Embrace the Unexpected

Several years ago, when I was preparing for my first trip to Scotland, there were a number of things I’d hoped, and expected, to see. Because when you think of Scotland, there are just some things that automatically come to mind. I expected to see old castles, lush mountains, heather, bagpipers, and even rain among many other things. What I did not expect to see, though, was palm trees.

Along the western coast of the highlands, there are these beautiful beaches and palm trees. How could that be? Well, as our tour guide shared, the gulf stream runs all the way from the Caribbean Ocean up and across the North Atlantic. And when coconuts drop off in the Caribbean and get caught in the gulf stream, they sometimes don’t hit land again until they get to Scotland, where the tide pushes them ashore and they take root. But more than that, they THRIVE!

I’ve often thought about those palm trees and the journey the coconuts must take, hundreds, thousands of miles, bobbing along in the ocean, getting tossed in the waves, storms, even hurricanes. But they just keep going, riding along until they reach solid ground again and take root.

How often do we feel like the storms of life have carried us away from where we think we belong, only to drop us off in a strange environment that feels very out of place? The difference, I think, is that unlike the coconuts, we tend to question it. We fight it. We kick and scream trying to get back to where we came from, to where we think we belong. But we aren’t meant to be there anymore.

Maybe we should take a lesson from the coconuts and just ride the waves. Trust that we will get to somewhere new and exciting where we can thrive, even if we look a little out of place at first. Trusting in the journey is something I have been working hard at for the past few years. I’m still not sure what the destination will hold for me, but I know that I can trust that God will plant me somewhere that I can thrive. And if He wants to drop me in Scotland, I’ll not complain. Embrace the journey. Ride the storms. Trust in the destination. And thrive wherever you land. Be brave. Be kind.