Well, I’m home and no doubt I will be sharing bits and
pieces of my wonderful holiday with you over the coming weeks.
The day of the cruise, we arrived in Circular Quay around
lunch time and headed towards the Pacific Jewell. We checked in before boarding the ship and finding
our cabin. We met our lovely cabin
steward Tad, had a quick look around and then made our way to the top deck for lunch. After lunch we went to the outer deck for the
sail away party. Colourful Circus acrobats were performing a few tumbles and
tricks while the entertainment team did their best to get the children
dancing. I ordered a cocktail, hubby had
a beer and we tapped our toes to the band playing.
We were due to set sail at 4.30 but at 5pm we were still
docked. The captain came over the
loudspeaker and announced the delay was caused by some much needed goods were stuck
in transit.
At 6.30pm it was dark, the band had run through most of
their repertoire, and we were still docked in Darling Harbour.
I looked down at the wharf and saw a couple who were dining
at a harbour side restaurant and I felt a little sorry for them. They obviously had had a romantic evening
planned, overlooking the Sydney Opera House at night, but instead their view
was blocked by a big noisy ship.
A few people on the ship started to grumble over the delay
and I discovered later that they were the same ones who grumbled over other
things that they thought had gone wrong on their holiday.
Whilst I was looking at the couple at the dockside
restaurant, another lady came up and stood next to me. We chatted briefly and she mentioned that
even if we never left the harbour, we would have a wonderful holiday the ship as
all the meals and entertainment are provided and the ship was better than any
hotel she had been in. She took
something that could be negative and turn it around to see the positive side of
it.
This got me thinking.
It’s easy to find things to grumble about but it doesn’t take a lot to
turn your perspective around and find things to rejoice over. God’s word says “This is the day the Lord has
made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” and in Song of Solomon we are reminded
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that destroy the vineyards, our
vineyards that are in bloom” Our grumbles can easily become like the small fox
ready to destroy the joy that each day has in store for us.
Our ship left Darling Harbour at around 7pm and the couple
at the restaurant finally had the view they had waited for. While
leaving the harbour during daylight would have been lovely, leaving at night
had its own beauty. The further out
from Sydney, the clearer the sky became and the stars were easier to see.
May we all see the beauty in each day and not waste time
thinking about what could have been.
May we are be ready to turn away the little foxes because the last thing
we need is to have our joy destroyed by them.
