You’ve been through it, I know. Sometimes, dreams fail.
Even completely capsize.
Nikki Walsh and her boyfriend, Tanner Broadwell, decided nearly a year ago that they were tired of the humdrum of everyday Colorado life. Already in their twenties, they felt life was slipping by. They were tired of getting up and going to work and then doing it again, only to service debt and to see nearly every dollar dumped into living expenses. So they decided to make a change.
A drastic change.
Over the course of a year, they sold everything and moved to Florida and bought a 28-foot boat. Then they lived on the boat for two months as they gathered supplies and prepared for the open sea.
And in early February, they launched. A dream come true! Ah, the sweet breeze of freedom! Then two days into their new life, they were sailing near Madeira Beach – about 25 miles down the coast in the Gulf of Mexico, and the boat hit something underwater. They never knew it was there.
The boat capsized. And sank. In twenty minutes. Just like that.
They escaped with their dog Remy, their social security cards, a mobile phone and some dog food and clothes.
But no worries. Their dream did not go down with the boat. They quickly cranked up a GoFundMe account to raise the estimated $10,000 they think they will need to start over. At the time I am writing this, they have raised over $16,000. So Nikki and Tanner will recover. And no doubt sail again. Gotta love crowd funding.
Being human means making plans and decisions, dreaming and reaching and sometimes taking chances. Which means making mistakes. We know it, and God knows it. All of us want to reach for a dream and see it through, enjoying the few moments that life has to offer. But when the dream capsizes, what happens next? And maybe the dream is not wrecked by something we do, but by a hidden obstacle, lurking somewhere in the dark. Never saw it coming.
We think we are in charge of our plans, but we are not. As soon as we proudly proclaim our independence, we take on water. So plan and dream. But do it with humility. You just never know the obstacles you might face, and the ones you don’t see can sink that dream faster than you ever thought possible. Failed plans remind us that we are stewards of life’s story, not authors of it (James 4:14; Prov. 16:1-2).
So, it’s what you do next that matters.
Maybe your dreams just capsized. Dry off. Crowd-funded or not, second chances are a regular reminder that God knows we will mess up, or the unexpected happens, so He offers the kind of grace that only He can offer. In Christ, we always have hope. In Christ, we see that He has a plan for us. In Christ, tragedy is the launch point for God to reveal Himself (John 16:33).
Or maybe you are just about to push off, launching that great big grand adventure you have been waiting for. Good for you!
But remember, the water is deep, the waves get high, and the boat is vulnerable. Hazards lurk in the shallows and storms erupt without warning. And you? Well, when it comes down to it, you’re really not in control after all.
But no worries. God knows what He’s doing. And when we connect to His dreams for us, we learn just what He can do through us. He sees what you do not see, and He knows what you cannot know.
“This is what the Lord says—who makes a way in the sea, and a path through raging water, . . . Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?” (Is. 43:16-19)
So get up, dry off, and set sail. It’s not what happened before, but what you do next that matters.