Happy Sacred Sunday from La Isla del Encanto!
I am on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico with my soul siblings, Alain and Betsy Guerra, as they renewed their vows for their 20th wedding anniversary.
But I almost didn’t come.
If you’ve been reading along each week, you know I’ve been bombarded with challenges and inconveniences lately. The most recent surprise came on Wednesday when Justin was diagnosed with Mono. Seriously? Right after an acute emergency appendicitis?
He wouldn’t be cleared to fly. Orlando also pulled his lower back. All right when we were supposed to leave as a family the next day.
So I had a decision to make. Cancel, or split the family and go anyway.
If I’m being honest, my instinct was to cancel. Between this and my floors being remodeled, everything was calling me to stay put with my five fingers. I was fully submerged in my own fishbowl, only seeing what was right in front of me. Surely our friends would understand given the circumstances.
But my little guy, Ryan, persuaded me to take the trip, even if it was only three of us. Somehow I listened to him.
And so we did.
The whole trip has been wonderful, but yesterday in particular I remembered why I was supposed to come.
As we stood in front of Alain and Betsy witnessing them renew their vows, I remembered that this trip was never supposed to be about me or my family. It was intended to honor our friends and their twenty years. With every word they spoke, I remembered all of the years we’ve been doing life together, celebrating the highs and grieving the lows, the lowest moment being when their 2 year old daughter passed away.
In her vows, Betsy said to her husband:
We’ve been through moments in our marriage that at the time seemed insurmountable. Losing Fofi could have broken us, separated us, hardened our hearts, or robbed us of our faith. But together we chose to stand strong together, strengthen our faith, create a beautiful story, and find joy again.
Tears welled in my eyes and I remembered why I was supposed to be here in the first place.
Right after the ceremony, Alain’s brother, Avian, put his arm around me and said, “During the ceremony, I was praying that a rainbow would appear behind them.” A rainbow is the sign that Betsy has assigned to Fofi’s spirit.
“That would have been beautiful!” I sighed.
And then Avian casually said, “She still has time to show up.”
Ten minutes later, a friend runs up to me and says, “We have to find Betsy! There is a rainbow in the sky!” The rainbow shined long enough for Betsy, Alain and the kids to see it. They took a few pictures, and then in an instant, it disappeared.
The moment was magical, synchronistic, and unforgettable. You can’t make it up.
And once again, I remembered.
I remembered their choice to look for the rainbows when all they had in their life was dark clouds. I remembered the admiration I have felt for their resilience. And I remembered that Betsy has taught me that you can turn Hurt into Hope.
I received the rainbow as a reward to all of us for choosing to look for the magic no matter what.
When the current of life starts to pull you in a direction, it’s easy to forget where you started or why it matters. The current submerges you into a fishbowl and suddenly you only see what is right in front of you. For me, it was almost cancelling the trip, but for you it could be something completely different. Sometimes it’s saying yes when you know the answer is no. Sometimes it’s realizing you got through the whole week without doing one thing you actually wanted to do. Sometimes it’s putting yourself last because you’re the easiest person to abandon when everyone around you needs you.
This week on Bliss’n Up I’m talking about the fishbowl, and why remembering the energy you started something with is what pulls you back out of it.
[Listen to this week’s episode here.]
Sending you love today and always,
