I’m sitting at an Internet Cafe in the Bahamas – alone.  It’s an odd place to be alone. People are EVERYWHERE.  There’s the people hawking scooter rentals, tours, jewelry, straw stuff, shell stuff, and lots of sparkly stuff.  It’s fun to watch the people – the cruisers with their maps and the locals working for a living.

It’s not by chance that I’m knee-deep in the study of the life of Ruth while I’m here in the Bahamas.

I’m here in the Bahamas from the  KLove Cruise.  I’m on the  cruise because I work with Premier Christian Cruises – and I’m the new kid on the block (and not the boy band kind).  I’ve never met any of the people I’m working with – although I just LOVE every single one of them.  McKenzie is about the same age as my Charity and I just adore her funny self.  Janet is the calm, cool, beauty who has a heart of gold.  Mark & Beth love Madea – the plays!  We are kindred spirits of the Tyler Perry kind.  Darrell is great, hey he took a chance on this mess o’ crazy.

But with all their sweet spirits and good hearts, we are still strangers.  I’m a little like Ruth.  I’m a foreigner walking through a new experience – alone.  I know it’s a stretch, Ruth was gleaning the fields and I’m on a cruise ship.  She was working in the hot sun for food.  I’m working on an air-conditioned floating city.  Not exactly the same.

It’s  the time away from the work when things are different for me. .  It’s quiet.  No cell phones, no Internet, no television (at least not my DVR’d shows) and no people (not the ones who know me well).

I know the Lord planned for me to be alone.  I needed to walk away from the noise of my life.  I needed to get quiet and shut out the world for a little while.  I needed to hear His voice.  This is likely the only cruise where this will happen.  Next time I won’t be the new kid and next time I’ll have someone traveling with me.  Next time won’t be so quiet.

Lord, let me use this time to be with You.  Let me hear Your voice.  Don’t let me waste one moment of this.