Vacation Hero

So I go on vacation, right? Relaxing? Not exactly. 

I traveled with my youngest child, Monica, and my oldest son, Dominic, along with my friend Debbie and her younger son to visit Debbie’s oldest son at his home in North Carolina. Out of the six days of travel, we spent two nights in Myrtle Beach. 

At Phil’s house I managed to inadvertently set free his two dogs who tore off running down the street. I chased them in my car and then on foot. Monica came running down the street to help me capture them and lift them into my car. I thought I was a hero, but soon realized I was the reason they got loose in the first place. 

The next day, in the quiet, tranquil moments of the morning, I was the only person awake and enjoying the time alone. I decided to be a hero to the penned up dogs by letting them run in the back yard.  Suddenly, the opened door set off the shrieking home alarm so loudly that it woke up everyone in the house. I’m pretty sure I won’t be invited back. 

First night in Myrtle Beach, it stormed while we checked in. No beach for us that day. 

Dead Jellyfish

The next day at the beach Monica got stung by a jellyfish. Opting for the more sanitary treatment of the sting rather than the primeval method, she sought medicinal aid from a lifeguard. He was her hero for that moment in time. 

On our final evening on the beach, we took a relaxing walk, reveling in the calming sounds of the ocean waves breaking on the shore. As we strolled further from the hotel, Monica realized that she had dropped her cell phone somewhere along the way—in the sand, in the dark. 

Realizing this was practically an impossibility of finding it ourselves, I instantly prayed to God. I then called Dominic who had stayed back in the hotel room to ask him to look for it. “No need,” he said. He had just retrieved it from a woman who had found it on the beach and started calling Monica’s contacts. Dominic answered her call and retrieved the phone from her.  

Do you believe in coincidences? I don’t. We were all so grateful to the honest stranger for finding and returning the cell phone. At that time, she was our hero. Every day people can be our heroes. But they work through the grace of God. 

God answered my prayers that day, as he answers them every day.  GOD is MY hero! Forever and always!

I ask that you join me in another prayer–that of praying for Phillip and his family and all the people who are in the path of Hurricane Irene this coming weekend. May the Lord bless and keep them safe. Amen.

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. -Psalm 27:5 NIV

About the Author

Sharon Lape

Sharon Lape is both the permissions manager and the editorial assistant in the periodicals department at Franciscan Media. She also researches and provides content for the popular Minute Meditations feature. Sharon is a wife and a mother of four children.