there are three islands just off the north tip of eleuthera: harbour island, spanish wells and current island. let's be stereotypical. harbour is for the tourists and rich folk, spanish wells is where the white bahamians live and current is where 20 people settled and the future site of the zion children's home. just about two weeks ago the methodist conference approved us to be the project leaders to build a children's home on current island. two women from current have a vision from God that began about 2 years ago to build the home. here we go! it's an incredible blessing and plan to start on the cleared ground with the teams in march if all goes as planned.
i've been awake since 4:45 this morning because!!! we went surfing at sunrise at surfers beach this morning! the waves were monstrous..too much for surfing even. besides not having surf boards, the waves were killer. abe tried surfing and gave a quick surfing lesson and demo:
lesson 1: "play the tide, don't let the tide play you" after trying to paddle out and getting tossed back on shore.
lesson 2: "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" after being owned by the waves
lesson 3: "if surfing doesn't work out, you get good exercise!"
then, abe, matt and i decided to get owned by the waves for the next 2 hours. video is attached. see, the sand just before the tide line has sinking sand (caedmon's call anyone?) that you'll be running running running and then drop down in knee-deep sand. so my goal was just to make it to the water before getting knocked down like a bowling pin, the waves being the bowling ball that is. if you need an image in your head, imagine me literally rolling like a rag doll in the waves being tossed on shore screaming like the 'grape lady': "owey owey owey!" if you do not know this reference, search "grape lady" on youtube. at one point i was washing off the sand from my bathing suit and looked up, saw literally a 10 foot + wave, turned around to accept my fate and was swept off my feet to be parallel with the water and crashing down. it was hilarious.
my work permit was approved this week too! good news!
we had our first community meal this past thursday. my hope is that we will intentionally eat together with semi-guided conversation that invites those in the community into camp and know that it is a place of genuine hospitality. i'm excited for this to become regular and the conversation that comes from us being together. we have it in mind to be a potluck and open ended conversation starters for people in the community, and each other, to get to know each other. dreams are dreams right now but i feel God is calling us to something more than a meal. we'll see.
lenny kravitz lives here on the island and has a big recording studie. last night we went to a local place where his bass player and band manager were playing with i'm pretty sure james taylor under the cover as a guy named maurice. i'm on to his game..
there is a lot happening. a lot of wonderfully blessed elements going on. i'm learning a great deal about living, eating, working, worshipping, and playing with the same group of people..and all that that entails. that's for another day because i'm still learning so much.
mother teresa quoted thomas a kempis in his writing, the imitation of Christ: "Love feels no burden, values no labours, would willingly do more than it can, complains not of impossibility because it conceives that it may and can do all things; when weary is not tired; when straightened is not constrained, when frightened is not disturbed; but like a lively flame and a torch all on fire, it mounts upwards and securely passes through all oppositions."
peace.
ridiculously funny video cam.
ReplyDeletebeautiful quote, too.
I agree with Holli!
ReplyDeleteCam! Hahaha. I love that once you went down it took a solid 10 or so seconds for you to get back up. But hey, I guess the point is that you DID get back up and went at it again! Ha, oops cheesey lesson there for ya! I miss you bud and am jealous that you're wearing a swimmer! :) I just made that up, fyi.
ReplyDelete