Can't wait

     VBS is officially over. I survived and all was well.  As you know, I was the teacher for the 7-8 year olds.  Surprisingly, I think that I may have been somewhat successful in teaching the little ones about Jesus and His love.  I didn't have any admit to receiving Jesus, but I am sure that most of these kids go to church with their families.  I got the impression that this wasn't many of their first VBS's either.  So my prayer is that I was able to teach them new stories and truths about God's Word.  Honestly, I even learned a couple of stories I hadn't known of before.  

     We went through some of the book of Acts.  We had a story about Peter, 3 about Paul and one about the very first churches.  We taught the kids that God's Word is: true, comforting, surprising, life-changing and for everyone.  We had memory verses daily that most of my kids came prepared to recite to me every day and we had videos and skits and crafts for them.  

      In the middle of the week, I didn't know if I was going to have enough energy to get through!  I came back completely exhausted!  I don't think it helped at all that I caught a cold probably from Vidia around Tuesday.  Yesterday though, I oddly had some spare energy after the big finale.  I didn't even take my usual nap before I went to meet with both the girls and Trisha.  Even after that, we had to set up for the 'give away' that we are having today.  It took us until very late in the night to get the church and all the donations we've gotten organized for all the people coming today.  

     Truly, I just say 'praise the Lord' for getting me through such a crazy week! It feels wonderful to be done and look back at all the things I accomplished....only by His power.  Now this give away today should be good also and go well.  I'm not sure what to expect as to how many people will come out.  And how much of the stuff that got donated will be taken.  Hopefully all of it so we don't have to throw it out.  

     So my plans for next week are crazy too.  I'm actually going to be flying out early Sunday morning to go to a different island here--Grenada.  There is a ECWI (Evangelical Church of the West Indies) 'leadership' conference held twice a year and it happens to be this year, during one of the weeks I am here, in Grenada.  So I will be there from Sunday to Friday.  

      This is just another of those things that I hardly have any information about, so I'm just going with the flow...like always. I've brought it up several times, hoping to get some information about it from Mitch, but either he doesn't know much either, or he assumes that I know everything he knows, or he thinks I don't need to know.  Either way, I have gotten frustrated with the communication on this island, mainly between the Johns and myself.  I have often made plans to Skype or something with family or friends on a day where I knew of nothing that was going on, only to be woken up in the morning hearing, "ok, we are going to the beach today!"  I guess my question is: was this decided early morning, or last night or the day before and I just wasn't informed of the plans?  I suppose you can see why it is frustrating.  ...And I know it's probably like a "cultural thing" so I should overcome my frustrations and accept it and them.  Frankly, it is proving to be a very hard thing for me to do.  I'm doing my very best to put this (my frustration) in God's hands and trust Him in all things.

     So that means that I need to trust Him about not knowing where I'll be sleeping once in Grenada, it means I need to trust Him in not having formal clothes for the "opening and closing ceremonies" (something I didn't know I need to have until last night), and I need to trust Him in not knowing the schedule for any of the days that I will be there.  You know it's funny.  Back home, I am usually more than content with 'going with the flow' and not asking questions because I know it'll all be ok anyway.  I tried it here and promptly failed 2 or 3 weeks into it. 

     Ok, enough rambling about my inadequacy.  Like I said, I get back on Friday night.  Then I will have Saturday, which will be filled with my last meetings with Trisha and the girls and a special dinner out with 2 of the church ladies!  Then comes Sunday, where I'll say goodbyes at church and pack my bags.  Then I fly out early Monday morning!  Here's another of my inadequate attitude flaws...I can't wait to be back home!  I cannot wait to take a shower in my own, clean shower.  I cannot wait to eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I want (yes, you would think that is all I am eating as I'm on a Caribbean island).  I can't wait to not have to worry about ants crawling all over my things including my laptop and toothbrush.  I can't wait to go watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2!  I can't wait to see my dad and my friends and all the people I know have been praying for me.  I can't wait to be able to go for a run or a walk whenever I want.  

     As you can see, I'm excited to be home, but I don't think that that is a bad thing.  God has really showed me just how blessed I am at home.  

     Alright, it's about time to head to the church so hopefully I'll be able to post again maybe in Grenada depending on the internet access.  Love you all, and again, can't wait to see you all in 13 days!!

Vacation vs. Bible School

Made from cardboard...

Some of the nautical decor.

     Today was our first day of VBS!  This past week we have been working hard to prepare for the many children that are going to come to Valencia Evangelical Church for a week of fun.  The theme is 'High Seas Expedition', so all of our decorations and crafts are sea-related.

     I have been put in charge of teaching the 7-8 year-olds.  I was somewhat nervous, but it turned out that I have been given great help for the class.  God's placed wonderful volunteers to help me out and even one guy to almost help co-lead with me! What a blessing to have such substantial help!  All in all, today went very well :)

     You know, up until a short while ago today, I've had a despondent attitude toward this upcoming week.  VBS I know is fun and exciting for the kids...I also know it's a lot of hard work for everyone involved.  It's even more work when you feel as though you are 10 people short of help.  In my mind, for some reason, I had trouble seeing VBS as an actual outreach and tool for helping children to come to know Jesus.  

      I remember asking my dad one day in church about VBS this year and what he thought of it.  I asked him if he really thought it was effective for bringing the Gospel to kids.  I was remembering our past VBS's.  I remembered seeing a lot of the same kids that I saw every week in church.  I remembered seeing those same kids be the ones who felt that, because their parents weren't around, they had free reign. Why would we put on a hard, wearying VBS for kids who already know the Gospel?

     See, I just couldn't get past the judgment in my head that VBS doesn't do much for actually leading children to the Lord.  Crazy, I know...but to me it felt like an extremely exhausting daycare that we, the church members, hosted for a week.  It seemed like just a place where the kids to go to screw around and make crafts and eat snacks and watch movies all expense-free.  I wasn't sure that it was at all effective for delivering the plain Truth with all the clutter and the rushing from crafts to games to snacks to movies to lessons...

    Well that Sunday in church, my dad's answer to my question was, "yes, I think that VBS allows kids learn about Jesus who would have never had the chance to hear it otherwise." Now, that is how I am choosing to view VBS.  Even further, what would be the attraction for kids to come if we didn't go to the effort of making it fun and exciting?  

      So for this summer's VBS, I'm hoping and praying that we get a huge turnout of those kids who wouldn't have any other way of hearing the Gospel.  I hope that this week I can encourage at least one kid whose parents fail in encouraging them and loving on them.  I'm also praying that God will give me the stamina and strength to finish everyday with a smile.
  

Thoughts

For some reason, I didn't post this when I wrote it.  So here it is...5 days later:  

  Hi fellow bloggers and followers,

     So I officially have 18 days left in Trinidad. Then I head to Philadelphia once again for debrief with World Team.  I know that I have well over 2 weeks here, but I'm about at that point where nothing sounds better that 'home'.  I can't wait to see my dad and give him a huge hug! It's his birthday on the 30th, so we're planning a fishing-birthday celebration once I arrive.  I'm really excited to spend that time with him; it's going to be time on his new boat (!), where we have no place to be but on the water.  It'll be time that I can share all about this trip with him and we can work through all God has taught me. 

     Apart from missing home and family, I miss my friends.  I am absolutely not ready for Northwestern just yet, but I am looking forward to reuniting with all the friends I've made from the past two years there.  However there is one friend who I'm having to say goodbye to.  She has decided to transfer to a different school and finish her degree 12 hours from where I'll be.  I know that she has put a tremendous amount of thought and prayer into her decision, so I trust that God is leading her away and that He has amazing things planned for her next year.  However, that doesn't help with the feeling of sadness that has overwhelmed me lately.  We have grown SO close through late night heart-to-hearts and our daily exercise-then-have-lunch-and-go-to-class routine! It's been so good for me to have a friend like her...someone whom I can call 'best friend'.  She has been a rock of encouragement and godly advise for me.  We both know that it will be a hard next year without each other, but we both are going to lean on Jesus and through lots of emails and Skype, we will most definitely stay in contact! I am so looking forward to the plan that we've mad to see each other before school starts for her in September!

     I do have to add one more thing that has been weighing on my mind throughout my stay here.  Next year at school, I have been handed the leadership position of an RA (resident's assistant).  It is a HUGE commitment!  At most schools, you will hear the RA's job is to round up the rule breakers-- the drunks, the druggies-- and to deal with all the other regulations-- the late-night hour rules, the noise levels, and all the roommate problems... Yes, at NWC, we do have to do that, but the biggest challenges we will face is not the rule breakers.  NWC strives for a good community, so as the RA, our job is to promote that.  We are in charge of being true mentors at all the girls living on our wings (18 or so on mine).  It's hard to describe he amount of work that this will be, but again, I tell you that it is huge. 

    I don't want to sound unenthusiastic about this.  I am truly gaining excitement for it daily.  I just realize that this is something that is going to stretch me like I've never been stretched before!  I know that God is going to use this experience in magnificent ways in my life and I am so excited for that.  But I know also, that along with the ups, come downs.  So I have been spending a lot of mental time here on the thought of this, prepping myself.  What's also been a bummer for me is that my friend, whom I talked about already, was going to be an RA also.  I was counting on her to be there for me on those days when I'll think that I just can't take it anymore.  So in a way, I've had to mourn losing her in two ways. 

     Having said all that, you may be thinking, "how does this relate to your trip?"  It's true.  It technically doesn't, but it has been something that has been on my mind a lot throughout the trip, so I thought I would blog about it.  I am really trying to make this blog a genuine log of my actions, and thoughts, while I'm here.  It's only fair to myself to add these details.  Please, your prayers on these two thoughts/struggles are very valuable to me!