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Blindsighted isn’t just a podcast—it’s a lifeline for those walking through the darkest valleys. Hosted by Karen and Todd Hornsby, this raw and unfiltered series invites you into a story marked by unimaginable pain, loss, and suffering.
But this isn’t just about our story. It’s about YOUR story, too.
We’re not here to sugarcoat suffering or offer feel-good inspiration that fades by morning. We’re here to validate the ache, the confusion, and the questions that come when life doesn’t make sense—and when God feels far away.
The name Blindsighted is rooted in the phenomenon of “blindsight”—where people without sight are still drawn to light they cannot see. That’s what faith feels like sometimes. And in our journey, we’ve learned:
- Faith doesn’t make life easy—it makes it possible.
- Trusting God’s plan doesn’t mean understanding it.
- Victory doesn’t mean escaping suffering—it means enduring with strength, honesty, and hope.
Each episode of Blindsighted peels back the layers of our journey through our daughter’s cancer battle, a near-fatal car accident, health diagnoses, and more. We speak candidly about the moments that broke us—and the God who met us there.
If you’re walking through something that feels impossible, we want you to know: you're not alone. There’s light—even if you can’t see it yet.
Join us. Let’s find victory in the midst of suffering, together.
Welcome back to Blindsighted. Today we wrap up our conversation of our love story and rewind the tape to a life changing Sunday morning. It's the day a reserved gym rat wandered into a small town church, white knuckled the pew, and walked out forever changed. And yes, bitten with yours truly. From there, the dominoes fell fast, a whirlwind courtship, a love crazed public proposal in front of 400 strangers, and the honeymoon that literally ran aground.
Speaker 1:But beneath every laugh out loud mishap, roadblock bribes, a biohazard cruise ship, and back alley taxi rides in Mexico, runs the steady heartbeat of God's providence. The way he stitches broken roads into beautiful beginnings. So grab your coffee, or maybe your seatbelt, and lean in as we explore how radical salvation, reckless love, and a row cruise line forged a foundation strong enough for the storm still to come.
Speaker 2:What was that Sunday like?
Speaker 3:So I was raised up in a little Southern Baptist church.
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 3:you know, it didn't get too excited. I mean, I'll tell you, I can't tell you when I was awake, because I'd fall asleep pretty quickly in the service. But they were going to preach some hellfire and brimstone. Come on. Turn or burn.
Speaker 3:Heaven and hell. And there's nothing wrong with that. Nope. But that being said, did your church, little Pentecostal Assembly of God Church, same God, same Jesus, same Holy Spirit, but it was a very different environment. So and I, I kind of was trying to figure out, I'm like, okay, this is going to be a lot, a lot more high energy.
Speaker 3:That's what I would call it. And it was, but I'll say Not
Speaker 2:crazy high energy. You know, I get a little nervous when we talk about Pentecostal nowadays, you know, because it's kind of gotten a little bit of a bad rap a little bit. It has it wasn't crazy.
Speaker 3:It gets taken out of context. Yeah. And, and sometimes there are certain people just put on a show. Yeah. And they should
Speaker 2:not our church for
Speaker 3:that and that it was not that they were Holy Ghost filled people. Yeah, that were desiring, you know, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to move in their life. Yeah. And when you get two or three gathered together, the spirit of the Lord's there. So it was powerful.
Speaker 3:So I'm there, you know, Mr. Joe cool, you know, trying to trying to see where all this is going to go. And that Sunday and the following Sunday and every Sunday, ever since. But especially that one in the following when those two Sundays, I felt the Holy Spirit and I had not been emotional or cried in years. And just emotion started welling up in me started crying.
Speaker 3:I'm like, Oh my god, what has this woman done to me? And you know, boy, I was white knuckling, you know, the pew because I didn't want to get up because the pastor said, Okay, anybody that, you know, has been touched by this, you know, come down to the front, let us pray for you, all that stuff. So it was powerful. And eventually I did go down to the front and truly did experience the Holy Spirit touching me, accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. When I came in the door for you, but quickly, I went down to the altar for Jesus.
Speaker 2:Good. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, so it was it was it was really powerful. And I was crazy about you. And when you get saved, this burden just just taken off of you. And you experience a love that you've never experienced before. So you were kind of a package deal with with God.
Speaker 3:So you can thank God for me maybe just being completely crazy about you because I had you, I was falling in love with you, I just got saved, so this burden was taken off of me. All this wrong thinking got replaced with with the Holy Spirit being in me. It's just almost hard to kind of quantify how I was radically saved radically changed. And after that, like when I would be at work, I wouldn't have to say, Oh, I got saved. And Jesus is my Savior.
Speaker 3:I was happy to do that. Because I there was a boldness that came on me that I'd never experienced before. But people that were around me, whether it's work or social settings, like, what's different about you what something's going on with you. So it's like, just being in the atmosphere. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Things were changing because the Holy Spirit was in me. And people could sense God moving, not me, I still didn't have it figured out by any means. But God had changed me in so many ways that people could sense it without even having to say a word.
Speaker 2:That's remarkable. It's remarkable. I was very, very excited to see such a commitment as I watched you because I didn't know you, but I I did know and you had been very honest with me about, you know, where you were, what your life was like. And for me to sit back and all of a sudden watch you go from, oh, this is what I do to this Just like literally overnight. You just laid all that down.
Speaker 3:It was done. Didn't care.
Speaker 2:Didn't care.
Speaker 3:My priorities completely changed. Yeah, just It was radical. From from being this prideful guy to just being very humble. So yeah, it definitely was a big change. Shortly after that, get baptized.
Speaker 3:And everything's going so well. I think approximately two months later from when we met.
Speaker 2:So we need to tell people this is not for everyone. Right, babe?
Speaker 3:This is not for everyone. This absolutely a God thing. You know, as Rascal Flatts sings, you know, God bless the broken road.
Speaker 2:Road.
Speaker 3:That led me straight to you. So literally, from when we met almost two months, two months, when we met almost two months later, we were engaged. Yes. Just a quick little thing about getting the ring. A guy from the gym I went to, because I went to the gym a lot.
Speaker 3:He's like, man, you're getting married. I'm like, yeah, because I was bragging about you to everybody. Wow. She's the best thing since sliced bread. And she's just an angel and all these things, you know, because I got you on this pedestal, of course.
Speaker 3:He's like, that's great, man. He's like, hey, have you got a ring yet? I'm like, not yet, but yeah, it's heading in that direction. He's like, well, don't go to one of these chain jewelry stores like to K's or any of these places in the mall. He just got engaged and he's like, I know this old gentleman.
Speaker 3:He's been in the business for like fifty or sixty years. He's got a little shop and he only does appointments by referrals. You can't get in to see him unless one of his previous customers refers you. He's like, I've never referred anybody and I just got my fiance a ring and she loved it. He's like, he'd be a great fit for you.
Speaker 3:You really this this would be like a custom ring. Like, yeah, man, absolutely. That seemed like a great idea. So I told you about it. He and you're like, yeah, let's do this.
Speaker 3:And he made the contact. And we went up to Troy, Alabama and went to this little hole in the wall shop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like Todd, it was a hole in the wall. We were like, where are we at right now? It was, it
Speaker 1:was a little, it felt a little shady.
Speaker 3:It did. So we were there and the little, the little man, this old little gentleman who was not really what I was expecting. He I don't know how old he was.
Speaker 2:He was older. He was truly struggling to walk.
Speaker 3:He was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like he truly wasn't was an was an older man.
Speaker 3:And you would not expect him to be in the diamond jewelry store The way he was dressed. Yeah. He was very modestly and humbly dressed. So he we go into his shop. And he goes into a safe and pulls out a bag of diamonds.
Speaker 3:A bag of diamonds.
Speaker 2:We're both like what?
Speaker 3:And, and we find the perfect one. Yes, we do. And, and it's great. And it's funny because the little guy, he's like, would you young folks be willing to give me a ride home? Because he opened up his shop just for us to come because it's by point and only.
Speaker 3:So he opened up the shop for us. We did our business, which was wonderful. And he was closing the shop. He's like, my son, you know, is not here yet. And if you all are going my way, would y'all mind taking me?
Speaker 3:And we're like, of course, we'd be happy to take you. Come on. Because, know, back in the late 90s, there was no such thing as Uber.
Speaker 2:No Ubers around.
Speaker 3:So he brings his little bag of diamonds with him home. I'm thinking if he were to leave him, maybe that's maybe that's God trying God may be trying to bless More
Speaker 2:favor right there, Lloyd.
Speaker 3:But he didn't didn't leave his diamonds in the truck. Checked. So on the way, you know, and it really truly is right on our way home. So we're going out of town. In the way the little man's dress, I mean, well, you know, okay, where's his little house?
Speaker 3:And he said, Oh, it's right up here on the right. Well, I'm driving in. All I see is this palatial mansion. He said, Oh, yeah, here's my house. So it truly was a mansion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this big old plantation out here on the big Hill.
Speaker 3:And his wife, when we pulled up in the yard, she's like, let me give you all a tour of the house. Yeah. And you could tell, I mean, these are old school folks. There were rooms in that house nobody ever goes in. He like a museum.
Speaker 2:Old money, right babe?
Speaker 3:Old money. Old money. That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:That was fun.
Speaker 3:So that was that. We came back and we're moving forward and getting closer and closer. Well, he let me know when it was ready. I'm thinking the whole time, once I get this ring, am I immediately going to give it to you? Do I need to wait longer?
Speaker 3:How am I going to propose? You know, being in the wedding world, and you could allude to this, engagements, weddings, you know, they're productions.
Speaker 2:They are now.
Speaker 3:Are now. In the late 90s, they weren't. The late 90s,
Speaker 2:not quite as much.
Speaker 3:Yeah. In the late 90s, you would take your girlfriend to a restaurant maybe or to the beach or somewhere. When the moment was right, you'd get down on one knee just to two of you. You'd propose and hopefully she'd say yes. I'm thinking, okay, when I get this ring, how am I going to do this?
Speaker 3:And I wanted it to be special. And it truly is true. It's not lip service. I really was changed. You know, I, know, the way I thought the way I acted was just different.
Speaker 3:Because for me, when I was in school, elementary school, high school, I had a fear of being in front of people speaking. So I would be the to last person to give a speech in class. Public speaking, was mortified by it. I just hadn't done it. I didn't feel confident at all.
Speaker 3:That being said, I'm like, wow, I don't want to just propose in a restaurant. That would be okay. But I should propose at the Oak Valley Opry. Maybe I could do it like before or after or in between a concert. And I start thinking, are you crazy?
Speaker 3:You're going to get up in front of hundreds of people because I think the theater would all about 400.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was max for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I just felt led to do it. Like, how am I going to do it? How am I going to do it? So I kind of figured it out how I was going to do it. So I briefly mentioned it to your mom.
Speaker 3:Hey, I want to ask your dad, Charles, I want to speak with him and get his approval. I want to do this right. And if he would have said, you know, Hey, hold on. I think y'all are rushing it. I would have honored that.
Speaker 3:I wanted his approval. And if he'd have said no, I would have waited until he said, Okay. You know, because I didn't want to go anywhere. I was going to stay there. So I spoke with him and he's like, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And he got a little emotional. And he's like, Yeah, I don't know what all he said, but absolutely. I think this is a good thing. You go ahead. So I almost wish maybe he had said no and I had more time to kind of get my nerve up.
Speaker 3:I'm like, I'm doing this. No matter what, I'm following the leading of the Holy Spirit. It was powerful Because I did during intermission, you know, they had, you know, the part of the show, then you have intermission, they take a break, you take a break, you go to the concession stand and get your snacks, then you come back for the part. Before the part started, I walked up on stage. And I know you're thinking, why are you on stage?
Speaker 3:Because you didn't know I got the ring. You knew nothing about any of this. So before I go any further, what were you thinking when I walked up on stage?
Speaker 2:I was having a panic attack. I really was. I thought, okay, what was happening? Because I know that he doesn't like to speak, you know, just from our conversations that we had had. And I was, I was in shock.
Speaker 2:I didn't know what to think. Was, I was having a panic attack pretty much.
Speaker 3:And that's the thing. It wasn't a Todd thing. It was a God thing. And I had a boldness, the Holy Spirit. I mean, you have a boldness about you.
Speaker 3:You're like, yeah, I don't want to do this, But I got to do this. Yeah. So and that that was one of the one of the times I was exercising my faith. I look back on it now. I wouldn't have quantified it that way.
Speaker 3:That's what it was. I was trusting in the Holy Spirit. Because this is not how Todd would have done it. But this was how God wanted it done. And I said my thing about how I met you.
Speaker 3:And you were an angel and all these things and in front of hundreds of people.
Speaker 2:It was super sweet, babe. I can tell you that. The place was packed. Was amazing.
Speaker 3:And I thought too, I'm gonna get in front of all these people. And at least it's gonna put some pressure on her to say yes. If she says no, they're gonna run her out the back door.
Speaker 2:So unfair.
Speaker 3:So at least I had that going for me. So I said what I needed to say, professing my love publicly for you.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 3:I propose. And you say yes. It was it was it was wonderful.
Speaker 2:It was beautiful. You did a beautiful job.
Speaker 3:And that's wonderful. And that truly was a God thing. So now we're engaged. And we're on cloud nine. We're in love, young love, we're engaged.
Speaker 3:You can show your engagement ring off because it's interesting. Before you got your ring, you were in my high school class ring. Because I wanted to put a ring on you of some sort because I'm not
Speaker 2:27, 22 and I'm wearing a high school class ring.
Speaker 3:Right. But I wanted to go ahead and mark my territory like, boys, this one's taken. Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So, I'm able to get things bonafide and give you a real engagement ring that you're still wearing now.
Speaker 2:Still wearing. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Amen. So, but that was wonderful. That amazing, wonderful time. So sweet.
Speaker 1:It really was.
Speaker 2:So we planning process now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And I'll let you talk a little bit about some of that. But we got engaged two months after we met. And then it was six months from the engagement to the wedding.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh. Because of all the planning.
Speaker 2:Hey, listen, don't give me too much grief because weddings nowadays eighteen to twenty months. Okay? You gave me six. That's all you gave me.
Speaker 3:That's all you wanted. I
Speaker 2:really wanted more, but you wouldn't let me have more.
Speaker 3:I don't remember that way. But okay.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that was fun. I won't bore people to tears about wedding details, but it was really good. Had the wedding that I wanted. Mission was accomplished. We got all the all the little things that we wanted.
Speaker 2:Got married in a small little country church It was a beautiful ceremony. We did get a lot of grief about our ceremony being an hour long.
Speaker 3:As I remember, we wrote our own vows. You also being a wonderful vocalist, you also sang a song, you recorded the song.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because there was no way I was making it through it live.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can understand. I know the part of it and people will remember in season one, Milton Brown, the state trooper when the ceremony was over, and we were walking down the aisle to exit the church. You stopped and gave him a hug. Yep. Which I thought was just so classy, and just a really great way to say thank you.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:For all you did for sacrificing your life to save me. Yeah. And if people haven't seen season one, they should listen to it and watch
Speaker 1:it.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:But Milton Brown was there. So that was a wonderful moment. So our honeymoon, we got to plan that. And I'm, know, like, okay, I knocked it out of the park with the engagement ring. I got to I got to plan or, you know, I got to do my part for our honeymoon.
Speaker 3:Well, back then, back in the late nineties, you didn't have all these websites. You didn't have the Internet.
Speaker 2:Pinterest was not around.
Speaker 3:It was not. So if you wanted to book a cruise or travel, you went to a travel agent.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:So I went to a travel agent and I'm this country guy. I got no clue what I'm doing. And obviously I'm kind of on a fixed budget. So I do the best I can and we get a cruise And I'll go ahead and name the name of the cruise line because Carnival Cruise Line does not support or endorse this podcast.
Speaker 2:It's not a sponsor.
Speaker 3:It is not a sponsor. Of this podcast. So I did that. And we got a cruise on Carnival Cruise Line. And the name of the boat was the Tropical.
Speaker 3:It was I think the smallest cruise ship ever to have existed.
Speaker 2:Probably the one ever built. Now that we know what we know.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But then I'd never I'd never been out of the state of Florida. Sure. Never been on a cruise. I'm thinking, wow, we're knocking it out of the park here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, neither one of us had not been on a cruise either.
Speaker 3:Sure. Yeah. And honestly, we were so in love and head over heels and
Speaker 2:we were both very naive and sheltered. I for sure was.
Speaker 3:We were, I mean, we could have we could have been on a bass boat, and we thought we were having a good time. So the cruise was great. You know, and maybe you can kind of share, once we get there. Yeah. And we're trying to get on the boat kind of pick it up from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So we're trying to get on the boat. And we, again, like you said, this is honeymoon. So we're, literally we've only known each other eight months really at this point. So we're married, still trying to learn how each other does things.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Still trying to learn that now, I think.
Speaker 2:Still trying to learn it now. That's very true. So we get to Tampa where the port was it Orlando or Tampa?
Speaker 3:It actually was Orlando.
Speaker 1:Think it was Orlando. Yeah,
Speaker 2:it was Orlando. So we get to the Orlando Port. And when we're supposed to be boarding, we're not. And we're it was announced that there was a delay because there were some plumbing issues on the cruise ship and the crew was still trying to work on some of these things and that we would be boarding shortly.
Speaker 3:And did did you or I care?
Speaker 1:Did not care.
Speaker 3:Not a bit. We're together. Okay. Yeah. It's great.
Speaker 3:We're in Orlando. It's fine.
Speaker 2:Patty delays our honeymoon a little bit. We're fine with that. So we, yeah, finally bored. What looked to me and you to be the Titanic. Right?
Speaker 2:Like that was the cruise ship I think I had ever seen.
Speaker 3:It was. Yeah, we thought that until we pulled up beside some other cruise ships once we got on the cruise and we we realized we were on a little puddle jumper.
Speaker 1:So we finally get on the boat
Speaker 2:and things were a little chaotic. It felt like.
Speaker 3:But we had no point of reference.
Speaker 2:We had no point of reference. We didn't care. So we maybe smelled a few things that were
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think like the sewage or something was backed up a little bit. That's like certain parts of the ship, I think were worse. You know, ours was fine.
Speaker 2:Ours was fine.
Speaker 3:You know, everything was functional.
Speaker 2:We were good.
Speaker 3:So we were enjoying the cruise. Again, no point of reference. Just super happy.
Speaker 2:So here we are. We're on the way to Mexico. That's where our ultimate destination was. And finally, we had heard enough people complaining about the service and the smell and their room's not working right. And me and you're like, we're good.
Speaker 2:We're fine. God bless them. Sorry they're going through what they're going through, but all good here. But the next thing we know, because of all the rumblings and the complaints that the cruise line was getting, that the cruise ship was getting, there's this announcement that comes on telling all of us, on board to meet at a certain spot on the cruise ship.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So everybody on the ship, you know, gets called up to kind of like when you do the safety briefing initially. Yep. So everybody was called together. And the long and short of it was like, hey, we know there's a lot of problems on the ship with the sewage backing up and other things.
Speaker 3:If you want to go ahead and get off the ship now, we will get you back to Florida, you know, to where you started. Like I say, this was day three of five. And if you want to get off the ship, we will go ahead and refund all of your money. If you don't want to, if you want to finish out the cruise the other two days, we will give you half your money back. And we're like, score?
Speaker 3:Yes, this is amazing. I'm like, hey, you ready? You ready to go ahead and roll on back to the house? So we'll get a free trip and get all of our money back.
Speaker 2:Speaking volumes of the man I just married. Yes.
Speaker 3:So we're like, yes, losers. We'll take a free trip. What are you talking about? So bad. You can help me with some of the details, but we get off.
Speaker 3:There's, there's not as many of us that get
Speaker 1:off cruise I know
Speaker 2:the amount of people that complain, there was only like 25 or 30 of us that ended up getting off. We were at Playa Del Carmen when we made this decision to get off. Everybody from the ship is watching all of us losers get off the boat. And so we get off. We've got our luggage.
Speaker 2:Some of the people
Speaker 3:that got off with us were not happy people. Well, the the only ones that were happy were you and I because we're, you know, we're honeymooning and we just been told, especially for me.
Speaker 2:Yes, especially for you, babe.
Speaker 3:We're getting a free trip. I'm like, yes, this is great. Yes. So we get off the boat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, while everybody else is watching us and being like,
Speaker 3:oh my god. And they initially, they throw our luggage and have me taxis. We get in the taxis. And because from here on out, it's like that movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It is chaotic to say the least.
Speaker 3:So we get in these taxis. And I guess this was Playa Del Carmen.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was.
Speaker 3:And we were ultimately going to fly out of Cancun, Mexico.
Speaker 2:That's right. That's what it was. Yeah. So yeah, Cancun. Yeah.
Speaker 3:We get in the taxi.
Speaker 2:We thought we were going to die.
Speaker 3:We did because Yeah, I don't know what I don't know how they drive there. I don't know if they have any traffic laws or not. But we were not following MFA.
Speaker 2:They were not.
Speaker 3:They were they were literally one inch off of each other's bumper.
Speaker 2:Yeah, New York City.
Speaker 3:Yes. And worse. Worse. And if the car was moving, they had to have their their hand on the horn. I don't think the horn the car wouldn't work if the horn was not being blown.
Speaker 3:So we make it to a ferry boat.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then they had bicycles. They're waiting to get some of the luggage out of the taxis to put on the ferry boat. And they're literally taking our luggage and throwing it across the water these
Speaker 3:ferry So yes, so they're throwing our luggage and I'm like, well,
Speaker 2:Maybe it'll get on
Speaker 3:the ferry If not, I hope it floats. And, and the whole time that they're throwing our luggage, and we're getting on this ferry boat to ferry us across to another spot. You know, the federalies are all out there, and they've got their AK 47.
Speaker 2:I had no clue who they were or what they were.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:No idea.
Speaker 3:You know, I say the local police, the military, with assault rifles, and with Dobermans and German Shepherds.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like, just try to blend in. So we get on the ferry boat. And it's a nice pleasant ride. Our luggage made it. So we go across to the other side.
Speaker 3:And then we get off.
Speaker 2:Then it's thrown across the water.
Speaker 3:They're throwing their luggage across again to the to the little bicycle guys. And then like you said, there's about 25 or 30 of us. I think they had three or four white panel passenger vans for us.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:they escort us, Basically, this little town is, it's a rough little town. And we're on the back street, you know, adjacent to the marina. And there's 30 of us tourists in these white panel vans. And we get in, and there's nobody around then. And I'm thinking we're going to die.
Speaker 3:Nobody's going to know. The cruise line is
Speaker 2:gonna There's no cell phones at this time for 03:60. Right? Oh, 03:60 for people to find us. Yeah,
Speaker 3:you go get you a quarter and a pay phone if you need to make a phone call. So we're going to die. The cruise lines are going to disinval. Oh, no, we don't. They must have fell over the side.
Speaker 3:I don't know what happened to them. And finally, and bless your heart. I don't know how much to tell you, but you're so you're so oblivious.
Speaker 2:So, so oblivious. No idea what's going on.
Speaker 3:Finally, the drivers for the three or four passenger vans, you know, arrive and they get in the van and we're off on our way on like, thank God. So we're driving along, you know, going to Cancun from Playa Del Carmen, and their version of the interstate, You know, it's however many lanes. And we get stopped, you know, like the police federalities, they have a roadblock. Like, that's interesting. And without missing a beat, the the driver lets his wind down.
Speaker 3:He's done this before. And I know you're not you're not even though this is registering for Oh,
Speaker 2:we must need to pay a toll.
Speaker 3:A toll. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. A toll like the sun passed.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's what it is. That's what we were doing.
Speaker 3:So, and we did pay a toll. He, he, the driver reached over in a money bag he had and got cash out and handed it to the federalist so he could pass through. It was a bribe. And I'm thinking again, maybe I've seen too many movies. They're they're gonna they're going to rob us, kill us, and bury us in the shadow of great this is the cops who's going to investigate it.
Speaker 3:Thankfully
Speaker 2:So glad I was naive to these things that was going on. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking the
Speaker 2:whole nervous wreck.
Speaker 3:Yes. And I'm thinking all the time. This is a great honeymoon. This is so memorable.
Speaker 2:Exactly what
Speaker 3:If we lived through this.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:This is going be a story. Yeah. So thankfully they took the bribe and we were allowed to go through.
Speaker 2:Oh Lord.
Speaker 3:And we finally arrive at the airport in Cancun.
Speaker 2:Yes. We get to the airport in Cancun And some of these people who were leading the charge go up to the Delta check-in desk and say, hey, we're we are the guests off of the cruise line. I feel bad even saying the cruise line
Speaker 3:Carnival Tropical.
Speaker 2:Said we're here because they're giving us a complimentary flight back to Florida.
Speaker 3:And I had a couple thoughts. Number one, when they said that to the attendant there at the desk, the look we got was like a cow looking at a new gate. No clue. And I wondered
Speaker 2:They had no idea.
Speaker 3:And for some reason, that all the passengers that got off the boat with us, our fellow cohorts, they didn't let you and I lead the charge for some reason.
Speaker 2:Some reason they didn't. They never asked us for one thing. Did they Todd?
Speaker 3:They figured They never
Speaker 2:asked us one question.
Speaker 3:Yeah. They've seen, hey, they're in their twenties. They're honeymooners. Just leave them
Speaker 1:go.
Speaker 3:Y'all just follow our lead.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Just leave them alone. Yeah, we got this. So anyway, they had no idea why we were there. No idea.
Speaker 2:Thank God for these people who were like leading the charge and we're not going to let this fly. Getting on the phone with however many Carmel Cruise Lines reps and finally get everything worked out for them to fly us back to Orlando. So that finally happened. That was your fight.
Speaker 3:So the whole time, other than thinking I was going to die, I was really enjoying this, you know, especially being able to
Speaker 2:Other than you thought you were going
Speaker 1:to die.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, yeah. So it was it was on the edge of your seat. But once we made it to the airport, I felt like we had a pretty good chance we're going to live now. So and then I'm like, wow, we get a fly. So like you said, it's my flight.
Speaker 3:So I'm thinking we get a free cruise that we get a free flight. This is amazing.
Speaker 2:This speaks volumes of how sheltered we were.
Speaker 3:So we get on the plane. I think the smallest plane ever. Yeah. Yeah. As you say, a puddle jumper.
Speaker 3:That's what it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a puddle jumper. Yeah. But we made it back. And they put us up in a nice hotel.
Speaker 3:They did. So we made it back
Speaker 1:to the then. Was good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We were late. But we we made it. And so we get checked into the hotel.
Speaker 3:So we get to the hotel and it's a nice hotel, the the Doubletree Hotel. And for me at the time, that was by far the nice hotel I'd ever been. Another score, like, this is a great hotel. I feel I feel like royalty here. This is amazing.
Speaker 3:And I'm I'm really happy we're back in The US. So we're in Florida. So I feel comfortable.
Speaker 2:It was much nicer to be back in The States.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was. So that next morning,
Speaker 2:That next morning. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You're in the shower doing your thing getting ready. And you know, I'm sitting on the bed and I got the TV on and I look and I've got it on the news. And I see that Carnival Tropical. I'm like, well, that's our cruise ship. It's on TV.
Speaker 3:So I turned the volume up. And I'm like, hey, Karen, our cruise ships on the news in here. And like you had reminded me, there was a helicopter flying around it.
Speaker 2:There was.
Speaker 3:So I don't know.
Speaker 2:It was stranded.
Speaker 3:It was stranded. I don't know what additional medical I'm sorry, medical, what additional mechanical issues they had. But besides the sewage stopping and it did. The the boat stopped. The boat stopped.
Speaker 3:The motor quit. I don't know all the terms for it, but it was a drift. It was. So talk about dodging a bullet.
Speaker 2:Hey, now who were those people looking at?
Speaker 3:That's
Speaker 2:right. That's right. When they was giving us the eye, like, look at those people getting off.
Speaker 3:So I don't know how those poor people got off the boat, but the ship we were on made the news. Made national news because that stuff didn't happen. I'm sure it doesn't happen So yeah, that was our honeymoon.
Speaker 2:That was our honeymoon, babe. I mean, so here's the point of the story and telling all these details that some people probably could care less about hearing about our life, but maybe some are enjoying it, finding it as comical as we do. Boy, we didn't even get the ink dry on our marriage license before. All hell is held against us.
Speaker 3:It did. And it's remarkable. Absolutely. And just like we have talked about some of the things we'll share is that was a bonding moment for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It was just drawing us closer together. And God knew we needed that for the future. And there again, I think on all that fun stuff, all that crazy stuff
Speaker 2:that we can laugh about now
Speaker 3:that we can now because we didn't die. That God was orchestrating all that you and I meeting because, you know, we had praying mamas and God knew he had a plan for us. Every step of the way, God was working it out. Not the way we would think. And moving forward up until this moment today, we've got plans, we've got thoughts and ideas.
Speaker 3:Thank God we do. And God wants us to plan for things and have an excellence about us. But from then until now, God has had his hand on everything we are doing. Some of it really good and fun and comical like we have discussed and some of it not.
Speaker 2:That's very true. It's very true. So we are going to continue to unpack the early stages of our story. But it's it is interesting to even though we know our story and every time we've told a new story on this podcast, it's like, wow, it's a reminder of the hand that God has had upon us that there's no way we really could have navigated however much we've went through without having the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us and protect us. It's been remarkable to watch what trials it has been like, I know we laugh about it, but the very moment from the time you asked me to marry you to now, it's been a fight.
Speaker 2:It has been. It has been a fight.
Speaker 3:As we've said, there's been mountaintop experiences. I love those. God was there. The thing about mountaintop experiences, to have a mountain, you have to have two valleys, one on either side. So there's been valley experiences.
Speaker 3:God was there. We've hit rock bottom before and we're going to get into that in future episodes. Yep. But God was always the rock at the bottom.
Speaker 1:He was the rock at the bottom, and we're very thankful for it.
Speaker 3:Amen.
Speaker 1:If today's stories prove anything, it's this. God doesn't waste a single detour. From a trembling walk to the altar to a cruise ship adrift, He was scripting a love letter we could have never pinned ourselves. Wherever you sit right now, pew, cubicle or a taxi, barreling down life's back roads. Remember the same author is orchestrating yours.
Speaker 1:Psalms one thirty eight eight says this, the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Your steadfast love, oh Lord, endures forever. If this episode stirred your spirit, do us a favor, rate, review and share. So more hearts can find hope in the hard places. Tap follow.
Speaker 1:Hit us up on social at Blindsighted podcast and visit blindsightedpodcast.com for bonus content and behind the scenes laughs. Until next time. Keep fixing your eyes on the one who turned shipwrecks into cell sets and valleys into victories. We'll meet you there.