home
was gone, we had sold everything we owned. What we didn’t sell was well on its
way to the Bahamas by boat and would arrive on May 30th, just weeks
away and we might not be there to receive it. The COO of Trav’s hotel group called to
personally apologize and gave us all of the information he had, which was
little. He gave more information on the contractual dispute that had nothing to
do with us, and advised he was hopeful that things would be resolved. However,
no one had any idea how long this could take. He told us to sit tight and enjoy
a paid vacation while things worked themselves out…
Now, I’ve always been a spiritual person but God created a
control freak. I have managed every step of this International move to a tee. I
meticulously sold each part of our lives down to our Tupperware and planned
every detail down to the cup of dog food needed before more food arrives with
our stuff, and now, my only option is to sit tight and wait for our future to
be decided? HOLY shit
Day one was a gamut of emotions, followed by a tornado warning.
No metaphor here, a real freaking tornado. We couldn’t sit still but the
terrible weather limited our options. As soon as the sun cleared, we rushed to
an outside eatery on the water, hoping to sail our worries off to sea. I came
home with over 35 mosquito bites.
LOCUSTS…
Day two was oddly full of gratitude. Travis, Bob and I were
safe and we were together. Bob had handled the drive incredibly well and was quickly
acting like Daytona was his final destination. We realized it was simply not a
coincidence that the sky fell in the short window that we were passing through
Daytona where Trav’s parents have a condo. We not only have a free place to
stay, it is an amazing place to stay! And the more we surrendered, it seemed
that the more was revealed. All of a sudden, as Trav and I were walking Bob
through the condo complex, we saw an SUV with a large, bright sticker in the
middle of their huge back window. The sticker said “Salt Life”. We looked at each other without words. That same morning
we were at breakfast on the pier on what turned into a beautiful sunny day when
a gentleman walked in with a blue shirt and the stark white writing smacked us
in the face “Salt Life”. This was too weird, what were we supposed to
be getting from these messages? Later that day, another SUV set in our path,
complete with Golden Retriever in the backseat and another “Salt Life” bumper sticker screaming to
us.
SIGNS FROM HEAVEN…
So as we sit in this moment, not knowing where we’re going
to live or work or when we’ll see anything other than our few suitcases again,
I’m smiling. We’re at the beach right now, being kissed by the sun and spoken
to by the waves. My Salt Life has
always included cool breezes and sandy feet. This whole time the Bahamas has
been our promised land, but could
this be it? Have we simply already found
our Garden of Eden? As we wait for our ship to sail, it seems only time will
tell…
Read Next: #14- SS Mosquito, May 29
Read Next: #14- SS Mosquito, May 29
