God Thinks Bigger Than We Do

God’s plan is often bigger than our own, and he proves that to us daily when we decide to represent him. Recently, we traveled to Xcaret, Mexico for vacation. I looked forward to some down time. At home, everyone knows that I work for the Lord. At home, I am constantly in view to others, questioned, and requested to pray. I don’t mind that I need to be an example of my faith because that is what I do for a living – write Christian fiction. When we went on vacation to Xcaret, I had hoped to remain anonymous and relax, but that didn’t happen.

The first day there, Don and I spent the day to ourselves, and enjoyed the largest swimming pool in the world at the Grand Mayan. It is one-fifth of one mile long and triple-decked, an unbelievable construction to behold. At home, I exercise two to three hours a day or more. I don’t always feel like doing that on vacation, so I thought that the least that I could do was to walk up and down in the swimming pool, something that a physical therapist said was fantastic exercise for the alignment of the spine and the balanced workout of muscles. I walked the length of the pool up and back fifteen to twenty times a day.

In the publishing world, I am known as the “turquoise cowgirl” because that color looks best on me in photographs, since my hair turned white. (There’s still a vestige of blonde hair, but it is mostly white even though people think it’s still blonde when they look at me.) In my turquoise cowboy hat and turquoise bathing suit, I walked the length of the pool repeatedly. Occasionally, I’d walk up to the swimming pool bar and order a water, or soda, or glass of wine. I love to habla con el gente local, and so I spoke to the men operating the bar. Invariably, their favorite question is, “What do you do for a living?” They are curious about Americans in that way. Maybe they wonder how we manage to have enough money to afford a place like the Grand Mayan – one of Mexico’s most extravagant resorts. In our case, the trip was a perquisite.

When I told them that I write Christian fiction, they honored me in a way that I don’t deserve. One young man’s eyes filled with tears. He told me his name, Jesus Gebril, and asked me never to forget who he was. Everyone requested more information, and so I started to pass out my business cards. The service poolside became better than I ever expected after that. They all wanted to talk about their faith. It was so refreshing!

The next day, we had a difficult time finding a place to sit. A wonderful couple, Mary and Richard from Pennsylvania, shared a table with us. We started talking and they, too, were curious about what we do. I gave them a business card. A couple next to them requested one, too. I was so proud of them, Marilyn and Tom from Michigan, because they had come to Mexico with business-size cards written in Spanish that led a person down the path to believe. After that, these two impressive couples had our chairs staked out for us each day before we even arrived at the pool!

That was just the beginning. In my walks in the pool, several people confronted me, a couple from San Diego, a couple from Washington D.C., a couple from Virginia, a couple from our home town, Calabasas, California, and countless others. They all asked the same question, “What do you do?” I handed out business cards to all of them. Many of them started to walk with me in the pool and talked about their faith, or lack of faith. I listened and tried to be a good example of my faith. Faith is such a highly personal topic, and yet they wanted to discuss it. That same day, we had the photo shoot on the beach with a professional photographer from the area. He took most of the shots on and under the famous pier on the gulf, where several beer commercials had been made. A crowd gathered for that event, which brought more people to my lounge chair to ask for business cards.

My plan to relax and remain anonymous was not God’s plan for me. Each day the number of people that I met escalated. I collected e-mail addresses and business cards from them to add them to my mailing list. We talked and talked and talked about God and faith as we walked in the swimming pool. Poor Don kept wondering if I was ever going to sit by the pool and relax. It never happened. I stayed on my toes and remained thoughtful and alert for the entire trip. When people prepared to leave, they asked for pictures. Many of these people I will never see again, but they still wanted pictures of us together. It was very touching.

I could have been stubborn and insisted on my privacy, but it was not part of God’s plan for me on that trip. It made me realize that I need to be prepared every time we travel. I need to carry business cards and my Bible to maintain my meditative demeanor. The number of people that God placed in my path made me look around in wonder at his plan. I think that people innately seek purity, whether they are aware of it or not. They are drawn to people who also seek purity. Whatever it is, it staggered me. Now, as we plan to leave for Kauai, I’m curious as to what will happen on this trip, but it isn’t for me to say. I place my life in God’s hands and follow as he leads the way.