Can you see God in the Bahamas?

God showed himself to me in ways I would have never imagined seeing him.

My husband, Mike, and I were going to the Bahamas, so we took my son, Luke, with us since I was not comfortable leaving him at home because he kept getting into trouble. Other than the fact that my son had been arrested, he was a typical sixteen-year-old. I did not trust him to stay out of trouble, so I told him he had to go to the Bahamas with us, and he was not happy.

Luke hates traveling.

Luke said that I made him travel his entire life, and he was tired of traveling. Mike and I rented a boat for three days, and I thought Luke might have fun on the boat since we were going to island-hop, but even that didn’t excite him. Luke complained that he did not like the long car ride to the airport or sitting on the plane for hours. Since he didn’t know how to behave, that was a consequence of his actions and bad choices. I prayed that he didn’t ruin the trip for us and that God would give us all peace and relaxation on the trip.

Since we had to be at the airport at 4:00 the following morning, we drove to Baltimore the night before. Luke was quite cranky, but he didn’t give me too much trouble. Praise God! When we arrived on the island, we took a ferry to a much smaller island where we owned our timeshare. Luke seemed to enjoy that, and I thanked God, even if Luke did complain that he was hot.

Can you see God in the Bahamas in our cabin?

Arriving at our cabin, we saw exotic flowers all around the entrance. God made everything in the world, and there were so many different colors and varieties that I was speechless. They smelled wonderful too.

In the cabin, Luke requested the Wi-Fi password so that he could get on his phone. That was fine with me; as long as he wasn’t complaining, I felt God blessing me again. While Luke played on his phone, Mike and I walked to the grocery store and bought water and food for a few days; we would be there for a week. I picked out foods that I knew Luke would like; however, there weren’t many choices, but he didn’t complain too much about the food. God is good!

On day two in the Bahamas, we saw God’s exquisite ocean.

The next morning, we took the boat out for the day. Mike made Luke help him with the boat and taught him how to untie it and start it. The water was gorgeous there, and I could see Luke daydreaming as he stared out over the ocean. He was not very talkative, and I could tell he did not want to be there.

We stopped at an island for lunch, and Luke said he wasn’t going to the restaurant with us. I said a silent prayer to God. Luke was bigger than both Mike and me, and there wasn’t any way we could force him to go with us, so Mike told him he could stay on the boat.

Through my tears, I told Mike that I was not leaving him sitting on the boat alone in the heat. It was scorching, and there wasn’t much of a breeze in the harbor where we docked the boat. After a lot of arguing, God performed a miracle and allowed me to convince Luke to go with us to eat, but when we got to the restaurant, he just sat there. He refused to talk to us or the waitress, and he wouldn’t eat. I started crying again.

God opens my son’s eyes to see the world through His eyes.

Mike notices that Luke is staring out at the beautiful ocean. Luke got a slight smile on his face when he didn’t think anyone was watching him. Mike hit my leg and pointed to Luke, and I looked at him and saw it too. God showed me my beautiful son through His eyes. Luke was in a much better mood by the time we finished eating.

Leaving the island, Mike taught Luke how to operate the boat, and he felt mature behind the wheel and seemed to enjoy it. He learned about navigating, and we even let him make decisions regarding which direction to take.

We stopped at several islands to take pictures. God sure did make the Bahamas beautiful. Luke got to practice docking the boat and tying it off. He smiled as he helped Mike when we stopped to refuel.

Luke loves to fish.

Later that afternoon, Luke wanted to fish. We found an island with some coral that looked good for fishing, so we told Luke to drop the anchor. He caught small fish compared to the few other times he went deep-sea fishing. We explained that, since we were in the Sea of Abaco and not the open ocean, he would not catch those big fish he used to catch.

While Luke fished, Mike snorkeled and found a colossal starfish which fascinated Luke. We took a few pictures of it and put it back into the ocean. Luke became frustrated with the small fish. He insisted there had to be bigger fish and tried several other places. He soon gave up and asked to go back to the cabin.

Luke and Mike docked the boat, and we took our golf cart back to the cabin. After a long day, we cooked dinner.

Day 3 in the Bahamas was relaxing.

The next day Luke did not want to go on the boat with us, and we thought he couldn’t get into any trouble on an island, so we left him there and headed out for the day. He had plenty of food and water, and the air conditioning kept the cabin cool. That was probably better for him anyway; it seemed like the heat bothered him as it bothered me.

We had a great day going to several different islands because I did not worry much about Luke. I knew he was safe and that he would play with his phone or my laptop or sit and watch the few channels that we had on the small TV.

The Bahamas has over 700 islands.

Mike and I island-hopped most of the day, but there is no way that we could even try to attempt to see 1/10 of the 700 islands that make up the Bahamas. We stopped for lunch and looked around one island, but there was so much to see. We toured the lighthouse before leaving the island. I saw God everywhere we went in all the beauty that surrounded me.

We were home by dinnertime. Luke appeared to be okay when we got back, but he was not very talkative. He said he was bored. The week went by quickly for Mike and me, but I’m sure it dragged on and on for Luke. He was happy when it was time to go home.

Yes, you can see God in the Bahamas. Where have you seen God?