You’ll Still Arrive

“We can make our plans but the Lord determines our steps” Proverbs 16:9.

A few weeks ago, I was supposed to be on a cruise. Not just a vacation—but a reset. A deeply needed pause after pushing through wave after wave of trauma, grief, and responsibility.

I had been holding it all:

• The weight of work drama

• The heaviness of home

• The heartbreak of my son moving away

• The exhaustion of caring for and then burying my father

• The quiet ache of carrying everyone else stuff leaving me to feel as if I were emotionally neglected.

I kept saying to myself, “Just make it to the cruise.”

Not because of the ocean. Not because of the ship. But because it represented the one thing I had allowed myself to hope for, the mental space that helped me get through.

And then…just like that, it was canceled.

At first, I felt nothing. Just numb.

But then came the frustration. The deep disappointment. The question of why?

Not because I needed a luxury escape, but because I needed an emotional exhale.

But God.

Just a few weeks later, something unexpected happened.

I ended up taking a short trip with my husband. We laughed. We reconnected.

Then we flew to Orlando with our youngest son. I walked through the same airport I would’ve flown into for my cruise. Went through the same process of renting a car that I had planned the week before. I went to downtown Disney (Disney Springs), which had been on our cruise itinerary.

I even passed Port Canaveral—the very port I was supposed to depart from. Somehow, in the middle of all that movement, I still got to see my mother-in-love too.

God didn’t give me what I planned, but He led me to what I needed. While it didn’t look like my cruise itinerary, it became my soul’s itinerary.

Because sometimes…

You’ll still fly.

You’ll still smile.

You’ll still arrive.

Just not the way you expected.

You may not arrive the way you planned, but you’ll arrive exactly where you’re meant to be. Even when plans shift, purpose never misses its destination.

Mindful Moment of Reflection

1. What have you been pushing through that no one else sees?

2. What’s something you’ve tried to control that God might be asking you to surrender?

3. Where in your life have you arrived—just not the way you planned?

Prayer:

Lord,

I confess—I’ve been trying to carry it all, plan it all, hold it all together. But You see the tears behind my strength. You see the hope I tuck behind my hustle. Help me release the weight I was never meant to carry alone. Even when my plans fall through, remind me that You never do. You order my steps. You see my heart. And somehow, You’ll still bring me to the place I was always meant to be. Even if the path looks different than I imagined. I trust You!

Amen.