The Stops On The Journey

The stops on the journey of birth throughout life are not destinations but waypoints

We dock for awhile to replenish our stores, repair the sails,  recaulk the joints

And these are the times when we are at peace  when life’s seas are exceedingly calm

The wind is not blowing and the storms aren’t enraged and we can sit in the shade of a palm

Then we set sail – a choice of our own or perhaps we are forced from the pier

The death of a loved one, an illness, divorce and our life’s boat is tossed on its ear

Seasick, we hold on and pray that the storm will abate, another safe port will be found

In time it does pass and as we tie up we take stock by looking around

We find there are remnants of this and of that and the water around us is filled

With the pieces of life that we knew from before along with our tears that were spilled

And we have another time of just living; no crisis to cause us travail

But out here there are no weather reports to predict when our life’s boat must sail  

It’s surely for certain that only too soon, upheaval will fate us again        

And the key to surviving this journey intact is our faith in the Lord, not in men

Our time in the ports provides us the rest to survive the most difficult day 

And the day that we know our journey’s complete we’ll look back and probably say

The adventures that formed and shaped us were the times when control was lost

The comfort we had was in prayer, faith and trust and in God’s will no matter the cost.