My Dream Vacation

I will never forget even how the thought of this vacation came about. My sister was having her wisdom teeth surgically removed and my mother and I decided to stay with her after the surgery so she wouldn't be alone and we could take care of her. I remember the next morning while sitting in her living room we started talking about how the family should take a trip. We all agreed, but my sister said this time lets be different. Let's go somewhere we've never gone before, we kept tossing places around until finally she said let's go to the Bahamas. "Wow, the Bahamas for real?"

Well we agreed now all we had to do was to convince the rest of the family to go. Once we got everyone to agree, we thought the trip would come to a halt when everyone realized what they needed to do to go. You see none of us had passports, and they are not free. We did it, each one got their passport and my sister booked the flights and we prepared ourselves for our trip of a lifetime. We are not wealthy people, but we began to move like we thought we were.

My sister had a nice surprise up her sleeve, none of us knew anything about booking hotels in the Bahamas or even what area to stay in when we got there. Thanks to my sister and her job she had done some booking for her boss, so she had some ideas. We made the trip in February but when we arrived in the Bahamas it felt like June or July. Nice 80 degree weather and sunny all the way.

I forgot to mention that I saw the prettiest waters I had ever seen as the plane was descending to land. Once we got to the airport that's when I realized that my sister had arranged for a car to meet us and drive us to the hotel. Let me tell you that this was not just a car but a limo, "Wow I can't believe you had a limo to pick us up". This was just the beginning of a vacation I would remember for the rest of my life.

The ride to the hotel was sort of long and it took us through areas on the island that weren't so beautiful. As we road I began to wonder just where we will end up staying. I noticed some areas that looked like the people might live in poverty and I heard the driver say we are almost there. Oh no I thought, we got all the way to this beautiful island and we are going to have to stay in a rough looking place.

Then I saw it, a sign saying welcome to Paradise Island and as we road through the gates the whole scenery changed. It was the greenest grass I ever did see and the most colorful flowers, it looked like what I imagine heaven might look like. As we approached the hotel it was then I realize that we would be staying at the Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. I at the time still didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening.
Once the driver pulled in to the hotel carport, the limo was greeted by uniformed attendants ready to assist us from the limo. Oh yea I forgot to mention that they had a separate car just for our luggage and they road in front of us and I was kind of afraid to take my eye off that car. Well these men got our luggage and we proceeded into the hotel. My sister took care of the arrangements and she was greeted like an MVP.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (King James Version)
11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Need I say that our hotel rooms were exquisite? I kept thinking how can we afford this, you see we are God fearing Christians, and I know he works miracles but "God you really doing it" was my thoughts. He made our dreams come true on that trip, my daughter in-law had never flown on a plane and my son had never gone out of the country. None of us ever thought we would be able to go to the Bahamas in our lifetime, yet here we all were; my mom, dad, sister, son, his wife, my husband and I in the Bahamas, go figure. Only my youngest son couldn't make it, he was in college and couldn't get out of classes.

We enjoyed the pools, and believe me they have some pools; some heated some not heated and some with water slides; and some with water slides that look like amusement park rides. The food was ultra expensive, and I remember sitting down for the first meal and looking at the menu thinking we will go home skinny. I just knew we couldn't afford to eat. I looked at my husband like honey we might have to share a plate.
It was after that meal that the family had the discussion, "we are here in this beautiful place and we are going to enjoy ourselves." "God didn't allow us to come here and stay in a nice hotel without making provisions, so we are going to eat good while we are here and we are going to glorify God by believing him for everything." Amen? "Amen" all in agreement.

Psalm 37:4
Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Well need I say the celebration began from that moment on, we took turns paying for meals. My sister or my mom would have room service deliver all out breakfasts in the morning to our rooms. My husband and I paid for a couple of the lunches, and then someone covered the dinners and we ate like kings. They treated us like celebrities; everyone was so nice that we all said we should move to the Bahamas. The Atlantis hotel was so nice that we never left the island everything we needed was there. When we got ready to leave we felt so disappointed that we couldn't stay longer because there was still so much left to do that we missed. I would highly recommend going to anyone that asks. Our prayer is that the Lord will allow us the opportunity to go back again someday.

John 16:23-24 (King James Version)
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.