Kids aren’t the only ones who don’t get everything they want for Christmas.

As you know we wanted to be in Florida on Christmas day.  Well…kids aren’t the only ones who don’t always get what they want for Christmas.  Sometimes adults don’t either.  You won’t even believe what I’m going to tell you…

We were all set to leave Hilton Head Island yesterday, which would give us the three days we needed to get through Georgia and arrive in Florida on the 24^th.  We left our dock and motored over to the fuel dock.  While we were there, a man was talking to Gary and as he looked down at our outboard motor he said, “You’re not going to want to hear this, but your prop is missing.”  Sure enough, we looked and the propeller was gone.  It had fallen off somewhere between our dock and the fuel dock. Since we were able to navigate to the fuel dock, we assumed it had fallen off somewhere near there.  It just so happened a scuba diver was in the marina working on another boat, and I had just chatted with him as we were leaving our dock.  I walked over to where he was and asked him if we could hire him to look for our propeller.  He did indeed find the propeller and made a nice cash Christmas bonus. He couldn’t find the small part that held the prop on, but that was like finding a needle in a haystack. We were thankful that he found the prop, especially when we found out how much they cost.  Gary called the manufacturer of our boat and ordered the parts needed to attach the prop, as well as an extra prop and parts to attach it.  If this had happened anywhere else, at any other time, we would not have been so fortunate.  Our friends, the Eisele’s said, “What’s the chance of that happening in 10 feet of water in a marina with a scuba diver there?”  Our reply was, “God watches over idiots and children.”

We had the parts shipped overnight to the Eisele’s house and we are awaiting them now.  Gary will be able to attach the propeller, so we won’t have to get a mechanic to put it on.  (He’s not just a pretty face.)  Actually, we were not going to get each other anything for Christmas this year, but that plan changed as well, and we are expecting our present to arrive here via UPS at any moment.

Since we’ve had this delay, we are just going to stay here in Hilton Head until after Christmas.  At least that’s our plan for now.

We do hope you receive most everything you want for Christmas, and like us, maybe a few surprises… Enjoy your holiday, wherever your life journey takes you.

God’s blessing to you as Christ lights the way for all of us this holy season.