Change of Plans

The heart of man plans his way,
    but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

We would have been to the island and back by now. We would have enjoyed several sun-soaked days on the beach with my younger sister, been given an informal tour of the school where my brother-in-law is studying medicine, and enjoyed JJ’s birthday to the max, complete with the coconut cake that my sister was going to make him.

Since it takes over an hour to get to the airport and our flight was scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. the following morning, we checked into a hotel that Saturday night. Everything was ready to go and we were about to turn off the lights. But then JJ saw a notification on his phone from the airline. Delayed. Our flight would leave three hours past the initial departure time, resulting in a missed connection and a flight to the island a day late. Neither JJ nor I were thrilled about the idea of such a long layover with two young children in tow, but just as we were trying to figure out what to do about it, JJ received a second notification. The flight was postponed altogether at this point. We would now be leaving at 5 a.m. on Monday.

JJ and I were notably upset by the news, but we tried to make the most of the situation, taking care of some odds and ends the following day as we awaited our new flight. A new suitcase to swap with the one that was suddenly starting to tear. Some more sandwiches and snacks to replace the ones we already ate before our travel. And to end the day, an impromptu dinner with my parents in their cozy abode before another early night at a different hotel preparing ourselves yet again for a flight before dawn.

We quickly got ready for bed and settled in for the night, and this time, the boys even fell asleep. Things were looking good. But then JJ thought to check his phone one more time, and the flight was once again delayed, resulting in what would now be an arrival to the island on Tuesday.

Since we were only supposed to be on the island until that Thursday, we decided to cancel the trip altogether, and JJ quickly jumped online to finalize the cancelation with a travel agent and to try to recover our funds. It was a long, drawn-out process, and Liam woke up at some point throughout it all and bitterly cried when he realized we would no longer be taking our trip. We were all upset and perplexed by what had just happened.  Still, we were grateful to God in the midst of it all because we had asked Him to protect us on this trip, and we believed this was His way of answering that prayer.

I told JJ that night that I would rather be disappointed than devastated. As sad as I was that evening and for several days later, I was so thankful that my family and I were safe and well and that God was protecting us from unknown dangers.

With canceled plans, the promise of a refund in our bank account, and still a few free days for JJ from work, we ended up driving to a beach here in Texas, where we enjoyed a morning of ocean waves and sand and then ate a delicious seafood lunch overlooking the sea. It was a much simpler trip than the one we had originally envisioned, but the kids had fun, and JJ and I were content, too.

I’ll probably always wonder the exact reason as to why we couldn’t take that trip to the island where my sister lives. What might have happened had we gone? But as those questions come to mind, I hope I forever remember the comment I made to Liam for instances such as these—the most important thing is that the four of us (in our nuclear family) are together. And as of now, we are.