Meet, Greet and Serve

I'm sorry I didn't get to post a new message for a while, I wasn't aware that I wasn't going to have access to the internet the last week in the Bahamas. Now I'm back in Nashville enjoying telling anyone that will listen about my trip. The last week that I was in Eleuthera consisted of me helping a team from North Carolina replace a roof on a woman's house. This team was such a blessing for many reasons. First off, on Saturday night, I was struggling with whether or not I thought the Lord wanted me go back to Eleuthera in January. Over the past few weeks, I've really been learning that it's good the Lord doesn't do things the way I think things should happen. Nevertheless, that hasn't deterred me from hoping that he will make it obvious to me what his will is, so I prayed that he would give me a sign that I couldn't ignore. Now I want to say that this has never happened to me before, but after I finished praying, I felt like the Lord was telling me that if someone on the team was named Ann, then that would be the sign I needed to let me know that I should come back. The team arrived the next day, and as I was introducing myself to everyone (there were 8 people), one of them told me that their name was Ann!! I probably looked like a deer in headlights, but that was the sign I needed.
The next day, we headed out to an 89 year old woman's house, to replace her leaky roof. Those that didn't feel confident in getting on the roof, did some landscaping work around the house. I tried to allow the team members to choose what they wanted to do, and then I would help out with what was left. I mostly worked on the roof, and let me say, I have a new found respect for people that do roofing. It is hard work, but Abe and the team managed to help make it fun.
It was wonderful to be able to serve, and see others putting someone else's needs above there own! Needless to say, I should be going back in January, and I can't wait!! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Seeing Eleuthera

Good news, I got my luggage yesterday! I don't think I've ever been as happy to lug around 50 pounds as I was then. Since my boss is out of town, I haven't had any work to do yet, so a lady that lives here on the island has been showing me some of her favorite spots. Yesterday my favorite spot that we stopped was a cavern on one of the beaches. It took a little bit of climbing to get to it, but it was well worth it. It looked like something straight out of a movie. Today, she took me snorkeling on the north end of the island. It was about a 45 minute drive, because where I'm staying is closer to the middle of the island. I have yet to see a section of the island that isn't absolutely beautiful!
The peole here seem to be really friendly. While driving through town, it is completely normal to wave to everyone that you see. Some of the locals have told me that I have to try two of the delicacies before I leave, conch and stone crab.
One thing I have been really suprised about is the speed of life here. I figured it would be a little slower than in America, but it is amazing how laid back these people are. Their theory is that if something doesn't get done today, it will get done tomorrow. This pace of life might be hard to get used to for an extended period of time. I'm sure my life will pick up speed quickly when Abe and the mission team gets in town Sunday. Until then, I'm going to take full advantage of all of this free time!
I pray that everyone is doing well!

I made it!

I'm finally in Eleuthera and will be for the next 10 days! Flying in was an amazing sight, because of the beauty of the island! I arrived today around 2:15 without any problems, except that the airlines left all of my checked baggage (which happens to be everything I need) in Ft. Lauderdale. If all goes well, it should be at the airport tomorrow afternoon for me to pick up. Since I've been here, a wonderful couple that happen to be close friends of my boss, have taken me under their wing. This afternoon they showed me around the area of the island where Camp Symonette is located. After that, I got to help their 5 year old daughter with her spelling homework, which was quite interesting. She has slready stolen my heart with her joy and personality! Now I'm back at the camp where I thought that I would be all alone, but I've already spotted many little critters like lizards, frogs, and HUGE cochroaches. I feel relatively fortunate though, because apparently there are tons of teranchalas that like to make themselves comfortable here!