The team woke up early this morning to leave for our island
trip. It was nice to have some vacation time to enjoy God's creation. The
people who went snorkeling saw some pretty amazing creatures including a
stingray, a barracuda, a large (at least six feet long) shark, and many kinds
of colorful fish. We also saw dolphins on the boat ride back to the mainland.
When we got back to Hosanna House, we went up for devotions
and activities with the girls. Part of the devotional activity was to write
down some goals for your walk with God. There were three questions to answer:
1. In one year I want to...
2. Some ways I will work on this goal are...
3. Someone I will ask to hold me accountable is...
It is an interesting exercise. Even if you're making a
shorter term goal, I would encourage you to try this and see where you are in
the next weeks or months.
After devotions we played a game with the girls, and just
spent some time hanging out. They're all headed into town for a "Fun
Day" tomorrow, so the team is planning on spending the morning cleaning
our team quarters and preparing for the evening activities. Tomorrow night
we're having pizza and ice cream with the girls, and we're making the pizza.
We're going to have a busy afternoon! After dinner we'll have our traditional
farewell games, skits, and a slideshow of the week. It will be an emotional
night, to say the least. Our team has done really well in making connections
with the girls, in both building new relationships and maintaining existing
ones. It's always difficult to say goodbye.
A short P.S.: It was requested that I add an anecdote from
last night's dinner with the girls. Apparently, when we set up the drinks and
food in the kitchen at Hosanna House, we made things a little confusing. Doug
went to get a drink, and found a pitcher of what looked like pink lemonade or
weak juice. He filled his cup, and went back to sit down.
He took a sip.
It wasn't juice.
It was, in fact, a weak solution of soap and water that the
girls use to wipe down the tables after meals.
So now some members of the team are wondering what he might
have said earlier in the day that would have warranted washing his mouth out
with soap. ;)