I recently just got back from a Disney cruise with my mom and grandparents. We have cruised Disney multiple times and absolutely love it. This time though, we chose a European trip! It was the trip of a lifetime! I had been to Europe once before, but it was nothing like this.
First, we flew to Barcelona to get on the ship. We sailed to Naples/Pompeii, Italy; Civitavecchia/Rome, Italy; Livorno/Florence/Pisa, Italy; and to Villefranche/Monte Carlo/Monaco, France. Then, we sailed back to Barcelona to fly home.
We had many adventures as we took a walking and eatery tour with a local chef in Rome, we visited Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. We visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Royal Palace of Monaco, and so much more.
Our adventures were nothing short of amazing, but the one thing I loved the most about this trip was how cool it is to meet people from all over the world.
We love our Disney cruises and are complete Disney fanatics. We always meet people on the ship and make tons of connections. We get to meet cast members and other cruisers from anywhere and everywhere. It is always so amazing to see how the staff works together on the ship to provide a wonderful experience for all cruisers. They go above and beyond to make sure we are happy as well as the tour guides did in all of our ports in each country.
It always is so fun for me to meet people and learn about their life. I love to talk to others and share a bit of my story with them as we cross paths. I have been to at least 7 countries, 15 states, and on 8 cruises. I love meeting people with all kinds of different stories and who have all been down different paths of life.
I got to meet a couple who were doctors in Virginia, a dancer on the ship for all their musical productions, a tour guide in Rome who loved his city dearly and said "Mamma Mia!" to everything, and I got to spend time with a cast member from Australia on a tour in Italy!
On the (very long) plane ride back home, I began to think about how many people I had encountered who had come from all different areas of life. Some were teenagers, some were in their 50's, some just graduated college, and some were parents, some were thriving in their job, and so on.
The best part about meeting all these people was that I got to hear some of their stories. I realized that Jesus wants us to be surrounded by other people. He wants us to share our story so that He radiates through us. He wants us to know that we are all made to serve a purpose. We are made to work together in unity to serve God and others showing others the gospel and His love.
During Jesus' time on Earth, He made a connection with all kinds of people from all different paths of life. He talked to Zacchaeus in Luke 19 who was a tax collector who was deemed as a sinner. He talked to the adulterous woman in John 8 and stood up for her. He used Paul who used to murder Christians to write several books of the bible and he even became an apostle of Christ.
We can never be "not good enough." Jesus calls us all to be a part of the body of Christ and to go down different paths of life. None of us are perfect, but we are called to serve.
1 Corinthians 12 talks about The Body of Christ. I encourage you to dig deeper into this topic because it is so fulfilling to know that you have a purpose.
1 Corinthians 12: 15-20 says, "Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Through this passage, we can understand that we each have a part to fulfill. We cannot do someone else's part. We all have different paths and different stories, but our purpose as one is to share Christ and His love. We just remember that since we all come from different paths of life, we all have different stories.
So remember that in all things, we can never do things on our own, but as a body. Never be afraid to share your story and meet new people. You never know what you could mean to that person and you could even become a part of their story.
We are radiantly restored through Christ. Your story is part of a much bigger picture and an even more beautiful purpose.
