While it may appear to be a post about a girl’s day trip to Saint Joseph, Michigan and it totally is! I’m also sharing a piece of my heart about disappointment, plot twists and listening to what God has planned rather than your plans this week.

Monday was scheduled to look a whole lot different for me. I had something planned that I had been working towards, jumping through hoops for and preparing for since February. Naturally COVID through a curve ball into some of those plans and I handled it gracefully, but I was still on track. I’m actually a really private person and when something or someone is important to me I keep it quiet and hold it tight. It takes a lot for me to open up and share what’s going on in my life, let alone what’s on my heart. I share a lot about what I have been blessed with lately, especially this past year. I haven’t shared the waiting, pain, tears, plot twists, etc that’s happened along the way. This past week, this was a plot twist I didn’t see coming.

Only a select few knew what was supposed to happen on Monday. Truth be told, I kept it more under wraps then normal. Looking back on my emotions early last week I should have known something was going to happen, my nerves were out of control which is very abnormal for me. I received a head’s up call last Tuesday that there was a chance it might not happen. My heart sunk, and I just started praying. I had actually been praying and worshiping all day that day. Not going to lie, there were a whole lot of tears. For the first time in weeks, I went to my parent’s house and had family dinner. I just needed the support. In the final business hour on Friday, I got the call and the final word that Monday was cancelled. Everything I had done leading up to September 21st was over. Was I ok? Not at all. I was a mess. Did I ask God why? Nope. I knew that He had a reason and I didn’t need to know what that was, that was good enough for me.

I am fearless by nature, but I haven’t been living like it the past couple weeks. I had put myself in self quarantine because I didn’t have time to get sick leading up to 9/21. I avoided family dinners, day trips, restaurants etc. With everything coming to a crashing halt leaving me numb, confused and needing “happy” more than ever I went to the sea. Well, the closest I had; which was Lake Michigan! My Mom had taken the day off as well as she was going to be joining me on my now cancelled 9/21, so we decided to hit the road. My Mamaw is retired and it didn’t take much to twist her arm. Before we knew it, I had turned 9/21 into a girl’s day trip to Saint Joseph to hit the beach with my two best friends. I turned the day into laughter, best friends, water, adventure, awesome food and Celeste’s (my Jeep) first road trip!

I had stopped by Saint Joseph’s plenty of times! At least, the Starbucks off of I94 that is… on the way to Green Bay. Which is why the town came to mind when I wanted to head to water. I did some searching online and discovered that I need to visit more of the town than the Starbucks. Given that it is September in Michigan it was a beautiful Fall day and around 65-70 degrees by the water. I didn’t go thinking I was going to be in a suit and everything, I went knowing it was Fall… in Michigan.

We arrived around lunchtime which was perfect as Caffe Tosi was first on our stop. It was a hopping Italian caffe and you could tell was a local favorite. The margarita pizza was the hit of the table, I would know as I ordered it and my slices seemed to disappear across the table. My Mamaw ordered the ravioli which was wonderful and Mom ordered the salmon which was great too. But the pizza stole the show. Especially since we all want to go back and order the pizza.

After lunch we drove around the town to get a lay of the land a bit. I knew we were headed to Silver Beach, but since we hadn’t been there before we wanted to see where everything was first. Saint Joseph was a gorgeous beach side town, I honestly felt like I was down by the ocean! They did a great job! Since it’s off season we didn’t need to pay to park and walked onto the pristine sandy beach overlooking the lighthouses and sailboats on Lake Michigan. I had packed a blanket and we chilled out there for over an hour and just chatted enjoying ourselves and each other. In case you’re wondering, the water is freezing right now!

After the beach we spent some time shopping downtown and loading up on sweets to take home to our family. We had a blast on the way home as well! Truth be told my Mom and I had off yesterday, Tuesday as well and we were debating on going back. All three of us are ready to go back in a heartbeat. We all needed a getaway, water, laughter and I can see plenty of day trips to Saint Joseph’s in our future.

So, what do I do when I am completely disappointed, my plans come crashing down and I have no clue what my next move is? I head to the water of course! I gotta tell ya, it was a much better use of my September 21st than what I had originally planned. Have a blessed week y’all and remember HE has a better plan in mind!