Two In One

Ok, so these are two posts in one... from last week sometime, I should have the dates written right before the post itself. Sorry it's taking so long, one of them I wrote the day of and just never posted cause I never wrote the other blog. Anyway here they are!

SEPTEMBER 7TH
This day, I woke up and I was actually very sick... I don't know why... well I do know why but I just had the worst headache and I was super super naseous (I don't know how to spell that)... Well all morning no matter how much water I drank… I still felt like my throat was on fire! I am not exhaggerating when I say that I drank about two gallons of water in 3 hours and went to the bathroom like 12 times!

I really don’t remember much from this day at all… I know that next, we waited for David for like 3 hours longer than we thought we would and then he took us all fishing… well the guys, he left Bethany, Marissa and I on the other side with Dionis and we went shell hunting. I found some cool conch shells. It was really fun to just swim in the reefs too. Later we had a leadership meeting at the church for the youth leaders which I think went well.. David led it which makes everything so much more interesting but it was really good.

We had a late dinner again. I really don’t remember anything else from this day and that’s ALL the notes I had written down! Haha… sorry, I doubt anything too exciting happened anyway, I mean maybe, but it was too long ago.


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER EIGHTH
Okay this is only yesterdays blog.. I've been too tired to write the other ones... but i didn't want to fall too much behind and last night was so fresh in my mind that I had to write it all down!

Today (Tuesday, September 8): Today I woke up a little later than I would have liked but it was ok... I was still feeling a little crappy from the day before, but not really, it was more like.. I woke up with this giant weight of selfishness, pretty much I was grumpy. The weird things was that I wasn't really outwardly... I let things go and stuff... but inwardly I was getting really really frustrated and I was just being really selfish... anyway, I think a lot of it came from just feeling like crap the day before. I went to the guys house early cause I was hungry. Luckily the door was open, I had some toast, cleaned up a little bit and then realized that I needed some alone time. So I took the van back to our house and picked up Bethany and Marissa, and they left me at the beach for an hour by myself.

It was good, just dying to myself.. and asking God to refocus my heart. Sometimes we just gotta do that. That's what I learned throughout the day... Not every day is filled with excitement and feeling of purpose and selflessness... everyday should be since we walk in the blood of Christ... but we still fail because we are human. Sometimes, there is just some humbling that needs to happen. Anyway, spent time with God for a while on the rockface, waves crashing, tearing away at the stone. It was really nice, and it was nice to know that I was alone. There was one point where I layed down on the rock and was just listening... this one wave came... I thought the rock was going to split apart... the whole thing shook and all of a sudden I found myself really wet.. when I wasn't that close to the edge at all!
Well in the end I walked back.. I was still feeling kinda sick... Marissa was there to take me back to the house. At the house we waited for everyone to get up and then had our staff meeting... We discussed going to the schools and ideas we needed to have... Then Kirk put me in charge of doing the touch card again. I was really disappointed to because Pastor Jimmy needed someone to go get produce with him and I was volunteered and agreed to it.. I really wanted to go! But later when they were about to leave and someone was asking me if I was going, I said "yes!" and then kirk said "no!". I felt like my heart couldn't even sink to a greater depth. Going to the beach, i prayed and spent time with God but I was still in a place where I needed to let things go... I wanted so bad to just get away and go get fruit pretty much... and then "no." from kirk. I feel bad that I did whine just a little bit about not wanting to go... which is just like us humans isn't it? I say that because I know for a fact that God was answering my prayer yet again just then... and I was complaining. He is a good God and He loves me, He wasn't about to let me sink into my selfish mood, so he provided me with an oppurtunity to break free of it. It took a little bit of work but it worked out in the end. Kirk wasn't making me stay back cause he wanted to ruin my day and I knew that, he needed my help and this was my job. He apologized but I told him I was just having a long morning.. I really was, it was tough. Praise God though that He helps me through and when I give my all to Him, He is my strength and my redeemer! After hours, literally hours, of slaving with Kirks computer, I wanted to die. I was yelling at the program, at Kirk's computer... see he has his keyboard programmed very differently.. it's very hard to operate, especially when you don't know how.. Also I was using a program I didn't know, to edit the poster for Kirk. Hours. Honestly though, it was through that time and giving myself to God and what He asked me to stay and do that helped me overcome in the end... from that point on, the rest of my day was amazing! Heavy spirit of selfishness lifted and the joy of Christ in it's place! Once I was finished, the finished product looked great! It was so satisfying!

Then Marissa, Bethany and I headed to the grocery store to get food for dinner. When we stocked up we cleaned up the guys house a little bit, then went to ours and cleaned it up even more because our living room as a mess from the previous two nights. We set up a table with a sheet for a table cloth and started to make our part of the dinner for the guys (who were out spear fishing for their part of the dinner)... we made the baked potatoes and cut some green oranges and veggies for the potatoes. The guys showed up not much longer after we got the food going with a really good catch... two crawfish (though they caught more, I think P. Jimmy took some), a "grubber"? (which is actually really really good!) and some other small fish. Anthony and Ian cooked up the crawfish and the fish... after a little while of waiting.. we all sat down to eat together! I honestly don't remember eating together "as a family" so many times in a row! Every night for dinner we sit down together, it's really nice.. this time we had a fancy table all set up. Dinner was fun, we joked around about stuff for a long time as we ate. After clean up and some computer/hangout time... we embarked on one of the greatest adventures I have ever had! (Anthony, Ian, Josh, Marissa and Me!)

The five of us head out to go crabbing, and there are a few videos of this on I think Josh's facebook. First thing that happens... Ian squashes a huge crab on the road, he swerved, FOR it! And it was one we could have caught! We all repromanded him for it.... then we started heading down some roads to catch some crabs... finally after a few.. we head down this beach road and right after seriously praying for crabs, I think God wanted to laugh at us by sending one... right in the middle of the road!!!! Anthony and Josh go after it.. that thing was seriously the fastest crab I've ever seen! But they got it and stuck it in the bucket. Off witht he rest of the night we go...

Ok, well Ian is driving. Ian... is kinda a scary driver!!! These roads are not like back home... they are either dirt, sand, really rocky or it looks like someone just splattered pavement here and there and then carved out some pot holes just for fun. We drive an old Kia van whose front seat is all torn up and makes a sad "I'm falling apart" noise. Ian is driving this thing like 50km/h through these roads. NOT A GOOD IDEA! First thing that happens.. we jerk so hard that the crab flies out of the bucket. Josh can't get it to put it back so now its under the seat and everyone is yelling to put their feet up.. theres a ledge so it can't get through but we pull over and open the door and it crawls through the side, and then through the side to where I'm sitting in the front seat. The video to this is also onfacobook. Well now I have to fight with it to keep it from going underneath the dashboard on the engines side... so instead it crawls up the dashboard on the wheel side.. it just burrows into it and won't budge.. I never realized how strong crabs are but they can be like stone if they want to be. I couldn't fight with it so Anthony wanted to give it a try... He fights for a while and then I remembered that I saw plyers in the car when I cleaned it out earlier and I got them for him... Anthony grabbed one of it's claws, but it was so determined not to come out that it let Anthony rip its claw off the poor thing. Josh gave it a go and got his finger pinched instead. So we decided there was nothing we could do and I just kept my feet up as we drove.
There was one point which was just so funny for me... Marissa is sitting in the back between Josh and Anthony... all of a sudden she says "We should play corners guys!" How could anyone not take advantage of that?! She set herself up SO perfectly! I couldn't help but say "You would like that wouldn't you Marissa?" I mean, the words were out of my mouth before I had time to stop them.. it was like I was watching them float away in slow motion and there was nothing I could do... they were spoken! But it was funny!
We saw one of those bat moths and agreed that those things have to be possessed... their eyes glow!!!

Oh! Another favorite moment... We drive up to this beach bluff, and its really pretty... I mean Atlantic Ocean waves continually crashing and the moon is bright... dark thunder clouds all around, lightning flashing across the sky.. While the guys are taking pictures at one open space on the bluff.. I walk around to another space... Well someone yelled my name when we started heading back, I couldn't tell who... so I did and I was quite nearly directly behind them. I was right behind josh,well a little to the side as he turned, and yelled my name again! I couldn't believe it! He didn't know I was right there! Well he gets in on the left side of the car and I'm riding in shotgun.. So the first thing I do is get to my side and drop down. Anthony is in the back on my side and looking at me through the window figures out what I'm doing, he's in, once he's in, their all in. Josh is freaking out now... "she would wander off on her own" he says as he heads out to the bushes when he sees i'm not in the car; calling my name... some of the others call for me too, to add effect.. while he's out there I got in the car.. I shoulda just stayed out of the car the whole time but oh well.. I got back out as he came back asking for a flashlight.. shined it into the bushes, called my name some more and then got into the car to drive forward and check somewhere else... we move forward and I just walk next to the car.. he gets out again and goes to look for me and I get back in the car.. a minute or two later he starts to come back and sees me or heard the door or something.. he just gets back into the car and says "I hate you guys" and we all laugh.. we only caught the very end on video... where ian explained what just happened.. but it happened.. and it was funny! I havn't laughed that hard in a long time.. but then I laughed really hard this whole night! ok moving on...

On our way back, Ian swings around to another road instead of heading all the way back... Almost immediately we come across this HUGE puddle.. (vid of this on facebook), I hear Ian say as he comes to a stop "Thats a puddle. ... That's a biiiig puddle." He puts it into reverse and we're all convinced that he's just going to turn around... after pulling a few yards back, he guns it for the puddle! Oh Ian.. as we're driving down this road, we for some reason come to a stop, and we're video taping this part for some reason as well.. All of a sudden someone yells spider, everyone (including ian who isn't even in the back seat!) jumps out of the car... I just looked back to see what was going on and saw the look on everyones faces and heard Josh and Anthony's girlie screams... When I shined the light on the roof of the car.. I couldn't believe just how TINY the spider was! I understand fear of spiders.. but all four of them! I think I was just surprised because from their screaming, it sounded like it must have been one of those huge ones that we always see in the bushes, so I was fully expecting to turn and see one of those.. it took me completely off guard to see one that looks just like the ones back home.. But I must have laughed till i cried it was so funny! AND IT'S ON VIDEO!

Anyway, then we drove home, oh at one point I crushed Anthony's fingers in the door.. which sucked.. but he was ok thank goodness... that was when something happened to the van, I didn't really understand what it was but we made it back ok, Thank the Lord!Getting back, we upload photos to our laptops and watch the videos.. As we do this, Anthony is fast asleep on the couch! So Ian and Josh start sticking pencils and crawfish shells from dinner all over him... we videotaped the whole thing, go watch it it's funny! That was the night.. that all ended at like 12:40... now its like 2:30am...